HELP, almost laying hen is having problems

[WVduckchick]

gosh, thats ore money and time than I could buy 5 more chickens with isn't it? lol, thanks for the info ill do what I can. if it continues to get worse than ill put her down, but not gratefully or happily.

Sorry, I don't see anything costing money yet. Depends on what the cause of the condition is.

If the rooster is in the same area, it is possible that he is mating her without you seeing it. Or he could be holding her down trying, and that could be the cause of the problem. Did you actually see lice or no?

Also answering aart's questions would be helpful for us to help you.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

gosh, thats ore money and time than I could buy 5 more chickens with isn't it? lol, thanks for the info ill do what I can. if it continues to get worse than ill put her down, but not gratefully or happily.

It's true you can buy chicks all day long for $3. But that doesn't make the life of your current bird less valuable.

That's either from her own flock attacking her or another predator. Or from parasites (looks like plenty of feather damage on the ones left behind). Nutritional detriment is always a possibility as well. Just because you don't see the rooster mating her doesn't mean they haven't had some interaction.

Permethrin spray will treat MOST external parasites and cost less than $10 to treat my flock of 60+, 3 dogs, and 2 goats for more than a year. It is also EFFECTIVE and IMO safer than DE.

I'm not sure if she's acting normal, why you would even consider culling before treating or at least trying to. If she does have something, then your other birds are already exposed. And if you don't have an extra coop but plan to keep chickens long term, then it would be worth investing in a dog house or any small set up for when you do need to quarantine someone either for their own protection of for the flocks.

Picking up and looking at my birds during a regular day won't give me an accurate picture of their parasite load. Many are invisible to the naked eye. But on top of that others are hard to see and fast... and some don't live on the bird but only come out to feed on them at night. Best time to check, in my experience is a few hours after dark with a flash light, remove them from roost and using a flashlight part the feathers near the vent and on the abdomen and look for things running away.

Especially a "star bird" would get a little extra help from me before culling.

You state it's on the top of her back and behind her head... Those are the classic signs of over mating. Even if she is just coming into lay and the roo hasn't messed with her yet, they become hormonal about a month before laying... and the rooster may sense she is indeed the most fertile of the bunch and be trying to spread his seed.

I agree @aart has important question to help decipher your issue. How much roost, coop, and run space for how many birds? What do you feed (protein %)including treats and supplements? These are not about judging you or your set up. It's about gathering clues to help figure out if anything else can be done or what the cause is. Your girl is displaying symptoms and we are just trying to get to the root. We are all here to help and learn from each other!

 

[Eggcessive]

That just looks like feather loss, probably from the others pecking her, (or the rooster mating.) I would try making her a hen saddle temporarily after of course, checking her and the others for lice or mites. One piece hen saddle/aprons are easy to make out of a 8x9 inch piece of polar fleece with 2 wings slit cut into them. They freak out when they see it, but if you put it on at night, when they wake up, it is not a big deal. Then put it on and trim to fit. Here are a few pics:

 

[Thebossbaby]

ok, I'm confused as to where I said the hen had lesser value of life. but, also, the bird has skin eaten away, attest 2 cm deep. it stinks, and here, ill answer his question. my value of chickens is they are super fun to play with, and the eggs taste amazing. I feed them bread once a week and layers pellets. there coop if 3x7 foot, and has a roost at the top and nesting boxes along the wall. I have 21 birds, and I know thats to many for the coop, but they don't stay in it cause its to hot at night and they sleep in the trees. anything else? I have 1 rooster

 

[EggSighted4Life]

gosh, thats ore money and time than I could buy 5 more chickens with isn't it? lol, thanks for the info ill do what I can. if it continues to get worse than ill put her down, but not gratefully or happily.

This was the comment I was referencing. But don't mean to insinuate you actually think her life has less value.

You gave good answers. The only other thing is age of the flock as that will have a definite impact.

21 birds with only 1 being male should be plenty... if they were all mating age AND past their hormonal teen phase. The older they get, they mostly become more mellow. But just laying age pullets and cockerels can be quite rowdy.

I hope you can feel supported instead of attacked!

How big is the area that they get to free range in? And out of curiosity, do you feed the bread because you have it extra and need it to not go to waste or because that's the snack you like to feed? Is your range area green or dry? By that I mean does it have lots of grass and bugs or mostly dirt? Did you know that it's OK the feed the egg shells back to your hens? And if you have extra eggs they love those scrambled too, though I don't go over board because even though they are high in protein they also have plenty of fat.

You are correct, chickens are super fun to play with! And their eggs are great. I have so much fun just watching them do their thing.

The pic probably doesn't show the detail as bad as you describe it. getting that many feathers pulled could create quite the wound. I have even seen other hens go after a girl that was protesting the rooster... Things happen sometimes. If it really did happen in 3 days (and I don't mean I don't believe you), chances are it was an incident either among the flock or predator. But the normal behavior would indicate among the flock to me.

The saddle looks like it might work really well for you... once your girl is healed enough that it won't stick to her. If it's red and attracting more pecking by flock mates, I would consider a product called Blu Kote that should help protect the wound changing the color and I think it has an antiseptic in it. I don't think it's too pricey and it's good to have in your chicken arsenal since it could literally stop cannibalism after an injury. But I know we don't all have endless funds! I haven't seen any home remedies for that one, yet.

Anyways, the good news... I really don't think you need to put her down!

Feathers don't normally grow in randomly outside of molt. But since they were pulled out completely they may grow back in soon. I had a duck scalped by a raccoon a while back. But she recovered and her feathers grew back in beautifully. Of course every situation is unique.

 

[Thebossbaby]

its dry, lots of bugs, about 40x20 yard octagon, and I feed the bread because they love it and it halarious watching them eat it

 

[Thebossbaby]

and I didn't know that was the way you meant it, sorry for over reacting. btw, how do you use emojis? like the ones y'all are using, I can't eve use normal emojis

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Get clear up close pictures of her back and you will receive more help then you know.

The majority of us are crazy chicken people who will go above and beyond to help a bird (or bird keeper) in need.

Once all the clues are collected the BYC members come together and figure it out.

Welcome to BYC!

Keep us posted on your girl.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

and I didn't know that was the way you meant it, sorry for over reacting. btw, how do you use emojis? like the ones y'all are using, I can't eve use normal emojis

It's OK, it's hard to get intention across through text sometimes. And on top of that, we can be quite emotional when our birds are in trouble. Just glad you know now that we are all friends here, mostly.

So for emoji's, in the box that I'm typing in, at the top.. there are a couple of rows with symbols and such to edit your text. One of the boxes is a smiley face. When I click on that and scroll to under the typing box the emoji's are popped up down there and I just click on the one I want. It could be different if you are using the mobile app. When I scroll over those boxes and let my mouse hover, it will even pop up a little text that tells you what that box/symbol does.