- Jun 6, 2013
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I've asked so many health questions with my chickens here over the years, and only one ended up being a real emergency (internal laying). Most of the little upsets blow over without a fuss, but I figured I should still ask, just in case!
I have a factory hen, "Red Ranger"? Looks like a buff/production red cross to me, but anyways she and her 2 sisters are well over 10lbs. They're turkey-sized chickens.
I've been noticing her behavior going up and down for the last couple weeks. She seems to have off-days. Her comb flopped over and I started getting less eggs in this time.
This morning I was feeding all the birds and found her still in the coop on her roost. She was unfazed by me coming in and poking/prodding her, which is a red flag. She's very flighty. Her breast does not feel bony, however looking at her, it looks like either her chest/breast area is receded and/or her abdomen is hanging very low. She doesn't look proportionate. Her comb is almost dry/rubbery feeling, all crumpled up and not soft/floppy like it was a week or so ago. It's a bit pale/discolored in the front. Her abdomen didn't feel abnormally squishy or distended (despite looking it), though she fussed and moved her tail quite a bit when I was feeling around, which struck me as unusual as well, but she made no upper-body expression. She's not straining or pumping her tail, not gasping for breath, and doesn't feel hot. She molted in December and is probably due for another. Overall, the poor girl just looks ragged and unhappy.
They've got constant fresh, running water to drink, 1/2 acre to roam, and get lots of veggie/garden scraps along with non-GMO scratch to supplement free ranging.
I've lost 3 of my 10 factory ('rescue') hens to internal laying already. Two others aren't laying and have squishy abdomens, though they seem unaffected so far. I think they'll fall to internal laying eventually. But my experiences with it so far don't match up with what's happening to this hen. Thoughts?
I have a factory hen, "Red Ranger"? Looks like a buff/production red cross to me, but anyways she and her 2 sisters are well over 10lbs. They're turkey-sized chickens.
I've been noticing her behavior going up and down for the last couple weeks. She seems to have off-days. Her comb flopped over and I started getting less eggs in this time.
This morning I was feeding all the birds and found her still in the coop on her roost. She was unfazed by me coming in and poking/prodding her, which is a red flag. She's very flighty. Her breast does not feel bony, however looking at her, it looks like either her chest/breast area is receded and/or her abdomen is hanging very low. She doesn't look proportionate. Her comb is almost dry/rubbery feeling, all crumpled up and not soft/floppy like it was a week or so ago. It's a bit pale/discolored in the front. Her abdomen didn't feel abnormally squishy or distended (despite looking it), though she fussed and moved her tail quite a bit when I was feeling around, which struck me as unusual as well, but she made no upper-body expression. She's not straining or pumping her tail, not gasping for breath, and doesn't feel hot. She molted in December and is probably due for another. Overall, the poor girl just looks ragged and unhappy.
They've got constant fresh, running water to drink, 1/2 acre to roam, and get lots of veggie/garden scraps along with non-GMO scratch to supplement free ranging.
I've lost 3 of my 10 factory ('rescue') hens to internal laying already. Two others aren't laying and have squishy abdomens, though they seem unaffected so far. I think they'll fall to internal laying eventually. But my experiences with it so far don't match up with what's happening to this hen. Thoughts?
