At first I thought it was the heavy molt - for the past few days she has been ejecting feathers like her life depended on it. Looks like a major pillow fight around here. Hundreds and hundreds of feathers. So I expect somewhat less energy at this time.
While she is eager for mealworms and gobbled up some cut up grape, her usual gusto for other foods is waning, today being the worst (she has regular chicken food available at all times, of course, but I can tell her appetite is off because she is not her usual eager self about sunflower seeds and other things that she would normally squeal with delight over). She and BJ snuck some cat food in the past few days when they managed to get into the kitchen - I didn't stop them because of the added protein being good during a molt, and it's very high end catfood. Usually I don't allow a whole lot of this because of concerns that salt content might be too high in catfood. She doesn;t like eggs or I'd give her some protein that way.
Mostly Ellie just stands inside her building in a dark corner, her buddy BJ roo loyally and quietly at her side (he's further along in his molt - has stopped dropping feathers and is in the porcupine phase right now). This afternoon happens to be gorgeous and it's very odd that they're not outside and that she's not sunbathing. She did a little of that yesterday though. But mostly just sat around.
She stopped laying eggs a few days before she began molting, as I expected she would, and as she did last year, so hopefully it's not an egg issue. I did think I saw the teeniest bit of sulfur colored material on her butt feathers yesterday but all poo has been pretty much normal. She is not, however, pooing as much since she's not eating as much. Did make me wonder if she might have an infection needing meds.
Avia Charge 2000 is in their water.
The day before yetserday there was a terrible windstorm all day. A branch came down right where Ellie was standing and I thought she might have gotten hit but then I saw she was several feet away; whether she moved before or after the branch came down I don't know. She seemed okay. So I am also supposing that if she got hit, she might have a bad headache. 99% of that day they spent indoors because the wind scared them. This incident happened in the 5 minute timeframe they were outside (naturally). If this is her problem, I don't know what to do except wait. Possibly pain relief though I would have to hope she didn't have any internal bledding from being whacked.
Whoever said chickens were easy must have been on antidepressants! They are such a worry sometimes!
So this note is just to commiserate with those who understand. Not really sure what to do except watch and wait. And doesn't it just figure that I have to be out much of the next 2 days a distance north of my place. Has to do with helping my folks with something important or I would stay put. Will be here each end of the day to tend to the birds and kitties but that's about it so I hope Ellie will not get worse as I won't be able to watch her very closely (and of course, nor will vets be open)....
Ugh, going to go check on her.
JJ
Edited to say p.s. a couple of times in the past few days she's made kind of a goose honking sound, as though something she swallowed got caught. Today she did it shortly after I hgave her several mealworms so I thought it might be that some flakes of wheat bran were an irritant. Gave her some cut up grapes to "wash it down" - it subsided a little while later. Probably nothing - who the heck knows.
While she is eager for mealworms and gobbled up some cut up grape, her usual gusto for other foods is waning, today being the worst (she has regular chicken food available at all times, of course, but I can tell her appetite is off because she is not her usual eager self about sunflower seeds and other things that she would normally squeal with delight over). She and BJ snuck some cat food in the past few days when they managed to get into the kitchen - I didn't stop them because of the added protein being good during a molt, and it's very high end catfood. Usually I don't allow a whole lot of this because of concerns that salt content might be too high in catfood. She doesn;t like eggs or I'd give her some protein that way.
Mostly Ellie just stands inside her building in a dark corner, her buddy BJ roo loyally and quietly at her side (he's further along in his molt - has stopped dropping feathers and is in the porcupine phase right now). This afternoon happens to be gorgeous and it's very odd that they're not outside and that she's not sunbathing. She did a little of that yesterday though. But mostly just sat around.
She stopped laying eggs a few days before she began molting, as I expected she would, and as she did last year, so hopefully it's not an egg issue. I did think I saw the teeniest bit of sulfur colored material on her butt feathers yesterday but all poo has been pretty much normal. She is not, however, pooing as much since she's not eating as much. Did make me wonder if she might have an infection needing meds.
Avia Charge 2000 is in their water.
The day before yetserday there was a terrible windstorm all day. A branch came down right where Ellie was standing and I thought she might have gotten hit but then I saw she was several feet away; whether she moved before or after the branch came down I don't know. She seemed okay. So I am also supposing that if she got hit, she might have a bad headache. 99% of that day they spent indoors because the wind scared them. This incident happened in the 5 minute timeframe they were outside (naturally). If this is her problem, I don't know what to do except wait. Possibly pain relief though I would have to hope she didn't have any internal bledding from being whacked.
Whoever said chickens were easy must have been on antidepressants! They are such a worry sometimes!
So this note is just to commiserate with those who understand. Not really sure what to do except watch and wait. And doesn't it just figure that I have to be out much of the next 2 days a distance north of my place. Has to do with helping my folks with something important or I would stay put. Will be here each end of the day to tend to the birds and kitties but that's about it so I hope Ellie will not get worse as I won't be able to watch her very closely (and of course, nor will vets be open)....
Ugh, going to go check on her.
JJ
Edited to say p.s. a couple of times in the past few days she's made kind of a goose honking sound, as though something she swallowed got caught. Today she did it shortly after I hgave her several mealworms so I thought it might be that some flakes of wheat bran were an irritant. Gave her some cut up grapes to "wash it down" - it subsided a little while later. Probably nothing - who the heck knows.
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