I thought it was moulting, I may be wrong

[SarahBeth9394]

A few of my ladies looked like they began molting but it was just their feathers above their tail feathers. One of the hens is growing back pretty new feathers. But I just went out and one of the hens is down. Any ideas?

 

[orumpoultry]

Have you checked for mites lately? I have no idea other than that... Maybe just bad molts?

 

[SarahBeth9394]

I just gave them all the once over and I think it's moulting. No mites. Lot's of what I call new feathers. The one that's down has a sore maybe from the others pecking when she was down. I'm trying to muster the courage to cull her. I got the hatchet out and she's in a box. Ugh. One of the other girls has a spot of skin that seems dry.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

I decided to put her in a big box, give her food and water and check her in the morning. If she's perked up any and shows any sign of hope I'll bathe her and see if I can nurse her back to health.

 

[orumpoultry]

Is it possible that the others were picking on her due to her molt? Possibly harassed her into exhaustion? I have to separate a few of my girls during molting season as they are BAD about eating the tasty new feathers coming in. Will literally chase the other hens for those yummy feathers!

 

[SarahBeth9394]

So yesterday when I discovered the bad hen it was getting time for the ladies to start going in to the coop for the night. One of them was in there already. Well this morning that one is now on her belly with a wound in the same spot as the other. There was no wound last night. The first lady has not improved at all. So I'll have to cull her sometime today and put her out of her misery. The one with the new wound is no where near as bad off. But I may have to separate her before she is. I think I'll go out and observe the flock for a while and see what is going on, if there's some pecking. One of the girls who's moulting has a dry spot of skin but there are feathers covering it and she's a big gal so I don't think she'll be a target. Of course all this has to happen just after a storm so the ground got real muddy and is now free from mud puddles and it's just warming up again today. My first lady to have the issue is one of my green layers and the new one is as well. Poop!

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Ugh. So I went out and saw that there was some pecking right on the wound spot. I set up a temporary pen in the garage with food, water, and bedding and put hen 2 in there. BTW hen 1 is Mr Rogers aka Falco and hen 2 is one of the twin V's (Veloca Raptor and Voldemort). I put Mr Rogers in a separate box, her legs, feet and toes are stiff, so I am setting up to cull her and I look over and that sweet girl had in less than 5 minutes since I put her in the smaller box laid an egg. I picked up the egg and went to rinse it but it broke. She didn't have enough in her to produce a thick shell. I'm gonna have to suck it up and do the deed. Man it is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I know I'll be putting her out of her misery but ones first culling is not an easy thing.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Ok so about 20 minutes after my last post I culled Mr Rogers. I could not use the hatchet, I tried to use the limb loppers but couldn't. I had them around her neck but could not bring myself to decapitate her. So I grabbed the 22, took her out behind the shed and put her down. She was gone right away. It wasn't too gruesome. But it still sucked. I'm going to go plant some tiger lilies now.

 

[orumpoultry]

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you figure out why your girls are getting all cut up during the molt. Sounds to me like the other hens are just pecking at the bald spots.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

Well I kept hen 2 (V twin) separate till this morning. She was back up on her feet so I cleaned her up again and put some anti peck salve on her and put her out with the other ladies. She's doing good and isn't getting pecked anymore. I noticed that one of my RR's Big Red was in the nest box. I've been checking the girls every couple of hours since this started. Big Red has been in the coop all day. She has no pecking wounds. I just took some mashed potatoes out to the ladies and she came bumbling out of the coop to get the goodies. Then she pooped a huge poop that was about the size of an egg. So she's eating but she's on her belly with one of her legs straight back. I'm completely at a loss. Should I throw them all some high protein treats to try and get them through this moult? I was thinking of peanut butter on some wheat bread. I keep checking them for bugs and they are clean. I'm not worried about Big Red getting pecked just yet because she's the beefiest girl out there. But this is just weird and my first flock so I don't know what to expect with the moulting. They had a partial moult a few months ago and it was the neck and shoulders. This time it's their backs and bottoms. I'm stumped and starting to get discouraged.