Is she ok?

[angrychick3n]

Two questions, somewhat related, but not completely.

First, my Brahma: Baise, seems kind of a trooper, unusual for Brahmas, she nearly a daily layer, but that could also be because she is at POL age. What concerns me however is the amount of time it takes for her to lay eggs. Being at POL age, I am not surprised that they're very small, however my Lakeshore Egger: Rockstar, same age, half the size of the Brahma, daily layer, larger eggs, and lays in a quarter of the amount of time of the Brahma. Also of concern, Baise's crop while not particularly enlarged, appears to be slightly hard. I've massaged it for a couple days now and it doesn't appear to be helping the hard feeling. Im concerned for potential egg binding, or impacted crop, or something else. She always appears to have a difficult time laying. Panting profusely, hard at work laying such a small egg. Any thoughts anyone?

My second question is about a behavior. The Brahma, and my BlueCM both will scream at anyone who is in their favorite nesting area. They don't even have to be in their preferred box (the bottom ones) even if they're in the top boxes, it makes them very angry, and they scream at whoever's there until they're done laying....haha, is that normal?

I started watching my entire flock more carefully since one of my beautiful Wyandottes passed away overnight from an impacted crop. She was fine the day before, and the next day, she'd just fallen off her perch in the coup with an impacted crop, so I'm quite concerned.

 

[sourland]

If her crop empties over night, all is good. She's a healthy looking bird and may just be a big eater. Many hens value their privacy and complain loudly if another bird intrudes while they are laying. Her behavior is normal.

 

[Gallinarium]

The difference in laying time is completely normal, it varies a lot among hens. As long as she does lay eggs, and isn't struggling to pass just one egg, don't worry about it.
It may be impacted crop, I don't know much about it, so hopefully someone else with more knowledge chimes in.
The guarding of the nesting boxes is normal, some of my hens used to do that.

 

[angrychick3n]

If her crop empties over night, all is good. She's a healthy looking bird and may just be a big eater. Many hens value their privacy and complain loudly if another bird intrudes while they are laying. Her behavior is normal.

I checked her crop before work yesterday, when I returned home yesterday, and this morning, all three times she appears to have a hard crop, she wad also panting last night despite it being not that terribly hot, and her panting appeared to subside a little bit after I massaged her crop. The day prior to yesterday was a heat wave, and EVERYONE was panting with swollen crops, but I gave them all a whole frozen watermelon to help them cool off, so I have to presume thats why, everyone returned to normal, with exception to Baise the Brahma, who is still panting occasionally, but Brahmas are winter chickens, so she may also not be dealing with the heat particularly well.

 

[aart]

She may have an impacted crop.
What other 'treats' do you feed?

I'd isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.


Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

Also might need some heat stress relief:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-hot-weather-spiel.75893/

 

[angrychick3n]

She may have an impacted crop.
What other 'treats' do you feed?

I'd isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor their intake of food and water, crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed), and their poops. Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling. Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.


Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

Also might need some heat stress relief:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-hot-weather-spiel.75893/

I checked her last night, she was panting just a little bit, but not like she was too nights ago, and she was too deep in the coup to try to scoop her out and check her so I just let her be. This morning I checked her out, and her crop was totally flat, in no need of massaging. So I think she is all better.

I feed my chickens from food scraps from a local grocery store, occasional whole wheat grain seed, minced garlic, and my compost piles, and on the day of the heat wave, everybody was gorging themselves on 2 watermelons I got presumably to keep themselves cool. Considering Heise is a winter broiler chicken, its no surprise that she is having the toughest time out of the lot. I think she'll be ok now.

 

[aart]

Considering Heise is a winter broiler chicken

Never heard them called that, maybe your local colloquialism??
Brahma are not broilers, they are layers....but they do have substantial carcasses when slaughtered for meat.
I loved my light Brahma's, beautiful calm birds, but not great on the feed to egg conversion.

 

[angrychick3n]

Never heard them called that, maybe your local colloquialism??
Brahma are not broilers, they are layers....but they do have substantial carcasses when slaughtered for meat.
I loved my light Brahma's, beautiful calm birds, but not great on the feed to egg conversion.

Well yes, you are correct. Brahmas are dual purpose birds, but they only lay about 150 eggs per year, so they would definitely not be considered a production breed. Youre also right that they tend to have substantial carcasses, and Brahmas are certainly considered to be winter birds, they have much thicker plumage than other chickens, plus the feathered legs to help keep their legs warm.

I have a Lakeshore Egger, 2 BlackCM's, a BlueCM, 2 Asian Blacks, a Silver Laced Wyandotte, 3 Rhode Islands, 2 Lavender Orpringtons, 2 Black Australorps, in addition to my Brahma Heise, and she is easily the heaviest.

 

[aart]

and Brahmas are certainly considered to be winter birds, they have much thicker plumage than other chickens, plus the feathered legs to help keep their legs warm.

.....and/or because they have small low pea combs...so low risk of frostbite.

I see you are fairly new here (new to keeping chickens too??)....
...so....Welcome to BYC! @angrychick3n
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[angrychick3n]

.....and/or because they have small low pea combs...so low risk of frostbite.

I see you are fairly new here (new to keeping chickens too??)....
...so....Welcome to BYC! @angrychick3n
Where in this world are you located?
Climate, and time of year, is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2299115

Yeah I'm a new chicken keeper, and new member. However, since I began keeping chickens, I have gobbled up every piece of info that would help me keep my birbs alive, and feed them nearly for free. At my current estimated costs, I think I'm feeding my chickens at about maybe 2 cents per bird, per day.

I live in the Northwest. Washington state in Snohomish County to be exact. We just experienced a heat wave this Saturday, its been cooling off however as the week progressed. This climate is mostly wet and boggy. It rains 172 days out of the year here.