itskels
In the Brooder
- Mar 24, 2015
- 30
- 4
- 31
Hi everyone! My hen has been having some issues this past week and I'm hoping to get some insight and also some info on how to fix these problems.
I'll start by saying that last Tuesday one of our dogs escaped his kennel and
went after her. I don't believe he was trying to hurt her, i'm sure he was just trying to play, but he is a large 60 lb. dog. I saw it happen and quickly scooped her up. There was no blood, no visible injuries, and other than looking shaken up and having a few torn feathers, she is eating and drinking and acting like herself personality wise.
She has never missed a day of laying since about a week after we got her. She laid Tuesday after the incident but has not laid any since then. I haven't thought too much of it since I know a lot of chickens don't lay daily anyway. However, yesterday when I put her up, I noticed a broken egg membrane in her box.
Now onto my second problem...Last month the feathers around her vent started looking like they we're collecting poo. I gave her a bath and cleaned her up the best I could. They got a little dirty again, but nothing too bad until this past week. Wednesday they started getting dirty again. Now her backside is incredibly dirty...it looks like her poo is just collecting there. It looks so uncomfortable for her. I'm planning to give her another bath, but I feel like she is just going to get back dirty again...I don't think a bath is going to actually solve the problem so I'm looking for more insight as to what could be wrong.
Could this all be stress related to the incident early last week? We love our hen very much and any help is so appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
I'll start by saying that last Tuesday one of our dogs escaped his kennel and
went after her. I don't believe he was trying to hurt her, i'm sure he was just trying to play, but he is a large 60 lb. dog. I saw it happen and quickly scooped her up. There was no blood, no visible injuries, and other than looking shaken up and having a few torn feathers, she is eating and drinking and acting like herself personality wise.
She has never missed a day of laying since about a week after we got her. She laid Tuesday after the incident but has not laid any since then. I haven't thought too much of it since I know a lot of chickens don't lay daily anyway. However, yesterday when I put her up, I noticed a broken egg membrane in her box.
Now onto my second problem...Last month the feathers around her vent started looking like they we're collecting poo. I gave her a bath and cleaned her up the best I could. They got a little dirty again, but nothing too bad until this past week. Wednesday they started getting dirty again. Now her backside is incredibly dirty...it looks like her poo is just collecting there. It looks so uncomfortable for her. I'm planning to give her another bath, but I feel like she is just going to get back dirty again...I don't think a bath is going to actually solve the problem so I'm looking for more insight as to what could be wrong.
Could this all be stress related to the incident early last week? We love our hen very much and any help is so appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
