- Aug 31, 2012
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One of my Silver laced Wyandotte hens has went "downhill" ever since she got broody for the first time in early June this year. She's out of it now, but is a completely different hen than she used to be!
This is her, "Pirate"(I nicknamed her that because she used to sit on my shoulder like a pirate's parrot
), before she was broody. (Sorry for the blurriness).
Now she is raggedy, skinny, and nervous acting. If I try and pick her up, I have to herd her around until I can grab her, and once I do, she flaps her wings and is "bawking" like something's about to eat her.
Since we got her and the other chicks, now chickens, in spring 2011, I suppose it's around molting time for them. My other hens are loosing feathers here and there, but not close to her condition. She is the smallest chicken I have now. She has a patch of neck feathers that aren't completely gone - instead, they're off at the base, and you can see the little nubs that are holding onto the skin.
Is this molting, being picked on, or both?
This is her, "Pirate"(I nicknamed her that because she used to sit on my shoulder like a pirate's parrot
), before she was broody. (Sorry for the blurriness). Now she is raggedy, skinny, and nervous acting. If I try and pick her up, I have to herd her around until I can grab her, and once I do, she flaps her wings and is "bawking" like something's about to eat her.
Since we got her and the other chicks, now chickens, in spring 2011, I suppose it's around molting time for them. My other hens are loosing feathers here and there, but not close to her condition. She is the smallest chicken I have now. She has a patch of neck feathers that aren't completely gone - instead, they're off at the base, and you can see the little nubs that are holding onto the skin.
Is this molting, being picked on, or both?
