Molting or Sick?

[turkeymom]

Hope you all can help. My 9 month old BO hen quit laying about 6 weeks ago and started losing feathers all over the place. No skin is visible, but she lost her tail feathers and is not as plump and beautiful as she was before. You can see little white shafts coming in on her head, and also her comb is much paler than before.
I assumed this was a normal molt, but I've noticed over the past week that she's been hanging back when I go into the pen to give treats and not her usual gregarious self. So, I picked her up and held her like a baby to inspect her vent and underside. She seems to have lost weight (the bone on her underside was prominent) and there was some yellowish goo near her vent.
Other than the changes in her personality I described above, she seems to be relatively active, hunting for bugs and taking dust baths.

What do you think? And what should I do?

Thanks in advance!

(Oh, one more thing, my other hens seem fine - egg production great, great appetites, etc.)

 

[herefordlovinglady]

my first thought is a molt.

hopefully this bump will help and you will get more input.

sorry i was not much help.

 

[Roy]

I would say she is molting, I have some that are showing the same symptoms and her feathers are now growing back, I say, give some time, she'll come around...

 

[turkeymom]

Thanks, ya'll, I'm just worried. I thought molting just entailed feather loss and less/no egglaying, but I guess it's stressing her whole system. I've been supplementing their protein with peas and tuna, so I'll just make sure she gets plenty. Cheese is her favorite, so maybe I'll try that.

 

[tiki244]

Sounds like a molt. Some of my birds molt pretty hard and it seems to take a lot out of them. Give her some more protein in her diet which should help her build some good feathers. Sometimes I seperate the ones that molt so I can feed them extra rations and make sure they are getting all they need. Some extra greens and chopped carrots and a boiled egg a day will do wonders. Also a little vitamins and electrolytes in the water. The boiled egg has lots of protein in it. ,,,, Or/and game bird flight conditioner is good at 23% protein, but you may not want to buy a whole bag for 1 bird.

good luck.

 

[Aubrinator]

My Ameracauna hen was losing feathers and stopped laying, but after about six weeks, she is looking much better. No eggs yet, though.