New Brahma Group: Blue Partridge x Partridge, Plus Dark

[speckledhen]

 

[1muttsfan]

I wouldn't try to straighten it out either. She will rehab it on her own out scratching around and pecking. She looks to be moving around quite well. Is she having any trouble eating? You may have to separate her so she doesn't get bullied.
It's always something!

 

[speckledhen]

She is mild-mannered anyway so she gets bullied mostly by Cora. Cora bullies even the bigger ones, Betsy and Bonnie. BJ is the head hen and she will occasionally thunk everyone, including Brandy. Cora won't go against BJ. I am more concerned with Bash mating her and he does. If he pulls on her head too hard, it could kill her. I really don't have a good place to separate her, which of course, would make integrating her again even harder than the time she is having now. She eats and drinks pretty well, so she's not doing badly. I just hate seeing her like that. When I noticed her hunching her neck in December, she was mostly naked from molting and I thought she was just cold from a bare neck (I was just getting out after breaking my leg, but couldn't do chores or even go into the barn then). But, it didn't get better; in fact, it ended up going to the left, not just being pulled back and "turtling". I guess I'll just let her keep doing what she's doing. I have given her aspirin a few times, in case there was some inflammation it might solve, but it really didn't do anything I could see. Might have made it feel better, if it's even hurting her at all. Can't really tell if it is.

 

[speckledhen]

I have to add that Brandy has always been my favorite in that entire group. She's also the best laced hen I have, so sweet and beautiful. She's raised so many chicks in her life, too, but with her neck like that, I can't see her going broody again. None of the Brahmas are laying. I get one egg about a week ago, probably from Cora, but none since that day from that group. They will be 6 years old in June just like Hector and Jill so not likely to lay at any great rate from now on.

 

[speckledhen]

Looks like I'll lose another Brahma soon. Betsy has not laid an egg in a year or more and her crop is malfunctioning, very sluggish and doughy. After working on it for two weeks, it is still not right. Thought it was improving but she relapsed. she is weakening and I think she'll go just like Bailey did recently. I don't know what the longevity of this line is, but they are six years old, other than Bash's daughter, Cora, who is a year younger. Cora is broody and has been for about three weeks; no, she has no eggs and I will not give her any. Crop issues are almost always indicative of some internal issue so she probably is not fixable. We try until it's clear that it's beyond the scope of what we can cure. That's always a hard lesson for newer chicken owners, that there is often simply nothing you can do.
My Dark Brahma, BJ, also has some issue. She's gone to a nest, or rather, under the nests since she cannot seem to make that jump anymore, to sit and sit and sit and not produce an egg. This has gone on for months now, sort of ominous. May lose her as well. She literally gasps when the heat index is high, way worse than the others. The only hens laying currently are crooked-neck Brandy and big Bonnie Blue.

 

[ColtHandorf]

My Orpingtons aren't handling the heat well at all.

 

[speckledhen]

My Orpingtons did better in the heat than my Brahmas, Colt. In fact, when my late friend, Ladyhawk (Cetawin on BYC) lost most of her flock one day when the heat index where she lived in Kentucky soared to 114*, the ones who survived were her big Blue Orp rooster, Lancelot, a red Cochin and two or three Orp hens, one a humongous one that, as far as I know, was still alive a few months ago at 12 years old. Her Delaware hens, daughters of my late Isaac, both perished. They were all outside, dustbathing under her big front porch, fans blowing on them and had just given the entire bunch chilled watermelon, but soon realized something was wrong and went under there, began pulling out dead and dying birds. I think she lost 14 birds in one afternoon, much smaller bodied than those big Orps. My Brahmas wouldn't have made it, I'm sure. Delawares are not as heat tolerant as folks think. Brahmas pant at 70*, the wusses.

Betsy is probably on her way out at just 6 years old. She is sitting, won't eat, won't even go outside with her flock. I can't do a thing for her, unfortunately, except push food out of her crop and move it along, but it's not the main issue. Something else is wrong inside, I have no doubt.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

My Orpingtons aren't handling the heat well at all.

My ladies aren't either! I came home from work yesterday to find my 6 month old FBCM dead of heat stroke

 

[ColtHandorf]

It's been over 100 here for over two weeks. No rain in about two months. It was 108 this weekend. It's 104 today. No temps in the 14 day forecast below 101. and no rain of course. I've been running a sprinkler on them in the evenings to give them cool dirt to dust down into. I can't wait for it to cool off. It's so hot the eggs are incubating in the nest box without hens setting on them. I've had babies hatching on day 16 in the incubator while still being turned. The ones that hatched yesterday weren't supposed to start until Sunday.

 

[ColtHandorf]

My ladies aren't either! I came home from work yesterday to find my 6 month old FBCM dead of heat stroke

I've had a lot of younger birds drop dead for no reason. And I lost my tufted Araucana rooster.