New to chickens. Chicken with wet butt, bloody egg, bare feathers, and pale combs

[sarahsunshine]

Hi All,

I am new to chickens. We bought several bout 2.5 weeks ago and boy are they fun! We have 12 eight week old ‘broilers’ (but I think they are a white Heinz 57), and 7 layers – 5 White leghorns about 2 years old, and 2 10month old ISA Browns. For the past 1.5 weeks I was giving them all fermented 50/50 grower feed/heritage cracked wheat, but 3-4 days ago switched the layers to fermented half layer feed, half organic heritage wheat. They are also in chicken tractors and get access to new grass, clover, bugs, and frogs every 2 days, plus whatever the kids catch and feed them.

My questions:
1) It seems one of the Leghorns always has a wet bottom. It is wet like water, not poopy or dirty. It is not a huge problem now, but when the weather gets colder it won’t be any good at all (want a frozen butt?). Plus it shouldn’t be that way, so I need to help her! It has been this way since I got her. She also seems to have very bare primary feathers, like they have worn off. What could that be from?

2) Periodically I get an egg that has blood on it. What does this mean? All I know is it belongs to one of the White Leghorns, no idea which! Maybe it’s the one with the wet butt?

3) Two of my leghorns are getting paler combs. I haven’t done any thorough exams for mites (I will ASAP), but I understand that it is likely anemia. What is the best way to treat this? Do you think the new feed will help?

The ‘broilers are very happy and look healthy to me. They are growing quickly, now, too!

 

[Eggcessive]

The broilers should be ready to butcher any time, I would think. They sometimes break legs or die from heat attacks if they get too old. The leghorns may benefit from some apple cider vinegar 1 TB per gallon and some plain yogurt or probiotics twice a week for their bowel health. The bloody streaks on eggs from new layers is completely normal. Since the leghorns are older they might be getting ready to molt which will result in paler combs, loss of feathers, and no eggs laid for a month or two. They also may have lice or mites which can cause anemia. Do you plan on worming them? Here is a link to click on about lice and mites with good pictures: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html

 

[sarahsunshine]

Maybe I will add an ash 'bath' for them. It would give them something to do, and it may help them if they have mites.

I don't think the broilers are ready for butchering yet. They have just reached the size of the leghorns, and by some accounts are likely not true broilers at all. They were also in a very active environment until 6 weeks, so they likely didn't grow as fast as they could have. I will keep my eye on them. They will be butchered, at the latest, in mid-August, depending on their size. I was suggested that the pullets might make good laying birds, but we will have to figure out what to do with them, considering we are not allowed chickens in the city, and we will have to bring whatever we don't butcher back to the city for the winter!

But back to the original question... any other ideas?

 

[sarahsunshine]

I gave them a large plate full of ashes last night and they LOVED it. They all look so much cleaner and fluffier now, and I swear a new spring in their step.