Newbie & freaking out.

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theBIGhen

theBIGhen

In the Brooder
5 Years
May 2, 2014
5
1
11
Good Evening! My name is Kristy. We added six Ameraucanas to our family last Aug. They started laying late -- between 5-6 months of age. One of our ladies has a crooked beak and does not lay regularly but she is mom son's favorite! I have been coming to this site for some time to search for things about my ladies but finally decided to join :)
I have recently noticed that my ladies are losing feather's around their necks & vents-- boo! My hubby picked up some sevin dust recently for treatment, but hasn't done anything with it yet.

Tonight when my oldest son checked for eggs & closed the coop up for the night he brought down a very bloody egg! EWW!!

I am starting to freak out a bit about my ladies!
 
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Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Did you check the girls over really closely and have you seen any mites/lice? I would wonder about feather picking also with missing feathers on necks and vents, that can lead to vent picking pretty fast. Did you check their vents if you have any hens with something going on either picking or a prolapse? You might want to post with pictures in the Emergencies forum if you find a hen with an injury www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures They are about 10 months old?
 
yeah, about. We got them as pullets. They are our first time having chickens.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Sounds like this could be a couple things. The neck and vent feathers that are missing sounds like aggression. Neck feathers are regularly pulled out by other aggressive hens. If you have a ladder style roosting area, the lower birds can pluck the butt feathers from the birds above them.

As for the bloody egg, you may have a bird with prolapse. So I would give everybody a check at the vents to make sure none of the hens has parts of her insides coming out.

Make sure to give your birds plenty of space. Cramped birds are aggressive. So give them things to do in the coop and get them out to free range.

Make sure they have oyster shell and fresh water available at all times as the lack of either of these can cause prolapse.

If you need to, post in our emergency section to help with any prolapse you have.

Good luck with your birds and I hope you can get this solved soon.
 
Thanks @TwoCrows I have read about prolapse but had no idea what I would even be looking for, so your post helps a lot! I, too, thought the loss of feathers could be aggression but I noticed it in my top hen too.
We do not have a ladder roosting system. To be honest, they have a small run to go into everyday but due to where we live, they do not have free range. They don't have any foliage on the ground anymore and within the last week, I have started giving them treats like, cabbage, melon, cucumber skin, broccoli and we have bought a bag of scratch for them as well. I will get some oyster shell this weekend for my girls. They have a fresh water available at all times.
 
I was able to get a hold of my girls tonight as they were just starting to roost. I noticed several things-- I have one who is completely feathered (I am guessing she is the ring master) and although the others have lost feathers, they look healthy, one has a very red bottom but is not prolapsed.We are working on adding things for them to peck at instead of other.
 
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You may want to hang a cabbage head for them to pick at, bring some thick tree branches into the run for them to climb on and explore. Dump a shovelful of weeds/grass etc. in the run now and then so they can hunt for worms and bugs.

You could get them some meal worms as a special treat/ maybe even start a colony yourself to meet their needs. You could get them a small ball they can push around. Some people have even discovered chickens like to sit on a swing. Just look at them like kids out for summer break that complain they have nothing to do.
 

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