No eggs, fluffy gals, and scabby combs -- oh my!

[kimchick621]

So, I'm a new chicken keeper. I've had my gals since June. You can see my three adult gals pictured left over the summer when they were all giving me an egg a day, and being wonderful.

So first question first. This is our little Bobbi, she's about 5 weeks old now and is kept outside with her momma. She is fed chicken starter and table scraps. I figured since she's outside and able to get at pebbles it's alright to feed her some other food. Here's a picture of her this cold morning enjoying some oatmeal with mom.

My concern with her, is that she has a small scab on the front of her comb. Should I be worried about it? Should I traumatize her by trying to put some vaseline or ointment on it?




Secondly, my other two adult girls haven't laid an egg in almost a month. I'm assuming they're molting. Is it normal for them to molt so long? Do they look healthy to you guys? I did have to worm them just after hurricane sandy. I had brought them inside and noticed wormy poop. Seems to be cleared up now...but here are their pictures.

This is a shot of them enjoying their oatmeal this morning too, with their pathetic little tail feathers. My olive egger is camera shy.




Goldie is always so curious, so she comes right over when I'm snapping pictures. Likely hoping for a treat. Anyway, is this a normal molt, or should I be concerned about something else? It's been roughly a month since either one of them have laid an egg.

 

[kimchick621]

Also...if anyone can tell...does the baby look to be part Americauna? Pappa is a Welsummer, and the actual hen who laid her is a good guess. Came from my neighbor's hen house when my gal went broody. He says he has Americauna's who lay white eggs, since this gal hatched out of a white egg. I'm skeptical, but kinda hoping for an easter egger if that's the case.

 

[my sunwolf]

They look normal to me

Molts can last 3 months or longer, depending on the hen, and many will stop laying while they shed their feathers. It is also normal for the combs to shrink and turn a little "chalky/scabby" during the molt, though the mom's scab looks a little worse than normal. You can make them look nicer (and probably feel better) by putting some vaseline on the combs (like you suggested) and feeding extra protein to help them grow feathers back.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I would not be concerned with the scab on th comb of the pullet. Looks like the older hens are going through a light molt(no major feather loss). And if your neighbor only has the Welsummer rooster and Ameracauna hens, then yes yours would be an EE, but hard to judge unless you knew for sure what breed laid it.

 

[kimchick621]

Thanks! I've been giving them more meat lately, and actually set aside some turkey last week just for them. Do you have any other suggestions for protein? My adult girls (not momma) are eating a laying mix. Should I add some seeds? Maybe sunflower? Momma is eating chick starter with her baby. Momma also won't be so traumatized by vaseline. She's a pretty easy going gal, it's the baby who I think would just freak. Can you see the little scab on her comb?

 

[my sunwolf]

Also...if anyone can tell...does the baby look to be part Americauna? Pappa is a Welsummer, and the actual hen who laid her is a good guess. Came from my neighbor's hen house when my gal went broody. He says he has Americauna's who lay white eggs, since this gal hatched out of a white egg. I'm skeptical, but kinda hoping for an easter egger if that's the case.

The baby does look part Easter Egger, though her coloring definitely looks like Welsummer too. Since she has a pea comb she might lay dark green eggs, but I would really like someone with more genetics knowledge to confirm that! Guess you'll know in 6 months...

 

[kimchick621]

My neighbor has a mix of hens, but only the welsummer rooster. I can't think that he had any other white egg layers at the time. He does now, because he has new girls that just started laying, but..back in September when that egg was laid, they weren't laying yet. How exciting though. I'm hoping for pretty eggs.

 

[kimchick621]

I think what's throwing me off is the color of her legs. Shouldn't they be grey, not so bright yellow? Ahh, I'm babbling now.

 

[my sunwolf]

I think what's throwing me off is the color of her legs. Shouldn't they be grey, not so bright yellow? Ahh, I'm babbling now.

Easter Eggers can really have all colors of feathers, legs, earlobes, etc. I think there's a rumor going around that slate/grey/green legs on EE's meant blue/green eggs, but I'm pretty sure it's not true. I know for sure that the pea comb is connected to the blue egg gene (not 100% of the time), but with the Welsummer and who knows what else mixed in, the chick might only inherit the brown egg gene, or might inherit one of both (blue and brown) and therefore lay green eggs.

For extra protein, I give my hens meat, cooked beans and rice, lentils, cat food (flavored corn and meat by-products!), wild bird food, whatever I have on hand.

Just a note, I can't see any sort of scab on the baby's comb. I think you're fine not putting vaseline on any of the hens, to tell you the truth.

Keep babbling about chickens, it keeps things interesting

 

[kimchick621]

Then babble I will! Thanks for the info...I will just sit back and watch, and hope that I get some eggs again in the next month.