We have 8 chickens and they have just started to lay... 2 each of barred rocks, austrolorps, RIR, Golden laced wyandottes. The largest and bossiest is one of the barred rocks. At the bottom of the pecking order is the other barred rock. We call her Cindy which is short for Cinderella because her step sisters are mean to her.
They other chickens have not caused any visible injuries however, she does not seem right. She is much smaller (lighter) than the others. She feeds but never scratches even when they are allowed to free range. All the others scratch up a storm. She also stands on the left leg only alot but walks just fine. No visible problems with her feet. Her comb and wattle are not bright red as with her sisters.
We currently let her free range alone for a while and feed her some extras like hard boiled egg, grapes, wet cat food. She eats like a horse when we do this. This extra feeding program seems to be working but slowly.
Another thing I have noticed is that her upper beak is hooked down as in a raptor. Her sisters do not have this feature. The hooking is not extreme.
Any thoughts about her plight or solutions.
Advice is appreciated.
Ed
They other chickens have not caused any visible injuries however, she does not seem right. She is much smaller (lighter) than the others. She feeds but never scratches even when they are allowed to free range. All the others scratch up a storm. She also stands on the left leg only alot but walks just fine. No visible problems with her feet. Her comb and wattle are not bright red as with her sisters.
We currently let her free range alone for a while and feed her some extras like hard boiled egg, grapes, wet cat food. She eats like a horse when we do this. This extra feeding program seems to be working but slowly.
Another thing I have noticed is that her upper beak is hooked down as in a raptor. Her sisters do not have this feature. The hooking is not extreme.
Any thoughts about her plight or solutions.
Advice is appreciated.
Ed