black australorp hen
aproximatly a year and a bit old
got her as a day old chick
no new birds in the flock since we got them all at a day old form the same place.
they have free acess to crushed oyster, get safe veggie scraps (corn, cabbage, ect...no tomatoes garlic onions or potatoe peelings)
the other hens in the flock are showing no signs of illness...
they also have acess to a food grade DE dust bath.
their pen is 50 x 50 with no acess to anything poisenous that i could find...
ive checked for mites, no sign of mites.
around 6 months old this hen started loosing feathers on her rump, tail, wings and everything from what would be the waist up was fine...no scabs, no open wounds, figured it was picking or riding as she seemed ot be fairly low on the pole, treated with nustock to keep the other birds off...she eventually lost ALL her feathers from the wasit down to the tail, i worried it was mites because again shes never had any wounds, sores scabs ect, but i couldnt find any sign of mites, and then the loss stopped, literally she had a completly nekkid butt, but none of her other feathers started going missing. infact what was left looked shiney clean and very healthy.
checked her regularly for sores, no wounds no scabs, odly she had kept the feathers around her vent area which i hear is the first to go...
anywho...we thought given her lack of feathering we were going to loose her over the winter there were mornings her poor tush was bright red from wind chap, but we put a fleece hen saddle on her and hoped for the best as she was still eating, laying and interacting..
same story through spring, nekkid butt but otherwise completly normal.
then the day before yesterday nothign out of the ordinary, she ate, she ran, she flapped, she ate grass (no pesticides) ate her treats (was oatmeal and a head of cabbage for them) then that evening mum whent to lock them in and she was sitting on the ground under the roost...now weve found eggs regularly in that spot so mum didnt bother her, and good night chickens.
yesterday morning mum opend them up for the day and she was still sitting in the exact same spot, usually when the doors open they all rush out, but ronny didnt rush infact she didnt get up...mum figured she must be sitting and let her be...weve had hens sit in the morning who refuse to come out at first, so normal...
about 2 hours later she whent out and ronny was in the exact same spot, mum lifted her to see if she had an egg under there and she stood up gave her a "look" and wandered off before going to sit in another corner...
mum brought treats out, and all the birds rished over...ronny kind of came out slowly wandered stratight past the treats and stared blankly across the run...
then yesterday afternoon mum came in to tell me ronny had died...
she was next to the ramp going into the pop door from the run, looks like she maybe fell off the ramp? but we cant be sure.
i gave her body a quick check over, NO open wounds no scabbing, her vent looked normal though she had a tiny bit of poop on her butt (nothing to indicate pastey and no diahrreea that we coudl find) i couldnt feel anything hard in her abdominal cavinty but im no chicken bipology expert.
she was a good healthy body type didnt seem skinny, crop felt normal for a chicken food in there but not impacted. no sign or mites or lice, she did have little black sugar ants around her vent but nothing that looked like bites (were in ct no fire ants) so i think they started once they found the corps rather than being a potential cause.
body was cold hard and stiff, but neck floppy, i know this is relitivly normal after rigor but was wondering...
could she have been not well and then fallen off the ramp and broken her neck on landing?
its not a steep run and its not high off the floor (the pop door is about 24" off the ground)
im at a loss with this one...she was fine one day, then that night she wasnt and the day after she was gone.
weve got a few hens that are missing some feathers at the base of their tails as of yet weve been unable ot figure out which one is doing it but it looks to be riding...
theres no roosters in the group...so ive no doubt weve got a dominant female puttng everyone in their place...
but there were no wounds on ronny and they wernt pushing her away from feed ect...
i dont want to treat them with anything medication wise if its just a simple case of a genetic issue...but i dont want mum loosing any more hens either...
all the others are acting normal...but this came over ronny so fast that im a tad worried.
unfortunatly we do not have any chicken vets around here and my avian vet has now decided he wont even talk chickens...and the only farm vet locally isnt interested in 1 chicken said to call him if we loose more than 3 in a week...*sigh*
were in connecticut, temps this past few days have been in the low to mid 80's with some peeking to the high 80's but noones been panting and theyres plenty of ventilation in the coop and shade in the run, they have free acess to water and food.
thoughts?
aproximatly a year and a bit old
got her as a day old chick
no new birds in the flock since we got them all at a day old form the same place.
they have free acess to crushed oyster, get safe veggie scraps (corn, cabbage, ect...no tomatoes garlic onions or potatoe peelings)
the other hens in the flock are showing no signs of illness...
they also have acess to a food grade DE dust bath.
their pen is 50 x 50 with no acess to anything poisenous that i could find...
ive checked for mites, no sign of mites.
around 6 months old this hen started loosing feathers on her rump, tail, wings and everything from what would be the waist up was fine...no scabs, no open wounds, figured it was picking or riding as she seemed ot be fairly low on the pole, treated with nustock to keep the other birds off...she eventually lost ALL her feathers from the wasit down to the tail, i worried it was mites because again shes never had any wounds, sores scabs ect, but i couldnt find any sign of mites, and then the loss stopped, literally she had a completly nekkid butt, but none of her other feathers started going missing. infact what was left looked shiney clean and very healthy.
checked her regularly for sores, no wounds no scabs, odly she had kept the feathers around her vent area which i hear is the first to go...
anywho...we thought given her lack of feathering we were going to loose her over the winter there were mornings her poor tush was bright red from wind chap, but we put a fleece hen saddle on her and hoped for the best as she was still eating, laying and interacting..
same story through spring, nekkid butt but otherwise completly normal.
then the day before yesterday nothign out of the ordinary, she ate, she ran, she flapped, she ate grass (no pesticides) ate her treats (was oatmeal and a head of cabbage for them) then that evening mum whent to lock them in and she was sitting on the ground under the roost...now weve found eggs regularly in that spot so mum didnt bother her, and good night chickens.
yesterday morning mum opend them up for the day and she was still sitting in the exact same spot, usually when the doors open they all rush out, but ronny didnt rush infact she didnt get up...mum figured she must be sitting and let her be...weve had hens sit in the morning who refuse to come out at first, so normal...
about 2 hours later she whent out and ronny was in the exact same spot, mum lifted her to see if she had an egg under there and she stood up gave her a "look" and wandered off before going to sit in another corner...
mum brought treats out, and all the birds rished over...ronny kind of came out slowly wandered stratight past the treats and stared blankly across the run...
then yesterday afternoon mum came in to tell me ronny had died...
she was next to the ramp going into the pop door from the run, looks like she maybe fell off the ramp? but we cant be sure.
i gave her body a quick check over, NO open wounds no scabbing, her vent looked normal though she had a tiny bit of poop on her butt (nothing to indicate pastey and no diahrreea that we coudl find) i couldnt feel anything hard in her abdominal cavinty but im no chicken bipology expert.
she was a good healthy body type didnt seem skinny, crop felt normal for a chicken food in there but not impacted. no sign or mites or lice, she did have little black sugar ants around her vent but nothing that looked like bites (were in ct no fire ants) so i think they started once they found the corps rather than being a potential cause.
body was cold hard and stiff, but neck floppy, i know this is relitivly normal after rigor but was wondering...
could she have been not well and then fallen off the ramp and broken her neck on landing?
its not a steep run and its not high off the floor (the pop door is about 24" off the ground)
im at a loss with this one...she was fine one day, then that night she wasnt and the day after she was gone.
weve got a few hens that are missing some feathers at the base of their tails as of yet weve been unable ot figure out which one is doing it but it looks to be riding...
theres no roosters in the group...so ive no doubt weve got a dominant female puttng everyone in their place...
but there were no wounds on ronny and they wernt pushing her away from feed ect...
i dont want to treat them with anything medication wise if its just a simple case of a genetic issue...but i dont want mum loosing any more hens either...
all the others are acting normal...but this came over ronny so fast that im a tad worried.
unfortunatly we do not have any chicken vets around here and my avian vet has now decided he wont even talk chickens...and the only farm vet locally isnt interested in 1 chicken said to call him if we loose more than 3 in a week...*sigh*
were in connecticut, temps this past few days have been in the low to mid 80's with some peeking to the high 80's but noones been panting and theyres plenty of ventilation in the coop and shade in the run, they have free acess to water and food.
thoughts?
