- Mar 30, 2011
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Hi, I'm new & glad to find this forum.
I'm new to chickens and have 2 barred rock hens, 1 year old. Last year they layed well all summer and then didn't lay during the winter and then started laying again on March 2. For a few days I got 3 eggs per day collectively between the 2 of them-- 3 eggs total per day. Then I removed the fir branch insulation from their coop. All of a sudden I started getting only 1 egg and the chickens' both developed somewhat pasty butts. I have read that chilling can cause this malady. The fir branches probably kept the coop a lot warmer at night. It's been as cold as 28 F her the past few nights, about 10 degrees colder than normal. Could this have caused the pasty butts? I read that chilling can be a cause. Or could the hens have eaten too much cat food? Sometimes they raid the cats' dishes. Their poop does seem a bit more firm than normal, not a bit loose. One chicken has white legs and the other's are more yellow. The latter's vent looks a bit reddish/pink. The chicken with white legs doesn't want me to look at her vent. I tried. She has more poop on her feathers on her butt than the chicken who is not laying. I see no bugs on them, but they do scratch themselves some. I feed them mash with warm water in it, homemade brown rice, fresh spinach, and scratch. Today I put 1 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar in 2 quarts of water, because I read that can help with worms, if they have that problem. Should I buy Sevin-5 and dust them with it, as a next preventive? I am worried. They were doing so well. What other additions would be good to add to their diet? I was thinking about scrambling them some eggs. I am going to make sure they have no more access to cat food, dry or soft, as I think it might have caused a digestive problem. The chicken whose legs are yellow went broody last November and hid under the house one night. I suspect she has a very old clutch of eggs under there. She went under there Sunday, too, and was there for at least 20 minutes while I was looking for her, and maybe longer. She came out with a very loud squawk. I have no rooster, so the legs are unfertilized. She isn't sitting on them very long per day, though, as I don't see her under the house much, so I don't think her stopping egg laying would be due to broodiness, even though she has that tendency? All ideas will be appreciated. Thanks for your help! Should I send the poop somewhere to have it analyzed for worms? I need to find a poultry vet in my town, Salt Lake City, but I'm not sure how to go about that?
I'm new to chickens and have 2 barred rock hens, 1 year old. Last year they layed well all summer and then didn't lay during the winter and then started laying again on March 2. For a few days I got 3 eggs per day collectively between the 2 of them-- 3 eggs total per day. Then I removed the fir branch insulation from their coop. All of a sudden I started getting only 1 egg and the chickens' both developed somewhat pasty butts. I have read that chilling can cause this malady. The fir branches probably kept the coop a lot warmer at night. It's been as cold as 28 F her the past few nights, about 10 degrees colder than normal. Could this have caused the pasty butts? I read that chilling can be a cause. Or could the hens have eaten too much cat food? Sometimes they raid the cats' dishes. Their poop does seem a bit more firm than normal, not a bit loose. One chicken has white legs and the other's are more yellow. The latter's vent looks a bit reddish/pink. The chicken with white legs doesn't want me to look at her vent. I tried. She has more poop on her feathers on her butt than the chicken who is not laying. I see no bugs on them, but they do scratch themselves some. I feed them mash with warm water in it, homemade brown rice, fresh spinach, and scratch. Today I put 1 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar in 2 quarts of water, because I read that can help with worms, if they have that problem. Should I buy Sevin-5 and dust them with it, as a next preventive? I am worried. They were doing so well. What other additions would be good to add to their diet? I was thinking about scrambling them some eggs. I am going to make sure they have no more access to cat food, dry or soft, as I think it might have caused a digestive problem. The chicken whose legs are yellow went broody last November and hid under the house one night. I suspect she has a very old clutch of eggs under there. She went under there Sunday, too, and was there for at least 20 minutes while I was looking for her, and maybe longer. She came out with a very loud squawk. I have no rooster, so the legs are unfertilized. She isn't sitting on them very long per day, though, as I don't see her under the house much, so I don't think her stopping egg laying would be due to broodiness, even though she has that tendency? All ideas will be appreciated. Thanks for your help! Should I send the poop somewhere to have it analyzed for worms? I need to find a poultry vet in my town, Salt Lake City, but I'm not sure how to go about that?
