Hi all,
I will try keep this brief, apologies if I waffle on a bit.
We have been helping out some freinds by feeding their flock while they were away on holiday. They have 5 Isa Browns, and one crossbreed that we gave them nearly a year ago.
Latte, the chicken we gave them no longer resembles the bird she once was, and the other former commercial birds don't look much better than when they were first rescued.
Firstly, they seem to have lost weight,
Secondly, their lower back feathers seem oddly fluffy,
Thirdly, they have raw areas around their vents,
Finally, I have included a pic of the feed they buy. It looks to be lacking in some components, and I am not sure if that would be contributing, or if I just spoil my own flock.
I know these aren't my birds, they are friends. After seeing them I approached the friends and told them I think they have some health issues and they have asked for my help to get the birds back on track. Secondly, they have asked to buy some more pullets off us, and we are reluctant to sell them birds if they are going to go into a flock that has health issues.
Here is 'Latte' with my youngest son, just after she laid her first egg about 10 or so months ago. Full of shape, feathers and an excellent egg layer.
Now, she looks underweight, has the mentioned feather issues and is not laying (along with the rest of them) as much as she used to.
The flock as of the other day. Sorry they are not the best quality phone pics. Latte' is the light bird in the middle.
Here is the back feathers. I have parted them to check the base and not found bite marks or the 'cue tip' balls that come from feather lice, but from my Googling, this symptom seems consistent with lice or feather pecking as a lack of protein.
Here you can see how light Latte' looks. They don't roost on the frame thats there, by the droppings, it looks as though they sleep on top of the nest box. I looked on the faces for stick fast flea or mites and did not see anything on the birds or the nest boxes (was day time thought)
I know it's blurry, but you can see the below the vent area and how it is featherless, one of the birds looks like it has some sort of whiteness to it, possibly a discharge of some sort?
Faces had no marks, lesions or insects stuck to them.
The vent area with the white stuff, sorry it's blurry, I think she was self conscious as she was very hard to photograph.
The feed that was left to give the birds, she says she given them some table scraps form time to time, lawn clippings and yard prunings/pulled weeds.
I have a short list of possible causes, but not sure how to treat each of them, and most don't match up with other things,
I am thinking, lice, mites or diet but I may be wrong on any or all of them.
Any help would be appreciated. I am calling on the experience and collective brain power international of BYC community.
Thank you greatly in advance,
Ben....and Latte'
I will try keep this brief, apologies if I waffle on a bit.
We have been helping out some freinds by feeding their flock while they were away on holiday. They have 5 Isa Browns, and one crossbreed that we gave them nearly a year ago.
Latte, the chicken we gave them no longer resembles the bird she once was, and the other former commercial birds don't look much better than when they were first rescued.
Firstly, they seem to have lost weight,
Secondly, their lower back feathers seem oddly fluffy,
Thirdly, they have raw areas around their vents,
Finally, I have included a pic of the feed they buy. It looks to be lacking in some components, and I am not sure if that would be contributing, or if I just spoil my own flock.
I know these aren't my birds, they are friends. After seeing them I approached the friends and told them I think they have some health issues and they have asked for my help to get the birds back on track. Secondly, they have asked to buy some more pullets off us, and we are reluctant to sell them birds if they are going to go into a flock that has health issues.
Here is 'Latte' with my youngest son, just after she laid her first egg about 10 or so months ago. Full of shape, feathers and an excellent egg layer.
Now, she looks underweight, has the mentioned feather issues and is not laying (along with the rest of them) as much as she used to.
The flock as of the other day. Sorry they are not the best quality phone pics. Latte' is the light bird in the middle.
Here is the back feathers. I have parted them to check the base and not found bite marks or the 'cue tip' balls that come from feather lice, but from my Googling, this symptom seems consistent with lice or feather pecking as a lack of protein.
Here you can see how light Latte' looks. They don't roost on the frame thats there, by the droppings, it looks as though they sleep on top of the nest box. I looked on the faces for stick fast flea or mites and did not see anything on the birds or the nest boxes (was day time thought)
I know it's blurry, but you can see the below the vent area and how it is featherless, one of the birds looks like it has some sort of whiteness to it, possibly a discharge of some sort?
Faces had no marks, lesions or insects stuck to them.
The vent area with the white stuff, sorry it's blurry, I think she was self conscious as she was very hard to photograph.
The feed that was left to give the birds, she says she given them some table scraps form time to time, lawn clippings and yard prunings/pulled weeds.
I have a short list of possible causes, but not sure how to treat each of them, and most don't match up with other things,
I am thinking, lice, mites or diet but I may be wrong on any or all of them.
Any help would be appreciated. I am calling on the experience and collective brain power international of BYC community.
Thank you greatly in advance,
Ben....and Latte'
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