SW31
Songster
Backgound:
I had four chickens in July 2017 - two of which were Marans, Grizzi and Pauli, that were nicknamed ‘the Krays’ after the London gangsters and who eat twice as fast, a Sussex, Sammi, and another chicken, Cilla, who was either a Limousine or an Andalusian. Cilla died in July 2018 of cancer ( after vet autopsy). The two krays were very badly attacked by our neighbours dog but thanks to the vet are doing nicely. See thread hens in the hall.
Cilla, who was top bird, was Sammi’s bestest friend and protected Sammi from the Krays. I now have to take cilla’s place as Sammi loses out. The pecking order is now Grizzi, Sammi and then Pauli. Pauli is huge and simply lives to eat. She started to moult last month and stopped laying. It’s not been too dramatic.
Sammi on the other hand is going through a very hard moult, she has stopped laying. She lost most of the feathers on her back and her backside. Grizzi has been pecking her drawing blood. I think Pauli has had a little go as well.
Sammi seemed reluctant to eat the normal layer food and started to keep her distance from the krays. She noticeably lost weight and also started to sleep in the nesting box which she is still doing. I have another smaller roosting box that I’ve put the krays into to give her some peace from them but she doesn’t like to be alone.
She’s drinking plenty of water, eating the tips of grass, rooting around the ground and cleaning herself.
Issue 1 - she has very watery poop, her crop does not feel full. I noticed Pauli had watery poop during her moult - is watery poop normal during moulting?
Her comb was very dull but is picking up. Her feathers are now growing back. I usually give them some muesli and grated cheese, French friends (who keep lots of hens) thought they needed a little more protein in their diet. With the feather loss I’ve reduced this a little but added some raw or cooked beef as it worked well when the krays were growing back feathers after the dog attack. Sammi is cheesy girl - she really loves her cheese, but was reluctant to eat as she seemed to feel threatened by the krays so I put her food in a separate dish and put it on the bench seat in the run. She now expects it and quickly jumps up when she sees the dish on the bench.
Issue 2 - am I making a little diva - but I do need her to eat?
I had four chickens in July 2017 - two of which were Marans, Grizzi and Pauli, that were nicknamed ‘the Krays’ after the London gangsters and who eat twice as fast, a Sussex, Sammi, and another chicken, Cilla, who was either a Limousine or an Andalusian. Cilla died in July 2018 of cancer ( after vet autopsy). The two krays were very badly attacked by our neighbours dog but thanks to the vet are doing nicely. See thread hens in the hall.
Cilla, who was top bird, was Sammi’s bestest friend and protected Sammi from the Krays. I now have to take cilla’s place as Sammi loses out. The pecking order is now Grizzi, Sammi and then Pauli. Pauli is huge and simply lives to eat. She started to moult last month and stopped laying. It’s not been too dramatic.
Sammi on the other hand is going through a very hard moult, she has stopped laying. She lost most of the feathers on her back and her backside. Grizzi has been pecking her drawing blood. I think Pauli has had a little go as well.
Sammi seemed reluctant to eat the normal layer food and started to keep her distance from the krays. She noticeably lost weight and also started to sleep in the nesting box which she is still doing. I have another smaller roosting box that I’ve put the krays into to give her some peace from them but she doesn’t like to be alone.
She’s drinking plenty of water, eating the tips of grass, rooting around the ground and cleaning herself.
Issue 1 - she has very watery poop, her crop does not feel full. I noticed Pauli had watery poop during her moult - is watery poop normal during moulting?
Her comb was very dull but is picking up. Her feathers are now growing back. I usually give them some muesli and grated cheese, French friends (who keep lots of hens) thought they needed a little more protein in their diet. With the feather loss I’ve reduced this a little but added some raw or cooked beef as it worked well when the krays were growing back feathers after the dog attack. Sammi is cheesy girl - she really loves her cheese, but was reluctant to eat as she seemed to feel threatened by the krays so I put her food in a separate dish and put it on the bench seat in the run. She now expects it and quickly jumps up when she sees the dish on the bench.
Issue 2 - am I making a little diva - but I do need her to eat?
