Scissor Beak...Laying?

[stormie000]

I have a scissor beak hen who is almost a year old. She isn’t doing perfect, but she eats a mash of food and is almost the same size as the other hens. She has lost quite a few feathers on her back. Almost all my hens have bald spots after I gave away my rooster but hers are worst than the rest.

I’m wondering two things...
1. I have 4 laying hens plus the scissor beak. I usually get 4 eggs but sometimes get 5 eggs a day. Could the scissor beak hen be laying? Or is one hen laying two egg?

2. I’ve been finding scissor beak in the nesting boxes. Today, she was curled up in it with 2 other hens. One jumped out, but her and the other arelayed up in there and scissor beak is tucking her head up into her body. I have no clue what this means. Are they both just about to lay? Is scissor beak sick and laying in there to get away? Is the other one Forcing her in there? Like I said, no idea but any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I know this is long but I have struggled with whether or I not I should keep scissor beak despite her “handicap”. I have grown very close to her and worry that every little thing she does means she is sick. I’ve put some pictures below. Thanks for your help!!

 

[nchls school]

I have a scissor beak hen who is almost a year old. She isn’t doing perfect, but she eats a mash of food and is almost the same size as the other hens. She has lost quite a few feathers on her back. Almost all my hens have bald spots after I gave away my rooster but hers are worst than the rest.

I’m wondering two things...
1. I have 4 laying hens plus the scissor beak. I usually get 4 eggs but sometimes get 5 eggs a day. Could the scissor beak hen be laying? Or is one hen laying two egg? There is no reason why a healthy scissor beak wouldn't lay eggs.

2. I’ve been finding scissor beak in the nesting boxes. Today, she was curled up in it with 2 other hens. One jumped out, but her and the other arelayed up in there and scissor beak is tucking her head up into her body. I have no clue what this means. Are they both just about to lay? Is scissor beak sick and laying in there to get away? Is the other one Forcing her in there? Like I said, no idea but any suggestions are greatly appreciated. If she is normally active, eating, and drinking she probably is fine, but if she remains in the box with her head tucked overlong she may be ill.

I know this is long but I have struggled with whether or I not I should keep scissor beak despite her “handicap”. I have grown very close to her and worry that every little thing she does means she is sick. I’ve put some pictures below. Thanks for your help!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would "assume" she's laying eggs occasionally.

The feather loss on her neck - I would have to say that the others are plucking her feathers.
Probably on her back too. Some of the back could be rooster damage, but since he's gone and if that photo is very current, then some of the scabs on there look "fresh". I see a few new feathers coming in, but one is "bloody" so I going to guess that one or more hen is plucking those out and eating them. It's possible she may be picking at her own back too.

I would make sure her crop is empty in the morning before she eats/drinks and look her over for lice/mites too just as a check up.

 

[aart]

Her comb looks might red......check her pelvic points:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

I would make sure her crop is empty in the morning before she eats/drinks

Good idea.
Maybe it's just the angle but crop looks almost pendulous in that first pic.

 

[stormie000]

Thank you everyone for your replies. You are all so helpful. So now I’m concerned not that she’s starving to death but that she is eating too much and not emptying her crop sufficiently. I’ll check in the morning how it feels then go from there with that one. With the eggs... I did notice just now when I went out there that she had a soft shell attached to her vent still. I guess she is laying but not receiving enough calcium as she cannot eat anything except liquid mash. Can I supplement with some liquid calcium? Maybe put it directly in the food and water?

 

[Colberon]

Thank you everyone for your replies. You are all so helpful. So now I’m concerned not that she’s starving to death but that she is eating too much and not emptying her crop sufficiently. I’ll check in the morning how it feels then go from there with that one. With the eggs... I did notice just now when I went out there that she had a soft shell attached to her vent still. I guess she is laying but not receiving enough calcium as she cannot eat anything except liquid mash. Can I supplement with some liquid calcium? Maybe put it directly in the food and water?

We have a severe scissor beak and I put crushed up egg shells in her mash, she eats them right up!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

You could put calcium powder on her mash, I'd imagine. They sell it for reptiles in petstores and you just put it on their food

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you everyone for your replies. You are all so helpful. So now I’m concerned not that she’s starving to death but that she is eating too much and not emptying her crop sufficiently. I’ll check in the morning how it feels then go from there with that one. With the eggs... I did notice just now when I went out there that she had a soft shell attached to her vent still. I guess she is laying but not receiving enough calcium as she cannot eat anything except liquid mash. Can I supplement with some liquid calcium? Maybe put it directly in the food and water?

Are you feeding layer feed?
I don't know how much "extra" calcium you could give her long term. Hopefully someone else will chime in. Even with oyster shell, most hens pick out a few pieces every once in a while.
Since she did have a soft shelled egg, IF she were mine. I would give her 1/2 Caltrate tablet for 3 days. You can crush that and add to her feed.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You could put calcium powder on her mash, I'd imagine. They sell it for reptiles in petstores and you just put it on their food

I do something similar for hens that won't eat the oyster shell, though I simplify it by saving the leftover powder from a batch of oyster shell (the girls don't eat it, they want bigger pieces so I just dump the powder into a container and save it). I sprinkle a little bit, like 1/8-1/4 tsp, into a small dish of wet/fermented feed, then lock up the bird that needs it with the dish. Takes only a few minutes for them to eat and they can come back out. Depending on how much they need it I might do this 2-3x a week.

 

[stormie000]

I do something similar for hens that won't eat the oyster shell, though I simplify it by saving the leftover powder from a batch of oyster shell (the girls don't eat it, they want bigger pieces so I just dump the powder into a container and save it). I sprinkle a little bit, like 1/8-1/4 tsp, into a small dish of wet/fermented feed, then lock up the bird that needs it with the dish. Takes only a few minutes for them to eat and they can come back out. Depending on how much they need it I might do this 2-3x a week.

This is a great idea. I actually have a bag with mostly powder left in it. Thanks a lot, I’ll do this tomorrow.