- Jan 15, 2012
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Nuggets is about 1 1/2 years old. She hasn't laid since June. She remained active and was eating fine. She started molting about 3 1/2 weeks ago.
Since then, her comb has lost its bright red color and has started to "shrink". Her wattles are loosing colors as well.
She was also quiet, sort of like having laryngitis.
She was the first one to run for treats, a little bully.
As the molting was starting (with the first one, not Nuggets) I gave them sunflower seeds, everyday, about a cup for the 3 of them. I had done this for the past two months and have stopped about 2 weeks ago to reintroduce scratch as the weather is cooling down.
Since she was loosing appetite, I isolated her as of last Wednesday to control her feed better and give her increased protein and calories in general. I give her cooked ground beef and worms I dig up for her. Lots of lettuce, which she enjoys, bread, spagettis, yougourt and of course scratch and her regualr feed. This may seems a lot but it is over teh course of a day and in small quantities.
I figured that since she had not been laying for so long, it would be a good time to worm her, which I did with Safeguard (the paste) on Friday. Just to eliminate that as a source of trouble.
The lab was closed over Veteran's Day so I could not get a poop sample to the lab until Tuesday (fecal float). I have not received a result yet. So I will know if the wormer worked.
My questions :
Am I making too much of this, and are these normal symptoms/behavior for a molting hen?
How long does it take for a hen to "spring back" from a worm infestation (assuming that it was the problem)?
If the results come back negative, should I try an antibiotic?
How long can I keep her isolated before she gets ostracized by the other girls? (I have two others which are doing fine. One is molting, the other one has molted and looks fantastic)
Thank you.
Since then, her comb has lost its bright red color and has started to "shrink". Her wattles are loosing colors as well.
She was also quiet, sort of like having laryngitis.
She was the first one to run for treats, a little bully.
As the molting was starting (with the first one, not Nuggets) I gave them sunflower seeds, everyday, about a cup for the 3 of them. I had done this for the past two months and have stopped about 2 weeks ago to reintroduce scratch as the weather is cooling down.
Since she was loosing appetite, I isolated her as of last Wednesday to control her feed better and give her increased protein and calories in general. I give her cooked ground beef and worms I dig up for her. Lots of lettuce, which she enjoys, bread, spagettis, yougourt and of course scratch and her regualr feed. This may seems a lot but it is over teh course of a day and in small quantities.
I figured that since she had not been laying for so long, it would be a good time to worm her, which I did with Safeguard (the paste) on Friday. Just to eliminate that as a source of trouble.
The lab was closed over Veteran's Day so I could not get a poop sample to the lab until Tuesday (fecal float). I have not received a result yet. So I will know if the wormer worked.
My questions :
Am I making too much of this, and are these normal symptoms/behavior for a molting hen?
How long does it take for a hen to "spring back" from a worm infestation (assuming that it was the problem)?
If the results come back negative, should I try an antibiotic?
How long can I keep her isolated before she gets ostracized by the other girls? (I have two others which are doing fine. One is molting, the other one has molted and looks fantastic)
Thank you.
