Southern NY, Dutchess county and below

[stoopid]

Hi Al.
Sometimes their sisters will pick feathers just to be little snots.
Sometimes they will pull out their own feathers if they want to go broody, more skin to egg contact.
I have alot of bare butt gals, I really don't know why. As long as there is no blood involved, I wouldn't be too concerned.
They do eat the feathers, but that usually is a sign of needing more protein, which I know is not a problem in your flock.
I'm sorry I haven't given you any good answers... We usually go to you for answers!
Hope you are OK, haven't heard from you in a while.

 

[goldeneggtees]

Hi all, I know I am a little late on this subject but my hens will absolutely NOT step foot into the snow unless I shovel for their precious little fluffy butts.

On a more important note, I have one hen who has been sick on and off for a few weeks. She's been brought inside, given antibiotics, iv fluids, worm meds and coccidia meds. UGH! She's has had diarrhea for so long, it's crazy. Anyway, her symptoms are diarrhea, loss of weight, hunched posture, feathers fluffed, staying alone and slow walk. The only thing I can think of is that she has worms that the ivermectin didn't treat.

I did see small, clear like whippy looking things in another hen's poo which I have positively ID'd as cecal worms. EWWWWWW! Anyway, my vet gave me panacur which I just mixed in with a ton of scrambled eggs and made sure everyone got at least a little. I know it's not precise but honestly, I'm not sure how else to get it in them without a major struggle on my hands. I know everyone got some. Then they get the same for the next two days.

Does anyone happen to know if I can still eat the eggs? If not, how long do I wait to start eating them again?

Sure hope Houdina starts to feel better after this.

If she isn't better in a week's time, I may ask for an xray to see if anything else can be going on. (BTW, comb is good, color is good and eyes are good). If the vet see's nothing wrong and we've done all we can, I'm afraid it may be time to put her down. I can't watch her suffer any longer.

I just thought that we never checked to see if she might be having egg laying trouble, that is a possibility. I just didn't think so because she had been molting prior to getting sick and I know they stop laying when in molt. Such a mystery!

 

[goldeneggtees]

Oh and one more thing, checked for creepy crawlies and none have been found.

 

[ChickenAl]

Hi Al.
Sometimes their sisters will pick feathers just to be little snots.
Sometimes they will pull out their own feathers if they want to go broody, more skin to egg contact.
I have alot of bare butt gals, I really don't know why. As long as there is no blood involved, I wouldn't be too concerned.
They do eat the feathers, but that usually is a sign of needing more protein, which I know is not a problem in your flock.
I'm sorry I haven't given you any good answers... We usually go to you for answers!
Hope you are OK, haven't heard from you in a while.

Thanks, Roberta. She must have picked them out herself because she did such a fine job. Looked like a chicken in the supermarket when you turn her upside down. It was a little freaky seeing her today like that, but she looks fine in all other respects. Knowing you have some like that makes me feel better. I'll still keep checking to see if there is some cause. Tonight I'm going out there with a flashlight after they Roost.

Thanks again.

 

[stoopid]

Donna, I wouldn't eat the eggs, but instead scramble them up and feed back to the girls.
I haven't heard of that brand, but will look into it for you.
Looks like 2 weeks is the norm...
Can I ask which vet you are using?
Roberta

 

[goldeneggtees]

Hi Roberta,

My vet is a friend of mine who works locally. She also has had a flock of chickens for about three years now (same as me).

Thanks for the advice regarding the eggs. Sad, as they just started to lay well again. But they will not go to waste, I will most def be feeding them back to them. I guess my dogs could probably eat them too, as panacur is what is used for dogs and cats. If they got a little panacur, it probably wouldn't be the end of the world. I will still ask my friend/vet.

 

[ChickenAl]

This looks like more than her picking her own feathers. I decided to watch them for a while today and it appears there is a rearranging of the pecking order because they are all picking on the poor girl, and on each other. I noticed the one with the bare bottom is having her feathers plucked out over her crop area. Then I saw an open cut by the vent. I used Blu-Kote on it and all over any raw areas we saw. I had to run out and get it because silly me never picked it up when I said I was going to months ago. Went to Agway, they were out so I had to go to TSC, and they had it. I got the spray can, and of course, I now have purple fingers from some overspray. At least she did let me hold her with out a fuss at all. She must have sensed we were helping her.

Now, my question is what to do about this if it continues?

 

[ChickenAl]

Hi all, I know I am a little late on this subject but my hens will absolutely NOT step foot into the snow unless I shovel for their precious little fluffy butts.

On a more important note, I have one hen who has been sick on and off for a few weeks. She's been brought inside, given antibiotics, iv fluids, worm meds and coccidia meds. UGH! She's has had diarrhea for so long, it's crazy. Anyway, her symptoms are diarrhea, loss of weight, hunched posture, feathers fluffed, staying alone and slow walk. The only thing I can think of is that she has worms that the ivermectin didn't treat.

I did see small, clear like whippy looking things in another hen's poo which I have positively ID'd as cecal worms. EWWWWWW! Anyway, my vet gave me panacur which I just mixed in with a ton of scrambled eggs and made sure everyone got at least a little. I know it's not precise but honestly, I'm not sure how else to get it in them without a major struggle on my hands. I know everyone got some. Then they get the same for the next two days.

Does anyone happen to know if I can still eat the eggs? If not, how long do I wait to start eating them again?

Sure hope Houdina starts to feel better after this.

If she isn't better in a week's time, I may ask for an xray to see if anything else can be going on. (BTW, comb is good, color is good and eyes are good). If the vet see's nothing wrong and we've done all we can, I'm afraid it may be time to put her down. I can't watch her suffer any longer.

I just thought that we never checked to see if she might be having egg laying trouble, that is a possibility. I just didn't think so because she had been molting prior to getting sick and I know they stop laying when in molt. Such a mystery!

Donna, sorry to hear you are having problems with yours too. I just started to realize that all of this is not fun 24/7. And, that we have a very real responsibilty to our birds.


Good luck.

 

[stoopid]

Al, do you think it may just be because of the weather, and they would rather be inside bullying each other, than outside playing?
I know I go nuts at this time of year...
if it is as bad as it sounds, maybe get her a sweater? I go to the clearance rack at Walmart, in the pet section.
They always have the doggie clothes on sale from Halloween, and Christmas, and I buy them just in case.
The XS chihauhua omg how do you spell that? is a good fit on a normal size hen.
First, if she likes it, it may protect her, but second....it just may scare the crap out her sisters and maybe they won't go near the pink ruffled thing...

 

[smkchick]

Al, do you think it may just be because of the weather, and they would rather be inside bullying each other, than outside playing?
I know I go nuts at this time of year...
if it is as bad as it sounds, maybe get her a sweater? I go to the clearance rack at Walmart, in the pet section.
They always have the doggie clothes on sale from Halloween, and Christmas, and I buy them just in case.
The XS chihauhua omg how do you spell that? is a good fit on a normal size hen.
First, if she likes it, it may protect her, but second....it just may scare the crap out her sisters and maybe they won't go near the pink ruffled thing...

Al, the chicken lover in me hopes that a sweater will cure the problem. The ******** in me wants you to take pictures of the hen in a sweater.

Maybe set something up where they can see each other but not get to each other, the way you do when you're introducing a new hen? Like reintroduce her to the flock?

I was hoping that once Rhonda started laying, the other girls would be a little more "welcoming". No such luck. Gladys gives her "the look" and she runs away, but Aggie takes every opportunity to give her a peck if she gets close enough. Ironic, too, that Aggie and Rhonda used to live together at Auntie Roberta's house. They remind me of the 7 year olds in my class.

Al, I'll trade you the purple fingers. I learned an important lesson about not using the electric mixer to add red food coloring to the red velvet cake recipe.