Lalachickens
Songster
- Jul 10, 2020
- 60
- 62
- 108
I’m writing today as we are slightly concerned about one of our 32 week old White Rocks, named Crystal.
When we got her she was laying consistently every day, like the rest of the flock. She started to show slight broodiness after about a month, when we would find her just staying in the nesting box, but we could push her out, she would immediately eat, and never try to nest again that day. She didn’t pluck any feathers, show aggression, no other signs of broodiness.
A few weeks ago she stopped laying, although we had one day in there where she laid just a yolk, then a couple days later, there was evidence of a leather egg that had been eaten. Since then, nothing, and she no longer visits the nesting box.
She also seems to have lost some weight, in comparison with her flock mates. She still forages, drinks water, and dust bathes, but definitely naps more, and is somewhat lethargic.
The weather has been extremely hot in the past month, so we have been doing what we can to keep the flock cool (adding ice to their water, mister, spraying down roof of coop etc). The rest of the flock seems hot but fine.
We are feeding layer mash, but are going to start introducing fermented feed tomorrow to hopefully help her get the most nutrition out of her feed.
We have inspected her a couple of times, her croup seems to look more pronounced, but when we felt it, it seemed soft and not impacted. Her vent is pink and normal looking. We have checked for mites. Mosquitos are definitely present but we are trying to manage them within the coop....
Her poops are a bit watery, and her butt does get a bit messy, but I have read the hot weather might be a factor? No evidence of worms that I can see.
She just seems smaller, and almost hunched down (she doesn’t extend her neck much). I’m including a photo of her on the right, and one of the others on the left (which seems more upright). She has always had a very floppy comb, so do not be alarmed by that
Colour of face and comb seem normal.
Would love any advice as we are new to this. Our vet doesn’t deal with chickens so we are kind of on our own over here...Maybe she is totally fine, but I would hate to see her waste away.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
When we got her she was laying consistently every day, like the rest of the flock. She started to show slight broodiness after about a month, when we would find her just staying in the nesting box, but we could push her out, she would immediately eat, and never try to nest again that day. She didn’t pluck any feathers, show aggression, no other signs of broodiness.
A few weeks ago she stopped laying, although we had one day in there where she laid just a yolk, then a couple days later, there was evidence of a leather egg that had been eaten. Since then, nothing, and she no longer visits the nesting box.
She also seems to have lost some weight, in comparison with her flock mates. She still forages, drinks water, and dust bathes, but definitely naps more, and is somewhat lethargic.
The weather has been extremely hot in the past month, so we have been doing what we can to keep the flock cool (adding ice to their water, mister, spraying down roof of coop etc). The rest of the flock seems hot but fine.
We are feeding layer mash, but are going to start introducing fermented feed tomorrow to hopefully help her get the most nutrition out of her feed.
We have inspected her a couple of times, her croup seems to look more pronounced, but when we felt it, it seemed soft and not impacted. Her vent is pink and normal looking. We have checked for mites. Mosquitos are definitely present but we are trying to manage them within the coop....
Her poops are a bit watery, and her butt does get a bit messy, but I have read the hot weather might be a factor? No evidence of worms that I can see.
She just seems smaller, and almost hunched down (she doesn’t extend her neck much). I’m including a photo of her on the right, and one of the others on the left (which seems more upright). She has always had a very floppy comb, so do not be alarmed by that
Colour of face and comb seem normal. Would love any advice as we are new to this. Our vet doesn’t deal with chickens so we are kind of on our own over here...Maybe she is totally fine, but I would hate to see her waste away.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
