Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[MaryJanet]

My partner thinks she looses balance because she has no wings left. She also acts extremely scared, which could explain why she jumped down from the roost instead of walking to the ramp and since she has no wing feathers she crashed.
But that doesn't explain the way she crouches when she walks, or the fact that she circles around her destination walking sideways.
I am almost sure it's related to her moult. It is both very hard and very fast. I think it's an unlikely coincidence.

If it is indeed due to her moult, she'll be better soon!

 

[RoyalChick]

My partner thinks she looses balance because she has no wings left. She also acts extremely scared, which could explain why she jumped down from the roost instead of walking to the ramp and since she has no wing feathers she crashed.
But that doesn't explain the way she crouches when she walks, or the fact that she circles around her destination walking sideways.
I am almost sure it's related to her moult. It is both very hard and very fast. I think it's an unlikely coincidence.

Could it be a nutritional deficit secondary to the moult? I mean that she has extra nutritional needs because of needing to grow all those feathers at once and isn't keeping up via what she eats?
Maybe giving her some multi-vitamins and extra protein would help? Certainly can't hurt!

 

[Shadrach]

A lovely morning and incredibly warm for the season but the wind started blowing in the afternoon and once the chickens went to sleep it turned into a storm. The chickens all stayed together in the chicken yard this morning, apart from Théo and Piou-piou who went exploring behind the old houses.
I noticed Laure has greyish spots on her wattles. Amazingly I managed to catch her to check and it's not dust, it's like grey fuzz. It could be fowl pox just beginning or some kind of fungal thing.

Then Gaston decided it was time to take his team out and I couldn't get him back in. Blanche was having a hard time without Gaston, being terrified of Kara, so I took her out a bit and put her in the Jerusalem artichokes with Gaston's team. There's a small spot that was covered in hay all spring and summer and is now full of bugs, where the chickens can scratch for ages. She enjoyed herself a lot, but when I put her back in the netted yard she went straight to sleep. I can't leave her in the garden without watching her because her vision is so impaired that she might not be able to hide or run from a raptor.

Lilly is doing great, she’s definitely more active, but not her foot. It has gotten worse and she is slightly limping again. Tonight I tried to open it a bit but almost nothing came out, very quickly it was blood. I’m afraid it is not going to be a quick fix.

Poor Nougat has gotten to the stage of molt where she is terrified of Gaston. She went to sleep in the nest tonight because she didn't want to be next to him, which is their usual place. She's such a hedgehog that I didn't try to get her back on the roost. The good thing is that she will be more quickly out of it. It's the second time she is having such a hard molt and like last year, she reminds me a bit of Myazaki’s yubaba in Spirited away.
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However I saw her do an healthy poop for the first time in maybe two months !

Tonight there is a lot of wind. We’re hoping no branch from the linden tree falls off into the house !

Black pullets gang. Merle, Mélisse, Lilly pecking Lulu.
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Behind the old houses.
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Laure
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I couldn't get it to show on photos, but the grey dots on the wattles are grey fuzz, and they are a lot more pronounced in real.
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Nougat yubaba.
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Kara the bully.
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Annette
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Gaston and Laure
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Blanche
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Sequence shot. 1. The decision.
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2. Action.
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3. Goodbye, girls.
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Hello, Alba. You are not thinking of having a quiet nap, are you ? Signed, Kara the bully.
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Blanche on the other side.
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Léa
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Great Kara intimidation picture.

 

[Shadrach]

I have never observed nor read about a connection between heavy moulting and falling over. It's more likely to be a neurological symptom.

Carbon has been having balance issues which I have no explanation for. She's moulting and around then was the start of the balance issues.

 

[ManueB]

Could it be a nutritional deficit secondary to the moult? I mean that she has extra nutritional needs because of needing to grow all those feathers at once and isn't keeping up via what she eats?
Maybe giving her some multi-vitamins and extra protein would help? Certainly can't hurt!

That's what I believe and hope. I have been giving her some extras for the last week.
Another possibility would be some issue related to what happened to Blanche when she kept stumbling to the side.
There isn't much more I can do than wait. If it doesn't stop when she's over molting we will see what our options are. I could post some videos on the emergency forum but I haven't managed to get some sufficiently clear yet.

The early morning was grey and bleak, 5/ but it felt colder. I went to visit Pied-Beau . Gaston gave the chickens a basket of wild apples and I had brought various nuts in the small treat box we use- he recognised it instantly and tidbitted like crazy . He is the king of the flock ! The hens looked better than last time I went, they are mostly over molting, and there was a red hen that stuck to him and ate pieces from his beak. I had a look at the three other roos too and while they stay clear from him they weren't wounded on the crests and wattles, so they must coexist. Gaston (the human ) did say that when they are all in his yard, there is some chasing going on.

When I came back it was around ten and still pretty cold. Nougat and Blanche had only come out of the coop for a few minutes and they spent most of the day inside. Nougat was shivering at moments. She ate quite well though. She finally came out in the afternoon toward three and hanged out a bit with the other chickens.

The rest of the group spent again most of the day in the yard. At one point Gaston took all the pullets just outside in front of our house ; about ten minutes later there was some racket made by jay birds and they all quickly ran back in.

At roost time there was an interesting turn of event. Gaston changed place to roost ! He went to the opposite side of the coop, next to Nieva and Kara. So I guess his being mean to the ex-batt's was indeed due to the fact that he did not want them next to him at night anymore. I am relieved he decided to move, rather than force the ex-batts to move by making their life a misery at roost time, and I hope he won't change his mind.

Pictures from today : please note I am not putting Nougat under a spoiler because she is on many pictures with other chickens, and you are probably used to seeing her by now.

Laure.

These two are a sore sight for now, but hopefully when it's over they will have beautiful shiny feathers again.

Nougat warned Nieva to leave her Broccoli alone. She obeyed.

They did come out for a few minutes of sunbathing.

Annette is a rebel. She wants to escape to the garden on her own. She reminds me of Piou-piou when she was her age !

Even Piou-piou stays in the chicken yard most of the day now. I think it's the effect of the attack. Théo also stays inside a good part of the day and Gaston leaves him be, except for a few chasing every now and then.

Blanche has molted a lot slower and more discreetly than the other two ex-batts. She is now loosing her tail.

Merle has been behaving for two days as if she is planning to start laying again. Not a great idea as she is also obviously not done molting.

Gaston and Alba

Mélisse in front

Annette

Blanche

Not a very good picture, but to show that Gaston is now on the far left instead of the far right !

 

[Perris]

Quite a lot of people scattered all over BYC have been reporting similar balance issues for some months. I've been noticing since Chirk got sick. Besides some sort of deficiency, or some sort of poisoning, it could be caused by some sort of infection of the inner ear, for example. I really don't see how it could be connected to moulting except by being more susceptible to the real cause through generalized weakened state when moulting.

 

[Shadrach]

Could it be a nutritional deficit secondary to the moult? I mean that she has extra nutritional needs because of needing to grow all those feathers at once and isn't keeping up via what she eats?
Maybe giving her some multi-vitamins and extra protein would help? Certainly can't hurt!

What makes me sceptical about the more protein for moulting hens is it isn't at all unusual for a hen to go off commercial feed and even refuse what they happily ate when not moulting, plus usually a hen having a heavy moult isn't laying eggs and everything she eats can go towards the moult.
I don't think it's protein that those who do go off their feed are missing. Watching some moulting hens forage when they are eating what we consider inadequate amounts of feed suggests that they are searching for very specific nutriants. What they are I don't know.

 

[ManueB]

In Nougat's case she is still eating commercial feed ; layer feed, starter mash, fermented grains, the eggs and mackerel with the added vitamin, and walnuts and almonds.
She doesn't refuse anything, unlike my other hens, and unlike she did last year when she was living on air during her molt. She just eats less than usual.

It could certainly be something else that the weakness from the molt makes her more sensitive to.
She has had mobility issues before but not related to balance.
The only thing that I think is pretty unlikely is poisoning, because her poops after having been awful for weeks are almost normal now.
But I still believe it could be connected to moulting. Last year I thought Cannelle was dying when she was just molting. In my small experience I have been led to believe that maybe ex-batts or production birds experience molting in a different manner than other chickens.

 

[RoyalChick]

What makes me sceptical about the more protein for moulting hens is it isn't at all unusual for a hen to go off commercial feed and even refuse what they happily ate when not moulting, plus usually a hen having a heavy moult isn't laying eggs and everything she eats can go towards the moult.
I don't think it's protein that those who do go off their feed are missing. Watching some moulting hens forage when they are eating what we consider inadequate amounts of feed suggests that they are searching for very specific nutriants. What they are I don't know.

In Maggie’s case it was earthworms.

 

[BDutch]

Most of my chickens are moulting. Ini mini isn't. She is the most active hen now (9½ years old). Flying on top of the run just for fun. Normally it's Janice who is champion in doing so. But she is still mounting and acts more slow than usual.
A heavy moult does influence their vitality.

Sorry I didn't get a picture.

This is Oscar (father of Janice) when he was a cockerel in 2019.