Thanks everyone for the replies and advice. I know she's not egg bound as I have examined her and she didn't start laying until August last year. She has unlimited access to oyster shell and gets plenty of fresh fruit/veggies/herbs. Her normal food is a layer feed for chickens, which she normally enjoys but since she's a house pet, she always wants to check out what I'm eating. She's been eating a lot of kale and grapes lately. I treat her for worms twice a year as she does go outside occasionally. She likes to take dirt baths in my rose garden so maybe she picked up something there? When I created this thread, she wasn't pooping anything significant for a fecal float. Since starting the safeguard this morning, she has gotten her appetite back and poos are looking more normal and less watery. I'm hoping things are under control now but wondering what steps I can take to prevent this from happening again. Should I be giving her a different feed? The vet is the one who suggested the layer crumble. Does she need a "scratch" feed outside of the oyster shell?
1. "Scratch" is not related to oyster shell. Scratch is a blend of whole seeds and cracked corn. Good for a treat and entertainment for poultry and to add carbs in winter. Can't be properly digested without grit.
2. "Grit" is essential. It is small rocks, tiny pebbles, tiny gravel used by the bird's digestive system to grind up food. Without grit, a bird can become impacted and die. Indoor birds must also have grit. Grit is NOT the same as oyster shell. Commercial poultry grit is sold at feed stores and
Tractor Supply. Sometimes it is very fine granite gravel. Free range birds can find their own grit. Not necessarily enough natural grit available in a rose garden, would depend on the soil and what the bird could find. She HAS to have grit, if she isn't getting any now, buy some ASAP.
3. "Oyster shell" is a supplemental calcium source made from pulverized oyster shells. It is NOT the same as grit. An adequate supply of calcium is necessary for egg laying, but excess shell is not good either. Most "laying" feeds already contain supplemental calcium. Keep an eye on egg shells -- observe whether they are too thin, or too thick, perhaps even with excess calcium deposits on them. Insufficient calcium can lead to egg binding.
4. Too much oregano can irritate the intestinal tract.
5. The month she started laying last year (when she was two) is not necessarily any indication when she will start laying this year. Last year, she was two, when most hens first begin to lay, and often lay for an abbreviated period. This year, she is likely to lay earlier and longer, as she settles into an adult pattern. She needs a comfy place to hang out and feel safe, without intrusion or disturbance. Peahens normally lay in the evening.
6. That photo is a nearly perfect photo of a hen getting ready to lay an egg -- the way she is holding her wings, the way she is holding her tail feathers and hind end... the egg may not be where you can feel it, but she really looks to me as though she has an egg on the way. Also notice that she has her neck feathers roughed out, but her body feathers are smooth. She isn't puffed out through the body, she isn't hunched over or hunched up, she just looks like she needs to shove an egg out her vent sometime in the near future. She may not be egg bound -- she may just be fine and working on getting the egg through her system. Particularly if she is just starting up for the season.
7. How did you figure out it was a fungal infection earlier?
8. Has she ever been treated with metronidazole or any treatment for blackhead? Does she eat garden worms?
9. I'm concerned the natural remedies may be taking a toll. Perhaps better to slow down and get a clear idea of what is going on, and then treat as necessary with a clear view of the issues. Can you find any vet with avian experience? Even a non-pea experienced avian vet will have a lot of transferrable bird health knowledge.
