- Jul 11, 2011
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So, about 3 weeks ago, my husband picked up some free chickens from someone nearby- we gave a few away to friends and ended up with about 6 buff orpingtons and 4 partridge rocks. They are all supposedly 2 years old, and the owner said she was just looking to get rid of them because she wanted a new breed. She said they had quit laying for her as well. Anyway, a day or two after arrival, our friend said something about little bugs crawling on his arms after handling a hen- we found very few of them to have mites, so we treated everyone and the coop. About this same time, I noticed that one of the buffs was laying down all day- she had a little rut she was sitting in in the grass. When approached, she would get up and walk away somewhat nonchalantly- it was reasonably easy to catch her. She did have evidence of heavy mite infestation with eggs caked all over her feathers near her vent. I was assuming she was just pulled down from the mites. I brought her up to the house and set her up in her own little kennel in the grass. About the same time, our friends were having trouble with one buff getting beat up on and she spent the whole day sitting in the corner with her head through the wire so no one could peck at her, so we offered to take her in with the other girl. It's been 2 1/2 weeks now, and our friend's hen has been acting very normal the whole time, but our hen still just lays down a LOT. She will get up and move around and travels about 20 feet to another coop and will lay down there. She does apparently eat and drink but is less fond of our layer pellets than scratch grains. She is bright and alert and will move around when encouraged,as well as voluntarily, but it's so minimal compared to a "normal" chicken. I don't see her scratching around at all, she will peck at grass/bugs when laying down though. When I open the kennel in the morning, I would expect a normal hen to be running out the door and exploring/scratching/foraging, etc. But often times she hangs out in the kennel, laying down in the grass, for quite a while before I see that she's moved on to a new spot. I am due to treat everyone again now, and would have expected that if she was weak from mites that she'd be back to normal by now. She seriously looks fairly happy and content overall, but just lays down a LOT. Any ideas? How should I proceed? I'm needing to send the friend's hen back to them or put her out in my flock, and everyone is getting re-treated within the next couple of days. She's got access to layer pellets and fresh water, as well as occasional scratch grains/kitchen scraps. I did put avia charge in their water for the first week and a half or so. Thanks in advance for any advice!
