- Nov 30, 2009
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Hi, we're helping out on a smallholding in Belgium, but there's something very wrong with the chickens.
They have 4 hens, which are kept in a fenced off area under the trees - plenty of space to walk around freely, might be 100m2. But there's nothing left to forrage. And no sunshine. The ground's all dry, so I've been feeding them commercial feed (about a cupful each, per day) and kitchen scraps, and crushed egg shells if there are any. There's always fresh water in a water-feeder. They're not skinny, and look well-fed, but do seem very hungry when I come to feed. They're not laying many eggs - one every couple of days between the four of them. Some eggs have shells so soft, they're normally broken before.
Two of the hens look healthy, but the other two seem to be loosing all their feathers suddenly - since yesterday.
The one still looks fine, except that her rear end (bottom) is practically plucked, you only see the white 'stalks' of the feathers. The other one really looks terrible. I had quite shock when i saw her! She looks exactly as if she's being plucked - with only the larger, stronger feathers left. Totally bare neck, bare bottom, and maybe half the feathers left on the rest of her body .
Could this be normal? are the moulting?? is she being bullied? would they be frustrated without being able to scrub around for food? Lack of sunshine maybe? There's no rooster, so it's nothing to do with mating, but she pretty much looks like an over-mated hen.
I tried to get some good pic's but she ran away everytime I come near. She looks quite a bit worse than on the pic's. Hope you can help!!
PS how can I add a photo to this post?
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