What's wrong with my chicken

[Wyorp Rock]

Chick is one week old and I don't know what this is

Hi Aggiegirl009
It's hard to tell by the angle of the photo. Is this place in addition to the vent on your chick?
You can gently wash it in a little warm soapy water, rinse. Dry your chick well (you can use a hair dryer on low).
If it is not the vent, then after you clean it up and dry it post another photo. It could be where the umbilical cord was. Don't pull anything. You can apply some plain neosporin.
Let us know how she is doing.

 

[Chick Leah]

Hi just up dating you as promised. Well my hen is seeming brighter she's not her usual self still and still no eggs. I noticed the others were not bullying her but giving her the cold shoulder and not letting her feed without reminding her where she stands. I've introduced a second feeder which has helped this. I don't no if this change in pecking order has happened because she's been off colour or if it stared while I was on holiday and caused her to become stressed and sad? I'm hoping she's ok in the long run and gets back to her usual self soon. Shes also been making a soft clucking sound most of the time a cluck ive not heard before. I was wondering could she be showing signs of brooiness with out the nest sitting?
I think this chickens going to keep me guessing for a while.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi just up dating you as promised. Well my hen is seeming brighter she's not her usual self still and still no eggs. I noticed the others were not bullying her but giving her the cold shoulder and not letting her feed without reminding her where she stands. I've introduced a second feeder which has helped this. I don't no if this change in pecking order has happened because she's been off colour or if it stared while I was on holiday and caused her to become stressed and sad? I'm hoping she's ok in the long run and gets back to her usual self soon. Shes also been making a soft clucking sound most of the time a cluck ive not heard before. I was wondering could she be showing signs of brooiness with out the nest sitting?
I think this chickens going to keep me guessing for a while.

Thank you for the update.
I'm glad to hear she is still going.
Providing that extra feeder was a good idea.

I hope she improves.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

I'm just reading through this post for the first time and what occurred to me is that she is 18 months old which is spot on for her starting her first adult moult. Whilst you might not notice a huge feather loss, you may see more feathers than usual in the run and coop. Some of my hens can get really down in the mouth when it happens and feeding them high protein treats once or twice a day will definitely help her through it. It is telling that she wolfed down the scrambled egg and cheese when you offered them, so I would take her to one side each day and offer her those and maybe a little tuna or meat scraps. I have one or two that are showing the same symptoms at the moment and looking a little tatty with dull feathers. In a couple of months time they will be looking and feeling much better. Some hens sail through their moult like nothing has happened and others really seem to feel yuk with it. Your girl may just be one of those. I really hope it is something that simple.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Chick Leah]

Hi Thanks for your input Barbara. It's good to have other things to think about. I haven't noticed any extra feathers around but she does look a but scruffy as I've said before like she's lost her pride. I'm giving all the flock extra vitimins now anyway so will also give some additional protein daily. I have 5 which are all around 18months now so if that is the case it will be interesting to see how they all cope with it in there own way.
Thanks again

 

[Chick Leah]

Last little update on this topic I'm afraid. My girl sadly lost her fight on Saturday night. She'd seemed to pick up and eating better and the flock had been being kinder to her. I had thought Barbara had been right as I'd seen slight feather loss around. She's the only grey feathered I have so knew they were her. Unfortunately Saturday day she'd slowed back down although happy enough eating etc but the flock were once again leaving her behind. They definately knew something. She went to roost as normal but by morning she had passed. Many thanks for all your advice though somethings just aren't meant to be RIP

 

[rebrascora]

So sorry to hear you lost your girl. At least you can draw comfort from the fact that she had a good life with you, sad as it is that it was a relatively short one. Some creatures get long lives and others seem destined to die young. It's the quality of that life which is important and she had a good one. Sending

and my sympathies.

Would you consider having a necropsy done to establish cause of death. I find it gives me peace of mind knowing what they died from when I lose a chicken so that I can perhaps recognise the same symptoms if another chicken develops them and hopefully figure out how to treat it before it becomes terminal, although obviously not all deaths can be prevented. If you can overcome your emotions it is quite interesting to open them up yourself and see if you can figure anything out, especially if you can't afford to fork out for a professional job. I've done a few post mortems now and established cause of death in the majority so far and you learn a lot each time you do one, but I know it is not something everyone can bring themselves to do.

Best wishes with the rest of your flock.

Barbara

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Chick Leah]

Maybe I can work towards doing a post mortem in the future. It's been my first loss and don't think I'm quite ready for that. Although I do see the sense in trying to find out more and use the information ti help my other girls and boy in the future if needs be.

 

[aggiegirl009]

Discovered this yesterday on one of my girls. Don't know what it is or what causes it, but she's got some feathers missing and she's extremely red, much more than my other chicks. Her skin is extremely dry and looks kind of inflamed. Any ideas what it is and how to treat it?