I have an old Isa Brown hen of unknown age. We have had her for two years and we got her from someone who got her from someone else who we assume originally got her from an egg farm- she has her beak cut. At a guess I would put her at approx 4-6 years old.
6 months ago she spent about 3 months sitting on her (unfertilized) eggs. She seemed content and was still eating/drinking so we let her continue. At that stage we were battling mites and she was mostly affected however we seem to have them under control now and she is showing no signs of a current infestation. Her comb at the end did get quite pale and that’s when we actively started trying to break her from sitting.
About 6 weeks ago, all of the girls decided they would rather only eat the scratch mix and were snubbing the layer pellets. They are free range from sun up to sun down so I withdrew the scratch after a week to force them back to the layer pellets. About 3 weeks ago, this hen started ‘sulking’, slower than the rest but was still actively eating and getting amongst the others at feed times. I assumed she was just getting to that point where she was going to die of old age soon. I have no idea if she was still laying at this point but showed no signs of being egg bound.
Just over a week ago we had to lock the girls up for a day to keep them separated from our dog while we couldn’t watch them together. Their primary pen is approx 180m2 fenced with their shelter, plenty of food, drink, grass and trees. Most of the girls got out anyway (need their wings clipping again) however she did not. I don’t know if she tried and failed though. That night she couldn’t stand, was doing circle work with her head to the side. There was no notic
She came down to the house with the girls the next day for breakfast however her head was cocked to the side and one of the other hens pecked her so I brought her inside. She was, at that point still eating and drinking.
The next day she was quite lethargic and after googling I thought it was maybe wry neck from vitamin deficiency given her history above of long term sitting, the feed snubbing and the sulking. I started her on 1000IU vitamin E, egg for selenium and sugar water. She would eat and drink small amounts, only if I put the bowl to her beak. She has been on this vitamin E now for 7 days and yesterday I started her on B complex. She can stand and she shuffles around in her box but mostly sleeps. She has no other signs of illness, no mucus, no blood in her poop, no noisy breathing. Her comb looks nice and red and normal. She stopped talking to me about 4 days ago but opens her eyes at feed time or sometimes when I’m just talking to her. I started feeding her ground up layer feed/egg/coconut oil ‘bombs’ yesterday as she was less interested in the raw egg and she was no longer pooping. She consumed about 50g and seemed content and started pooping again, it looks normal. This morning her crop still has food in it and feels the same despite the pooping returning. She is still drinking small amounts if I hold her head
Given her sulking and her feed history over the last 6 months am I correct to assume vitamin deficiency or should I be assuming injury from trying to get out?
Should I be seeing any improvement so far if it is either vitamin deficiency or injury?
Should I offer her more food even though her crop still has food in it? It’s not sour crop or really hard.
She is obviously a fighter, I just don’t know what else I can do to help her.
Sorry it’s so long- I wanted to give as much information as possible.
Thank you in advance to anyone who feels they can offer advice.
6 months ago she spent about 3 months sitting on her (unfertilized) eggs. She seemed content and was still eating/drinking so we let her continue. At that stage we were battling mites and she was mostly affected however we seem to have them under control now and she is showing no signs of a current infestation. Her comb at the end did get quite pale and that’s when we actively started trying to break her from sitting.
About 6 weeks ago, all of the girls decided they would rather only eat the scratch mix and were snubbing the layer pellets. They are free range from sun up to sun down so I withdrew the scratch after a week to force them back to the layer pellets. About 3 weeks ago, this hen started ‘sulking’, slower than the rest but was still actively eating and getting amongst the others at feed times. I assumed she was just getting to that point where she was going to die of old age soon. I have no idea if she was still laying at this point but showed no signs of being egg bound.
Just over a week ago we had to lock the girls up for a day to keep them separated from our dog while we couldn’t watch them together. Their primary pen is approx 180m2 fenced with their shelter, plenty of food, drink, grass and trees. Most of the girls got out anyway (need their wings clipping again) however she did not. I don’t know if she tried and failed though. That night she couldn’t stand, was doing circle work with her head to the side. There was no notic
She came down to the house with the girls the next day for breakfast however her head was cocked to the side and one of the other hens pecked her so I brought her inside. She was, at that point still eating and drinking.
The next day she was quite lethargic and after googling I thought it was maybe wry neck from vitamin deficiency given her history above of long term sitting, the feed snubbing and the sulking. I started her on 1000IU vitamin E, egg for selenium and sugar water. She would eat and drink small amounts, only if I put the bowl to her beak. She has been on this vitamin E now for 7 days and yesterday I started her on B complex. She can stand and she shuffles around in her box but mostly sleeps. She has no other signs of illness, no mucus, no blood in her poop, no noisy breathing. Her comb looks nice and red and normal. She stopped talking to me about 4 days ago but opens her eyes at feed time or sometimes when I’m just talking to her. I started feeding her ground up layer feed/egg/coconut oil ‘bombs’ yesterday as she was less interested in the raw egg and she was no longer pooping. She consumed about 50g and seemed content and started pooping again, it looks normal. This morning her crop still has food in it and feels the same despite the pooping returning. She is still drinking small amounts if I hold her head
Given her sulking and her feed history over the last 6 months am I correct to assume vitamin deficiency or should I be assuming injury from trying to get out?
Should I be seeing any improvement so far if it is either vitamin deficiency or injury?
Should I offer her more food even though her crop still has food in it? It’s not sour crop or really hard.
She is obviously a fighter, I just don’t know what else I can do to help her.
Sorry it’s so long- I wanted to give as much information as possible.
Thank you in advance to anyone who feels they can offer advice.
