- Jun 16, 2012
- 5
- 0
- 7
Our six months old "retail chick" (we got the ecological eggs from a retail store and hatched them) had just started laying eggs regularly and suddenly she seems very tired. Usually she comes running to great me and gladly jumps up into my lap but now every move looks painstakingly laborious.
Her comb used to be bright red and beautiful, now it has gone pale and scruffy. When I picked her up yesterday it almost looked as if she vomited, a clear slimy substance came from her mouth, twice. Not a lot but still…
My spouse says she’s been puffing herself up (sorry for my poor English, I’m from Sweden so please bear with me), making herself big/fluffy.
Since her droppings are loose/liquid she is rather dirty around the “exit”.
My impression is also that she has gone from bright white to a less clear white, a general degrade in looks if you also take the comb into consideration.
She lives with a few other hens and a couple of Muscovy ducks/ducklings. She’s in a small fenced area during the days and runs free in the large garden during evenings and weekends (i.e. when we are home to keep an eye on them).
Chicken food is readily available at all times and grass and whatever they can find in the garden when they run free.
Water is of course always at hand but the dirty ducks sometimes pollute their miniature pond and the chicks drink from that water source too.
Any ideas what can be wrong and what I should do about it?
This is what she looked like at her peak, will try to ad a current photo showing her decline...

Her comb used to be bright red and beautiful, now it has gone pale and scruffy. When I picked her up yesterday it almost looked as if she vomited, a clear slimy substance came from her mouth, twice. Not a lot but still…
My spouse says she’s been puffing herself up (sorry for my poor English, I’m from Sweden so please bear with me), making herself big/fluffy.
Since her droppings are loose/liquid she is rather dirty around the “exit”.
My impression is also that she has gone from bright white to a less clear white, a general degrade in looks if you also take the comb into consideration.
She lives with a few other hens and a couple of Muscovy ducks/ducklings. She’s in a small fenced area during the days and runs free in the large garden during evenings and weekends (i.e. when we are home to keep an eye on them).
Chicken food is readily available at all times and grass and whatever they can find in the garden when they run free.
Water is of course always at hand but the dirty ducks sometimes pollute their miniature pond and the chicks drink from that water source too.
Any ideas what can be wrong and what I should do about it?
This is what she looked like at her peak, will try to ad a current photo showing her decline...