4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[a30lady]

Hi,

Don't know if anyone can help - one of my Black Rocks has a very sore, raw looking breast about the size of an apple. Have tried lice powder, but nothing seems to be growing back and she is looking generally fairly unkempt and not laying well (I think, although hard to tell with a small flock). Also seems to have quite a hard rounded crop. Any advice welcome! Thank you in advance for your help.

[Imo]

Hi there. Not sure about the crop, but the bald patch and general unkempt look, plus the fact she isn't laying so well, could suggest a moult.

Someone else will be along to help shortly, I'm sure

[Egluntyne]

Is the crop still full in the morning?

 

If so it could be impacted, which is a fairly serious matter I'm afraid.

 

Try to give her a swig of olive oil and then massage the crop thoroughly as many times a day as you can manage.

 

Make sure she can't access any long grass, straw or hay, which are the main culprits for this condition.

 

You could feed her with undyed fisherman's maggots several times a day too....they might bore their way through the obstruction.

 

Good luck.

[Blackrocksrock]

Do you have netting which she stretches through and pulls back - mine do this and one has a bare chest too

[a30lady]

Thank you for your replies - she does try and peck the grass on the other side of the netting, so I will watch for that. I'll also remove the straw and try the olive oil trick. No idea where I can get live maggots from, but will find out and give that a go if I can!

 

I appreciate all the help, and will let you know what works.

[Egluntyne]

You will get your maggots from an angling shop.

[a30lady]

Thanks for all the advice - I did the olive oil thing when I got home from work, and the crop didn't seem too bad (also, it was surprisingly easy to administer the olive oil - in fact, I think she liked it!) I did call an angling shop to get some maggots, but the nearest one to me (10 miles away) said that due to the change in the weather no-one has any at the moment, and Friday would be the earliest he could get them so good job it wasn't an emergency. Anyway, after adminstering the olive oil the crop was easy to massage and seemed mobile, not solid.

 

I have also discovered that I've been using a bad sack of layers pellets for the last two weeks - I checked how many had been eaten by putting the contents of the feeders back into the sack, and it was virtually full - I think it had gone off. Poor hens must have been starving, just surviving on the handful of corn they get in the afternoons. Certainly explained some of the recent egg-eating activitiy, and the lack of droppings in the hen house.

 

So, lesson learnt. Will follow my instincts next time I open a sack of pellets and they smell iffy. In the meantime I am hopeful that Moonlight will get her vim back!

[Egluntyne]

That is encouraging news.

 

Shame about the pellets.

[Birdbrain]

My gingernut has the same symptoms...but the two pepperpots dont, so could it be mites if not all affected?

she has a big chest, but she is overall a big bird...I will check her crop tomorrow.

does a moult start at this time of the year...and does it start on the chest? will she go completely naked? (the shame of it!...but I suppose sensible in this weather!..I might have to knit her a jumper if the temperature drops!!)

 

ruth

[Egluntyne]

If she is a big bird, maybe she is rubbing the feathers odd on the roosting bars.

 

Why not give her a powdering with Red Mite Powder, and dab some on the ends of the roosting bars too, as a precaution.

 

She won't need a woolly jumper, even if the weather becomes cooler....she'll just eat more if she is feeling chilly.

[a30lady]

She's still not looking brilliant - will try and take a pic tonight and post in case anyone has any ideas. Eating well, just lots of broken feathers and bald patches despite frequent dusting of Johnson's lice powder and the house being completely cleaned out and sprayed with anti-mite spray.

[Egluntyne]

Are you certain that she is not being "plucked" by one of her companions?

[a30lady]

 

A couple of pics - any ideas? Thank you all for your continued input.

[abwsco]

Does she sleep on a perch as I've seen pictures of blisters on chickens when the perch isn't the right size. Wonder if that's how they start

[a30lady]

They all sleep on a perch - have done since they arrived 18 months ago. It's only the two black rocks that seem to have the problem with the raw breast and broken feathers. Still a mystery........I will keep on with the lice powder and see if that makes a difference. Otherwise they seem OK, although a little on the thin side - and they are laying (although not as well as they used to). Ho hum....

[Birdbrain]

Mine look very similar! Mine dont sleep on a perch they go inside their coop.

Currently they dont have a perch, but I am hopping to change that cos they do love to get up high!

 

If it is caused by pecking...would gentian violet help to stop it?

 

I think I read that if they get bored they can peck at themselves and each other...how can we stop them from getting bored?

[a30lady]

Mine have a large pen, lots of woodchip to scratch in, grit dispensers, a hedge to play in, a couple of small broody boxes to stand on, fruit trees to perch in, cd's hanging from branches and a net of greens to peck. Short of a personal trainer, not sure what else I can do for them! I'm going to see how they go over the next week or so.....