Chicken boarders

[Snoxy]

Hi!

 

Some of you may have read that we have two new girls...

 

I kept Gertrude and Clara in the Eglu run for almost a week and started integrating them with our four other girls yesterday. They are sleeping in the Eglu at night away from the other girls so they have plenty of room.

 

I'm a bit worried about Gertrude...she seems to sleep alot during the day (head tucked round and in her body)...she looks hunched quite often too...i've heard her sneeze but not frequently. She doesn't scratch about like the others either. She is eating and drinking. She does appear to be a very timid chicken compared to any others I have...she hides away alot too. The gentleman we saw at the time we chose her said Magpie hybrids do seem quiet compared to others...in his opinion. Clara on the other hand is behaving just like my other chickens do.

 

I explained my concerns to the gentleman yesterday and he says that maybe she isn't sleeping well at night? I mentioned worming but he said that she shouldn't need doing because she has been kept in a barn. He said she could be showing mild symptons relating to the vaccinations she has been given...like children sometimes do.

 

I rang them again today and spoke to a lady who told me that if I take her back they will kill her

 

I just don't know what to do...she doesn't seem really unwell like Princess Leia was before she died but her behaviour is 'different' from what I have experienced before. I could be putting a death sentence on a perfectly ok chicken that is just displaying behaviour that is new to me.

 

HELP?! PLEASE

 

Thank you.

 

Louise

[Plum]

If you have heard her sneeze she may have a respiratory infection brought on by the stress of the move and I would advise you getting her checked by the vet. If you put your ear on her back and listen to her breathing you may hear a wheeze.

 

I would worm her with Flubenvet because they can still pick up worms and she doesn't sound tired - she is unwell. What a funny thing to say.

 

She's probably young which is why she is timid and if you persist with hand feeding and getting her used to being held she'll learn to trust you and become friendly. It's easier when they come into lay.

[Egluntyne]

She might just be a bit stressed out.

 

If she has symptoms of a cold, it might be worth giving her some cirticidal.

[Snoxy]

THANK YOU you so much for your helpful replies...I will buy some citricidal tomorrow...although I had trouble sourcing it locally before...but will ring round...or order it pdq from net.

 

I managed to pick her up today while she had her head craned round and tucked in her body...I will do the same tomorrow and take a listen.

 

She could well be just stressed...silly me hadn't thought of that obvious thing...d'oh!!!

 

I've just been watching them for the last half an hour and she has been out and eating and drinking next to Clara...she is clearly a much more timid/wary girl than I'm used to. When the older girls chase Clara who is much more bold she runs away but immediately comes back out. She is standing tall also. I've noticed that as the day goes on she sleeps less. Do any of your girls sleep in the morning??

 

The good thing is the integration is progressing better than last time...it was definitely a good plan to keep the new girls in the run for almost a week before letting them freerange with the older girls...yay I'm learning The water spray works brilliantly too

 

Enjoy your evening.

 

Lou X

[Daphne]

If she is still very young then its not unusual for growers to snooze a bit during the day, but like the others have said she might just be a bit stressed from the move. Keep an eye on her and if you detect a wheeze/rattle/discharge from eyes/nose which doesn't go away after citridal then I'd consider a vet trip.

 

BTW I don't think it was very good of the breeders to say the others would kill her if you took her back - sounds like emotional blackmail to me and that they couldn't be bothered to reintegrate her. Bullying yes, killing no.

[Snoxy]

Thank you for that advice regarding growers sleeping through the day. I think she is about 25 weeks...close to laying...her face is getting red and her comb is growing nicely. She has been in and out of the nest box quite often too. I did think she may be trying to pass a softie...but not sure if young girls do that?

 

Thank you everyone...fab advice as always

 

Lou

[Egluntyne]

You can get Citricdal from the Omlet shop.

[Snoxy]

Citricidal ordered from the Omlet shop

[Snoxy]

just thought I'd let you know that Gertrude appears to have a new spring in her step...and she is finally scratching about with her feet

 

I added Citricidal to the girls' water yesterday...not sure if it works quickly but Gertrude is certainly a changed chicken this morning

 

Thank you for all your fantastic advice.

 

Very best wishes...

 

Lou

[Egluntyne]

Lovely.

[Plum]

Good News

[Christian]

Glad to hear it

[Lizzie]

When we integrated our young girls with the exisiting girls (they were 21 weeks), Olive who had started laying, stopped. We didn;t know what was wrong at the time, but the guy we bought them from said it was probably due to stress and she would start again when she was more settled. Olive laid a softee about a week later then got back into her egg laying routine again.

They are all very happy together now

 

Hope she continues to settle quickly

 

Best wishes

[Daphne]

Excellent news