Unsecure chicken perches

[2Chiqs]

I'm new to this so hope I've got it right! Barbara Omlet helped me through a very tricky time last summer when we lost one chicken suddenly and this one was very ill. She was on antibiotics for quite a while and eventually pulled through. Since then however, with the winter and moulting, she has not managed to lay regularly, hunches over for days then produces either an egg mass, or just egg skin, and we have only had one co"Ooops, word censored!" and misshapen egg in the last month. She now spends hours in her nest box, wishfully roosting, but with no result. I am worried that she might not be able to absorb calcium properly (as a result of antibiotics?) so am giving her mineral supplements and organic apple cider vinegar, but as she free-ranges all day it is hard to put things in her water. She eats well (Layers pellets and treats), is wormed regularly with Flubenvet and VermX and I have dosed her for coccidiosis. Is there anything else I can do, or is she now just a (much loved!) chicken pet? Her companion, on the same diet, is huge, fluffy, fit and egg-laying!

[The Dogmother]

Sorry to hear that.

 

You don't mention what she was ill with, but if it was mycoplasma, or infectious bronchitis, then it may well have damaged her oviduct and ovaries. This is often the case with a whole load of respiratory infections, and the hen concerned rarely lays properly again.

 

You don't mention whether you have bought any more hens since then, but I doubt that you will be able to count on her to keep your egg totals up. Sorry about that.

[2Chiqs]

Thank you for your reply. We don't know what her friend died of except that she had very rapid onset of chronic diarrhoea and was dead within 12 hours. Pandora, the current hen, had a severe beak injury, hence the antibiotics, and was isolated from the other chicken at the time of her death, but the vet reckoned that the antibiotics probably prevented her from picking up whatever killed her friend. We have since bought another chicken, so at least we have one egg a day! As far as I know she has not had respiratory problems, but it sounds as though her egg-laying days may be over!

[FiggyPudding]

I've just been on the phone to the exbat helpline as one of my girls is looking very sorry for herself...rather like yours, very hunched over & fluffed up. I'm not sure when she last laid a proper egg... shell- less eggs are the norm for her.

 

The ex bat helpline suggested NOT feeding layers pellets for 2-3 weeks, then re-introducing them to start the laying again. This should help by giving the hen a rest. . She also suggested worming.

 

We are off to the vets later...

 

Hope this helps.

[2Chiqs]

Not quite certain how to isolate Pandora and prevent her from eating the layers pellets, as she and Chiq free-range together. Also, what should I feed her on in the meantime? Does anyone know about apple cider vinegar? Supposed to be good for egg production and I am giving 1tsp/bird to the chickens on bread or oats, as they drink from all over the place. How long should I continue to give it to them?

[FiggyPudding]

just had my girl put to sleep

 

He said I could spend lots of money on her trying to make her better, but the outlook wasn't good, so we said our goodbyes & left. I didn't want my daughters to watch her die...I am trusting that he is a good guy..

 

I asked him about the advice from the ex batts & he was surprised at advice to take out the layers pellets.

 

I don't think it's a good idea to give the hens bread as it can be difficult to digest, I think you can put the apple cider vinegar in their drinking water ?

[2Chiqs]

I am sorry about your hen - at least she had a good end of her life with you.

Thanks for the advice from the vet about layers pellets, it is a little hard to isolate a free-range chicken in a small garden so I think I'll just carry on as normal - she is much loved even if she doesn't "contribute"! I need to investigate the bread issue - they adore it, but if it is not good for them, I need to think again. There is more to having chickens than you think, isn't there!

[The Dogmother]

I agree that bread isn't a good idea - the gluten in it binds up their crop and can cause impaction.

 

Keep all treat to a minimum and they'll thrive.

[sandyhas3chucks]

sorry you lost your girl it's pants isn't it?

There are many people that feed their girls only mixed corn, doesn't stop them laying, reducing any extra protein stopped my over layer from doig sewveral a day though.

[Egluntyne]

If she is free ranging all day she might not be getting the optimum nutrition required for laying.

 

If you want more eggs, it might be worth confining her to the run till midday or early afternoon, and feed her only pellets during that time. You could add the ACV to her drinking water.......about a tsp per glug.

[2Chiqs]

She does eat quite a lot of layers pellets throughout the day, and always first thing, but I might try confining her for a few hours, if I can stand the complaining noises!

 

She laid a shell-less egg this morning and is looking much happier - brighter eyed and better coloured comb. I was wondering if I can get liquid calcium, not general tonic, which I have by the bottle, but something I could specifically feed to her alone to strengthen the shells - I am still sure she cannot absorb calcium properly, as once in a while she does produce an egg with a shell, but it is generally very thin, or co"Ooops, word censored!" or misshapen, so her ovaries are obviously working, but it seems to be the laying down of calcium that is a problem. This is not based on anything scientific, just thoughts - if anyone has anything to add, I'd be interested. Does anyone know of liquid calcium?

[The Dogmother]

You can try some Zolcal in the water ,but to be honest, you're best off putting some limestone flour and a dab of cod liver oil in the wet mash of pellets for all of them. Add a few treats to it and they'll wolf the lot down!

[2Chiqs]

Thank you - I'll try that.

Has anyone used either Davinova C, or Shell Max or Zolcal D for this, and if so, with what results?

[The Dogmother]

You can use any of them - all more or less the same thing. The extra calcium will help with the calcium she needs to strengthen the contractions to lay too.

 

Sometimes chooks just have defective shell glands, sometimes due to age, or over-work (ex-batts), but occasionally it's just one of those things. I once had a young hen who never laid a properly shelled egg; all those softies took their toll on her and she never enjoyed life; eventually I decided that her quality of life was pretty poor and despatched her. If she'd been hooman, she'd have had a hysterctomy

[2Chiqs]

I'll try of one of them, just so I feel as though I've done everything I can! At the moment Pandora is happy and full of life, particularly when she has just expelled the egg mas. Obviously if she becomes very unwell because of this problem, we'll have to take action, but at the moment she is a much loved friend, so let's cross fingers! Thank you for all your help- I'll let you know if a whole egg appears!

[2Chiqs]

Have given Pandora Zolcal now for 5 days and yesterday she laid her first egg for about a month. It was large and rough, and very, very thin-shelled, but at least it was whole!

This morning she again laid a smaller, neater and stronger egg! Two in a row! Does anyone know if it is OK to continue to use Zolcal on a regular basis, or is there something else better to use regularly, keeping Zolcal as a boost when necessary? (Avimix in powder form has been suggested).

[The Dogmother]

I've never heard of any contra-indications for using it full time. Perhaps you could email the manufacturers and ask them.

[2Chiqs]

Over the last few days she has laid no egg, then soft-shelled, then half soft/half hard, and then a whole egg this morning, still quite rough but better size and shape. Zolcal does seem to be giving her the calcium she lacks, so I think I will email them as you suggested. I'll let you know what they say.

[2Chiqs]

I have just heard back from Vetark, the manufacturers of Zolcal and although they didn't specifically say there were any side effects to using Zolcal regularly, they recommended moving to Avimix three times a week and she how she gets on. I'll try this and she if her egg production settles down, otherwise I might go back to Zolcal permanently. She hasn't laid every day, but when she does lay the eggs are much more uniform in size and texture and she looks well.