Chicken boarders

[Hol_C_Gil]

Hi there

 

This is my first post and I am very sad that I am having to write under such unfortunate circumstances.

 

We have had 4 hens for the past three months and they have been happily living the free range lifestyle in our garden. Unfortuantely, our Suffolk hen (Lime) has suddenly started to act very strangely. She spends most of the day hunched up and her tail feathers are never upright, unless she is running away from me trying to catch her. She just seems very isolated, even when the other hens go to sit with her.

 

Lime was always the most lively of our hens and was always the last to go into the coop. She now heads in a good hour before the other three, although she leaps out in the morning and gobbles down food as per usual (she doesn't eat or drink very much during the rest of the day).

 

I wondered whether she might be egg bound but she isn't spending any time in the coop during the day. She did, however, lay an eggy mess yesterday, and a soft egg the day before that. I think she laid a double yolker the previous day. I am worried, therefore, that it might be egg peritonitis.

 

Lime now has a pooey mess on her behind but I am finding it incredibly difficult to try and clean her. She is does not like to be handled and makes an almighty noise if I try to put her into a warm bath.

 

I may be completely on the wrong track as I am very new to chicken keeping, but I have grown very attached to my girls and am feeling very helpless about how to help Lime.

 

Thank you for any advice you can offer. By way of additional info:

 

I am not sure how old Lime is

Our neighbour threw over an obscene amount of bread the day Lime became sick (we've asked her to stop this).

[Egluntyne]

Have you checked her crop? Is it solid or squishy?

 

Has she been wormed recently?

[Hol_C_Gil]

Hi

 

No, she hasn't been wormed so I will get hold of some wormer asap to make sure all of the hens are covered. Her crop feels quite firm.

[Egghead68]

Do you have a chicken-friendly vet nearby you can take her to?

[Hol_C_Gil]

Well, today she is much better! She is running around with the others with her tail/head up and she is scratching at the ground/making noise much like before her turn for the worst, although I am not going to get too excited that she is on the mend just yet. Her crop went down overnight and she is eating much more than she had previously done over the weekend. The only peculiarity is her eggs. This morning there was another soft egg along with an egg with no shell at all. It was in one piece however and the soft shell was next to it.

 

I've purchased some Flubenvet so hopefully that should rule out any worming issues from now on.

[sage]

A chicken can go off colour for a few days if they have a softy on the way. Hope she picks up .

 

Sage

[Plum]

Yes that sounds like the problem. I'd try not to give them treats so she's getting mainly chicken food and balanced diet plus access to mixed grit and shell. Misguided neighbour!

 

It's a challenge but you are doing well washing her bum as fly strke can be a problem with it getting a bit warmer. Bumpy start but you've got through the challenge, well done

[clucker1]

Cod liver oil helped my chicken who had similar symptoms. Not sure if it was the right thing to do but it worked.

[Hol_C_Gil]

Thank you all for your words of wisdom. I am pleased to report that Lime is now fighting fit! She is completely different chicken since we spoke with our neighbours. Our neighbour had also been throwing over lots of biscuits. The greedy little mites were guzzeling the lot before me and my other half returned from work so we were totally oblivious to what was going on. She meant well, but unfortunately her treats were filling up the chickens to the extent that they were ignoring the chicken feed etc. completely. We had thought they just didn't like it (which is clearly not the case since the treats stopped).

 

The neighbour very sweetly reported that she used to live on a farm with hundreds of chickens and so had possibly gone over the top in terms of portion control.

 

Thank you again

[Plum]

Bet there was a big muck heap there as well for easy protein. Good to hear things have turned round