Minnie&Moose Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Mavis (hybrid) is now over 6 yrs old (was still laying 5 eggs a week until Sep when she started to moult). She had a very rapid and impressive moult in Sep, losing all tail and primary feathers, and all the feathers down her back almost overnight. Feathers grew back in pretty quickly and she was looking spectacular, and then she lost her knickers, and turned into a naked neck look-alike, again almost overnight. New feathers are coming in quite quickly and until Sunday she seemed well - she's top hen and doesn't miss a trick where treats are concerned. Saturday she spent the day digging with me and Sunday morning she was hurtling round the garden as usual, but Sunday afternoon she suddenly looked awful, spent most of the afternoon asleep with her head tucked under her wing (never seen that before). She perked up briefly for mealworms and then headed off to bed very early (again, not her usual style). I was fully expecting her to be dead this morning but she was first out, bright and breezy, looking for breakfast (she got pellet slop and some scrambled egg as a pick me up). I checked her over briefly this morning - no external parasites, no odd smells or nasal discharge. She was wormed a few weeks ago but I've noticed for the last few months her droppings have been more sloppy than those of the younger hens. I'm not really sure what I'm asking here - just wondering whether I'm missing something obvious or this is just geriatric hen behaviour - ie being fine and feisty most of the time but occasionally being unusually sleepy. She's still able to hop up and down the cube steps, and she outran me this morning in the race to the mealworm stash, but she's lost a bit of weight, and at times she looks very tired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 I assume no rattly breathing/no swollen belly? I would think she is just getting old although maybe something else is going on inside as well. Its even possible that the moult has taken more out of her than normal as she ages; she is obviously a very productive girl. I would enjoy her hurrahs and keep vigilant for any abnormal lows, in case you need to take action. She sounds a character and a lovely bird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnie&Moose Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 Thanks Daphne. She is, indeed, a special bird! A great character who has lived life to the full since she very first arrived as a 16 week old pullet. And she lays/laid fantastic green eggs to boot! It will feel like the end of an era when Mavis finally shuffles off to the great henhouse in the sky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 What we have found with some of our old birds is they eat the sheaths from the new feathers in preference to eating food. This results in very runny poos and general lethargy (no energy in sheaths) with weight loss. She needs to be stimulated to eat proper food and as she isn't laying would be best on a cold mash made with rearers pellets. After a few pots of this they generally get the taste for food back. We've struggled this year with one Wyandotte, but the breakthrough came when we hung cabbage leaves up for her. She was very enthusiastic jumping up at them and that restored her appetite for pellets strangely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
