Chicken bald back

[mullethunter]

I know I've been posting that everything has been going well, but I'm really worried about one of my new girls.

 

I thought she was just stressed from the move and taking a while to settle in, and maybe it is that, but it's been 4 days now, and I think she's barely eaten. She spends most (not all) of her time standing quietly on her own with her tail down. I haven't seen her eat any pellets (not sure I've seen her drink either), she isn't really interested in corn and hasn't been out foraging like the other new girl. She perks up considerably if I take out mealworms and will compete against the other new girl for them, and I saw her pecking at a plum yesterday, but I don't think she's eaten anything else and just seems so listless most of the time.

 

Should I be worried or give her more time? And I can't MAKE her eat but don't think it's a good idea to let her just have mealworms.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[Cat tails]

Oh what a worries!

Could you give her a feel and see if she has anything in her crop? I would try to give her a physical check to see if anything stands out. Might still be just stress, but you never know with chickens do you...

[Groovychook]

Sorry to hear that

Is there a chance that she could be being bullied by the other new girl? I have had Araucana's in the past who have been fairly aggressive as far as the pecking order goes. I even had to fit a bumper bit on one.

 

Maybe you could put a bit of a barrier between the pair of them during the day and have a separate drinker and feeder in each section. It could be that the more confident girl is taking ownership of them at the moment and the more timid of the two could be struggling to find confidence to feed and drink whilst the other one is close by

 

She could just be a timid little think who is nervous about her new surroundings. I would give her as many mealworms or other tasty treats treats as you can for now.

[mullethunter]

Today has been worse. I think she's eaten 1 meal worm and a blade of grass. I tried to get some water into her beak but didn't do very well.

 

She pooed just white liquidy stuff.

 

She did put herself to bed fine with he others. Just really hoping she'll have perked up in the morning because I'm at a loss

[Groovychook]

Oh poor thing

I wonder if she has an underlying illness that has been triggered by moving to new surroundings.

Think I would consider taking her to the vets if she doesn't improve tomorrow.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow

[Luvachicken]

Wonder if any nutridrops would perk her up a bit ?

I hope she feels better by the morning xx

[mullethunter]

I did think about nutri drops but I don't have any and doubt I could get any before Wednesday. I tried putting avipro avian in some water for her but can't get her to drink it.

[Groovychook]

If it helps at all and if you are passing this way with work, I have some nutri-drops that you are welcome to.

[mullethunter]

Thankyou so much - I might take you up on that if she doesn't improve.

[Cat tails]

Maybe give the breeder a ring? He might have some idea what could be wrong.

[Luvachicken]

I know she is not that interested in food but what about if you dropped some bits of sweetcorn or something into the avipro and then she might get a little bit of liquid if she tried to peck the corn.

 

Do you have a vets that is open on a Bank holiday Monday ?

[Groovychook]

No problem, there isn't an awful lot in the bottle but it might tide you over till you can get some yourself.

Just let me know if you need them.

I agree that giving the breeder a call might be a good idea.

[mullethunter]

Well, this morning she was pretty much the same. I managed to get her to eat a few mealworms but nothing more. So, she's gone back to the breeder and I've got another the same.

 

The breeder was brilliant. Immediately offered to have her back, and has put her in an ark on her own for now. He said he'll try to nurse her back to health - I hope he does and I hope she makes it - she list so much weight in just those 4 days - I feel like I gave up on her He said that for some individuals the stress of a move to a new place with new feed etc can just be too much, especially at that age.

 

I've now got the replacement black in the Go run with the original new brown - brown isn't happy as she was slowly ingratiating herself with the rest of the flock, but I thought that would be better than just trying to introduce the replacement black on her own in a week or so.

[Groovychook]

I think that's probably the best solution. Fingers crossed she'll make a full recovery now she's back on familiar ground.

 

Hopefully you can start to enjoy having your new girls now.

I'm sure little brown will get used to her new companion soon.

 

Have PM'd you.

[Cat tails]

Sounds like a good solution for hen and you. Hope she makes it and new black does a bit better.

[Luvachicken]

Sounds like a very good breeder.

I'm glad you managed to sort something out and hope that the original hen gets better and that your new one soon settles in .