A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi all
I have four pol hens, about 19-20 weeks old, and have had them for just over a week. They are my first hens so I'm a total novice. Two of the hens have started laying (one laid two eggs in the first two days I had her but nothing since and one laid her first two at the weekend). One of the laying hens had been attacked just before we bought her (bad choice I'm sure but my son 'felt sorry for her'). She has no tail feathers and bare patches on her back, seems very skitish but perky. They are all eating and drinking.
I've thought a couple of times that I've heard a cough or a sneeze from one of my hens but her eyes are clear. However, today when I was cleaning out the coop I found a couple of blobs of what appeared to be mucus, quite jelly like and clear but with streaks of blood in it. In total it was no more than half a teaspoon full, probably less. It was high up in the nest box, one on the lid and one high up on the side. Two of the hens sleep in the nest boxes - one of them is the hen I thought I heard cough and neither of them are laying yet. Oh, and the one I thought coughed seems to have spent a lot of the day with her feathers all puffed up and not doing much. It has been very cold here though.
Can anybody tell me what this might be and if it's something I should be very concerned about please?
Thanks
Helen
I have four pol hens, about 19-20 weeks old, and have had them for just over a week. They are my first hens so I'm a total novice. Two of the hens have started laying (one laid two eggs in the first two days I had her but nothing since and one laid her first two at the weekend). One of the laying hens had been attacked just before we bought her (bad choice I'm sure but my son 'felt sorry for her'). She has no tail feathers and bare patches on her back, seems very skitish but perky. They are all eating and drinking.
I've thought a couple of times that I've heard a cough or a sneeze from one of my hens but her eyes are clear. However, today when I was cleaning out the coop I found a couple of blobs of what appeared to be mucus, quite jelly like and clear but with streaks of blood in it. In total it was no more than half a teaspoon full, probably less. It was high up in the nest box, one on the lid and one high up on the side. Two of the hens sleep in the nest boxes - one of them is the hen I thought I heard cough and neither of them are laying yet. Oh, and the one I thought coughed seems to have spent a lot of the day with her feathers all puffed up and not doing much. It has been very cold here though.
Can anybody tell me what this might be and if it's something I should be very concerned about please?
Thanks
Helen
) but it's nice to hear it from someone who knows what they're talking about.