Fluffed up hen

[rick]

Tea Bag, my hybrid, has been sitting with her eyes shut most of the day with puffed up feathers. She doesn't seem to have an egg stuck and hasn't done any poos that I have been able to observe.
I think I have been chancing it a bit by letting the hybrid sisters roost down on the perch that's just above the ground, where they prefer and have put them all on the higher and more enclosed perch tonight.
It's been relitivly warm and very wet until recently so I suppose coccidiosis is possible. What temp can oocytes sporulate? (you don't get to say that very often!)
I'm reading that a warm bath is good for a bound egg. Is it very obvious to feel if there's an egg there? Felt fairly normal earlier.
She's eating treats, cooked corn, when offered earlier but I think she may have been too rough to be interested in crumble.
Her crop feels normal but was emptier than the others earlier which is why I tempted her with some corn on the cob.

 

[Marigold]

Oh dear, poor girl. With exbatts, or any older hen who has been laying intensively, this kind of development is only too common I'm afraid, and not a lot can be done. I would imagine peritonitis is more likely than cocci, an older hybrid with slack oviduct is prone to such troubles. If she's sitting with her eyes shut and all puffed up, that doesn't sound good and she will be in pain. If she were mine, we would be off to the vet tomorrow, and I would not be hopeful about bringing her home with me. Do let us know how she gets on,

 

[dinosaw]

Unlikely to be cocci Rick, the birds a too old for that, you would be seeing blood in their poo. Egg binding? does she walk like a penguin when she moves, her vent pulse abnormally?, messy feathers around the vent?, watery poo?, if not then that can probably be ruled out, warm water bath and vaseline up the bum if that's what you think it is. For it to be peritonitis you should have been noticing egg bound symptoms on and off for a while before actual peritonitis sets in, she's not even two years old yet is she?.

 

[rick]

Went to the vet this morning after giving her a warm bath and thinking better of going to work. Not sure if the bath helped but she passed a broken egg ('lash'?) on the vets table. Giving her 24 hours to see what happens next.
They would be about 17 months dinosaw, looking back. Seems longer! This is their second winter.

 

[dinosaw]

Potentially bad news that Rick, unfortunately there is a chance this could be the start of peritonitis for her, she will have periods of looking ill before suddenly improving with the pattern repeating itself. Try and feel her and see how prominent her breast bone is compared to your other hybrids as this is a tell tale sign, birds suffering from peritonitis become emaciated with very prominent breast bones. Try to keep them off anything bar pellets for the time being, even a small amount of greens can be the difference between my exbatts laying soft shell eggs or not.

 

[rick]

She seems much better now - a bit phased but moving around and eating mash of her own accord. Have put her back outside so she doesn't get acclimatised to the warmth indoors (and its about 6 C out there at the mo.)
As you say dinosaw, it seems to be a sign of an infection of the oviduct that is progressive but not immediately fatal in itself. The vet said there was a hormone implant that stops them laying but she had only used it once as at £80 it is prohibitively expensive for a chicken.
Fingers crossed for now.
... I'm also rethinking my lights. If I didn't extend the daylight in the morning and evening then I wouldn't really see them for days on end in the week and might miss something like this but now regretting the effect on increased laying.
I suppose I could just turn the light on low for 15 mins for mash and a checkover in the evening then put them back on the perches when I turn it off again.
I know - hybrids are going to lay more anyway - just rambling!

 

[rick]

Does anyone know of a way of telling if a chicken has laid an egg or been in a nest box even? I can think of ridiculously technical ways but it's getting a bit silly! Putting her in an enclosure on her own would do it but I'd rather not as she seems well in general and it would be a stress that would be best avoided.
If only she laid a uniquely coloured egg like my CLB!
I've had 3 brown eggs today but have 4 hens that could have laid them. If Tea Bag hasn't laid then that's good because she's having a rest. If she has that's also good because her plumbing is working! Darn hybrids, they are just so into the work ethic!

 

[rick]

She's having a full on moult. There are feathers in the nest box, but then there are feathers blowing around everywhere!

 

[rick]

This morning I found a rough egg. Grainy surface but otherwise properly formed. It's the first one for a while but I remember having a few like that about a month ago.
I'm guessing (a guess is all it is) that this egg belongs to Teabag.

 

[rick]

It wasn't her egg. She isn't laying, I've learnt to tell by the look of the vent.

After what I've said recently on this forum I realise that this may sound rather too convenient and made up but when I went into the coop to give them their breakfast this morning it went like this:

Oh Teabag, your lively this morning. Are you feeling a bit better? That's good.
Steady on your being unusually aggressive- rising up and chasing everyone off!
Oh, your grabbing Blaze by the ruff and treading on her! That's... interesting!

It's got to be testosterone driven so I'm assuming that the salpingitis has destroyed her ovary. If she survives and becomes a rooster I'll post a picture, won't nessecerily happen of course, but I'm a little more hopeful and we'll have to cross the crowing bridge if and when we come to it!

 

[dinosaw]

It may not be what you think Rick (of course it might be as well) I have had hens indulge in behaviour where they appeared to tread other hens, generally when they were absolutely furious, particularly wanted to make a point and the other bird squatted in submission to avoid a good hiding. It will be a wait and see, if the behaviour occurs consistently then it may well be that she is changing.

 

[rick]

Thanks dinosaw. At least she seems to have some fire in her at the moment and isn't taking it lying down New feathers are filling out now.

 

[rick]

Oh my goodness I've just realised that 4 days before Teabag was ill I visited a garden with 2 chickens to view the trees. Went back today to measure and the penny dropped. May be a coincidence but will.steralise the bottoms of my shoes for sure this time!

 

[dinosaw]

Coincidence given what her problems have been Rick, but you are wise to consider biosecurity when you come into contact with other chickens, especially if you ever decide to hatch your own chicks.

 

[rick]

Well - I may have jumped to some conclusions before but I did take all of the eggs from the nest boxes yesterday and today there were 5.
One of them is quite pale and I had a pale, thin shelled one yesterday as well so I think Teabag is back in business!
I’m a bit surprised because her comb is much smaller than it was. In fact, with her small comb and new sandy coloured feathers she almost looks like a young pullet again (but bigger.)
I am putting the miracle recovery (I know - counting chickens and all that...) down to the addition on turmeric and pepper to their breakfast - and lots of cuddles of course!

 

[Marigold]

When exbatts first arrive they usually have larger combs than hens kept outdoors, because the sheds they live in are so hot all the time that they grow bigger combs as a cooling mechanism. Now she's all feathered up and beautiful, maybe her comb has gone back to normal size, to prevent her losing too much heat in the winter out of doors? Just a thought.....

 

[rick]

Yes, she's defiantly needed to conserve heat over the past couple of months. I was assuming that it was to do with being off lay but she's only just got all her feathers back. It used to be difficult to tell them apart to the point that Teabag's wavy comb was the only thing that set her aside. Now I can spot her from the other end of the house through the window.
You know how they say people go white haired with a traumatic experience? Well that's what it makes me think of at the moment because all of her feathers, including the ones she didn’t lose, are several shades paler. Maybe they will darken again. I'll see if I can get a picture with Brownie and Blaze for comparison.

 

[rick]

Here are the pics. I'm not worried about this, just interesting the change in her

Blaze


Brownie


Teabag

And for good measure Aerial and 'the Bobster'!

 

[dinosaw]

She looks like she has a typical post moult comb Rick, it will get bigger in time. As regards feathers I don't think they ever grow back the same, we used to have a bird we called White Neck who after her first moult no longer had a white neck anymore. It's rare but not unheard of for chickens to actually completely change colour from what they were originally over a series of moults.

 

[rick]

Colour changing hens - who'd have thought it! Thanks dinosaw, Marigold, I thought a picture might settle it and it's reassuring that the comb is usual too.