Skinny Hen

I'd love to bring her into the warm but I really don't think she'd appreciate it - she's not that poorly yet and it would mean taking her away from the others and I don't want to reduce her status in the flock any more as it's already slipping!
 
We've got a blue lace Wyandotte gone light and I did't want to separate her either. Let her sleep in the nest box for a few nights but now am worried about chest infection as there is no air behind the curtain. So she's back on the perch now. If we had space its time to get her in, but the dinning room is too full with other sickies at the moment -now 2 Leghorns have chest problems because I kept the greenhouse vents closed too long to avoid frostbite of Boris's comb. That didn't work either so they are all in at night now. Daffodil is still in with her swollen feet but full of beans last few days. And we've run out of spare coops and the vet is over on 1st March so have to declare closed flocks by then. But some hens won't settle before rehoming so its chaos here at the moment! Claud arrives tomorrow!!! And one of the TNN's laid her first egg today !!!!!
 
Ok, ok, ok! ;) Put's things in perspective..I've only got one poorly girl to look after and worry about!! :roll:

Congratulations on Mrs TNN's first egg...any names yet Chris?

Think I'll bring the poorly girl in for a few hours over the weekend. I'll put some spray on and hairdry her so she's not out in the cold with it on - I only hope she likes the hairdryer as much as other people report on here! I want her to keep her confidence as top hen though so can't take her away for too long!
She's ok this morning, eating fairly well although she's mainly only interested in mealworms so she's getting them on demend at the minute (is it all a ploy?)

They are having some of the miracle stuff from the Chicken Vet (I hope!) in their feed and water today and lots of nice warm food to get them started. I'll start their 7 days worming routine on Monday and then Beryls next weekend! Can't do much more at this stage I don't think!??
 
Sure she'll love the hairdryer, or appear to anyway. Some of ours are so terrified they are frozen to the spot! Just look at her eyes -if they are wide open she's terrified. If she starts preening she's entirely happy with it.

No names yet Cuwiar, apart from Claude. Thought about Sophia, but until we get to know them better and establish the different characters we won't decide anyway.

Sure she's going to be fine Cuwiar. TLC works wonders. You are best nursing her to health as, when weakened, the top hen may be challenged. We've had several changerounds of top hen in the various coops for various reasons, usually caused by us not managing the hens wisely.
 
I think she's losing her grip on top hen status - she hangs at the back when it comes to food time more than she used to and the pecker girl (Mehefin) stands right in the bowl and makes the 'I've found treats' noises. Eb still has the odd go at seeing the other two off but she's not really big boss any more. There's a fine balance of power at the moment. Yesterday Eb even seemed to be preening Mehefins tail...does that sound normal??

They are being wormed this week which means it's a particulalry boring week for them so I used the spray again yesterday when the temps were a bit higher. The good news is that Eb doesn't seem to have anymore feathers missing so I think the worst of the pecking has stopped. I'm still undecided if it was a bout of misplaced curiosity or if it really was pecking with intent (GBFP - Grevious Bodily Feather Pecking?).

And even better news is that Eb seems to have a bit of 5 o'clock shadow on her belly - she's still very skinny and little but growing new feathers and laying almost every day can't be a bad sign!!?
 
Well, I took her to the vet but not much to report really.

She weighs 1.9kg which I think for her breed type is about two thirds of what she should weigh.

The vet I see isn't a 'chicken vet' but she tries her best. I got some Frontline spray for the mites and they are all on 50/50 layers and growers pellets to try to build them up. I won't be using the spray for a while as their poor skin is now dry and flaky from all the DE! I didn't realise it would dry them out so much so I want them to recover a bit first and feel really bad that I caused it to happen. I won't be doing that again!

The morning porridge has stopped completely as it seemed it was going through and coming out pretty much unchanged so I'm hoping the hard to digest pellets are going to be better for them. Greens in the run in the day and a little corn and mealworms in the afternoon/evening. Back to basics. The greens do seem to go straight through but not in a runny way, still the undigested way.

I can't do much else now I don't think.
 
Rather as Chuck suggested, I think if she is lively and showing normal behaviour, Has a healthy appetite and is Laying, I can't imagine there is too much wrong with her? Laying really does draw heavily on a bird's body reserves, and A heavily laying hen will feel thin. A fat hen is a non layer or a poor layer.A hen that is thin due to Illness will be lethargic and slow or Tottery in her movements,and certainly would not be laying.
 
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