Why is she doing this? Is it cause for concern?

[Margaid]

I have on two separate occasions observed PInk hen making the sort of clucking I normally associate with egg laying, and then standing with her bum down as though she's straining. What appears is a small amount of watery poo - on both occasions she has been outside the coop.

She has been here for just over 2 weeks now. When my friend brought her to join the two new birds, she remarked that she was a bit smelly but thought it was because she had just done a big poo. The feathers near her vent were a bit mucky and they still are.

I noticed her poos were a bit runny, although the normal green/white. I read somewhere that this could be a sign of not eating enough and certainly her crop is not as pronounced as Henny's (the in lay new hen) when I shut them up. Pink hen has been fed the mixed grain diet since July so it isn't a change of diet, and it seems whatever it is was happening before she was brought here. Henny occasionally still makes a half hearted attempt to peck her but the snow seems to have got them more used to feeding together.

Her comb is smaller than Henny's and although not very pale, is not the bright red of Henny's. Neither of the other two Welsummers still at my friend's have started laying again. Is this a precursor to her starting to lay again, or is it something that maybe needs a vet's attention. Other than the poo and an apparently less full crop, she is absolutely fine. She makes sure she gets her fair share of the mealworms and sunflower seeds.

None of the birdss are used to being handled; I've had virtually no experience and my friend doesn't handle her hens. If I need to of course I will but I haven't tried to pick her up because I don't know what I should be looking for.

Any opinions or advice please?

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Margaid. Confusing symptoms here. Initially thought egg bound, the 'watery poo' being the lubricant associated with egg laying. Poos should be brown/white as green shades can be infection. But if she seems fine? You need to check her abdomen for swelling. The pale comb would normally say she isn't laying yet but it may be illness. We had a hen that was particularly smelly due to the ILT immunisation and repeated stress related flare-ups (Daffodil) who I nicknamed 'stinky'. She was fine otherwise but smelt terrible for a couple of years.

So if her abdomen, the area between her vent and breast, isn't swollen it's just more close observation I think.

 

[Margaid]

All three birds poos are the same sort of colour Chris; Cocky and Henny's are the same colour as when they came - I know because only having a few I poo pick the house daily (also thought it would be a good way of seeing any problems) . I'm still not sure she's getting enough to eat but in this weather I can't separate her and let her have her own feeder. I did read in one of my books that Welsummers are "frugal feeders" - not exaclty sure what that means i.e. is their feed/egg conversion rate good or do they (as these seem to) find a lot of thier food scratching about. They certainly don't seem to get through 150 grams of feed a day, it's more like 100grams, but Henny is laying every other day (famous last words - it's "eggday" today), so I've stopped worrying about her.

I am keeping an eye on Pink hen and I'll try and feel her abdomen. As I said , neither of the others bought with her are laying yet - sometimes I wonder of the foxhound attack has put them off for good.

Just remembered I bookmarked this - I have some of the variety of the top set of pictures.
http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

 

[Marigold]

In that case, droppings are OK I would think. As they are finding grass, even at the moment, that would account for the green poo. So long as its sor of grass green and not kind of turquoise it's OK. Turquoise can indicate gut infections, as I found with Marigold.
Its always difficult to introduce just one hen to a group or pair that have already bonded. I tried this on one occasion and the newbie was never properly accepted, always the 'gooseberry.' This will be causing her added stress, on top of the inevitable upset of moving home, and this may manifest itself in her appearing below par and not laying at present.

 

[Chuck]

I have yet to find a 'frugal feeder' and when and if I do, I would set every egg she laid hoping for hundreds of 'frugal feeding' chicks ! Breeds get labelled for all kinds of funny little ways but most come under the big heading of chickens and are not that much different.

 

[Margaid]

As her "pen mates" aren't laying either I'm not too bothered Marigold, just concerned that there may be something wrong. Henny hasn't laid today - the first time she's missed since 30th December, but they're obviously not happy with the weather. I wouldn't have tried to introduce a single hen - I was sort of presented with it as a fait accompli, designed to relieve Henny of the cockerel's attention. It hasn't worked of course because Pink hen is not responsive as she's not in lay and just runs away from him.

I don't actually know whether all four hens I bought were laying as the eggs were not all sufficiently different, and I was only getting about 9 a week when I would have expected 12-14 from 4 hens. I'll just have to wait until the other 2 start laying.

Like someone said Chuck, there's so much (conflicting) information out there for us newbies - just glad there are experienced people on the forum to help out. If they turn out to be "frugal feeders" I'll let you have some eggs!

 

[chrismahon]

Just picking up on the 'frugal feeding' breed mentioned by Chuck. I was amazed how fast the TNN's can trash an area. They tear it up and eat everything they find -grass, seeds, grubs. The 800 square metre enclosure we have couldn't sustain more than a dozen I think. So what we save on feed we spend on fencing!