- Jun 28, 2010
- 2
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Hi all,
One of my hens - Hawkeye (Ameraucana) - has begun spending her days lying in a corner of the coop and quietly clucking. She barely eats and appears to be losing weight. She stopped laying eggs weeks ago. She rarely poops and when she does it's dark and sort of gooie but she doesn't poop inside the coop. I sometimes bring her outside and there, she scratches her face and neck and rubs her beak on the ground. She scratches the earth a little, eats a few seeds, and within a few minutes she runs back inside to her corner of the coop. I haven't noticed her scratching herself when she's inside the coop. When I reach inside the coop to pet her, she clucks some, and raises her back end and puffs up her feathers but otherwise accepts my gentle strokes.
A couple of weeks ago, one of Hawkeye's eyes was infected and she held it closed for a couple days. I treated her with terramycin ointment and her eyes appear OK now. I checked her for being eggbound which does not seem to be the case. I looked at her face for any sign of mites and didn't find any, but that's as far as I've gone looking. The other hens are fine.
Weather-wise, we're outside Boston.
Hawkeye is about one year old - she was part of our first three hens which we bought in Oct, 2009. She had always been very lively, entertaining and interactive and loved to perch on a human lap.
We had three hens but lost one to a hawk attack this spring. Hawkeye was attacked about a week later but she escaped. For several days after the attack, she appeared completely normal. Because of the hawks, the hens no longer free range, but they pasture on green grass inside a large fence surrounding their run. So far so good.
Our coop is cleaned weekly and always filled with fresh wood shavings for bedding. The run always has clean hay put down. The food and water are checked daily. We do not use any medications on a regular basis.
We've recently introduced four new hens, which are all 10 weeks old. The presence of the new hens has had no effect on Hawkeye, good or bad.
I would really love to help Hawkeye. She clearly feels crummy. I look forward to everyone's advice.
Many thanks!
- Tim
One of my hens - Hawkeye (Ameraucana) - has begun spending her days lying in a corner of the coop and quietly clucking. She barely eats and appears to be losing weight. She stopped laying eggs weeks ago. She rarely poops and when she does it's dark and sort of gooie but she doesn't poop inside the coop. I sometimes bring her outside and there, she scratches her face and neck and rubs her beak on the ground. She scratches the earth a little, eats a few seeds, and within a few minutes she runs back inside to her corner of the coop. I haven't noticed her scratching herself when she's inside the coop. When I reach inside the coop to pet her, she clucks some, and raises her back end and puffs up her feathers but otherwise accepts my gentle strokes.
A couple of weeks ago, one of Hawkeye's eyes was infected and she held it closed for a couple days. I treated her with terramycin ointment and her eyes appear OK now. I checked her for being eggbound which does not seem to be the case. I looked at her face for any sign of mites and didn't find any, but that's as far as I've gone looking. The other hens are fine.
Weather-wise, we're outside Boston.
Hawkeye is about one year old - she was part of our first three hens which we bought in Oct, 2009. She had always been very lively, entertaining and interactive and loved to perch on a human lap.
We had three hens but lost one to a hawk attack this spring. Hawkeye was attacked about a week later but she escaped. For several days after the attack, she appeared completely normal. Because of the hawks, the hens no longer free range, but they pasture on green grass inside a large fence surrounding their run. So far so good.
Our coop is cleaned weekly and always filled with fresh wood shavings for bedding. The run always has clean hay put down. The food and water are checked daily. We do not use any medications on a regular basis.
We've recently introduced four new hens, which are all 10 weeks old. The presence of the new hens has had no effect on Hawkeye, good or bad.
I would really love to help Hawkeye. She clearly feels crummy. I look forward to everyone's advice.
Many thanks!
- Tim
