Apologies for the (likely) long post here. Trying my hardest to save a hen!
Situation:
I have an (approx) 2.5 year-old hybrid. She used to rule the roost (of two), but when my second hybrid was attacked by a fox and killed, I got a young black rock to replace her. The logic here was to get a strong / slightly would-be larger hen to deal with my existing (incredibly feisty / roost-ruling) hybrid. All was fine for a year or so. The roost ruler flipped and the black rock moved to the top of the pecking order.
Very slowly however, over the last 6 months or so, my hybrid started to lose feathers on her chest, and eventually her legs, exposing bare skin. Around two months ago, her laying became irregular, until one day she laid a spiral-like misshapen egg. She has since laid one or two more, ever smaller misshapen husks. It's possible that she's lost some weight, although it could just be feather loss making it appear this way.
Her behaviour is mostly unchanged to that of pre-"problem", with one exception. She won't roost at night, and is sleeping on the aubiose/diatomaceous earth mix i've got underneath their perch. Sadly, this means she ends up sleeping under the perch where the other one sometimes poos on her at night - this was an assumption given where she sleeps but hadn't seen any evidence of it until this morning. She also doesn't like jumping up to her perch in the coop, although she can when she wants to. Lastly, her rear-end is rarely clean. Always has poo hanging off the feathers. I've tried to snip them off to clean a bit but it recurs.
A bit more history - this hen is ultra feisty. 1.5 years ago she survived a fox attack mostly unscathed but for a small drop in her wing position, has fought off cats etc. None of this affected her health / behaviour.
My theories (probably incorrect given lack of results) so far:
1. Mite infestation
I think this because of the pattern of loss of feathers: chest, and around the bottom of legs. I further suspected this because at one point I stopped using diatomaceous earth in the coop and switched entirely to aubiose. Reintroducing the diatom has had no effect.
I've also seen her pecking herself. Anti-peck spray bought from Omlet makes no difference - she pecks anything.
One reason it might not be mites is the fact that the other one is fine and dandy.
2. Bullying?
The now-feistier black rock might be bullying her, but I can't see any direct evidence of this. Never seen any pecking, just your usual pushing out of the way to get at treats first.
Attempted treatments:
1. Diatomaceous earth all over the coop for a month - no effect.
2. Anti-mite/louse powder - no effect
3. Distractions / extra treats etc to stop pecking - unknown if pecking is reduced, but no effect on skin.
4. Antiseptic (purple) spray on exposed inflamed skin - no effect. She pecks that and ends up with a purple mouth.
5. I attempted poultry tar over the sores. This was a complete disaster and I won't tell you how long it took me to get it off since she was intent on poisoning herself by pecking / eating it! Never again.
3. Food (unchanged since having the hens):
Marriage's organic pellets, mixed with appropriate amounts of seaweed, some bokashi bran, and oyster shells.
She's eating fine.
I've been to vets around here before with a hen - sadly, they know nothing about poultry.
I'm attaching a couple of photos. Would be grateful for any advice! I worry that their prey-behaviour might be masking a suffering hen. There's one photo in the mix (digging in a corner) which is from April 2023 - when all was well! Movies seem like a non-starter, so I've tried a GIF. The GIF attached was taken last night. Dust baths seem normal to me!
Situation:
I have an (approx) 2.5 year-old hybrid. She used to rule the roost (of two), but when my second hybrid was attacked by a fox and killed, I got a young black rock to replace her. The logic here was to get a strong / slightly would-be larger hen to deal with my existing (incredibly feisty / roost-ruling) hybrid. All was fine for a year or so. The roost ruler flipped and the black rock moved to the top of the pecking order.
Very slowly however, over the last 6 months or so, my hybrid started to lose feathers on her chest, and eventually her legs, exposing bare skin. Around two months ago, her laying became irregular, until one day she laid a spiral-like misshapen egg. She has since laid one or two more, ever smaller misshapen husks. It's possible that she's lost some weight, although it could just be feather loss making it appear this way.
Her behaviour is mostly unchanged to that of pre-"problem", with one exception. She won't roost at night, and is sleeping on the aubiose/diatomaceous earth mix i've got underneath their perch. Sadly, this means she ends up sleeping under the perch where the other one sometimes poos on her at night - this was an assumption given where she sleeps but hadn't seen any evidence of it until this morning. She also doesn't like jumping up to her perch in the coop, although she can when she wants to. Lastly, her rear-end is rarely clean. Always has poo hanging off the feathers. I've tried to snip them off to clean a bit but it recurs.
A bit more history - this hen is ultra feisty. 1.5 years ago she survived a fox attack mostly unscathed but for a small drop in her wing position, has fought off cats etc. None of this affected her health / behaviour.
My theories (probably incorrect given lack of results) so far:
1. Mite infestation
I think this because of the pattern of loss of feathers: chest, and around the bottom of legs. I further suspected this because at one point I stopped using diatomaceous earth in the coop and switched entirely to aubiose. Reintroducing the diatom has had no effect.
I've also seen her pecking herself. Anti-peck spray bought from Omlet makes no difference - she pecks anything.
One reason it might not be mites is the fact that the other one is fine and dandy.
2. Bullying?
The now-feistier black rock might be bullying her, but I can't see any direct evidence of this. Never seen any pecking, just your usual pushing out of the way to get at treats first.
Attempted treatments:
1. Diatomaceous earth all over the coop for a month - no effect.
2. Anti-mite/louse powder - no effect
3. Distractions / extra treats etc to stop pecking - unknown if pecking is reduced, but no effect on skin.
4. Antiseptic (purple) spray on exposed inflamed skin - no effect. She pecks that and ends up with a purple mouth.
5. I attempted poultry tar over the sores. This was a complete disaster and I won't tell you how long it took me to get it off since she was intent on poisoning herself by pecking / eating it! Never again.
3. Food (unchanged since having the hens):
Marriage's organic pellets, mixed with appropriate amounts of seaweed, some bokashi bran, and oyster shells.
She's eating fine.
I've been to vets around here before with a hen - sadly, they know nothing about poultry.
I'm attaching a couple of photos. Would be grateful for any advice! I worry that their prey-behaviour might be masking a suffering hen. There's one photo in the mix (digging in a corner) which is from April 2023 - when all was well! Movies seem like a non-starter, so I've tried a GIF. The GIF attached was taken last night. Dust baths seem normal to me!
