Poorly Chicken!

[Firefly1010]

Please help. I have an ISA Brown called Jalfrezi who is 2 and a half years old. She is one of a flock of 4. Recently she appeared to be egg bound so I bathed her in warm water and Epsom salts. She seemed to be ok and and we went on holiday leaving her in the care of my dad. While away she lost a lot of feathers on her underside, back and tail and became very depressed rarely coming out of her coup. My dad bathed her every day and since we got back she seems a little better. She is eating, and roaming free. The feathers are coming back but she still isn’t right. I can’t get a vet to look at her (I’m disgusted they won’t help a poorly animal just because she is a chicken). The rest of the flock seem ok although we are only getting 1 or 2 at the most eggs a day when we always had 4. I’m confident we haven’t got red mite. Has anyone got any ideas? I did try to integrate 4 new chickens a few months ago but the existing flock wouldn’t accept them I have have built a second coil and run to keep them segregated. Are there antibiotics I could buy? Please, I would be so grateful for any advice. xx

 

[azygous]

It would help us to know your location. If you're in the northern hemisphere, this sounds very much like molt.

 

[swamphiker]

Hi there, can you tell us a little more about the symptoms Jalfrezi is currently experiencing aside from the lost feathers? Is she still lethargic? If it is autumn where you live, she could simply be molting. Also, if your 4 chickens are all 2.5 years old, it's normal for their egg laying to slow down.

 

[Firefly1010]

Hi!

Thanks for your reply. I’m in London UK. If she was moulting wouldn’t the others be doing the same?

 

[swamphiker]

Hi!

Thanks for your reply. I’m in London UK. If she was moulting wouldn’t the others be doing the same?

It's not unusual for chickens to molt at different times from one another, even those kept in the same flock.

 

[Firefly1010]

Hi there, can you tell us a little more about the symptoms Jalfrezi is currently experiencing aside from the lost feathers? Is she still lethargic? If it is autumn where you live, she could simply be molting. Also, if your 4 chickens are all 2.5 years old, it's normal for their egg laying to slow down.

Hi Swamphiker. Actually it is just autumn here and Hatching also suggested molting. There were a huge amount of feathers and she is still very lethargic and down. None of the others are any symptoms. Good to know it’s normal for the egg laying to slow down…one less thing to worry about.

 

[Firefly1010]

It's not unusual for chickens to molt at different times from one another, even those kept in the same flock.

Thanks for the info…..I feel a bit better about it now. I’ll keep an eye on her and hopefully it is just a molt. Really appreciate you taking the time to give me advice! Thank you

 

[azygous]

Molt can produce many of the same symptoms as a serious illness. Loss of appetite can result in weakness and lethargy, and in some cases, the chicken has to be fed specially in order to bring them back from the brink. I have a rooster at this moment that I'm feeding cooked egg each morning to keep his energy up. All he has wanted to do is lie about all day in his run. Even the hens haven't excited him.

Chickens in molt will feel lousy and they can go from friendly to stand-offish, not wishing to be touched. Each chicken molts according to their own time table. Molt can also be heavy and brutal for one chicken and so discrete in another that you aren't even aware of it.

Feeding extra protein during molt can help a chicken through it, especially when they're having a tough time.

 

[Firefly1010]

Molt can produce many of the same symptoms as a serious illness. Loss of appetite can result in weakness and lethargy, and in some cases, the chicken has to be fed specially in order to bring them back from the brink. I have a rooster at this moment that I'm feeding cooked egg each morning to keep his energy up. All he has wanted to do is lie about all day in his run. Even the hens haven't excited him.

Chickens in molt will feel lousy and they can go from friendly to stand-offish, not wishing to be touched. Each chicken molts according to their own time table. Molt can also be heavy and brutal for one chicken and so discrete in another that you aren't even aware of it.

Feeding extra protein during molt can help a chicken through it, especially when they're having a tough time.

Azygous, thank you so much for all that information, that does sound exactly like what she is going through. How long does it last? And can they die from it? Really hope your Rooster is feeling better….it sounds like he is in very good hands!!

 

[azygous]

I hesitate to claim a chicken can die of molt, but their health can definitely suffer, leaving them vulnerable to infection. A few of my chickens over the many years I've been keeping them have scared me with their refusing to eat and becoming weak from it. I now offer a treat to my flock of canned mackerel once a week during molt, which lasts from the end of August to January.

As I mentioned, each chicken has their own molting "style". But on average, a chicken will complete molt in four to six weeks, some longer than that.

I try not to handle a molting chicken any more than necessary as it's very uncomfortable being touched with all the new pin feathers erupting through their skin.

One thing to be on the watch for is a weak chicken being picked at by more aggressive ones. They sometimes discover that erupting pin feathers are rich in blood and they get addicted to cannibalizing them. The victim can become anemic if this is carried to the extreme. In case you are unlucky to have this happen, I found that painting gentian violet (Blu-kote in the US) on the erupting pin feathers can camouflage them so the chickens will leave them alone.