Elspeth Dinsmore
Songster
I have a Speckled Sussex hen, named Brynn, that is almost 10 months old. She weighs 5 lbs. 11.5 oz. About two months ago she began to lose feathers on her bum (my other SS also lost her bum feathers). Those feathers haven't grown back yet. I made a post when the problem originally happened and some kind people came along and gave us good advice. We followed their advice and the hens stopped losing more feathers!
I tried doing some research on when the feathers would come back in, but I'm still confused on that. I'm not sure whether I'm waiting until next molt or if they will come back sooner?
-Problem-
Today I noticed Brynn had a small gash on her lower bottom area with fresh blood. It is approximately 2 mm deep, 3mm wide, & 20 mm long. It must have happened close to when I had gone outside to sit with them.
I am a first-time chicken keeper and it feels overwhelming to try and figure out how to best take care of my chickens. I got really scared at first that she might have water-belly, cause I heard horror stories about hens splitting open and dying. I looked at some of Azygous' informative posts (which are great btw!) and realized my hen didn't have those symptoms.
I don't know whether Brynn got pecked, I didn't see anything she could have cut herself on, or if this is a sign of of a reproductive issue, or something else? If she got pecked, I still don't know why her skin looks so irritated and red in more than just the cut area.
-Behavior-
Brynn seems to be behaving normally, she might be a little more quiet than normal, but that might just be me overthinking it. She always runs out to see me and hop on my lap to get a hug. She readily ate some meal-worms I offered her to see if she still had an appetite. She is eating her regular food right now. Her poo looked well-formed and normal. Her comb seems to be normal as well.
I do not know exactly whether she is laying or not. She laid in the nesting box for about an hour this morning and didn't lay an egg to my knowledge (she was sitting on one, but I think that was my faverolles' egg that was already in there). We have been getting approximately 6 eggs per day in the last two weeks from my 10 hens (one was broody and another is going broody).
Saturday, she got to free range and enjoyed that immensely; behavior was normal. Free ranging all the time isn't an option here without supervision -- we have too many predators. My flock of ten hens & one rooster have over 400 sq. ft. of space not including the coop area. They have plenty of things to do.
-Feed-
Once a day we give them fermented feed made with Don Roberto Energizer 19.5% Protein Gamebird & Poultry Grain Feed topped with kelp, brewer’s yeast, flax seed & oats mixed with kitchen leftovers. We have been incredibly happy with this feed.
They have free – choice feed available in the run at all times. We have tried several, and have come full circle back to the first one we tried. Here are the ones we tried in the order we used them:
1. Kalmbach Feeds All Natural 20% Protein Flock Maker Crumbles Chicken Feed
2. Big Sky Organic Feed Poultry Layer Mash, No Soy, Organic
3. Bluebonnet Feeds Game Bird Breeder 20% Protein Nibblet Bird Food (They did not like this one)
4. Bar ALE Non-GMO 16% Protein Soy & Corn-Free Layer Crumble Chicken Feed
5. Kalmbach Feeds All Natural Non-GMO 20% Protein Flock Maker Crumbles Chicken Feed
They have free choice oyster shells and MICRONA Poultry Grit Calcium Carbonate.
We throw black oil sunflower seeds and millet into the aviary sometimes for them to scratch around for in the leaves.
They have two waterers. Sometimes the water is plain and sometimes it has ACV. Lately, I have been using Durvet Healthy Flock Poultry Durastat in their water because they seem to like the water better with it.
I gave Brynn an Epsom salt bath and applied BluKote to her bottom. I don't know exactly what else to do. Does anyone know what might be happening? Is this a big issue or something small that I shouldn't be so worried about? Thank you in advance for anyone that comes along to help. I love my chickens and want to do a good job of taking care of them.
-- Elspeth
Soli Deo Gloria
I tried doing some research on when the feathers would come back in, but I'm still confused on that. I'm not sure whether I'm waiting until next molt or if they will come back sooner?
-Problem-
Today I noticed Brynn had a small gash on her lower bottom area with fresh blood. It is approximately 2 mm deep, 3mm wide, & 20 mm long. It must have happened close to when I had gone outside to sit with them.
I am a first-time chicken keeper and it feels overwhelming to try and figure out how to best take care of my chickens. I got really scared at first that she might have water-belly, cause I heard horror stories about hens splitting open and dying. I looked at some of Azygous' informative posts (which are great btw!) and realized my hen didn't have those symptoms.
I don't know whether Brynn got pecked, I didn't see anything she could have cut herself on, or if this is a sign of of a reproductive issue, or something else? If she got pecked, I still don't know why her skin looks so irritated and red in more than just the cut area.
-Behavior-
Brynn seems to be behaving normally, she might be a little more quiet than normal, but that might just be me overthinking it. She always runs out to see me and hop on my lap to get a hug. She readily ate some meal-worms I offered her to see if she still had an appetite. She is eating her regular food right now. Her poo looked well-formed and normal. Her comb seems to be normal as well.
I do not know exactly whether she is laying or not. She laid in the nesting box for about an hour this morning and didn't lay an egg to my knowledge (she was sitting on one, but I think that was my faverolles' egg that was already in there). We have been getting approximately 6 eggs per day in the last two weeks from my 10 hens (one was broody and another is going broody).
Saturday, she got to free range and enjoyed that immensely; behavior was normal. Free ranging all the time isn't an option here without supervision -- we have too many predators. My flock of ten hens & one rooster have over 400 sq. ft. of space not including the coop area. They have plenty of things to do.
-Feed-
Once a day we give them fermented feed made with Don Roberto Energizer 19.5% Protein Gamebird & Poultry Grain Feed topped with kelp, brewer’s yeast, flax seed & oats mixed with kitchen leftovers. We have been incredibly happy with this feed.
They have free – choice feed available in the run at all times. We have tried several, and have come full circle back to the first one we tried. Here are the ones we tried in the order we used them:
1. Kalmbach Feeds All Natural 20% Protein Flock Maker Crumbles Chicken Feed
2. Big Sky Organic Feed Poultry Layer Mash, No Soy, Organic
3. Bluebonnet Feeds Game Bird Breeder 20% Protein Nibblet Bird Food (They did not like this one)
4. Bar ALE Non-GMO 16% Protein Soy & Corn-Free Layer Crumble Chicken Feed
5. Kalmbach Feeds All Natural Non-GMO 20% Protein Flock Maker Crumbles Chicken Feed
They have free choice oyster shells and MICRONA Poultry Grit Calcium Carbonate.
We throw black oil sunflower seeds and millet into the aviary sometimes for them to scratch around for in the leaves.
They have two waterers. Sometimes the water is plain and sometimes it has ACV. Lately, I have been using Durvet Healthy Flock Poultry Durastat in their water because they seem to like the water better with it.
I gave Brynn an Epsom salt bath and applied BluKote to her bottom. I don't know exactly what else to do. Does anyone know what might be happening? Is this a big issue or something small that I shouldn't be so worried about? Thank you in advance for anyone that comes along to help. I love my chickens and want to do a good job of taking care of them.
-- Elspeth
Soli Deo Gloria
