hen help please

we're only been keeping hens for a short while, so i'm aware we have lots to learn.

our main concern is that our birds are pretty skinny. they eat loads though. i bought some Verm-x to worm them with and they're on the 2nd day of that, though I don't know how effective it will be.

I have checked them over and they dont seem to have any red mites or any parasites at all. i have not seen any worms in their poop. we feed them on layer pellets, a little mixed corn, grit, garden weeds, various table/fruit/veg scraps, snail and some maggots occasionally. they always have fresh water also and are fed ad-lib

the amount of eggs they've been laying has gone down, too. we have one Bluebell, one Silver Link, one BluebellXBlack Rock and 2 bantams. the bantams lay one egg every other day, roughly now, and we get 2 big eggs a day. we were getting more. all the birds are less than 6 months old, except the BluebellXBlack Rock, who looks a few years old.

The oldest hen was given to us and she plucks her own bottom! below her vent. the previous owners had no idea why, but she was also plucking the 3 hens she lived with and bullying them. she doesn't bully here. the feathers started to grow back, but now she's plucked them out again. we don't know why?

another, probably silly question is, is it normal for hens to have 2 bare patches of skin either side of their breastbone, like a brooding patch, or is that another problem we have to deal with??

any and all (sensible) suggestions are welcomed

 

Morning

You seem to be feeding them correctly, so that wouldn't be the problem. Red mite do not live on the birds, but in the hen house and come out to feed on the birds at night. They're a complete nuisance too, so check your hen house, very, very carefully. A good way to do this is to run a piece of kitchen paper under the perch at night when the hens are perching - if there are red smears, you have red mite! Check crevices, cracks and fittings as that's where they live during the day. You never really get rid of them, but you can control their numbers by regular cleaning - I use dettol diluted in water then power wash the house to flush them away. Red mite can cause egg production to drop off-you didn't say if their faces have got pale, another sign of red mite activity.

Feather pecking - had it years ago, never since. It's a pain to stop them doing it, like us biting nails, but you can do a few things. There are several products to use - Stockholm Tar (try horse product suppliers) which gets painted onto the affected area (wear old clothes - it gets everywhere) or Gentian Violet which is sprayed on and does the same thing. It should prevent the bird from plucking, as it tastes vile apparently and hides the bare, red, exposed area.

Do your birds perch? If not, the bare bits, caused by excessive sitting when broody can cause this - perching is best for them at night to avoid this. Going out at night when they are dozy and half asleep and putting them on the perch, for several days/weeks/months hopefully will eventually "train" them if they insist on sleeping on the floor - but if you have red mite near the perch this might also be why they aren't perching (vicious circle!). Or...what material is in your nest box - best to use is something soft, like hemcore/auboise, chopped straw or even shredded paper. Straw is ok but can go mouldy and hay may cause respiratory problems.

Sorry if this sounds all alarmist! Most of the time chicken keeping is dead easy, honest!

 

blimey! thanks for replying

right, firstly in their coop bit they have no perches. i use wood shavings with straw on top and clean them out weekly at least. none of the birds are brooding, they lay and f*ck off lol but then as they have no perches, i guess the bare chest patches are from where they roost at night. i havnt noticed their faces going pale.
i can get hubby to install perches, thats not a problem. next time i clean them out i will disinfect and check for mites. and i will try the stuff you say fot the feather plucking. do you think worms are the reason they're thin or would the red mite do it too?

 

Red mite can kill a chicken, sucking the blood to such an extent that anemia sets in, the chicken loses condition and may die. Go out and check now - any cracks or crevices wil be likely hiding places. They're greyish in colour but red when "full" and smear red at any time. Like I said you'll never completely eradicate them but you can control them.

Worms are quite obvious in their droppings when they get treated, but don't use Verm-x, it's a herbal preventive at best. Get Fluvenvet form your vet or buy online. No need to stop eating the eggs and treatment is 7 days twice a year - it works a treat. Sorry, I forgot to mention that before.

The recent "heatwave" caused a drop in egg production here too so it could also be that!

Have fun encouraging them to perch! Make the perch low to the ground, even a couple of inches high will be better for them. It might take some time for them to get the message or they might hop onto it first thing.

 

christ! didnt realise it was so serious! will go and check now s00k

 

Hi RandyRos - egg production here also dropped off about two days into the excessive heat, and is now sporadic (with ducks and chicken).
We used to raise 'meat king' chickens in Canada - they didn't perch due to body weight vs. what their legs could bare - and if sleeping on damp they could often get breast blisters also causing bare spots on their breasts. It was really important to keep their bedding clean and dry each day - or, for birds that can handle their body weight, perching will take care of that.

 

thanks. the bantams can hold their own body weight and by the looks of the legs of the others, they shud be able too as well. perches will defo be installed soon.

i tried the kitchen roll test but only got a little red stuff on it on one or two cracks. but as the coop was treated inside with dark red fencelife, i dunno if it's red mites or not! hubby has creosote at work, so he plans to bring some home to coat the inside of the coop.

hubby took charge and after i cleaned it out completely, he bug bombed the chicken coop after sealing it up with the chooks outside it. then he mixed up a solution of Virkon and sprayed it all round the inside of the coop. we left it to dry for a while before putting in fresh straw (no woodchips) and letting the chooks back in.

tomorrow i shall go out and buy something for red mites (depends on what our country store sells) and i will clean them out daily for a week and spray with it. or i may get diatom powder, that sounded good, what i read of it. i may also get something for scaly leg, as the 2 bantam girls and the bantam cock have lost feathers off their feet (they're pekin cross) and they look awful! not like the other 3 hens at all. i googled scaly feet and it looks the same. I will defo treat it, but I am debating cleaning the legs and using vaseline instead of more chemicals. though Moxidexin in the water sounds a good option. At the moment, hubby put an extremely dilute mix of Virkon in their water to help kill off any bacteria etc. its totally safe, he uses it with his pigs at work.

I will also buy some other food to fatten them up (dont know what, i'm open to suggestions) as they are pretty thin :(

I feel awful for not noticing how bad it had got. :( we've only had chickens a few weeks, I never realised how complicated things can get! I just hope we can now get it sorted and have healthy chooks again.

if anyone has any suggestions or is thinking "christ, dont do that!" over anything i've mentioned, then please speak up, i wont be offended, i know i am the beginner here and I dont want my chooks to suffer any more thru my ignorance :(

 

Sounds like you've got it all in hand then! Scaley leg mite is also a pain but not life threatening. I've used Benzyl Benoate before (used for scabies etc on humans!). You can paint it onto their legs then seal with some vaseline. Repeat weekly. Or surgical spirit does a similar job to the BB. Eventually, when they moult the old scales will be shed and new ones gradually appear.

You can get dusting powder for red mite too - that helps. Do it at night time when they're a bit sleepy - lie them on your knees, a dustingh under each wing and another round their bloomers (the feathery legs bit!) and back on the perch. You can also add it to their favourite dust bath area so they self treat. Creosote for treating the house is brilliant, but make sure it's the original stuff, not the weak "EU approved" new stuff around now. Wear a mask and keep the chickens elsewhere for that night so it airs out properly.

 

thanks for the advice, its great and muchly appreciated

today i went and asked advice at the country store and bought a big bag of Ex-Batt chicken pellets to bulk them up, some red mite powder (thank you for telling me HOW to do it, as I had no idea! lol) and some poultry shield for the coop (will make hubby do that as im on antibiotics for an infected trachea atm), which we will do when it gets dark, then we will leave them out overnight. the run is secure so they'll come to no harm. might shove a quick perch in the run, too.

the scaly leg i've decided to brush them with SS and coat them with good old vaseline. here's hoping our hens pick up and get some weight on them soon!

BTW do you feed grit with the food (as i have been doing) or is it best in a seperate pot? if best to mix it, how much grit do u put with a 20kg sack of food?

 

I have a pot of it in the run for them to peck at, but they ignore it after the first excitement...although they must eat it as it disappears. You can also scatter it for them to find. If they are "free ranging" with access to the soil or earth they'll also get grit naturally, but adding a tub of it won't do any harm.

Poultry Shield is good, but expensive. If you are skint or desperate, Dettol does the same job. The bog standard stuff, not the "new and improved" versions - cheap and effective. Keep at the scaley leg mite treatment, a one of application only works in the short time.

 

vaseline for 5 days isnt it, for the legs? surgical spirit just on the 1st day or all 5?

yes, they have access to soil/grass, we move them daily, too. they got a bit excited earlier when i scattered some grit in lol

i will get some normal dettol in for future use, thanks for the tip.

 

I found this on a poultry forum I belong to. Message me if you want to details or wish to join, I don't think it's fair to mention another forum on here...

Scaley Leg Mite

A burrowing mite that gets under the scales of the leg and produces irritation causes this condition. The scales will lift and the legs have lumps of pale yellow debris attached to them.

Treatment is by dunking both legs in surgical spirit once a week for 3 weeks.
Use a jar that is deep enough to take as much of the leg as possible.

An alternative treatment is benzyl benzoate, applied in the same way.

Vaseline may be applied to the legs after each treatment to moisturise the legs.

It is also wise to treat the chicken coop with either mite powder or spray; whichever is your preference, to eradicate any of the mites living in the coop.
Repeat the spraying or dusting after one week.

DO NOT pull off or pick the scales. They will eventually fall off and be replaced with new scales when the hen moults, so it could take up to a year for the legs to look as good as new.

 

thanks. i dont have much SS (will buy more tomorrow) so i just dribbled it over their legs, then slapped the vaseline on. good, i dont have to do it again for a week, thats a relief lol

 

Interesting read even though I don't have chickens. Thanks.

 

Pour the SS into a pot wide and deep enough so you can dunk their feet into it for a few seconds each. Much easier. Or paint on with a small toothbruch/paintbrush. Depends how tame and easily handled your birds are. One of ours would scream the place down if you did that to her, the others would love the attention.