[Catsmuvva]

I wonder if anyone can help.

A couple of months ago Lady G stopped laying and her feet turned yellow. I wasn't too worried as I was told she could be going through a moult, although she gained feather rather than losing...

More recently she has been slower on her feet, a bit dozy looking and would amble over to see if treats were worth having rather than join in the hectic melee with the other girls. She takes herself off to bed 30min-1hr before the others and is in no rush to leave the run when I let the others out on patrol in the morning.

This morning her droppings were white & liquid, no solids at all, so I prepared to give her some olive oil in case she had an impacted crop, but when I picked her up I realised just how much weight she'd lost underneath all that fluffiness. Her crop was almost flat and her breastbone was a protruding ridge. I've given her some layers mash with some cheese in, which she devoured hungrily, but am at a loss to know what to do next...

Oh, & she's another of my ex-batts - Lady G short for Lady Godiva as she resembled an oven-ready bird when I got her!

[karlooben]

have u wormed then recently , if u havent get some flubenvet i have an bird like yours and she'll be wormed again tomorw for the week although  i reckon shes an old bird as i rescued my ex batts last august from an animal rescue home and i was told by the young lad ' not those 2 birds ' { picked up 2 that was in perfect feather an i reckon they were long time residents } she i do feel old age is getting to her .

[power_of_p3]

Hi catsmuvva

have a check on this page : http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

That might give you an ID as to whether her poop is normal or not.

BB  ~~jo~~

[ehs284]

Have a look for external parasites too. We had one with similar behaviour (not sure about the feet) and she had scale mite. A little TLC and daily WD40 (vaseline was so dirty) and she's back to top of the pecking order. Best of luck.

[Catsmuvva]

Thanks for all the advice - I've seen the chicken poo page before, funnily enough Googling "sulpher yellow chicken droppings" is how I came to find this site in the first place!

They've all been wormed recently but I have noticed a couple of the girls gaping a bit over the last few days so I guess it wouldn't do any harm to do it again, although I just hope Lady G gets enough of the stuff, with her not keen on eating (yet she loved going back onto her mash yesterday, must be comfort food...). We've got a lot of pheasants in the area so I'm guessing they probably keep reintroducing the gapeworm.

They get loads of TLC, in fact they follow me around the garden more like besotted puppies than chickens, so they're not short there, but the WD40 intrigues me - can you please explain?

[poultrygeist]

Hi catsmuvva.

Could it be that she's being bullied away from the food ?

A couple of extra feed dishes might cure it.

Rob

[ehs284]

Hi,
The WD40 suffocates the mite, getting between the scales quite easily. Vaseline is usually recommended, but I found it looked awful as they immediately rushed out to dust-bathe. Also because the WD40 (or similar) is an aerosol spray, it's easy to lift the bird onto a table and quickly treat. They don't object - maybe the cooling is soothing. The scales soon become sorted and back to the proper smooth outline. HTH Chris

[karlooben]

i personally would not recommend WD40 wether it works or not .

[poultrygeist]

I would agree with karlooben.

WD40 must contain a lot of solvents and other chemicals that could do have unknown effects on any animal. If it causes the hens irritation, it could be construed as cruelty.
I'd stick to vaseline or proprietary poultry products.

http://www.wd40.co.uk/media/adobe/2/0/WD-40_aerosol_MSDS.pdf

ROb

[karlooben]

i have had wd40 go into cuts on my fingers an that stung like anything so hek knows what the birds must feel 

[ehs284]

I agree with the comments on wounds/cuts etc., sorry I didn't make this clear. It is a petroleum based product and is usually considered toxic by inhalation- although many people swear that it helps arthritis if sprayed on the hands. Damage to healthy human skin is due to removal of fats.  Here the use is just on the scales not on damaged areas elsewhere. The birds seem to feel no irritation and certainly no discomfort - just the opposite; they stand still and seem quite happy to be treated with no need to hold them. Furthermore when you lift them for subsequent treatments there is no hesitation or movement on their part when you shake the can. They appear to look forward to the spray; perhaps it is the cooling effect - or maybe the smell as fish and some animals are known to find it attractive. By the way, I came across this treatment after a lot of browsing and it is commonly used across the world. See (e.g. Poultry chat; Practical Poultry;Leghorn Club etc). However, if you're unhappy with WD40 or a silicone spray there are other treatments including benzyl benzoate (the blue lotion of rugby songs) and olive oil and of course many can be sprayed on.

[karlooben]

think i will stick to natural remedies