Hi everyone,
Things have been going well until recently when one of my hens started to look unhappy. She is a sort of illegitimate Welsummer breed probably a couple of years old! Initially I noticed she was being bullied by my White Sussex. This went on for some time, the little hen becoming more morose. She seems to have lost some weight and I have checked her crop and gullet and there are no obvious obstructions - she shows no signs of 'gaping'. I have checked her rear end (clean) and there are no eggs stuck in her duct. She is eating very little, has stopped laying and spends most of the day hunched up. Eyes are clear, breathing normal- not noisy, feathers look clean but her comb is a bit dull. I have dosed her with cat 'Frontline' in the hope of killing any internal parasites, and also used a spray repeatedly on her scaly leg problems. The chicken house is clear of bugs, and I clean it and their run out daily. The Sussex was also displaying scaly leg, so she has also been sprayed in case it irritated her and caused her aggressive behaviour. Bullying has subsided considerably of late. The other five hens are in good health, busy and eating well. They have layers pellets, a little corn, lots of greenstuff plus Michelin starred breakfasts of whatever goodies are left over from the day before. I am aware through reading the various posts on this site what not to feed my girls. Sorry for the essay, but I wanted to give as complete a picture as possible. Any advice would be greatly welcomed