Earlier 'moulting hen' thread

[Bestdogdash]

Hi all

You may recall I posted a thread a while ago regarding my hen's first moult. Good advice from HHO's ensured she got the best of help though it! The moult (only really her neck and legs) finished and she now has smart new feathers. However her colour is really bad. She has gone from healthy red (wattle, comb and around her eyes) to a sickly pink. She is eating a storm, loads of energy (they are completely free all day around the farm). She was wormed about two months ago, and there is no sign at all of any mites in the hen house - in any event it is treated with smite on a regular basis, and I have never seen one or any evidence of any. They other girls are all absolutely fine.

Question then, is ; Is this normal after a moult ? If not, any ideas? What can I do to help?

Note - I put cider vinegar in their water, but they all go and drink from the pond or puddles !

 

[Pamfyson]

You can buy a poultry supplement. Might help in the short term. If the hen has layers pellets it should all be in there really. With regard to cider vinegar. I've never ever seen a chicken seek out vinegar to drink over water. Can the cider vinegar just give them water. Could be that she has an internal parasite problem so a worming dose might be in order.

Hope she's okay.

 

[Clodagh]

If she is not in lay then her comb will be pink rather than red. She will have depleted her reserves getting new feathers and needs to rebuild them again. Producing eggs is hard work on a girl!
As long as she looks well, you are positive she doesn't have parasites then it is just waiting time, really. Did you worm her with flubenvet? Vermex is useless.

 

[Bestdogdash]

If she is not in lay then her comb will be pink rather than red. She will have depleted her reserves getting new feathers and needs to rebuild them again. Producing eggs is hard work on a girl!
As long as she looks well, you are positive she doesn't have parasites then it is just waiting time, really. Did you worm her with flubenvet? Vermex is useless.

Thanks Clodagh - useful info and(thinking about it) makes perfect sense. She is wormed with Flubenvet - I worm them quarterly. I just finished cleaning out the henhouse and found absolutely no sight of any mites so am sure she is just beefing herself up again. Thanks all for taking the trouble to reply.

 

[Honey08]

Just as an aside, I have accidentally discovered that the moulting time is a fantastic time to introduce new hens! I got another seven ex-batts yesterday, and because my "cockier" hens are not quite feeling themselves due to moulting, we've had hardly any scrapping!