What's wrong with my bird? D:
Okay, so last post I mentioned the overwhelming guy-ness of my flock of chickens and guineas (1 girl out of 4 guineas, 1 girl out of 6 chickens).
So I asked a local egg-farmer (who brings eggs to the grocery store I work at) where they got their hens. She told me that they got theirs new every year and got rid of the old ones every October and would I like a few? I said 'all right, I'd like four. How much are they?' 'Oh, you can just have them!'
Whoo. Hoo! Free hens to even out the flock! Yay!
Well, I went and picked them up last night. Drove out to their farm last evening, got the big box out of the car and tracked her and her hubby out around the barn where I could see a decent-sized chicken house and a nice big run with a bunch of big, fluffy, happy brownish-red chickens walking around in it.
Oops, not those chickens! The ones in the barn!
Followed them into the barn with my big box, then followed her up a couple of flights of stairs to what was apparently the chicken room. It was about a quarter after seven and I don't know about where you live, but over here at this time of year it's starting to get pretty dim. Add in 'inside a windowless barn' and you get 'can't see my hand in front of my face'.
Anyways Mrs. Chicken Farmer, the one of us with the flashlight, swept the light around and seemed to pick out four at random. From what I could see in the brief flash of light, there was probably over a hundred of them in there, sitting on their roosts. The straw squished underfoot... bad sign.
'These are some of the better-looking ones,' she said. She reached under them when they sat on the roosts, grabbed them by a leg and hauled them off. She handed me two (I've never held a bird by the leg like that and don't want to do it again! So what if I can carry more that way? I carry mine around like a football- except for Mrs. Chickenee, who likes to sit on my head... >_< ), picked up two more herself, and off we went.
Stuffed them in the box, covered it with the blanket I brought just for that before they could escape. Loaded the box into the car and went home. They fell asleep before I hit the end of the driveway and didn't make a peep all the way. :-)
By the time I got home it was going on 8 and pretty much pitch dark out. Park the car next to the chicken house, get the box out and bring the new girls in. I had set up the chickens' baby house in the new chicken house just for these ones, to keep them away from the rest until they get a chance to get used to each other (no, it's not a little tiny thing, either. Granted, if they were staying in there forever, it would be too small but for a temp place, it's more than roomy enough).
Took the blanket off the box of sleeping chickens, looked in.
Oh. My. God.
It was horrible! I wanted to report those nice people to someone. I wanted to go back while they were sleeping and raid their farm. I wanted to give them a good swift kick in the ass their grandkids would be getting physio for.
The first thing I noticed were their butts. They were big and pink and naked -- no feathers. I picked one up, put it in the baby house. It was nice and calm. It had no feathers on the thighs either. Neither did the next two. The fourth one did have butt and leg feathers, mostly, but it has this ginormous growth on its head just behind its crest. It's huge! It more than doubles the size of the bird's head, and reminds me of some sort of alien from sci-fi, you know the ones -- with the head enlarged because of their huge brains? I'm pretty sure it's not that, but I wouldn't rule out some sort of tumour; it's like someone but a 1.5-inch diameter marble under the skin there.
I named her Lumpy.
...I'm so original. *dies*
They were also debeaked. I can't wait until their beaks grow back and they can stop looking like they're pouting. I am not a fan of debeaking under any circumstances, so don't even try to tell me about the virtues of it because I think it's needlessly cruel and complete bullshit which you wouldn't need to do if you actually bothered to take care of your birds. (/end mini rant)
But other than looking like they just barely escaped from a plucking machine (and a sci-fi con), they were bright-eyed and alert, walking around fine, eating, drinking, pooping quite happily in their new abode.
This evening, I went out to check on them after supper (evening bird-treat time!) and freaked right out.
One of them has big bloody strings (??) coming from its vent. Don't know if it's actually strings or if the blood's just really thick and partially coagulated or what.
The hen doesn't seem to mind. She acts just the same as the others. I thought at first she might be prolapsed, but I looked online and searched google-images. After getting completely grossed out and probably scarred for life, I decided that that wasn't it.
Egg-bound, perhaps? But she had a ginormous poo even with the blood still oozing, so that wouldn't be it, right? She's not showing any other symptoms of it; no straining, not walking funny, no shivering...
I have a few pics from bad angles and a bit of video of the chicken's bald, bloody butt if it would help, but unless someone asks for them, I don't think I'll traumatize anyone with them just yet... :-(
So... anyone have any ideas what could be wrong with her? The other three are picking at her a bit now, but I don't know if they were picking at her and that's why she's like that, or they're picking at her because she's like that. Sort of a 'which came first...' question, I guess.
Help?
So I asked a local egg-farmer (who brings eggs to the grocery store I work at) where they got their hens. She told me that they got theirs new every year and got rid of the old ones every October and would I like a few? I said 'all right, I'd like four. How much are they?' 'Oh, you can just have them!'
Whoo. Hoo! Free hens to even out the flock! Yay!
Well, I went and picked them up last night. Drove out to their farm last evening, got the big box out of the car and tracked her and her hubby out around the barn where I could see a decent-sized chicken house and a nice big run with a bunch of big, fluffy, happy brownish-red chickens walking around in it.
Oops, not those chickens! The ones in the barn!
Followed them into the barn with my big box, then followed her up a couple of flights of stairs to what was apparently the chicken room. It was about a quarter after seven and I don't know about where you live, but over here at this time of year it's starting to get pretty dim. Add in 'inside a windowless barn' and you get 'can't see my hand in front of my face'.
Anyways Mrs. Chicken Farmer, the one of us with the flashlight, swept the light around and seemed to pick out four at random. From what I could see in the brief flash of light, there was probably over a hundred of them in there, sitting on their roosts. The straw squished underfoot... bad sign.
'These are some of the better-looking ones,' she said. She reached under them when they sat on the roosts, grabbed them by a leg and hauled them off. She handed me two (I've never held a bird by the leg like that and don't want to do it again! So what if I can carry more that way? I carry mine around like a football- except for Mrs. Chickenee, who likes to sit on my head... >_< ), picked up two more herself, and off we went.
Stuffed them in the box, covered it with the blanket I brought just for that before they could escape. Loaded the box into the car and went home. They fell asleep before I hit the end of the driveway and didn't make a peep all the way. :-)
By the time I got home it was going on 8 and pretty much pitch dark out. Park the car next to the chicken house, get the box out and bring the new girls in. I had set up the chickens' baby house in the new chicken house just for these ones, to keep them away from the rest until they get a chance to get used to each other (no, it's not a little tiny thing, either. Granted, if they were staying in there forever, it would be too small but for a temp place, it's more than roomy enough).
Took the blanket off the box of sleeping chickens, looked in.
Oh. My. God.
It was horrible! I wanted to report those nice people to someone. I wanted to go back while they were sleeping and raid their farm. I wanted to give them a good swift kick in the ass their grandkids would be getting physio for.
The first thing I noticed were their butts. They were big and pink and naked -- no feathers. I picked one up, put it in the baby house. It was nice and calm. It had no feathers on the thighs either. Neither did the next two. The fourth one did have butt and leg feathers, mostly, but it has this ginormous growth on its head just behind its crest. It's huge! It more than doubles the size of the bird's head, and reminds me of some sort of alien from sci-fi, you know the ones -- with the head enlarged because of their huge brains? I'm pretty sure it's not that, but I wouldn't rule out some sort of tumour; it's like someone but a 1.5-inch diameter marble under the skin there.
I named her Lumpy.
...I'm so original. *dies*
They were also debeaked. I can't wait until their beaks grow back and they can stop looking like they're pouting. I am not a fan of debeaking under any circumstances, so don't even try to tell me about the virtues of it because I think it's needlessly cruel and complete bullshit which you wouldn't need to do if you actually bothered to take care of your birds. (/end mini rant)
But other than looking like they just barely escaped from a plucking machine (and a sci-fi con), they were bright-eyed and alert, walking around fine, eating, drinking, pooping quite happily in their new abode.
This evening, I went out to check on them after supper (evening bird-treat time!) and freaked right out.
One of them has big bloody strings (??) coming from its vent. Don't know if it's actually strings or if the blood's just really thick and partially coagulated or what.
The hen doesn't seem to mind. She acts just the same as the others. I thought at first she might be prolapsed, but I looked online and searched google-images. After getting completely grossed out and probably scarred for life, I decided that that wasn't it.
Egg-bound, perhaps? But she had a ginormous poo even with the blood still oozing, so that wouldn't be it, right? She's not showing any other symptoms of it; no straining, not walking funny, no shivering...
I have a few pics from bad angles and a bit of video of the chicken's bald, bloody butt if it would help, but unless someone asks for them, I don't think I'll traumatize anyone with them just yet... :-(
So... anyone have any ideas what could be wrong with her? The other three are picking at her a bit now, but I don't know if they were picking at her and that's why she's like that, or they're picking at her because she's like that. Sort of a 'which came first...' question, I guess.
Help?