A really bad/sad hen.....

buffy the sussex · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:26 pm

Hi all, I have an ISA Brown hen that was rejected from it's origional owners 6 years ago, then was dropped of at one of my friends houses, they took care of it for about 5 years with their chooks but the bullying got so bad they gave it to their friend (who doesn't have chooks) it was a loner and they didnt want to take care of it, so they gave it to me, I seem to remember her saying that the hen liked sunflower seeds and gave us a packet of them, when we ran out of supply of the sun flower seeds, we noticed it was acting up and stopped doing things (e.g laying) and we haven't fed them to the chooks since, due to my other two now big enough to eat layer pellets. that was about a year ago, she still doesn't lay and bullies our new chook could it be the sunflowers? sorry for the long story but we think it could be age as well.
I also have a lovely buff sussex cockerel that likes to crow at 3:00 AM and neighbours don't mind at the moment due to temporary confinement at night, but what should I do if I were to keep him long term, he is the tamest thing in the world, I wouldn't want him to be culled...
again, sorry for the long haul and
thanks,
Buffy the sussex

Chicka-Dee · **Joined:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:12 am **Posts:** 1194

Hi Buffy

Six years old for an Isa is quite old, so she may not be laying anymore. Period.

If I have got this right..you're saying the Isa is a bully? Which sounds right because Isa's are nuoriously an aggressive breed. Their main purpose was/is to be bred to lay a maximum amount of eggs (approx350/yr) for about two years & then most just drop dead not much after 2 yrs old, so the fact that your Isa is about 6 is amazing, but not surprising that she doesn't lay any eggs.

As for Sunflower seed...you are right not to feed them lots of it as it is really high in fat. The black sunflower seed is about 12% fat and the grey is about 8% fat, so it's like the equivalent of feeding them chocolate. That's why they love it soon much. And as you know things that we love can be very bad for us. Some birds that eat too much sunflower seed end up pulling all their feathers out because of what happens to the oil in their skin. So, there could be the possibility for a behavioral problem to occur.

As for your Roo, I can't see how he will be affected by the Isa, as Roosters are normally the ones to keep the hens in line.so that may just have to be a wait and see game.

Quite frankly if I had a rooster that crowed at 3am, he'd be in my crock pot by 3pm!

Cheers
Chicka-Dee

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

A pretty good age for an Isa Brown, no wonder she is cranky laying all those eggs in her long life and now no sunflower seeds.

Cockerels and subsequently roosters crow to greet the day, to mark and proclaim their territory and to warm hens of danger. You really can't do much to keep them quiet as it is instinctual. Some roosters only crow at dawn, some crow all day and even all night, it depends on the individual rooster, but most will crow to alert his girls that there is danger and a predator nearby. Since he is crowing at 3am you could lock him with his favourite girl in a well ventilated shed until a decent hour, if he is crowing during the day, all day, you can't really do much to modify his behaviour

Other than rehome him or as Chicka-Dee suggested the crockpot

Some roosters are useless in regards to keeping his girls in order, my Mr. Rooster used to watch his girls fight, never stepped in to intervene, as Boss Chookie was Alpha Hen and ruled the roost and hen pecked HIM!!!

buffy the sussex · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:16 am

Thanks, I'm going to head out again in a second and will look in the pantry for any left over sunflowers

And I have found a way to keep my rooster quiet during the night: I was exploring through APF and found the photo gallery so I decided to look through; I don't know who was it but they had a picture of some wooden compartments which aparently will keep him quiet :-D

thanks

Buffy the sussex

buffy the sussex · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:18 pm

Hi again thanks for helping and Chicka-dee I re-read over your reply and noticed something about my ISA: she has a bold head, breast feathers are depleted, her tail feathers are terrrible, all of her feathers lack colour and have gone from the nice caramel colour they should be to a terrible pale darkish orange/red she was in this condition hen i got her, will her feathers grow back ever? also I researched and found out some ISA Browns after being the victim of bullying turn into bullies... she can't peck out the feathers on the top of her can she... I'm starting to feel sorry for her..

I'll see if I can put pictures on somewhere here, I will probably give up so don't expect them. Thanks again
Buffy

Chicka-Dee · **Joined:** Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:12 am **Posts:** 1194

buffy the sussex wrote:

she has a bold head, breast feathers are depleted, her tail feathers are terrrible, all of her feathers lack colour and have gone from the nice caramel colour they should be to a terrible pale darkish orange/red she was in this condition hen i got her, will her feathers grow back ever?

Hey Buffy,

Remember she's an old chook mate, so yeah she won't be as good looking as a younger chick. The feather loss on her head could be from either being picked on or her scratching the top of her head. Chickens can lift their legs & put their heads down to scratch the top of their head, and if they do it enough the feathers will get scratched away. They most likely will grow back when she goes through another moult but it could also be the signs of the beginning of the end for the old girl.

The hard part about birds who are used to only having certain foods in their diet & then their diet is changed quite quickly, rather than over a gradual period (say 12mths) then they are forced to try & adjust to the new diet, which can cause all sorts of problems (physically & behaviorly). You may be past the point of return with her & actually have to keep her diet with sunflower. Rather than ripping it completely away from her!

Think of it as you eating your normal everyday foods & then someone comes along and says "you can't eat any of that anymore; now you can only have this", and it's stuff you've never eaten before. How happy would you be & would your body suffer because of these new foods your eating? The answer would be a resounding YES.

The most wonderful thing is that you actually care about her wellbeing & are seeking help & answers to try & improve her quality of life. Which is just so wonderful & admirable that you deserve a big pat on the back. [smilie=a_goodjobson.gif]

Cheers
Chicka-Dee

buffy the sussex · **Posted:** Sat Apr 14, 2012 5:55 pm

thanks everybody I've sorted at least one thing and I'm going to let them have a bit of sunflower seeds (yet not too much) and since yesterday when I started giving them sunflowers the Isa has developed the start of some new feathers on her head (I just ent up to check on them and noticed that) which had not been there before.
and the weirdest thing happened.... (I seem to remember the shape and colour of my Isa's eggs-they were the same)there were two eggs in the "layerbox" from I guess two hens (my Pekin and my ISA), I definately know it was from one day because I cleaned their cage last night at 6:00 pm so either one layed two (most likely the pekin) or they both layed is it possible for a hen to 'hold it in'?

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

I think that hens also suffer from constipation and even may "hold on" until lay conditions are just right for them. Laying girls are very sensitive creatures.

buffy the sussex · **Posted:** Sat Apr 14, 2012 9:07 pm

yeah true I guess, like little brothers who will wait for mum to come home to cry about you hitting them...(not hard, of course) APF is proving to be very benefitial, thanks

Buffy

buffy the sussex · **Posted:** Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:07 pm

Hello again, I went up to the cage again today.. I put the ISA into a different cage for a few days, treated it lower (like not leting her go near the food wher my other chooks were pecking...) and, it worked!!!
she is at the moment up with my other chook.

so, I went up to check on them... they are both in the same nesting box, sitting on the same egg, taking turns sitting

2 joyful reasons to be happy: 1. no more bullying, 2.new chook on the way woohoo4

her feathers are growing back again and you can see the actual feather bit growing again

her comb is healing, used to be almost grey, she looks like a chook with pants on now

maybe she will start laying again, I will be going up to lock my roo up in a second and will check on the two...

Maybe, all bully chooks need is to be separated from the pecking order and then slowly reintroduced to a nicer life in a way?

thanks everybody for your help

catch-up later :-D

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