Chicken with tail feathers pointing down

[Chickenlady77]

Hello All,

Please can anyone help and advise why my chicken has her tail feather pointing down? She is 2 and a half years old and her bread is a Rhode Island Red.

She is still eating, drinking and pooping, she has a little more urine (White Colour) in her poop than normal, she seems ok in herself just a little sad. Not laying at present as she is moulting.

She recently had a compacted crop which need massaging to bring up what was clogging her crop, Her crop has returned to normal and is empty every morning and fills up during the day as normal.

She was wormed 2 weeks ago, she has also started to moult so am currently giving her moult solution vitamins in her water and high protein food.

Can anyone please help?

Thank you in advance.

[KarenE]

Hi

It could be she's feeling miserable because of her moult, that could explain the tail down and I assume she's quiet, a bit hunched and staying by herself?

To be honest it could be other things too, it's difficult to say. Have you checked the poo chart? It might help to see if it looks normal or not -you should find the link on here somewhere.

I would suggest the moult, but keep a very close eye on her. And make sure she's eating well, given her crop problems, and getting the high protein food down her.

Is she definitely not laying? She couldn't have a softie could she?

My final thought -when you wormed her, did you see any worms? She may need a repeat dose

[Chickenlady77]

Hi KarenE
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I think you are spot on and that she is feeling a bit down due to her moult. She still has a chat with me in the mornings her eyes are bright and she still runs up to me and follows me round and does sometimes stand byherself. She is just not as lively as normal. I am just a bit concerned as her tail feathers are pointing down. Even when her crop was blocked her tail feathers were still high in the air?

I have checked her for soft shell and there is nothing there and her vent is nice and clean?
I check her poop every day and there are no worms even during worming.

I will continue to keep and eye on her and hopefully she will be back on form soon.

Thanks again for your reply

[manda]

Mmm not convinced it couldn't be a soft shell...it will be further up than you can realistically look and feeling them is difficult so I wouldn't discount what Karen suggested.
Could be a moult, or it could just be she's having an off day...chickens are like humans they have off days to....I'd still plump for a softie though.

[Chickenlady77]

Hi Manda, Thank you for your reply.

I have been out to see her this morning for my routine clean and feed, She still came running over to me and flowed me round the garden and had her usual morning chat.

I looked at her poop again and it was normal, there were a lot of feathers in the nesting box too, which makes me think she is just having a sever moult, her tail feathers are still pointing down, her eyes are nice and bright, she is still eating and drinking and is still curious.

As you said she could still have a softie. Could you please advise what I should look out for and if there is anything I can give her to make her feel better?

I have left her tucking in to a mixture of warm porridge oats with layers mash, meal worms and a little olive oil and a moult solution vitamin water?

[manda]

Feathers would suggest more to do with a moult....if she's happy in all others aspects then you can only really do what you're doing and that is watch her...softies are hard to diagnose but can make them feel just rubbish because they're harder to pass ....as long as she's eating and drinking alright then I wouldn't worry too much at the moment.

[Chickenlady77]

Thank you Manda,

I was hoping she was just moulting, but just wanted to be on the safe side, as my other Chicken is also moulting but her tail feathers are up in the air as normal.

I think my little Maude is taking the moult a bit harder, I don't like to keep picking her up in case I hurt her as the new feathers are coming through?

I will continue to keep a close eye on her and hopefully she will get over the moult and be back to her old self. I will certainly keep my eyes peeled for any changes or softies.

Thanks again,
Bell

[KarenE]

Could be a softie and the moult. For the softie, if you can pick her up, try a warm belly bath - make sure her belly and vent's submerged and keep her in the bath for as long as you can. The warmth helps to relax the muscles, and she may pass the softie (if there is one) overnight. Blow dry her afterwards especially in this weather. If you can't pick her up or are worried about her pin feathers, try putting a warm hot water bottle under her (not hot) and make sure she can get off it if she gets too warm. That has the same effect as the bath.

If you do find she's had a softie (it should pass in the night, but you may find little trace of it as they will all tuck in to it) then perhaps add a little limestone flour into their mash, for extra calcium for the shells and to help the muscle contraction.

[manda]

..and if she doesn't like a bath (because some love it but some behave like you're trying to kill them!) wrap a hot water bottle in an old towel and pop it under her...does the same thing and you don't have to get the dryer out ...which can get the same response as the bath

[Chickenlady77]

Thank you both for your help. I think I will try the hot water bottle first, as I do not want to stress her out any more than is necessary, as I can see new feather growth and her tail is slightly more raised than it has been so hoping that is a good sign? I think she is just feeling miserable, due to her moult and the change in the weather and daylight hours.

She still has not laid yet, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is just the moult.
If it is a softie, I am prying that she will pass it with no problem, by using the hot water bottle!

[elliebear15]

totally off topic here, but Maude is such a lovely name for a hen!
What are your others called?
Ellie x

[Chickenlady77]

Hi Ellie, that's not a problem.

Thank you, my other hens names are Onion, Dafney and Sage.

Bell x

[elliebear15]

Lol, I can see where onion and sage have come from. Those are the sort of names my husband was very keen on.

[Chickenlady77]

lol, my Hubby chose Sage and Onion and I chose Dafney and Maude!

My poor little Maude still looks very sorry for herself, I can see new feathers coming through, so hopefully she will be back to normal soon.

I sat her on the hot water bottle wrapped in a towel yesterday she did not like it at first and wondered what was going on. She did not mind it that much in the end.
She has not passed any softie or laid an egg yet? I'm now thinking, as her moult seems to be server, I think she is using all the protein to produce new fathers? As the others are laying every other day or so and they seem to be taking the moult a lot easier, maybe the blockage in her crop could have taken it out of her also.

She is still eating, drinking and her poop is normal and her eyes are bright. I have checked to make sure the others are not bullying her and there are no signs of fowl play. I gave her some layers pellets mixed with moult solution vitamins a little garlic, and mealworms. She loved it and so did the others.

[KarenE]

Hi

If it was a softie for this length of time I think she'd be going downhill by now. It's probably the moult, it can really take it out of them - you can imagine how sore they must feel when those feathers start pricking through. And perhaps as you say she's using all her energy and protein to grow new feathers, so she probably will go off lay anyway and will start again once the moult is done.

Mealworms are good for a protein boost, you could also try scrambled egg (full of protein but don't mix it with milk!) and sardines are good too. So are sunflower seeds. Just go easy on portion control or you could end up with a load of fatties!

One of my first hens was called Sage (no onion), and my next 2 were Nugget (Chicken Nugget) and Cassie (Chicken Casserole) but I've stopped the food related theme for now!