Milly is going a bit yellow.
She's a Cream Legbar, and has been "off lay" for some time. She was a bit under the weather some time ago, like a softee was on its way, and then she perked up. But no eggs.
She was looking a bit bedraggled for the last couple of days, so today I decided to catch her and see if I could spot anything amiss. She was very difficut to catch. She has always been a bit of a drama queen, and this has got to the point where there is little - or no - pleasure in picking her up. I managed to catch her today because she ran away, shrieking, up the ladder into the Cube. I shut the door, opened the back, and picked her up. She was not happy.
I gave her a quick look over, and saw that her vent area was a bit messy. She was moulting a lot - I knew that anyway, from the volume of feathers in their run - and had some new feathers growing. There was some white-ish stuff on the skin, looked like urates. I brought her in, gave her some cat food (for protein, and to take her mind off things), while I cleaned her with cotton wool and warm water.
As I did so, I realised that her skin is very, very yellow. It reminded me of the "Corn Fed Chicken" that I used to see in supermarkets. Her legs are also very yellow, Rhode-Isalnd-Red yellow, in fact.
I was a little alarmed at this. I don't remember her having particularly yellow legs. (Or particularly yellow skin, for that matter).
Do chickens get jaundice?
I gave them quite a lot fo Garvo treats over two days a couple of days ago (maybe including yesterday, I can't remember). I vaguely remember reading somewhere - on a Garvo related site I think - that they add something to their feed designed to enhance eggs, and that they have had to introduce a special mix for white-legged birds so that their legs aren't affected.
How bizarre is that?! I'll keep them off the Garvo completely and see what she looks like in a couple of days.
She's a Cream Legbar, and has been "off lay" for some time. She was a bit under the weather some time ago, like a softee was on its way, and then she perked up. But no eggs.
She was looking a bit bedraggled for the last couple of days, so today I decided to catch her and see if I could spot anything amiss. She was very difficut to catch. She has always been a bit of a drama queen, and this has got to the point where there is little - or no - pleasure in picking her up. I managed to catch her today because she ran away, shrieking, up the ladder into the Cube. I shut the door, opened the back, and picked her up. She was not happy.
I gave her a quick look over, and saw that her vent area was a bit messy. She was moulting a lot - I knew that anyway, from the volume of feathers in their run - and had some new feathers growing. There was some white-ish stuff on the skin, looked like urates. I brought her in, gave her some cat food (for protein, and to take her mind off things), while I cleaned her with cotton wool and warm water.
As I did so, I realised that her skin is very, very yellow. It reminded me of the "Corn Fed Chicken" that I used to see in supermarkets. Her legs are also very yellow, Rhode-Isalnd-Red yellow, in fact.
I was a little alarmed at this. I don't remember her having particularly yellow legs. (Or particularly yellow skin, for that matter).
Do chickens get jaundice?
I gave them quite a lot fo Garvo treats over two days a couple of days ago (maybe including yesterday, I can't remember). I vaguely remember reading somewhere - on a Garvo related site I think - that they add something to their feed designed to enhance eggs, and that they have had to introduce a special mix for white-legged birds so that their legs aren't affected.
How bizarre is that?! I'll keep them off the Garvo completely and see what she looks like in a couple of days.
