Ask the Expert December 2019/January 2020
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Missing Feathers and Exposed Flesh Around Hens Vent
Our 21-week-old Buff Orpingtons just started laying their first eggs. One of the chickens has missing feathers and exposed flesh around her vent that is more like a gaping hole so that you can literally see inside her. She is walking with her backside close to the ground but otherwise appears normal. We did not notice any difference in her appearance just a week ago.
Please let us know what this condition could be and if there is a way to help her.
Thank you,
David Dolenc, California

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Hi David,
It’s a little difficult to see from the picture, but I suspect the hen may have a prolapse. When a hen lays an egg, a small part of oviduct everts to expel the egg, but then it is usually quickly pulled back in. In some cases, it may not pull back in, and/or more of the oviduct will push out.
Some people have had luck pushing this back in and spreading some anti-inflammatory cream on it. I don’t think there is any research on this, but it might work. I would guess that if the hen has had this for a while, there’s less chance of it healing. Another common problem is that the other hens will peck at it and cause more damage.
This can sometimes be caused by excessively large eggs, pullets starting to lay too soon (often due to long daylengths before they are physically mature), and obese hens.
I’m not sure there is a lot that can be done for the pullet now. You could try pushing it back in. I’d separate her from the others if possible. They will likely peck at her.
Sorry I don’t have a better answer.
Ron
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Peck Wound on Pullet’s Neck
I was given a pullet. I already had three chickens and I introduced her at night to the flock. But by the time I let them out in the morning, they had pecked a wound in the pullet’s neck. I can see her muscles and tendons! She’s isolated now with food and water and is eating and drinking. I put MicrocynAH on the wound. What else can I do?
Ann Gilmore
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Hi Ann,
Chickens can be ruthless, can’t they? But it sounds like you’ve taken the right steps so far. She’s eating and drinking, so that’s good! The only other thing I would suggest is closing the wound, and this is something you need to do very soon while the tissue borders are still alive so they can close. If you wait too long, suturing won’t work. I had a chicken that somehow tore a one-inch gash in her chest, and I’m not a medical professional so I wasn’t confident enough with a suture needle to close it. I used Super Glue instead, waited until it was fully dry, then covered the wound with a fabric finger bandage. After a week of isolation, she was healed enough to go back out with the flock. Of course, re-introducing your pullet is going to cause strife all over again, so see if some of her recovery time can be spent within a wire cage in the chicken coop, so the others can see her but can’t touch her. That way, they will become acquainted with her for when she’s ready to be with them again.
Good luck!
Marissa Ames
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Thank you. You told me what I needed to know! The wound needs to be closed soon. On her neck, close to her ear; it probably will move too much.
Ann
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Brahma Chickens
How many months does it take the Black Brahma and also the Light Brahma to mature for crossing? (The hen.)
Joel Attey
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Hi Joel,
That is a great question, and one that I don’t often see addressed poultry articles. I searched for the same answer when I purchased a hatchery Dark Brahma and she took 10 (seriously, 10!) months to mature and lay her first egg, putting her in last place among the chicks I had brought home the previous March. Brahmas and Cochins tend to fall among the latest to produce eggs. Technically, you can breed her right after she lays that first egg, but pullet eggs during that first few months of production can be small, which means a smaller hatched chick. I haven’t seen this to be a problem in any of my hatchings, though some chicken owners prefer to wait until the eggs are a bit bigger for that reason.
I love Brahmas. They are some of the sweetest, most beautiful poultry I have ever owned.
Good luck!
Marissa Ames
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Sick Hen
My chicken is not eating as she usually does. Isolating herself, fluffed feathers, lethargic, and her poops smells off. Can you help?
Pauline Grieve
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Hi Pauline,
I’m sorry to hear about your chicken! She’s definitely feeling under the weather, and hopefully it’s an easy fix. Since I’m not a veterinarian, I cannot recommend any specific medications or dosages, but I can advise adding electrolytes and apple cider vinegar to her water as well as providing “power” foods such as scrambled eggs and cottage cheese with brewer’s yeast sprinkled over the top. This can keep her energy up to hopefully fight off whatever she has.
Before you call a vet, try to get a few more symptoms. Pick her up and look at her vent: is it red and swollen, or does it appear to have physical injury or parasites? Gently palpate around the vent to see if you can feel a bound egg. Are her comb and wattles discolored, such as bluish-purple or lighter than normal? Can you hear any respiratory sounds such as gurgling breath? Are her droppings discolored or a different texture than normal?
Good luck, and keep us updated!
Marissa
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Hi,
I probably can’t answer very well, but I’ll try. It certainly sounds like she may be sick.
First, is it possible that she is broody (wants to incubate eggs)? A broody hen will sit in a nest, or corner or other dark secluded area, with her feathers fluffed out, and usually has very large, smelly droppings.
If it’s not that, then she is likely sick. A lot of these symptoms are fairly nonspecific, so it’s hard to guess what might be wrong.
Maybe some further information will help pinpoint things:
- How old is the chicken?
- What has it been eating? Is she currently eating? Drinking?
- What are the litter conditions — wet, dry, etc.? Does she range outdoors?
- Have you added any new birds to the flock recently? What other birds is she with?
- Are there any signs of respiratory trouble — labored breathing, drainage from the nostrils or beak, unusual sounds (rasping, gurgling, sneezing, etc.)?
Maybe something in these answers will give me some idea. Otherwise, finding an avian veterinarian near you might give you a better answer.
Ron Kean
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Thank you for the reply. My poor hen passed away. RIP
Pauline
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I’m so sorry for your loss, Pauline. My favorite hen passed this way. Suddenly she wasn’t doing so well, and there wasn’t time to figure out what was wrong. It’s always so hard.
Marissa
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Barnevelder Chickens
How can I purchase Barnevelder chickens? I’ve fallen in love with them because of your article. I’m located in Happy Valley, Oregon. I’m looking into creating a farm in southern Oregon. I would appreciate your help.
Thank you.
Peter P. Meghinasso
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Hi Peter,
Aren’t they beautiful? And they have excellent temperaments! Here are two hatcheries with whom I have had excellent results:
Cackle Hatchery is in Missouri and they are well known for selling healthy chicks that grow up to lay great eggs: cacklehatchery.com
If your interest is more about feather definition, show-quality birds, and breeding up the best examples of the Barnevelder breed, I recommend Greenfire Farms (Florida). They put a strong emphasis on high-quality rare poultry. greenfirefarms.com
Good luck!
Marissa
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Blood Vs. Pigment
Our Rabbi says, if we have a rooster and there is a speck of blood, we need to throw out the entire egg, it’s not kosher. On the other hand, if there isn’t a rooster (no chance of being fertile) — it’s permitted to remove the speck and eat the rest of it.
I recently gave a dozen eggs to my sister who super-analyzed each egg and proceeded to toss 75% of them! This, of course, killed me. My question is whether the small tiny dot in a brown egg is really blood or just a small piece of pigment. Please advise and thanks!
Randy Katz, Akron, Ohio
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Hi Randy,
We get that question a lot! You’d be surprised how many people think a blood spot means a fertile egg. Nope, a blood spot means a capillary ruptured when the egg was in creation.
The first way to determine if an egg is fertile is by looking at the blastoderm, which appears as a white spot on the yolk if the egg is unfertilized. Once fertile, the white spot expands to look like a donut or bullseye. Then veins form, clinging to the inside of the shell and stretching around the perimeter before the chick starts to even form. Between days two and three, you could see a difference between that donut shape and visible veins.
The commercial egg industry is so meticulous in its selection of salable eggs that it has skewed our perceptions of what is normal vs. what isn’t. But, if you don’t see any veins in the egg, then that bit of red is just a broken capillary and nothing further.
Another thought is that, perhaps, your sister is seeing pigment on the shell itself, which would be caused by the protoporphyrines that are “painted on” at the end of the egg-laying process. Depending on chicken breeds, this layer may be lighter or darker, speckled or solid, and some chickens tend to lay eggs that have more concentrations of this layer in certain spots. Which, again, would mean the egg is perfectly fine to eat.
I hope this helps!
Marissa
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Chicken Feed Questions
Hi. I am new in raising chickens. I have seven chickens and seven pullets and I have some questions regarding chicken food.
1. What is the difference between pellets and crumbles?
2. How can you make chickens eat pellets if they are used to eat crumbles?
3. My chickens eat organic crumbles but they leave behind whatever is not grain. Why is that? (That is a lot of waste. That is why I want to switch to pellets.)
Thank you very much for your help!
Mayra Ramirez
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Hi Mayra,
I feel your pain! I used crumbles for a while, but the chickens wasted so much that I switched to pellets. Problem solved! Crumbles are great for smaller birds such as chicks or new pullets just old enough to go outside. But if your birds are grown, you might as well buy pellets and save some money. Unless you’re buying a different formulation (grower vs. layer feed), the only difference is size/shape. As for how to make chickens eat pellets … I compare it to convincing my children to eat healthy food. If that’s all you offer, then after a while, they will eat it.
Good luck, and I hope switching to pellets saves as much feed (and money) as it did for me!
Marissa
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Introducing a Rooster
We have a small flock on our homestead, about 22 hens. I want to introduce a rooster now that we have a mature flock of beautiful ladies, but am meeting some “resistance” from those living here. I have had chickens in the past, and had roosters, both a standard size and a Bantam, and enjoyed both. I think it would be a great addition to our family and flock. Can you share with me the pros and cons of having a rooster? My significant other has already okayed the purchase, but I would really like the others to understand why having one can be a joy.
Thank you for your help!
Vicki Heist
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Hi Vicki,
Roosters have a necessary place in a flock, but they can also be tough to have around neighbors. When I lived in a city on 1/8 acre, roosters were legal there but I chose not to have one because the neighbors were just too close. But why you want one and how your individual neighbors react can be different.
Rather than detailing all the great reasons to have a rooster, I will direct you toward an article by Jeremy Chartier that does it even better. Jeremy lists breeding and protection as the most important reasons to keep a rooster, plus how stunning they look standing proudly on your property. I hope this article helps you convince your people to welcome a beautiful new boy to the neighborhood.
Good luck!
Marissa
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Hen Crowing
My Ameraucana has been gradually exhibiting rooster behavior, now crowing. Is there an estrogen hormone for injection to counteract this phenomenon?
Doug Smith
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Hi Doug,
What your hen is exhibiting is puzzling but normal. The animal kingdom can have a spectrum of behavior and hormone levels, and trying to correct it could do more harm than good. First of all, even if an injection was available, it would probably be more expensive than the value of ten of your hens, plus it could alter her biology in ways that have not been studied. This isn’t even mentioning what would end up in her eggs, and in you. If her male tendencies don’t negatively affect her health, I recommend just letting her be her, crowing and all. Even humans tend to have more testosterone or estrogen levels than others, without becoming a detriment to overall health.
Here is a brief overview of how/why this change happens:
I hope this helps!
Marissa
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Marissa,
Thank you for your response.
Many years ago, in high school science, we students injected male hormones in yellow chicks. Probably illegal now😏. We observed these same behaviors in these little guys.
We will let her/him “come out” and enjoy the show.
Doug Smith
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Nesting Boxes
Aloha.
We are brand new to chickens and our chicks are coming up on five weeks. We have made them a large run we can move around the yard where they can be safe. I have purchased an old coop we are renovating and we are about to add nesting boxes. My husband said to keep the nesting boxes closed till morning to prevent the chickens from soiling them; however, if chickens lay eggs in the morning before work, and we put them in the run (separate from the coop) morning till evening, then should we put nesting boxes in our run instead? Do you give them some time to lay, and then bring them to the run? If so, how much time do they need to lay?
Thanks in advance.
Rachele Halliday
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Hi Rachele,
Great question! Your husband is right that, if the chickens have access to the nesting boxes at night or before they are old enough to lay, they will make it a habit of perching on them and soiling them. I have dug a lot of chicken poo out of my boxes!
From my experience, a chicken will lay the moment there is light on the horizon, and all the way until about 5pm at night. So, you would want the nesting boxes available at all daylight hours. As far as putting them in the run, that may or may not work, as the run may be too open for them. Chickens prefer dark, secure corners to lay their eggs. If they have access to the coop during all hours, they will naturally migrate from the run to the coop for laying, then return to the run.
Have you considered nesting box curtains within your coop plans? If you have adequate, welcoming perches available, and your curtains cover the areas where a chicken might perch, you are more likely to have the chickens perch (and poo) only where it’s intended.
Good luck!
Marissa
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Silkie Rooster
Hi, just wondering if you have some advice. I have Silkie chickens and I think the rooster is being bullied by a hen. Of course, it’s hard to tell with these chickens which is which; the one being bullied I have seen crow and the other not, and the difference in size makes me believe which is which. Is this typical of chickens ever, for a rooster to be bullied by a hen? He’s being pecked in the head which is why I am more concerned.
Thanks.
Glen
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Hi Glen,
It, unfortunately, can happen quite frequently. Silkies are extremely docile chickens, though your hen is an exception. Since your hen is so aggressive to a rooster, I would assume she is going to be aggressive to future birds you may add to your flock, plus Silkies are especially prone to head injuries. It may be best to think about rehoming that particular hen.
Good luck with your flock!
Marissa
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Thanks for the reply. I guess I’m struggling to understand why or what happened. I had moved some of the food into their shed because it rains a lot here lately and it was getting wet. Thought it could have been a food issue. I’ll look into it, looks like I may be having an early lunch sometime this week!


Maybe you can help me out again when you get a chance. Here are some pics. The first one is of the two biggest Silkies I have. I guess it’s possible they are actually roosters themselves but they’re fatter and not as upright, and their gobbletygooker stuff (sorry I don’t know the real names, the flappy skin that hangs down that you’d see as a mohawk on a regular rooster) is in a big clump, whereas you’ll see in pic two the one who got pecked in the head and I heard him crow and he has more of a flappy skin on his head instead. I’m just confused I guess, but that would explain a lot, if the other ones are roosters too.
Thanks again.
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Hi Glen,
The pictures are a bit grainy, but I’m going to say you have roosters there. In the picture where one chicken on the right is closer in the foreground, that one is definitely a rooster. In Silkies, the female’s “hair” is more like a poof and her wattles are difficult to see, even if she’s not bearded. The bottom looks like a big pompom. Roosters’ “hair” tends to be more of a mullet, you have no problem seeing the comb and wattles, and the tail arches up and over just a tiny bit.
That would explain why one is more aggressive to the other, for sure!
Marissa
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Egg Production and Feed
I suspect that I am like most of the readers of your Backyard Poultry magazine. My chickens, mostly hens for eggs, are pets, and it pleases me to be able to give them treats, mostly fruits and vegetables like grapes, watermelons, cantaloupes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and canned corn, but also non-GMO scratch, mealworms, and suet. Obviously, this alternative food replaces or reduces their normal intake of layer feed. My question to you is: How does it impact, if at all, their egg production? My count is down and I’m trying to understand why. I should be getting eight to 10 per day from my 13 hens and now it’s typically only four to six. My small family of customers is not happy.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Clay Stiles, Virginia
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Hi Clay,
Layer ration should, ideally, provide a balanced diet with everything your hen needs during times of lay. (Meaning, she’s done growing and is not in molt.) Since eggs are high in protein and calcium, she needs adequate levels of both. Any time you replace it with treats, you are unbalancing that diet with items that may have too little protein, too much protein, or too little calcium, etc., and your hens will eat less of their layer ration because they have already filled up on treats. Your drop in egg production could be your first indication that the diet needs correction. Of course, it is also September, so your hens could be getting ready to molt. This is about the time of year when production naturally declines so, unless your hens are less than a year old, there could be other factors involved.
Good luck!
Marissa