Smelly broody hen

[jessmorris]

Hello all,
can anyone help?
I moved my broody off her eggs yesterday to ensure she went and ate something and I noticed that she smelt quite strongly of ammonia/urine. I had a quick look at her back end (not easy because she's quite fluffy) but couldn't see anything obvious thoug the feathers are a bit stiff. Is this common, has anyone else noticed anything like this? I wondered if its because she's been sitting in her own poop while brooding?....I'm reluctant to mess with her too much as the eggs are due to hatch tomorrow....shall I leave her to sort herself out?
She seems ok . Her comb is a bit pale and she's underweight but should be tucking into chick crumbs hopefully over the next couple of days. I made her some of itshilly's garlic porridge to tempt her appetite. Although she's not eating much she dust bathes in old compost/sawdust/diatomaceous earth stuff every day I would think so hopefully not lousy.

[RichmondHens]

I think the very fact that she IS dustbathing every day is significant - have you checked her over for lice? Broodies do not get off daily to dustbathe unless they have some parasites annoying them. I suspect she probably does have a problem. What sort of louse powder do you use? If you have a natural one it would still be safe to use it now, before the chicks hatch. Then you can dust her again when the chicks are four or five days old. Her pooey bum is probably where she has sat in her poo while brooding as you say, but really you should have cleared all the poo out when she did this, and not leave her to sit in it. Some broodies are clever and move the eggs away from the poo so they don't get contaminated, but this is not always the case. It's always best to clean up the nest if you can.

[jessmorris]

Hi RH,
I dusted her with pet flea powder before she started sitting (Permethrin based) but her dusting tray just has the diatomaceous earth in it. I don't have any natural louse powder - do you mean the ones with natural oils etc? Her eggs aren't soiled at all. I'm loth to move her too much in case she deserts the eggs. Should I change all her bedding now? I have some permethrin spray I could use on her if I find any parasites.

[RichmondHens]

I would not use a permethrin spray so close to hatching (it's toxic to quite a few animals - cats, fish etc but don't know about chicks). Check her over first of all and see if she has any lice. I think as day 21 is tomorrow perhaps you should just leave her be and get hold of some specific louse powder from Barrier Healthcare (this is the one I use and is totally safe, contains tea tree oil) and you can dust her thoroughly when the chicks are about 4 days old.

[jessmorris]

Hello again. Thanks for your advice. I have taken the plunge and checked her over and can't find anything. Some of her vent feathers are stuck togther with a tiny bit of white poo which must be making the smell. I've checked her vent area, her back and her neck. Some of her feathers have a fine black dust around the bases and up the shaft that looks like mites, but when I pullled out a feather and looked at the dust under a lens, its just black compost from the dust bath - no sign of legs on anything. As she is so thin should I dust her with the barrier louse powder on Friday just to be sure? (Its the one in the white tube with red writing is it?). I've never seen lice on any of them, presumbaly they are quite big - like head lice and I couldn't miss them??
Thanks again.
J

[sheena]

They are quite big yes, but they don't look like head lice unfortunately. I thought they would too.

They are very white and can if you squint hard enough see them against the skin of a chook. They have the same affect as nits to me, make me itch all over just seeing them.
They usually congregate between the stub of the tail and the vent.

Ok i'm going now, you've started me itching just thinking about it *shivers*

[jessmorris]

Oh, I wasn't expecting them to be white! They must be quite hard to see then. Bu**er! The feathers above the tail felt quite rough and stubby but I couldn't see anything (but then I was looking for something brown. Boo.) Too near hatching now, I'll dust her on Friday. Thanks to both of you.

[RichmondHens]

Jess, it's only the newly hatched lice that are white, the adults are amber coloured and much larger. You would have seen them if she had them, although they often congregate a bit further down, below the vent.

The Barrier louse powder I get is in big tubs with green writing on (you can get smaller tubes but I have a lot of birds so need the big tub), I think it's their red mite powder that has the red writing.

Good luck with the hatching, I'm sure all will be fine.

[sheena]

I love that my girl's are so different lol, go with what Richmond says more than me Jess... he is the MC (Master of Chookery ) among others of course (wouldn't want to upset anyone)

[jessmorris]

Mmm, no hatching yet, its so hard to wait! Today was day 20 (when my other Pekins hatched) but not sure that these will. The Barbu d'Uccle broody has left them to get cool on occasion, and today I found an egg pushed out of the nest completely, and almost cold (sigh). If it was left to natural selection I don't think mine would perpetuate the breed. Boo. I'll give her til Friday (day 24) I guess before returning her to the flock and examining the eggs. Its very disappointing.

[RichmondHens]

I love that my girl's are so different lol, go with what Richmond says more than me Jess... he is the MC (Master of Chookery ) among others of course (wouldn't want to upset anyone)

I'm a gal sheena Not sure I am MC either, but thanks anyway!


Fingers crossed for the brood Jess, don't give up just yet.

[jessmorris]

..hanging on in there..

[julesapple]

..hanging on in there..

It's hard isn't it? This must be how expectant fathers felt when they had to pace the corridors of the maternity unit years ago.

((((Hugs)))) to you & Sheena

Jules