Health & Wellbeing

What is sour crop?

Sour crop is a fungal overgrowth in the crop caused by a disruption to the normal flora. Affected chickens are often dull and can have fluid filled, enlarged crops. A number of factors can contribute to sour crop, but ensuring your chickens have an appropriate diet can reduce the risk. Keep treats to a minimum and do not feed your chickens human foods high in refined sugar or starch. Sour crop should be differentiated from an impacted crop. If you suspect your chicken has sour crop please seek advice as this should be managed by your vet.

How do I know if my chickens have sour crop?

Typical symptoms of sour crop are bad or sour smelling breath, with general lethargy, lack of appetite and an enlarged crop (may feel gassy or fluid filled). It may be possible to observe lesions in the mouth and oesophagus, but these are typically more prevalent in the crop and so are not normally visible to owners. Young chicks and growers are more susceptible, but it can also affect mature hens. If you suspect your chicken has sour crop please seek advice as this should be managed by your vet.

How do I prevent sour crop?

Preventative measures for Sour Crop include good housekeeping and hygiene practices, ensuring feed is not mouldy or spoilt, avoiding high starch or carbohydrate rich content human foods and keeping drinkers and feeders clean and free from stale feed.

Why is my chicken loosing feathers?

It is perfectly natural for your chicken to lose feathers; this is usually down to moulting. A chicken’s first moult is shortly after they hatch and they will have two, sometimes three moults before they achieve their adult plumage. Thereafter, they will moult once a year, usually in early autumn although this can be dependent on the amount of daylight available. An early moult, or perhaps an interim small moult, can be triggered by a sudden change in the daylight hours or temperature, even in the summer. Typically, as the daylight hours shorten a chicken’s metabolic body clock changes – they eat less and they start to moult.

Some chickens will experience a gradual moult, replacing feathers progressively, working down the body from head to tail, whereas others (the best layers can often be the heavier moulters) can experience a ‘total feather-drop’ and be virtually naked, which can look alarming.

During a moult they are likely to look withdrawn, paler in the face, comb and wattles and will very likely stop laying eggs as feather regrowth will take up all of the available nutrients, so it is essential to support them through this difficult period with extra care and high-quality nutrition and supplementation.

Nettex Vit Boost Tonic is packed full of Vitamins and Biotin to support feather regrowth.

What can I give my chicken to help grow new feathers?

During moult, chickens can become anaemic and the moult itself can put a strain on the immune system which can cause them to look tired and even stop laying. Nutritional supplementation of Biotin and other essential vitamins is key during moult to support them through their change into their new winter wardrobe! Nettex Vit Boost Tonic is packed full of Vitamins and Biotin to support feather regrowth. Protein is also essential to growing healthy new feathers, The Chicken Whisperer suggests that you may wish to switch the flock onto growers pellets during this time which tend to be higher in protein. Top tip: remember to handle your chickens less frequently during moult to allow their new feathers to grow without disruption and to minimise stress.

What is normal and abnormal for chickens droppings?

Chickens produce 2 types of droppings, one type is from the intestine, and the other is from the caeca. The former is usually brown/grey in colour with a white cap. The latter is usually pale brown and pasty. Droppings should be well formed, and your chickens vent should be clean. Abnormal droppings can be very wet, or blood tinged, in these cases you should seek further advice from your vet.

My chicken is struggling to breathe, what might this be?

We recommend getting advice for any breathing issues as chickens will often show no signs of illness until they are very sick. There are a number of different pathogens that can cause a chicken to breathe abnormally including viruses, bacterial infections and parasites. If you notice this in one of your chickens it would be worthwhile to isolate her in a quiet and relaxing place before seeing the vet, in case it is a contagious condition.

Should I clip my chicken’s wings?

Chickens can’t really fly but they can climb and flap which might be enough to get them over your fence! Should you have a chicken which tries to fly and escape it might be worthwhile clipping its wings.

How do I clip my chicken’s wings?

Clipping your chicken’s wings is easy and does not hurt them. You only clip the wings on one side to make them uneven when they try to fly which means they cannot take off. Clare Taylor (The Chicken Whisperer) recommends that you clip the wings on the left hand side of the chicken as that is the side that has the one functioning ovary which makes them a little heavier on that side. Hold your chicken firmly or ask someone to hold the chicken for you and stretch out the left wing so all the feathers spread out. Using sharp scissors take 2.5-3″ off the primary flight feathers – these are the first 10/12 feathers on the wing. The wings will need re-clipping each time your chicken moults.

How do I help my chickens avoid heat stress?

Chickens are very susceptible to overheating. At 105 degrees, their body temperature is much higher than ours; they are unable to sweat and so have to cool themselves down by drinking, panting, fanning out their feathers and seeking shade. In hot weather, ensure your chickens have access to shade and provide plenty of fresh, cool water. You can also pop a frozen bottle of water into their drinker to keep the water cool. Throughout the summer, it is essential to support your flock with appropriate nutrition and supplementation to maintain optimum health, support the immune system and help prevent stress. Add Nettex Vit Boost Tonic to your chicken’s water, this contains essential vitamins and minerals to support health and vitality, plus biotin which helps support feather quality and growth.

My chicken is lame – what should I do?

There can be many reasons why your chicken may be lame. These can include Scaly Leg Mite infestation, worms, untrimmed nails, injury which can lead to Bumblefoot, or Mycoplasma Synoviae. Before consulting your vet, give your chicken a quick check to try and look for signs of any of the above causes.

Firstly look for any long nails which could be causing your chicken to look uncomfortable when walking, usually nails will naturally wear down, however this is not always the case and you should trim any that appear to be too long.

If your chicken is showing signs of a worm burden such as loss of weight, poor digestion, diarrhoea or physical worms sighted in their faeces, then send off a faecal egg count and, if it is confirmed that your chicken has worms, treat quickly and appropriately with a licenced wormer such as Flubenvet.

Bumblefoot is a bacterial infection which affects the pad of your chicken’s foot. This can be a nasty and painful infection and it will most definitely cause them to walk a little funny. If you suspect that your chicken has Bumblefoot and if the wounds are small and do not appear deep or infected, clean and dry the foot then spray with Nettex Wound Care Spray. Any affected chickens should be kept in a clean and dry environment until the feet have fully healed. Always speak to your vet as a course of antibiotics may be needed.

Lastly if your chicken’s legs feel hot or inflamed and there are no signs of Bumblefoot or mites then it could be that your chicken is suffering from Mycoplasma Synoviae, a chronic respiratory infection which can cause lameness. This should be taken very seriously and veterinary advice should be sought immediately.

How do chickens digest their food?

Chickens don’t have teeth, so they peck and swallow their food. The food moves to the crop – where it can remain for up to 12 hours, and from the crop into the stomach which is also known as the gizzard.

The gizzard is a muscular part of the stomach and uses grit to grind grains and fibre into smaller, more digestible, particles. From the gizzard, food passes into the small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed.

The residue then passes through the caeca, where bacteria help break down undigested food. From the caeca, food moves to the large intestine, which absorbs water and dries out indigestible foods. This remaining residue passes through the cloaca where the chicken’s urine (the white in chicken droppings) mixes with the waste. Both exit the chicken at the vent, the external opening of the cloaca. It is important to note also that 70% of a chickens immunity is in the gut so keeping it healthy and fully functioning is essential to having a happy healthy chicken and can in part explain why chickens expire quickly – if they are exhibiting any form of digestive upset their entire immune system is compromised.

Why does my chicken have loose droppings?

Following digestion the remaining food residue is mixed with the chicken’s urine and passed via the vent. The quality of food, quantity of treats, heat, stress, worms and general health and gut condition all affect the composition of a chicken’s droppings. Observe your chickens regularly to understand what is normal for them so you are aware and can take action if there is a change. If you are concerned contact your vet.

What is a healthy weight for chickens?

When it comes to the weight of your chickens, it’s not a case of how much they should weigh as the optimum weight for each chicken is different, a lot like us humans. You are aiming for a glossy and heathy, alert looking chicken, which is active and doesn’t feel overly heavy. A mature hybrid hen can weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 kg, depending on the breed mix.

To ensure your chicken maintains a normal weight, keep them to a diet of 96% layers feed/pellets and just a few seeds and dark greens at the end of the day, plus whatever they can forage in your garden. Human processed, salty, sugary and fatty foods do not have any place in their diet- they are illegal to feed and can cause kidney disease.

My chicken has lost its appetite what can I do?

If your chicken has lost their appetite first you need to find the cause remembering that stress can be a factor in loss of appetite. If you are concerned, conduct a health check (link to video) on your chicken to see if there’s any obvious reason for the appetite loss, such as a mites or lice infestation or illness. If there is no obvious reason for the loss of appetite you can add Nettex Egg & Shell Support Powder to their feed as the Aniseed l in this mineral based product will help to stimulate their appetite.

If you cannot find the source of the issue and your chicken’s appetite does not seem to improve after supplementation then speak to a veterinary professional for further advice.

Why does my chicken seem tired and what can I do?

There are few reasons why your chickens could be lethargic. It could be a feather moult, a heavy mite infestation or worms as all can place an extra strain on their immune systems which is why it is important to supplement during these times.

Nettex Vit Boost Tonic has added Biotin which will help support feather regrowth during moult and Nettex Poultry Power Drops (formerly known as Nutri Drops) contains fast acting energy as well as immune supporting vitamins which acts as a pick-me-up for chickens showing signs of tiredness, illness or stress.

Unexplained lethargy should really be investigated by a veterinary professional, but in the meantime perform a health check to check for any signs of illness, infestation or stress and supplement/treat your chickens appropriately.