Topic: Worried about my Brahma...

[DadnDom]

I picked my brahma up tonight and it feels like she has a lump on her chest. I am new to keeping chickens. As they are starting to trust me more I am trying to handle them more (we're both a bit wary of each other lol) when we first had her she had a patch of white feathers on her chest, I thought it was normal but when I picked her up tonight it feels like she has a lump there  ???
You can see the patch of white feathers on her chest in the photo below. Does anybody know what the lump could be and could it be serious or something simple? Am quite worried as she is my favourite :(


Shot with Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL at 2007-07-11

[OliveOil]

aww she is beautiful!

There are two things that come to mind... check her chest again in the morning before she eats anything... if it has gone down then that is fine.

It looks like she has over filled her crop to be honest - so long as it goes down considerably by the morning then dont worry.

If its still that big then it looks like impacted crop. Not had to deal with that so cant help other than to get her to take liquid paraffin and massage the crop - do a search on pekin bantam site and they will give more advice if that is what the problem is.

Lastly if she is pecking at the site and stretching her neck and yawning wierdly could be gapeworm - i'm pretty sure flubenvet will treat that - i have loads if you need any.

[Marymary]

Beat me to it OO.  :) I suspect it's her crop you are feeling - if she has been eating corn you might be able to feel the individual grains through her skin!  It's a good sign if it is nice & full as she is eating well. 

[DadnDom]

She has been yawning tonight I noticed, so will keep my fingers crossed it has gone down in the morning. I will go out and check first thing. I have never seen a chicken eat as much as she does lol
I started feeding them on corn when I first got them, then someone said that layers pellets were better for them so I put them onto layers pellets but she seems to prefer corn so now they have a bowl of layers pellets and a bowl of corn.
I also have 3 warrens, but Mildred (the brahma) is my favourite by far :) She lays almost everyday too where as my warrens still haven't started laying yet.
Thanks all very much for your advice.

[OliveOil]

ahhh... well i hope she is ok this morning.

They will always prefer grain to pellets - so an idea is to feed pellets in the morning then at tea time give them a hand ful each of corn/grain.  That way they are getting their nutritional requirements for the eggs andhealth and wont get too fat from too much grain/corn.  Then the treat at the end of the day will fill them up before bedtime and keep them going til the morning... especially useful in winter when their crops should be full before going to bed.

Mine prefer grain too - but they soon learn to eat the pellets if there is nothing else to eat.  They can fit 100-150g of food in their crops btw.

[teresa]

Oh shes beautiful how is she today,

[DadnDom]

Sorry for the late reply but the forum wouldn't load for me this morning and i've been out all day.
I checked her first thing this morning and the lump had virtually gone :) So I think it was her crop as it has got bigger during the day today. I do feel a little silly but I got so worried about her lol
Thankyou all for your help and advice I really appreciate it. She is back in the garden getting rid of all the snails and slugs for me :)

[Lost in France]

Great news that your hen is ok today! Agree with the advice re-corn just given later in the day. She looks lovely...does she smell good too!!?

Judi

[teresa]

I am so glad she is ok, keep the corn for before bedtime, no its not silly we all worry about our girls they do become part of the family.

[OliveOil]

Hey dont feel silly - i used to worry sick about my hens... now i just let them get on with it.  Trust me the worry will subside as time goes on. LOL

[DadnDom]

My brahma is my favourite  ;D She's called mildred lol
She cost me a fortune too lol more than my 3 warrens in fact  :o But she is worth every penny :)

[Marymary]

I agree Mildred is very beautiful & I always worry about mine too.  I know you are supposed to feed them their corn in the evening but in the winter they are usually in bed before I get home from work so I always mix a bit of corn with their pellets - yes they pick it out & eat it first but they still do eat the pellets when there is no corn left.