Recent content by Achelois

Thanks for the suggestion. I've looked at our local hardware store (which is fairly small) and they only had small louvres which were expensive and didn't seem to offer much actual ventilation space - there was more metal than there were holes. I don't think that those were foundation vents...

We bought a second-hand tin shed cheaply for our new coop and have built it up onto a raised wooden floor with a hatch for cleaning. It's all going well so far but we need to sort out some ventilation before we paint it. We've put roosts around two sides - one side is going to have nest boxes...

Thanks chooks4life. My last experience with bumblefoot and antibiotics went badly. My chook came right for a while, then began limping again (it hadn't killed the infection completely after a 5 day course of Baytril) then she died of a heart attack or breathing difficulties when I held her with...

http://stitchandboots.com/kitchen-garden/backyard-flock/proper-heating-for-chicks/ This may help you - it can't hurt to treat it as heat stroke. Just go very carefully dipping beaks; I wouldn't 'force' it as this blogger suggests.

I'm so sorry - I'm juggling small kids and chooks too. I feel your pain - we can't be everywhere at once. Is the other chick any better? I gather it wasn't walking like this before, so didn't hatch with splayed legs? Make sure it's on a good non skid surface and see if it gets any better...

Just wondering - how big is the tote? It could have held excessive heat. Whatever has happened, you tried to do right - learn from it and move on. I've killed chicks through ignorance and poor prep and turned my hen upside down this year and killed her too - was inspecting her feet and didnt...

I'm sorry for your loss! We had hatching losses when we started out and I know how devastating it is. I've only ever hatched under a hen, but you were right to a) Only move them once dried off and b) Lower the lamp if they were huddling. Could they get away from the lamp if they were too hot...

I just realised I've been using the term 'hock' incorrectly - the problem is on her shank. I've got a photo here that I'll attach of the bad leg - the swelling and the bumble scab on her toe are acute and have only shown up in the last few days. The sores further up don't seem to bother her...

I have no Vaseline but I've coated her legs in sunflower and neem oils - hoping this will help.

OMG! I had no idea scaly leg mites could actually eat into the legs, even after the scales have gone None of my existing birds have ever had it (probably because she refuses to roost or nest with them) so I wasn't aware this could be the issue. She has two crusty scabs, always in the same...

We adopted this girl from a lady who was moving, and failed to notice at the time that she'd had a bad case of mites in the past and her legs were completely descaled. We've had her close to a year now and the scales have shown no sign of growing back so I don't think they will. We don't really...

Thanks chicksmom, do you have a link? We've tried surgery for this one but it's all the way up her leg (started in her bald hock actually). I don't think surgery is an option anymore - it's just become pointless torture IMO. Removing the whole leg could fix it, possibly, but that's just more...

Thanks, if I manage to get hold of some I'll let you know. I fear it's not even licensed for use here as a Google search turns up nothing.

Bumping an old thread, but bumblefoot has been absolute hell for us. I'm not even sure I can get tricide neo in NZ. Why the distilled water? Surely that advice is just for fish since fish are harmed by chlorine? Or is the powder reactive?

Just found this thread - we had a happy experience the other day with several dropped eggs. I wish I'd tried with the bleeding ones now, but my husband had cleaned them up by the time I got to the scene - he said there was a LOT of blood, so who knows...