I have heard that the smell of pepper will deter a cat. Just sprinkle it in the doorway. It won't hurt the chickens. It will wash away in the rain but might make him go somewhere else if you keep it up for a while so he assumes the smell will be there.
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried installing a door that is always locked, but that the chickens can still pass through.
For example those cat doors that only open for a cat with a magnetic 'key' on its collar.
I like the idea as I like to let my chickens free range but their time is...
My hen is 4-5yrs old, an RIR bantam, still lays almost every day unless moulting.
She's always been a skinny bird, but recently I noticed she's extra thin even for her.
She still acts normally and is top of the pecking order. They are regularly wormed (half the reason why I noticed she was thin...
Wow she was a stupid hen. Lovely, but stupid.
She ended up dying when they were 10 weeks because she just wouldn't eat, she would feed the babies but not herself, and injured herself when I tried to separate them.
As for the three chicks, the lucky chick I found broke her leg when it was 13...
R.I.P Pebbles.
He was healthy and gaining weight for a month, then I went to america for a month. A week into me being away he started wheezing again and then his health really crashed.
I'm heartbroken I wasn't with him when he died. He was such a little fighter.
The house is far too quiet...
Well I'm back from America. With great news! I got OFFERED a job over there! No more office job for me!!! CONSERVATION WORK FTW!!!!
So if everything goes to plan I'll be moving there in May!
As for the relationship. I really found myself while I was away, I didn't even realise I was lost!!!! I...
I have heard of that, I also heard its more common to occur in the 'lowest' chicken in the flock because they can be bullied away from food, so they go to find what they can elseware/anywhere. Like a year old moldy grain jammed in some odd place...
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Strange I've only ever heard of charcoal being used to absorb the toxins so it can pass through their bodies. My dog was on it for a week after eating rat poison and having her stomach pumped.
in the morning hold her upside down and massage her crop till she vomits. My bird had a very persistant case (1 month!) of sour crop (on anti fungals and everything) and it wasn't until I began vomiting him every morning that he began to recover... fast! He was emptying his crop normally within...
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I got a kindle e-reader thing because I'm about to go to california for a month because it will be much easier to carry around than a big book! Plus when I finish one I can just buy more as I go along!
If you have an iphone you should look up the bird field guides on them. I got one...
I just remembered something! Whenever one of my aviary birds gets sloppy poo I give them (cold) black tea instead of water for the day. It quickly helps them errrm.... firm up!
Maybe it would work with chickens too? I can't see why it wouldn't. If anything she may benefit from the antioxidants...
I know it looks weird, but if it isn't worrying her than it wouldn't worry me. Just put sunscreen on it so she doesn't get melanoma from getting it burn't in the sun!
Could she have developed a habit of rubbing herhead while you are away? The steroid could have just made her hair grow fast...
would your vet let you post a sample of her poop to them? That's what my vet does. They'd be able to tell you if she needs worming too.
I wouldn't worm a sick bird unless I knew it was worms that were making her sick. If their weak wormers can do more harm than good.