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[monzarella]

My girl died last night
Yesterday afternoon I noticed that one of my girls had a bit of a snotty nose... She was still bright eyed, eating plenty and still very frisky. Just in case she was getting sick so as not to infect my other girls I separated her into a different coop away from the others. I went to check on her this morning very early and she was a long time dead. Is it more likely that she was stressed being apart from the rest of the flock that she died rather than what ever it was that was making her sick???? I feel so terrible that I might be responsible for her passing!!! Can a chicken even die that quickly from a respiratory disease or a cold??!!???

 

[KayBug]

I have 6 grown chickens that share a run with a momma chicken and her (6) four week old chicks. At this time, the grown hens free rang during the day while mom and chicks stay in the run. I am going on a vacation for a week and I have a family member who will be feeding the flock. However, the grownups won't be going out to free range during that week. I already have a gravity feeder inside the run for the adults, but don't put out chick feed when they are inside. I'm trying to figure out how to feed the chicks their starter feed and keep the adults from eating it. I have no way to separate them. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dcga1954]

Hi I have 3 hens one has recently become Broodie but now I'm not sure if it's that or she's being bullied every time I bring her out of nest box to pen to eat and drink the other two go after her not letting her eat what should I do I do have her separated right now but don't want her to be away to long any ideas what's up or how to fix it
Thanks!!

 

[Newburnchicks]

Have any chicken questions that need answering? I'm your gal, I've studied chickens for over 5yrs so ask away, and I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability.

ok. I have 5 chickens they were all supposed to be hens but my two leghorns ended up being males... when I first bought them I struggled with mites and I've noticed when the Sun starts going down they tend to start biting at them self still. They have access to sand mixed with Ash, I did buy the powdered garlic and probiotics for them, I was giving them ACV in the spring but I stopped in the summertime... now they are about 13 weeks old and my females seem to have dried out Combs and I've noticed on the porch where they hang out I have a lot of dander like stuff... I've attached a couple of pictures of my New Hampshire red hopefully you can tell by looking at her ...in your opinion do you think they are still suffering from mites and is there anything else I can do

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[cakrawczyk]

I have a hen that just had an impacted egg removed from her by our vet. The vet mentioned that it is possible that she is not getting enough nutrients from her food, especially calcium. I checked the information provided by the company regarding the food we use and it indicates that it includes 3 -4% calcium. I have noticed, however, that the other hens' eggs in my flock have very thin shells. Should I be adding calcium? Are there really good food recommendations? Thank you!

 

[TwoCrows]

I have a hen that just had an impacted egg removed from her by our vet. The vet mentioned that it is possible that she is not getting enough nutrients from her food, especially calcium. I checked the information provided by the company regarding the food we use and it indicates that it includes 3 -4% calcium. I have noticed, however, that the other hens' eggs in my flock have very thin shells. Should I be adding calcium? Are there really good food recommendations? Thank you!

Hello and welcome to BYC!

How old is your hen? Was this a rubber like cooked egg or was it a thin shelled egg that had broken?

Young layers are prone to all kinds of laying issues, most of which work themselves out as the bird ages. Older hens can have trouble absorbing calcium as they age and lay what is called Lash Eggs....yolks that have built up in the Uterus and cook themselves. Usually a hen lays these things eventually. Think shelled eggs can not only be caused by the hen not getting enough calcium, but health issues, like worms, Coccidiosis, viral and bacterial infections.

Tell us a bit more about this hen, her age, her condition and more about this egg that was removed.

Oh, and this question would be best posted in our Egglaying forums for more help.

 

[Flock Master64]

Interesting

 

[cakrawczyk]

Thank you, TwoCrows! That was most informative!

Zigzag (my bantam cochin) is a little over 1 year old. I got her as a baby chick in June 2015 from one of our local nursery/hardware/farm shops in Lancaster County, PA. I thought she started producing eggs in the fall of 2015...at least, she has been sitting on medium-sized eggs since that time. We also have two tiny Serama bantams and three regular-sized Silkies that produce everything from medium-sized to Extra-Large eggs (when Zigzag was in confinement in our basement, incredibly large and strangely-shaped teardrop eggs were finding their way to the nest. These were not coming from the Seramas!).

The vet indicated that the egg was soft/pliable on the end nearest the opening and tougher-shelled on the other side. (At least that's what I thought she told me. After reading that part of the egg could have been "hard-cooked" I'm not sure!) The egg was off to the side, making it somewhat difficult to come out, but with lubrication and a shot of calcium/oxytocin, it popped out. When it did, the softer side cracked, but not until it was outside the chicken.

The vet did say that there were many other possibilities for why she was egg bound. The hen pooped while at the vet's, so that was sent to the lab. She did have a form of nematode and I am now treating the whole flock. So it is possible that the nematode could have caused stomach inflammation that led to the impaction.

My concern was that other hens' eggs were thin-shelled also. Yes, they could have parasites, too, I guess. However, since I've been putting down oyster shell and grit, eggshells have become a bit tougher (and that was before we started de-worming).

 

[Cyndilouwho]

My husband checked on our chickens a little while ago and just came in and said one of our New Hampshire red was on the ground dying and he picked her up and she died in his hands. This was less than 30 minutes after he checked on them.

 

[KaylorFarms]

What color eggs do salmon favorelles lay?