Recent content by Airyaman

  1. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    Just checking in. Marek's seems to have run it's course (knocking on wood). All of my hens are laying again. I have too many eggs and now I'm on the verge of 9 hens approaching laying age. I have one hen who keeps pecking her own eggs. Not sure what I can do about that or if I even care. Like...
  2. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    Knock on the old proverbial wood, I have not lost any more to Marek's since my last cockerel. I did lose two chickens to predators though. A hen that went broody and was in a nesting box low to the ground was attacked and eaten by coons. Then the night after I lost one of my JG roosters to...
  3. Airyaman

    Chickens are tearing up my barn

    Do you feed your chickens snacks, scratch, etc. where they know it is you feeding them? Chickens fed by humans are like cats and dogs (and snails) fed by humans. They care about food more than anything and if you are the source, well...
  4. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    None of them are old enough for their first true full molt. She was sick and I feared she was going to be another Marek's victim but she recovered. She laid another egg today. I know it was her because I found her burrowing in the coop of another flock (I leave my coops open during the day and...
  5. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    One of my CCL pullets is laying again. One had a redder comb so I'm pretty sure it's her. I haven't had any blue eggs since mid Nov. 2025, but I found one the other day outside of any of the laying boxes. It was cracked so I discarded it. Today I found another outside of any laying boxes but it...
  6. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    Two updates: CCL pullet recovered, but hasn't laid eggs since. I have two CCL pullets, neither are laying right now. One went broody and stopped laying, the other was the one time sick one. Both appear to be relatively healthy now, just not laying. Which interestingly seems to make them less...
  7. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    Good news and bad... Good news is that the lame Black Australorp pullet has mostly recovered! Never was sure it was Marek's for her, but in any case, I checked on her before closing up for the night a few days back and could not find her! So I decided to look up and there she was on a ceiling...
  8. Airyaman

    First hawk attack!

    Interestingly enough, I have not seen any hawks since the attack. Sadly, the pullet it attacked did die, but not from the attack, but complications of Marek's.
  9. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    Final report confirms it was Marek's, as I suspected. The rest of my flocks seem to be holding on, none showing any signs, even diarrhea. The one last chicken I have with any symptoms seems to becoming more mobile (she had good use of one leg), putting a little bit of weight on her bad leg. She...
  10. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    I wish mine were just that minor. I lost 8/8 from the first flock to show symptoms, and now 1 each from two different flocks. I also have two with leg issues, one completely mobile (well, 95%, she can struggle around and ends up sideways!), and one who has good use of only one leg. I'm not...
  11. Airyaman

    First hawk attack!

    The one that hopped away is a BA and the one attacked is a Bielefelder. The BA hopped over to the edge of the fenced in area with my other flocks and there were two BJG cockerels next to her. I don't think the hawk was ready to tangle with those two.
  12. Airyaman

    First hawk attack!

    I have some reflective gadgets spread throughout my "free range" area, and it seems to have kept the hawks at bay. But I have a couple of Marek's inflicted birds with leg problems and I had them sitting in the grass away from area (I try to get them outside a few hours a day to get sun), and a...
  13. Airyaman

    Rookie backyard chicken keeper...with Marek's

    One of my oldest girls, a CCL (if you consider 35 weeks "old"), died last week. She had diarrhea for a week or more, and then she passed. I sent her off for a necroscopy and judging by what they've reported thus far, it seems she had the visceral form of Marek's. The report is not complete as...
  14. Airyaman

    Sour crop or...?

    Actually she just died a few minutes ago. If I had to guess, and I did not mention it in the OP, I have Mareks in my flocks. It wiped out all of the birds in one of my flocks, and I think it has now claimed two of my older pullets, this being one of them. I was hoping it was not Mareks as the...
  15. Airyaman

    Sour crop or...?

    To add, I also plan to try to give her some greek yogurt if she'll eat it.
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