Recent content by Big E

  1. Big E

    Lethargic, bald butt and limping hen

    How does one check for bound eggs? I felt around on her abdomen and even inserted a lubricated little finger - barely - into her vent. Nothing. And her crop was soft... Oh, and one of my birds had been laying soft, leathery shelled eggs. Now that Starr is dead - no more "bad eggs". EL
  2. Big E

    Lethargic, bald butt and limping hen

    Wow. Very strange. Last week my two y.o. hen started exhibiting the same signs and symptoms as your hen. Only her chest, her abdomen and her butt were bald. She died the next day. Boom. Now today I notice another hen exhibiting the same signs. She's likely a gonner, too. About three...
  3. Big E

    Impacted egg?

    My two year old hen was on the nest yesterday for a long time. I checked on her several times and finally took her from the nest. Two eggs under her. She pecked at me, etc. and went straight back to the nest when I turned her loose. This happened three times. Broody, right? Today she is...
  4. Big E

    Broody and Bald

    My two year old hen has gone broody. I keep removing her from the nest to try and discourage her, but she keeps returning. The real question is this: Her feathers on her butt, belly, and now on her breast have all fallen off or be plucked out! She look awful. She also seems to have runny...
  5. Big E

    Feeding Alfalfa

    I read somewhere that one can soak alfalfa overnight in water and feed the water logged hay to your chickens. We are in the middle of a severe - 3 years so far - drought and my chickens are starving for something green. Has anyone ever done this? I know alfalfa is very rich and horses must...
  6. Big E

    Young rooster doesn't crow

    I have a young rooster - about 20 weeks old - and he does not crow. He is the only roo w/ 4 hens all of the approximate same age. Will he crow when he is all "grown up"? Of course, my husband says not to complain. A quietly cooing rooster is so-o-o-o much better than a loud crowing one, but...
  7. Big E

    fly control?

    Will chickens eat fly maggots in their own poop? My coop is full of flies laying in the night soil of my 5 chickens. If I leave them cooped up a bit longer in the AM - before releasing them to free range - will the chickens begin to scratch and eat the fly eggs/larve inside the coop?
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