Recent content by blanche

Hi, Tongiechick -- No coughing up food that we are aware of, and she does seem to eat eagerly (based on her response when we give "treats," like yogurt). Have seen her eat their regular feed when she gets off the roost in the a.m. -- but most times I am not there to see that. Not sure about the...

Thanks, Chickens Are Sweet! Unfamiliar with the crop -- had to google it to see approximately where it is. Are we talking about rubbing her chest to try to find a lump? I am a bit embarrassed -- have had chickens for 4 years and never knew about or encountered the crop . . . p.s. just did more...

Wondering whether anyone can help "diagnose" our sweet chicken, Rosie. She is almost 4, and has been behaving strangely: no longer staying with the flock (3 3-yr-old birds) while free-ranging; walking slowly & with a somewhat strange gait -- almost a waddle; sitting around most of the day, by...

Thanks, Willowbranch Farm. Sadly, we found Blanche dead a few hours ago. Teejae, hope your story ends more happily. We have not seen any parasites on our chickens, and/but no, they've not been wormed. Will research worming more now . . .

One of our 3-year-old hens, Blanche (my BYC namesake :-( was fine on Saturday, down on Sunday. We found a fairly large egg that we believe was hers, with some clotted blood on it. Had been in the coop long enough to be cool -- first egg in a long time, from any of them. She was acting strangely...

Nope, no rooster, so that's not it. We do see feathers occasionally -- but the chickens have been free-ranging a lot this summer so not sure we would see them all. Thanks for the tip re the feed -- may try that! Didn't realize it could be months until feathers grow back from a molt . . .

dawg53 -- thanks for your response. oil gland sounds so much better than growth. No, haven't noticed parasites or feather-pulling. We have 4 others (5 until recently) and none of the others are experiencing anything similar to this.

One of our 2-year-old layers, Rosie, lost some tail feathers 4-5 months ago. Initially we thought she was molting so we weren't concerned. But now the skin where her tail feathers should be is very red, and there is a small growth. Any thoughts / suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Quote: Thanks -- we're thrilled! Reading your post & the others made us -- it's fun to be part of a community whose members a) helped us figure out Sparkle's story & b) helped us celebrate it!

Cool! Looked at some images of Russian Orloffs & tend to agree with you. Now we feel she is even more special :-) (by the way, we almost named her Spangle)

Meet Sparkle. She came to us in early May (from Privett Hatchery, via a local feed store) as a 1-day-old buff orpington, which she is clearly not! Instead, she has prominent tufts on her face, an almost-non-existent comb, darker brown neck & head feathers, a speckled face, a chestnut body...

I posted several months ago about an Ameraucana chick with head tremors. Her symptoms never worsened (though the tremors never went away entirely, either), and none of our other 5 chicks -- now 13 weeks old -- developed any problems. Her only other obvious issue has been a split beak; she's been...

By the way, she came from Privett Hatchery in N.M. Anyone know whether their chickens are immunized? I've emailed them but heard nothing so far. Thanks again to anyone with more ideas / info!

I hope you are right! Something neurological was our first thought, too, but then research led us to the various disease possibilities, especially AE. Will definitely take your suggestion re putting a stuffed animal in her box. She is no worse than she's been . . . it's been more than 3 days...

Thanks for your response. I am now very worried that the chick could have avian encephalomyelitis. Realize the shaking could better be described as head / neck tremors. Have isolated her in a box inside the larger box where the other chicks are. (because avian enceph. can be spread via feces)...