Recent content by jeronica

The day she went pale we'd had a run of several days where it hit 80 or above, and unseasonably dry for us. Then the next day it cooled down and we got a few showers. I only have 5 birds, 1 feeder and 1 water station. I fill the water every day, twice a day if it's really warm (like when it...

No, I never got any indication that she was egg bound... from what I can tell she was dehydrated. I just went with a wait-and-see approach, made sure she had plenty of feed and water, and checked on her several times a day. Each time I checked, she seemed to be a little more improved, so...

Strawberry tops,for the first time! Definitely a new favorite

Quick update- she seems pretty much fine now. I threw some strawberry tops in the coop earlier and she went running after them with the other girls. She has definitely laid at least one egg since I noticed her symptoms. Her color is almost back to normal and she is socializing well. I am...

Thank you, for some reason I hadn't thought of that... I just went out to see them this morning and was able to feel along her abdomen, but I couldn't detect any lumps. She did poop while I was out there, and it appeared reasonably solid, if a bit green, but I did give them dark green veggie...

I just checked the label on the feed bag, and it does claim to be minimum 16% protein, coming from peas and fish meal. They have been on this feed since they started laying, and before that were on Scratch and Peck corn and soy free grower from 8-20ish weeks. And of course I had them on their...

I feed them Scratch and Peck Corn and Soy Free layer ration, supplemented with additional free-choice oyster shell. I also offer them crushed granite grit free-choice. They get vegetable peelings a few times a week, and freeze-dried mealworms as a rare treat (they're too expensive!), but no...

One of my Black Australorps, Ripley, has gone very pale in the comb and wattles. Yesterday she was a nice healthy red and behaving normally, as far as I could tell, but today she was taken a sharp turn. She doesn't run over like the other girls when I open the coop, she was completely...

Thank you for the advice! Naturally, about half an hour after I posted, I went to check on her again and she was fine. Both eyes open, acting as if nothing had ever been wrong. I'll keep a close watch on her the next day or so to make sure she's really okay.

Veronica, one of my Black Australorps, has just in the last hour or so started holding her right eye shut. There doesn't seem to be any blood or discharge, but she just won't open it. She's not rubbing or scratching her face, or even acting like it's bothering her. She's even going about her...

Sad news- we lost our big boss hen, Scarecrow, today. Just up and keeled over. They were all fine last night when I put them to bed, and then when I went out to fill their water late morning she was dead on the floor. We did a (very) brief inspection of the body, and her cloaca was enlarged...

Yesterday they ate at least one of their own eggs-- RAW!! I was so upset one of them must have stepped on it and then they figured out it was food. But we got 5 eggs today, and none of them look like they've been pecked, so hopefully no egg-eating habits have formed!

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4/6 so far, but I dropped one and it broke We might have more on the way, though, our head hen Scarecrow is shrieking the egg song something fierce!

Made the girls a toast and peanut butter sandwich and hung it up in a suet cage for them- I tried this once before and they popped the cage open the minute my back was turned! This time I tied it shut with a couple of tiny pieces of cotton twine. It's keeping them entertained so far, we'll see...