Recent content by Mama Helen

  1. Mama Helen

    Elector PSP premise spray--not for lice?

    Permethrin is highly toxic to cats even in trace amounts. I won't use this on my chickens since the cats follow me in and out of the hen house. Spinosad is expensive, but it works, and I don't need to worry about the safety of my cats.
  2. Mama Helen

    Blood Test for Marek's

    As an update, we've only lost one more due to the Mareks. However, we lost a few last winter due to infectious LT. Then, two weeks ago we sent a hen to Penn State for a necropsy. She came out of the coop a little sluggishly, pecked a little at some food, took a quick drink and sat down. I...
  3. Mama Helen

    Rooster behavior?

    Just recently, we had no choice but to get rid of one rooster. He started acting the way you described. Within a week of the start of this behavior, he jumped on my leg and left a big gash. Those spurs can be quite dangerous, especially if you have young children. I would definitely get rid of...
  4. Mama Helen

    Chicken Won't Eat after Blowfly Attack

    Thanks. We'll check her crop tonight and tomorrow morning. We tried the tuna. Bark had no interest for several minutes, but then she finally ate some on her own.
  5. Mama Helen

    Chicken Won't Eat after Blowfly Attack

    She's been free of the flies since last Monday when we cleaned out the second infestation. Those flies attacked an area that was alive and well with no scratches the previous day. We think there may have been eggs sticking to her wings. I think there is at least one type of fly that can attack...
  6. Mama Helen

    Chicken Won't Eat after Blowfly Attack

    Five eggs are pipped and in the process of hatching!
  7. Mama Helen

    Chicken Won't Eat after Blowfly Attack

    No smell or pus. All is healing well. Her poop is somewhat runny and brown. We figured she's drinking but not eating a lot, so it would be more liquidy. How do I know if the crop is emptying? She's eliminating waste several times a day, so we never considered that to be an issue. We...
  8. Mama Helen

    Chicken Won't Eat after Blowfly Attack

    Currently, we have a Dorking named Bark in our infirmary. She had been missing for almost a week, before we found out she was sitting on a nest in an overgrown area. Last Sunday, I found her by our cellar door and noticed two or three iridescent flies buzzing around her. I picked her up to...
  9. Mama Helen

    Blood Test for Marek's

    First, I'm sorry you are going through this. It's difficult to watch your hens suffer and not be able to do much for them. I hope she doesn't have Marek's Disease. When I took Olive to the vet, they did draw blood to test for Marek's. I was told that the results typically take 2-3 days...
  10. Mama Helen

    Question about Prozap Garden and Poultry Dust

    My chickens have a bad infestation of lice and possibly mites. I used Elector PSP three times, but it didn't seem to be very effective. One of the workers at our local Agway feed store recommended Prozap Garden and Poultry Dust. It contains permethrin. After reading the label, I became a bit...
  11. Mama Helen

    Blood Test for Marek's

    Does anyone know how long it takes to get results from a blood test for Marek's? I took my Olive, a black sex-link, to the vet last Monday, July 25. As of today, eight days later, the vet still hasn't received the results. I'm fairly certain that it is Marek's. She has the classical splayed...
  12. Mama Helen

    Intro to Our Coop and a Concern

    Thanks. I found a lot of interesting in a thread entitled "The Great Big Giant Marek's Disease FAQ" posted by Nambroth. It answered a lot of questions. I've probably more than 15 hours doing research on the topic since I first found our Olive limping. I've been reading everything I can find.
  13. Mama Helen

    Intro to Our Coop and a Concern

    As a frequent reader of BYC threads for some time, I finally decided to join. Anytime I Google to find info about a particular chicken situation or problem, my best advice always seems to appear in one of BYC threads. "Mama Helen" is actually the name of our oldest hen. When I asked my...
  14. Mama Helen

    Questions about Marek's Testing/Necropsy

    Did you find out what was wrong if it wasn't Marek's? I have a four-month-old hen, Olive, who just got a blood test today for Marek's. I'm hoping that her issue isn't this or anything else that's highly contagious. On Wednesday, she was on the floor in the coop when I went to "tuck in" our...
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