Recent content by nessili

  1. nessili

    Changing Ordinances in King George County, Virginia

    Thanks :D
  2. nessili

    Changing Ordinances in King George County, Virginia

    Greetings! Several years back we decided to raise a small backyard flock. I did all due diligence in making sure it was allowed, and was told that as long as our HOA didn't mind, it would be fine. There were also two other families with chickens in our subdivision at the time, so we went ahead...
  3. nessili

    Stafford County, VA

    I sincerely hope you have succeeded in remaining low-key. I'm also in KG, and wasn't so lucky. We got chickens in 2014 after being told we could have them so long as there was no HOA, which is not true. Chickens are not allowed in residential areas period. We only found that out when somebody...
  4. nessili

    How to Break a Broody Hen

    I was curious about that too. We've stopped fighting our Silkie's constant broodiness and are just allowing her to stay in the box all day (there are 3 other nesting boxes, so the other hens don't mind). It's been below freezing here almost daily and I know she's awfully cold, so staying in the...
  5. nessili

    chicken deaths & straw eating?

    We've had issues with this too. One of our Speckled Sussexes died from an impacted crop. From the time she stopped eating/started acting sick to the time she died was only 3 days, not several weeks. When we opened her up for emergency surgery, the main culprit was wads of straw tangled up inside...
  6. nessili

    Sick pullet with strange cyst above vent (picture)

    Benedryl/antihistamines in general make most creatures sleepy. Our vet used to tell us to give it to our dogs to keep them calm during long road trips and thunderstorms. So I wasn't startled when my friend suggested using Benedryl before surgery (and yes, she's dealt with birds/chickens before :) )
  7. nessili

    Sick pullet with strange cyst above vent (picture)

    FINAL UPDATE: Impacted crop. A freaking impacted crop. Well, we found out what was wrong with Elizabeth, too late unfortunately. After a ton more reading and researching, we realized what we thought was another tumor on her right breast was actually her crop. Being so new at this, we didn't...
  8. nessili

    How to Break a Broody Hen

    UPDATE: I ended up making a very, very small portable broody box (about a 15" cube). During the day, the Silkie was in the outside box with food and water. At night, I put her in the small box with just a roosting pole. I'd let her out with the others in the morning. If she was back in a nesting...
  9. nessili

    Sick pullet with strange cyst above vent (picture)

    UPDATE (mainly for someone else who might be in a similar situation) Elizabeth is still with us...barely. She refused to eat or drink today. I tried forcibly dribbling a few drops of water in her beak, but she struggled the whole time, which kind of defeats the purpose of getting water into her...
  10. nessili

    Sick pullet with strange cyst above vent (picture)

    UPDATE: She's gotten worse overnight. Went out to check on her this morning, and she refused to eat the scrambled eggs I brought out. Can't tell if she's drunk any water. Passed a little watery, light tan diarrhea. Just sits on her roosting pole with head pulled in, eyes closed, feathers...
  11. nessili

    Sick pullet with strange cyst above vent (picture)

    We've only had chickens since the middle of June, so I'm still very new at this. Today one of my 17 week old Speckled Sussex hens (Queen Elizabeth I) began acting strangely. She didn't run to join the others when I threw out their evening scratch. When she did eventually join them, she pecked...
  12. nessili

    How to Break a Broody Hen

    We have a 15-month old Silkie hen (Marsha--short for Marshmallow Fluff) that was given to us in July. Since then, she has gone broody at the beginning of August, beginning of September, and is once more broody (it's the beginning of October). The other two times we broke her using the broody...
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