Recent content by Rime

  1. Rime

    Not quite impacted crop, but not sour...

    I have a chicken with some kind of crop issue going on. Her crop is slightly smaller than a tennis ball, semi-firm but pliable. Almost like wet sand or clay with bits of grit. I noticed the problem Saturday night; or rather, I noticed her acting off and put her in a dog crate, worrying about...
  2. Rime

    Lethargic, puffy, eyes closed, clear watery poop - going on 6 weeks now

    Ours ultimately seemed to have a bowel impaction. She eventually produced a very hard, somewhat dry poop consisting mostly of hay, which had been shredded into fine hair-like fibers that were densely packed. Now that she has passed this, she's much more energetic and eating and drinking well...
  3. Rime

    Emergency!!! Update on sick chicken!! Prolapse?? Anal fissure?

    Thanks Eggcessive! I went to apply some honey this morning and see if I could get a picture, and much to my surprise her vent looked normal. After a bit more inspection I was able to see that it's actually an anal fissure just inside her vent, definitely not a prolapse. It was just protruding...
  4. Rime

    Emergency!!! Update on sick chicken!! Prolapse?? Anal fissure?

    I reached out to a friend who's an exotics vet, who advised applying raw honey to the wound as an antimicrobial. So we will be trying that, and also started duramycin as preventative. I'm still not sure why the hay caused her this problem, if that's what it is. Eggs are much larger in...
  5. Rime

    Emergency!!! Update on sick chicken!! Prolapse?? Anal fissure?

    So she pooped. And it's huge, and hard, and one big long string of tough fibrous stuff. It almost looked like a hair ball a cat might pass! All I can think of is it might be hay - there is a small amount of hay in their nest boxes. It hasn't caused any problems before. But in passing this long...
  6. Rime

    Lethargic, puffy, eyes closed, clear watery poop - going on 6 weeks now

    I have a hen that's been ailing for about 6 weeks. Treated with fenbendazole originally and she seemed to perk up. After that she improved steadily, little by little for 3-4 weeks. Then the last two days she's downhill again. Today she just stood in the corner of the coop, puffed and eyes...
  7. Rime

    Pale, slow chicken - can't figure out why

    Recently one of our largest, dominant hens became pale and lethargic, and would spend her time standing puffed up (but tail up), with her eyes closed. We've had unseasonably warm and wet weather until recently, so their run had become very damp. I figured worms might be the issue, so wormed the...
  8. Rime

    Strange soft egg - should I start antibiotics?

    One of our hens started acting strange yesterday - spending too much time in a nest box, not responsive to handling, not eating. We isolated her in the garage in a dog crate, where she would stand very still, fluffed up, and clearly straining/contracting (but not doing the penguin stance - just...
  9. Rime

    Comb pecking - reintroducing injured chicken

    Thank you both for your comments and suggestions. Yesterday I kept the victim in a dog crate inside the coop all day, then put her with the flock to roost at night after it was dark and everyone had settled down. This morning I went out at first light to check on them and return the victim to...
  10. Rime

    Comb pecking - reintroducing injured chicken

    While we were gone over Thanksgiving week, we had my in-laws checking on the chickens once a day and collecting eggs. They reported nothing amiss, but when we arrived back Sunday night, we discovered a blood bath in one corner of the coop and one hen had a badly pecked comb. It must have...
  11. Rime

    Comb pecking

    A few days ago I noticed one hen - with the largest comb - getting black marks. I thought it was frostbite, but several posters here rightly guessed it was something else - pecking. Today I finally witnessed the behavior myself, as several hens would approach her, stare at her comb, then grab...
  12. Rime

    Is this frostbite? It's not even cold yet!

    Thanks for the good advice all. I'm going to try and spend some more time watching them tomorrow. This morning her comb seemed better, but by this afternoon/evening it was red and raw looking. Not sure what's going on. I do wonder if she's our first layer, since she's got the most developed...
  13. Rime

    Is this frostbite? It's not even cold yet!

    Hmm, I'm honestly not sure. It's possible, but spent a little while in there today and didn't see anyone going after her. In the evenings though I know jockeying for the top roost can get dramatic.
  14. Rime

    Is this frostbite? It's not even cold yet!

    So the good news - we got our first egg today! Bad news - it looks like one of the ladies has frostbite. Which is kind of shocking to me, as we've only had maybe two overnight frosts, and no hard freezes yet. Daytime temps are 55-65, nighttime low 40's to just at freezing. But she has black...
  15. Rime

    Do I need a run? What kind of fencing?

    Hi everyone - We just got 8 barred rock chicks this spring. We're part way through constructing a coop and are wondering about fencing, and/or whether we need to build a fixed run. We're on 40 acres, so would like to take advantage of all that space and let our chickens roam and forage...
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