Recent content by thomshap

  1. thomshap

    Introducing ducklings to their parents without injury?

    I have 3 pekins (2 ducks, 1 drake) that we hatched from fertilized eggs (we have the parents too) almost 7 weeks ago. I've been putting the ducklings outside in a pen separate from their parents (and another runner duck we have) during the day and bringing them in at night, but it's so mild for...
  2. thomshap

    Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

    I have nine hens - a mix of breeds: RI Red, Black Sex Link, Red Sex Link, two Americaunas, two Leghorns (one white, one brown), and two Dominiques. They spend the night in a 4 X 4 x 6 coop which many may say is too small for this many hens, but they don't seem to mind it at all, especially at...
  3. thomshap

    To Worm or Not? And, Piperazine dosage for bantams?

    I realize this thread is old, and Threehorses, the one with the most knowledge hasn't participated for a while, but I have the same question as an earlier poster. Two weeks ago, I treated my hens with Wazine after finding live roundworms in the poo and reading this thread. I also have a wheezy...
  4. thomshap

    Eggbound White Pekin question

    Well, don't beat yourself up about it - it comes on without warning. You can't really tell it's happening until you are already at the point where your hen is in the position you found yours in. It sounds like you are doing everything you can. The biggest concern is infection if any of the...
  5. thomshap

    Eggbound White Pekin question

    When I went through this with my hen, I found her in the morning, as you did. Being somewhat obsessive and new to chicken raising at the time, I waited till about 4 in the afternoon when I couldn't take her discomfort and listlessness anymore. Since you gave her the medication and nothing...
  6. thomshap

    Got illegal chickens?

    This is certainly an interesting thread. I too believe that keeping illegal chickens is an act of civil disobedience, rather than outright law breaking which implies murder or larceny. And I will willingly partake in appropriate civil disobedience, just as I would if I felt that someone was...
  7. thomshap

    Husband is really going to kill me over my chicken math skills!!!

    I have six hens, and they often worry me with a sneeze or a red bum, and I keep imagining that if I have more girls, they will each matter less to me incrementally, and I won't be so obsessed about their health. Also, I rationalize that they will be warmer in winter, the more of them there are...
  8. thomshap

    Poo Poll

    Not only do I pick up all the poo from the coop, I also sometimes go around the run with a trowel and scoop in into a bucket. All the poo goes into a composter with the attached shavings, eventually to head to my gardens. I mix ash from my woodstove with the shavings to compensate for the...
  9. thomshap

    Eggbound White Pekin question

    If she's egg bound, she's not going to seem perky and normal. It's possible she's taking a break -- were there any changes in her life recently (different feed, a new bird being introduced) because that can throw them off for a couple of weeks. I had an egg bound RI Red over the summer, and...
  10. thomshap

    Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

    Thanks, Kimberly. I figured there are an awful lot of birds who do just fine in the winter without human assistance!
  11. thomshap

    Think it's too cold for your chickens? Think again...

    Forgive me if this has already been covered, but it's hard to read all 21 pages. I live in CT where we have had an unusually warm fall (though we had one freak snowstorm in October). I'm worried that it is going to get suddenly cold and my birds won't be acclimated. Our lowest temperatures...
  12. thomshap

    Changing topic: HELP just got intact egg out of egg bound hen.

    Be happy to help you with chem. Thanks for all your advice. I am an overworrier too -- my husband can commiserate with yours, but I am reluctant to give meds just now. She still oozed a little eggy stuff this morning, but she is eating and drinking and generally chickening around with the...
  13. thomshap

    Changing topic: HELP just got intact egg out of egg bound hen.

    More yellow stuff after the fact. I didn't feel any other egg matter up there. She ate a little yogurt, but I'm still worried . . . I don't feel like we're out of the woods yet.
  14. thomshap

    Changing topic: HELP just got intact egg out of egg bound hen.

    Okay, so I'm impatient. And I really teach Chemistry, not Biology . . . I lubed up my finger with a little mineral oil, and lo and behold, when I checked the correct place I did feel an egg -- intact, it seemed. I eased it out towards her vent, and got it out. It seemed intact when it came...
  15. thomshap

    Changing topic: HELP just got intact egg out of egg bound hen.

    Well, I looked at a chicken anatomy diagram, and, idiot that I am (and I teach Biology sometimes too -- how embarrrassing) the thing I felt was her gizzard. No wonder it was covered by tissue! So that feels fine. I haven't wanted to reach in again, so I gave her a bath (which she liked) and...
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