I'm sorry about your chicken. I'm not sure what's going on with her, but I wouldn't let her drink any more epsom salt water. It works as a laxative. I'd offer electrolyte water. You can find homemade electrolyte recipes on the internet. I don't have chicken vets near me, and don't think I'd take...
I replace birds every few years and lose track of how old they are. I can go through pics in my album to date some of them. I think 8 or 9 years is the oldest I've had.
Meyer Hatchery has a good blog on treating an egg-bound hen. https://blog.meyerhatchery.com/2021/07/how-to-identify-and-treat-an-egg-bound-hen/ Have you checked her crop to see if it's impacted or sour? Seems the standard internet advice for almost ailment is to give them an Epsom salt bath. In...
I can tell you to avoid the Incuview Pro All-in-One. I had a total fail with mostly developed eggs. Customer service was great, and they sent me a replacement with an external thermometer/hygrometer attachment. The temperature and humidity readings just wouldn't stay consistent. The reading for...
A cat that has been living as a stray will naturally be a good mouser (and birder, and cottontailer🥺). You may have to confine it in the barn for a while and feed it there to keep it around. Mine just showed up on her own. She became friendly over time. We took her to be spayed and found out...
I had some Pilgrim Geese for a short time. The male was especially friendly and much more like a puppy dog. He came tapping at the door and would sit in our laps in the family room. I loved him so much. We had a series of coyote hits which took out my little flock a little at a time. My heart...
Update to my earlier reply about getting Delaware chicks and hoping at least one was a male. Turns out my "95%-chance pullets" are half males. Phooey. I thought I'd figured out which one or two I'd keep, but when the hormones kicked in, they changed my mind. They're all naughtier than I want in...
I have a LGD that wasn't raised with chickens. I sat with him on-leash with the chickens. He received praise when he ignored them and correction if he showed too much interest. I had only one incident when he caught a chicken that escaped the pen. He didn't draw blood, but it did end up dying...
I've had all sorts of setups over the years. Most of them had portable fencing, usually electric netting, and not always hooked to the charger. I just left one end tied to a post that I could pull up to pass through. They didn't need a Fort Knox style run during the day. For the past few years...
Mine have shut the egg factory down, as well. They've replaced their molted feathers but haven't cranked out an egg for quite some time. I culled some older ones to make room for up-and-coming layers and found eggs in two of them (selected the wrong ones, obviously). Usually, it's nothing you're...