Two things come to my mind that can cause this type of lameness. One is a riboflavin deficiency and the other is lymphoid leucosis, a virus similar to Marek's. The first can be treated with vitamin B complex for about six weeks. The other has no treatment and will kill the chicken.
Another rare...
Since ear bud covers are rounded and made out of an inert substance, it should pass through the duck safely without any action on your part. However, if you're uneasy just letting nature take its course, the best thing to lubricate the digestive tract is raw egg white. Just give it to the duck...
The only way to get a postmortem would be to send a dead chicken to a state lab for a necropsy. We can only take wild guesses.
Were these two hens that died spontaneously commercial breeds? Sex links are bred for prolific egg laying. They spend two years shooting out tons of eggs, and then...
It depends on why you keep a flock. Is the primary reason to show the chickens? Or is it for eggs or the entertainment factor?
If you aren't showing your chickens, if you aren't breeding to sell perfect chickens, then cosmetic considerations would not be an important factor, but good...
This thread of mine has a pattern for a very nice crop bra. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/making-a-crop-bra-for-a-hen-with-pendulous-crop.1464848/
Yes, you may go ahead and drain the blisters. Use a sterilized needle and insert it at the base of each blister. Or you can use a needle syringe to withdraw the fluid. Disinfect the feet after the procedure.
But something must be causing this edema. There is a virus called Micoplasma synoviae...
That's the purpose of this thread. These tumors are pretty common, but a lot of people will be experiencing it for the first time. Hopefully they will get an idea of how it will progress. I also want to reduce the amount of fear this discovery can unleash. This should show that it's not an...
Tootsie has made it clear that he hates his sleep guard. As soon as I leave him, he gets out of it. And he also hates the cushion I put in there so he wouldn't have to sleep in the sand on the floor which, it turns out, is his preference.
He won't listen to reason, mainly that it will be too...
The tissue is very fragile so cleaning poop off it can result in swelling. Smooth some cortisone cream on it for a few days to bring the swelling down.
If this chick continues to complain by chirping constantly, it may be constipated. This can happen during pasty butt when a plug forms inside...
First of all, and this is a rule for all chicken keepers, adding more chickens to a flock with bullying issues is not ever the way to solve it. It will only compound the problems.
Starting with Flora, you have a hen with sensory overload issues. She has too much stimulation and her brain isn't...
Poor Tootsie wasn't able to keep from falling off his perch after he went to sleep. I would find him on the floor even though the fall was off a perch less than a foot high.
Conveniently, I had designed a sleep guard back when my fourteen-year old hen Lady Di had this problem. Her perch was the...
Your location in the world will determine if you can get an antibiotic without a vet's prescription. Any leftover people prescriptions may work. In the US you may need a prescription for most antibiotics.
Over consumption of water, unless it's due to being a hot day, is often a sign of crop or gizzard impaction. I do not recommend withholding water and food. Drinking water is a reflex to flush their system to move the impacted material.
You can encourage the chicken to eat grit and also give...
Tip: You would get more detail when photographing if you shine a light on what you want us to see.
It appears the damage is to the outer layer of skin. I had a rooster with fly strike that looked like that. He had an intestinal bacterial infection that caused diarrhea, attracting flies. Not all...
Go by her behavior. These sorts of things can come and go rapidly, and not end up meaning much. It's when it affects behavior, appetite, poop, etc that you need to be concerned.
Don't forget that she is likely stressed due to being new and getting acquainted with a new flock and new...
I totally sympathize with your tragic predicament. Were the two birds you euthanized for Marek's sent to a lab to confirm Marek's?
Once Marek's is on the premises, it can take up to two years for the pathogen to degrade in the soil. Even thorough cleaning can't get it out of the dirt.
The...
Update. Not good news.
Tootsie's cancer has gone into the bone, as evidenced by thickening of his shank. But now, a tendon appears also to be affected, causing his claw to clench up. He staggers around walking on the top of his foot.
This isn't good on hard surfaces such as rocks, which...
When treating coccidiosis, it's best to treat all the flock assuming they all have been exposed and are in different levels of infection. Enteritis is best treated before it gets to the bloody stage. Yes, use the med on hand until the other stuff comes.