it seems I'm not done yet with this poor guy. The back wound has healed up very well and is just a small circle now compared to what it was. The leg is another story. It has improved a LOT and he is walking on it, limping less. But it's still a bother for him and the abscess is still there...
So back to the vet today and it looks as though the leg is mechanically ok. It seems he had a pretty big abcess just above the joint, likely from a puncture wound (the raccoon's tooth or nail) that took bacteria into the muscle. She withdrew 3 syringe fulls of thick, milky fluid from his leg and...
...the day (was already locking him in it at night). But the confidence...hmmm...I pinned the door open this morning to let him go out without me if he wanted cuz I have a lot to do today. It's been open a 1/2 hour...he stands in the doorway and looks out, makes little noises, but isn't going...
Thanks for the pics...yes I did have him in a sling one day when he was having a particularly bad day a few days back. A pillow case suspended over a laundry basket did the trick. He was tired that day and actually dozed off but when I tried putting him in it the next day he was restless and...
also he has been getting aspirin for 5 days but vet suggested that shouldn't go for more than a week. I give him a 1/4 of a regular aspirin twice a day. hence the vet appt to maybe get some meloxicam. I don't think it's broken...nothing sticks out or looks oddly angled and I would think if it...
I was a bit concerned about wrapping for that reason also but was trying to think of a way to ease his discomfort. At night I help him get into a comfy position lying on the good side and towel bunched under the bad leg to rest on. He stays the way I put him. If I don't, he stands all night and...
So my beloved Roo is recovering from a raccoon attack. Everything is going well. Vet helped me pull him through the worst of it. Wound on his back is healing beautifully and he's active, preening, eating and drinking. The problem I'm left with is the leg. Initially it was quite swollen, so much...
That sounds great! Selenium helps them to absorb the vitamin E. So if you don't have any selenium capsules just feed a lot of foods high in selenium...egg and tuna are excellent. My rooster also lost weight from not eating...they get so uncomfortable from the flystrike it stops them eating. So...
I just finished dealing with a case of flystrike in my rooster. Don't use Polysporin...anything sticky or gooey will attract the flies and encourage the maggots as they like a moist environment. You need to keep the wound dry. Bathe daily and flush out the maggots. Hydrogen peroxide is okay to...
...a narrow board over the trough part of the tray. Seems to work well. Now however, one of my small bantam hens has gone broody and with the roll away there are no eggs for her to sit on. *sigh* have to keep taking her out of the box. She isn't happy with me when I do it. Hope she gets over it...
I'm trying to think back but I think he was okay with her before the egg eating isolation. Until recently he seemed only interested in mounting the little brown bantam that was his favourite. I did once or twice see him mount one of the new RI's but I haven't seen him mount either Joan or Jessie...
Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm new to this so I'm eager to learn. A year ago I got my first hen from friends. I was to get 5 because they were downsizing but I wasn't totally ready but this one was being picked on badly so she came to me a month before they other 4 arrived. They are R.I.s...
Got a young roo some months ago and he is quite easy to handle. He seems to treat his hens nicely and really looks after them. One of the hens is one that I had several months before he came along. She has always been a cuddler and would run up to me and squat looking to be pet. For some reason...
I have a Rhode Island Red that started eating her eggs. I tried to check frequently to get the egg without any luck. But at least she only ate her own egg and didn't touch the others. Then she started eating everyone else's egg as well. At this point I brought her into the house and she has been...
You can't see it well in the pictures but the run is entirely covered with 1" chicken wire. The plastic is over that. Just for winter. In summer the plastic will be removed. There is also hardware cloth covering the bottom of the chicken coop and wrapping up the sides under the siding. And there...
So our first year (less than a year actually) of chicken keeping has thrown a lot of things at us. I started with 5 hens and now have 2. But the loss I had yesterday was the hardest of all.
Because I am in the process of rebuilding the chicken run from a temporary one into a proper permanent...
It turns out, after cleaning the foot, it was just the nail nipped off very close to the toe. I did find blood very high up on the wall. So perhaps it was a broken nail as you suspect. A neighbour thought it was a rat. Possible as there have been a few times I came home late after dark and only...