Thank you, casportpony, for the great info and pictures! My girl looked just like that. I am really wishing I had tried draining her. I just didn't know it was just fluid at the time. I hope there isn't a 'next time', but if so, I'll know and refer back to this thread!
My girls are VERY spoiled! (I now have ten, and they all have names. ) I had the heat lamp on steady for the last 4 months here in Minnesota! It was below zero for nearly record weeks. Bah! I just wonder, too, that even though they may have been 'comfortable', the long,long winter may have...
Thanks, foreverlearning, for your input! Yes, now researching acites, I agree that was what it was. Good to know, but still doesn't help losing one of my 'girls'. Thanks also, for your kind thoughts. I wish I had tried to drain her, but it also sounds like this would have continued.
I had noticed one of my 5 year old BO layers getting plump over the last week. Her abdomen felt 'full' but I couldn't tell if it was a solid mass or fluid. She died yesterday, so opened her up and drained about 4 cups of clear, urine colored fluid from her cavity, along with a blood clot. I...
Well, I just went out and checked her little bottom, and it IS grass. I don't know how this is even possible. Her vent is very, very dry, and it doesn't look like she has pooped any in the last couple of hours (since I first discovered it all.) Her crop feels normal. Her face seems rather...
Thanks everyone for your kind responses! Gosh, I'll take another look at what I think is grass!! I haven't done any de-worming, but they have had quite a bit of pumpkin seeds lately, which I read would kill worms.
Yeah, I'm just floored that what I think is grass could have gone through her...
One of my 6-month old Buff's has been acting rather odd the past day or two--wants to just roost, her feathers are ruffled. Her eyes are alert and bright. Today, I found the blades of grass coming out of her vent that she seems unable to pass. I tried gently to pull on them, but they didn't...
I've been wondering about my 26 Buffs piling on top of each other every night, too, instead of roosting. After I give them their bedtime treat, they immediately head for the corner of the coop and start piling themselves into the corner. I did pick up several and put them on the roosts, but...
Being new to chickens, and as I read these replies, are you saying that I need to close the nest boxes until the 'girls' are ready to use them? My Buff Orps are only about 7 weeks old, and I do find them sitting in the nest boxes when I go out to the coop. And can anyone tell me when I should...
Oh, dparadise! I love your relationship with your chickens! How fun! Thanks again, all, for the great comments. I'm taking them all to heart. I won't be releasing my 'girls' to the wild for several more weeks (I'm an over protective mother hen!) and hope that by then, after living in their...
Thanks everyone for your advice! My chicks have been in their coop for about a week now, and will be there until they get big enough to let out. I would hope that by then, they will know that this is their home. I'm thinking maybe let out just a few at first and see if they come back to the...
Hello all! I'm new to this site, and new to having chickens! I've gained so much information reading a lot of the entries. My little flock of 26 Buff Orp's are 2 weeks old and I'm crazy about them. My question is: I live out in the country in a dense woodland of SE Minnesota and I have...