I believe they were vaccinated against it, but I suppose, as with vaccines for people, that it is still possible they could contract it. I figured that it would have wiped out the flock though with what a bad job we did quarantining and everything. We aren't set up very well for all that yet...
My husband is pretty sure he's seen it all over the property. I'm not 100% sure though.
My plan is to make a nice chicken tractor for them. I put them in our fenced in garden a couple times too. They loved that! But it's not covered so they wouldn't be protected from the hawks we have around here.
I've come to the conclusion they were most likely suffering from impacted crop due to being fed long blades of grass. 😞 It's good to know though and we will do better going forward.
Thanks! 🥰
I do give them treats periodically from the kitchen. I Google if it's safe for chickens first and try not to give too frequently. And they have a couple little treat balls to play with when I give them soldier fly larvae or sunflower seeds. ❤️
Thank you very much everyone! It has been very helpful discussing this with you. This is what I'm thinking:
Although it is possible they were eating infected rodents, I think the most likely scenario is that we were causing impacted crop by letting the kids feed them grass through the fence. 😞...
Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I was feeling so defeated and guilty for a while I couldn't even enjoy the chickens that were left. I think they must have been depressed too, losing their sisters. But seeing them happy and perky now, laying their eggs and enjoying their dust baths really...
Regardless, we plan on using a chicken tractor for any future grazing to have a little more control over where they are and what they are eating. I am just so curious about what was killing them.
That's possible. We have 5 acres and I haven't combed through the whole thing to make sure it's cleared of trash since we moved in. We've seen some beer cans and such.
It's a possibility but I don't know how they would have gotten exposed to it. We had some locked in the shed and we only ever used it IN the shed because that's where the rodent problem is and I'm pretty sure the mice ate all of it before we started free-ranging. We no longer use it and we don't...
The only answers I can find online are for predators and things people feed their chickens, but my question is specifically related to FREE- RANGING chickens and what they will naturally graze on.
Our chickens were all very healthy and thriving. I started free-ranging them daily. After some...
The thought of applying lipstick to my chicken's vent is more off-putting than the blood spot. 😂😂😂
Thank you so much for the tips though. That will come in handy.
One of my chickens has started laying eggs that look like this which brings a few questions to mind.
#1 Is it safe to eat?
#2 What causes this? Is something wrong with my chicken?
#3 Can I prevent it?
#4 What is the most practical way to determine which chicken is laying which eggs? Could I...
We lost Pillow during the night last night. 😞
We had her separated and fed her electrolytes, oyster shells and coconut oil. She was barely drinking so I soaked a handful of feed with the electrolytes water and she ate that. She basically sat in the same spot without moving around at all for...
UPDATE
I went ahead and gave her coconut oil even though I don't know if her crop is the issue...I figured it couldn't hurt? She took it this morning but she barely touched it just now and her sister ate it. 🙄
Her poops have gotten very watery.
A few of my girls contracted coccidiosis when they were younger and I successfully treated them all as a group, but I haven't done anything recently.
She seems to be eating well and doesn't have any issues pushing past the other hens to get her turn.
I haven't offered any oyster shells because...
Here's a few pictures of her...her legs look normal to me. There's a picture of her poopy feathers. Didn't get one of her vent, but it doesn't appear to be blocked or anything. I took a picture showing how far away the rest of the group is from her....they took off quickly as soon as I opened...