I was under the impression that Marek's disease almost always affects immature birds, and rarely adults. Very helpful to find this old thread, confirming Marek's in an older chicken:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/323724/necropsy-results-in-on-limping-chicken
Over the past 1-2 years, I...
I have been reading through the thread on treating sour crop with monistat:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630307/sour-crop-cured-with-monistat
....and I am wondering if someone can clarify. Am I understanding correctly that sour crop happens after a crop has been partially impacted for...
I have 2 hatchery bantam mottled cochin pullets, almost 4 months old. Their backs are solid black, but they have a lot of white on the head and breast, and the butt fuzz is all white. I am not planning to show or breed them, just curious about how the color pattern develops.
Will the coloring...
I am wondering if anyone has experience with this. Someone posted on it last winter, and had good luck with it, but I'd like to hear from others. Also, if you have used it, did it work alone, or did you also dust the coop and nestboxes with something else? And how/where did you apply the...
I have a 2 year old EE who frequently yawns/gasps, shakes her head, has a slight frothiness around her eyes (which she often scratches with her foot), and sometimes seems to move about in a slightly strange manner. By that I mean she sort of walks backwards a step or two, appears hesitant or...
I posted this under emergencies/diseases, but maybe this is the more appropriate section.
I've had a series of deaths in my chicken flock and want to send the next one for a necropsy. I am suspecting Newcastle disease, as I mentioned in previous posts. I live in Mass., and our county...
I've had a series of deaths in my chicken flock and want to send the next one for a necropsy. I am suspecting Newcastle disease, as I mentioned in previous posts. I live in Mass., and our county extension office has been sluggish in responding, and reluctant to fund necropsies, even though...
I've read some confusing things about this -- that the some of the newcastle vaccines are not very effective, that others result in substantial mortality in and of themselves...All in all, things that make me think that vaccinating is not a good idea. Yet other sources say to vaccinate...
Does...
My flock (13 hens, now) free ranges for about half the day on a one third acre fenced in yard. I've had 3 deaths in the past 2-3 months:
The first was a sudden death in a previously healthy 3 year old hen who had laid an egg the day before. The next morning, she was dead under the roost with...
I am wondering if someone can tell me what might be wrong with my rooster, how likely he is to recover, and whether or not his illness is related to earlier problems with hens. Also, do you think this is something that is likely to spread and kill them all. Here is a summary:
1. My 3 yr old...
I know nothing about guns of any sort, but need some way to kill the occasional failing chicken. I've never killed one before, and the only way I think I could do it is with a gun. I just cannot imagine chopping the head off or breaking the neck, but could imagine pulling a trigger.
Like I...
I live in Massachusetts, and choose not to heat my coop. It is well insulated and provides excellent protection from wind and precipitation. I am interested in hearing your thoughts about the best breed for such a situation. I've been going with the heavy breeds with small thick combs, but...
I live in the northeast, where the weather is now cold, and I am concerned about my 2.5 year old buff chantecler who rather suddenly lost many of her feathers about a month ago. Her head and neck feathers are growing in slowly but surely. Some of her wing feathers never fell out, so those...
Does a hen's position in the peck order have any bearing on how well she will be able to defend a clutch of chicks? Will a low ranking hen still shrink from the "higher ups" even when she has babies? Or will the hormones help her rise to the occasion? What do you think?
Hello,
I have three 2.5-week old baby chicks being raised by a hen. Until now, they have been in a coop connected to, but closed off from, our main coop which houses 12 hens and 2 roosters. I've just started to open the door between the two coops. The adult birds do not bother the chicks at...