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  1. Farmerbetsy

    EMERGENCY BLEEDING CHICKEN 10 week old chicken attacked by flock, bleeding, warning graphic

    Based on advice from the group, we moved our 8 week old chicks into an enclosure inside the coop. We put hidey-holes in the coop then when the youngsters seemed excited to go out, we let them out. The big chickens went after them very aggressively and this one didn't figure out how to hide :(...
  2. Farmerbetsy

    Broody hen rejecting factory chicks

    Our hen has been broody for weeks now. Last night we snuck three factory chicks under her. When we came out in the morning, two chicks were peeping under her wings, one chick was running around the enclosure. I tucked the loose chick back with the others. Just recently though, Mama started...
  3. Farmerbetsy

    Freezing weather, dying chicken, mites

    Here in Seattle, we have unseasonably snowy and icy weather. One of our older, adopted chickens, new to our flock after her flock was murdered by raccoons, has not been doing well. She's clearly dying. We brought her into the house and while my daughter was snuggling her wrapped in a towel...
  4. Farmerbetsy

    Elderly chicken with poopy bum and droopy eyes

    I don't know how old this lady is. Maybe 9? First she molted. Now her bum is caked with drippy poo and her eyes look saggy. But she was gamely picking on some watermelon. Should we let her senesce on her own, try to get someone to come out and dispatch her, try to do the deed ourselves? I don't...
  5. Farmerbetsy

    Yolk sac attached

    This little friend just hatched. Should we put her in a bowl with her egg and yolk and leave her in the incubator until it's absorbed or should we leave her alone?
  6. Farmerbetsy

    RIP Big Red Hen. Thank you all for your kind words and support

    I made the decision to take the RIR in to the emergency vet. I was feeling really unsure about feeling for an egg and she seemed to really be suffering. At that point I'd made the commitment to help her and it seemed inhumane to stick her back out in the cold, or to just leave her suffer. The...
  7. Farmerbetsy

    eggbound RIR hasn't passed egg yet.. advice?

    here we are on a holiday weekend. taking her to the vet is going to be 3X the normal rate if I go on the weekend. some history: earlier this week, my husband noticed RIR was walking like a penguin. Other than that she was acting normal but hadn't laid an egg in a while. He didn't tell me till...
  8. Farmerbetsy

    R.I. Red big swollen bottom, walking like she's constipated, HELP

    My husband is the primary caregiver for our flock. yesterday he alerted me that one of the R.I. Reds was acting funny but I didn't get out to see her until today. She is moving slowly, her eyes are clear and she has a decent attitude, her nose may be a little bit runny. She is walking like she...
  9. Farmerbetsy

    Cornish X in the spare bathtub: really, really bad idea

    Just in case any of you were considering raising Cornish Cross broilers in your spare bathroom, I strongly recommend against it. Holy mackeral do those things poop. Unbelievable. And the stench, woo hoo. I'm so happy they're outside now, standing around their tractor going duh, what's that green...
  10. Farmerbetsy

    When to put Cornish X outside?

    Ours are 22 days old and making a disgusting mess of our spare bathtub. Not the brightest birds in the flock. We want to stick them outside in their own tractor with a heat lamp. How old do they need to be before they can go outside? I know people are particular about putting out their layers...
  11. Farmerbetsy

    Cornish Cross Broilers: when to go outside?

    We are trying broilers for the first time. It's fascinating to watch how fast they grow! They are in our spare bathtub and it's a disgusting effort to keep it clean as they tip over their water three times a day. I'm changing it out for a large, bottom heavy waterer right now, which means...
  12. Farmerbetsy

    Egg with no shell at all!

    Hens just got moved into the chicken fortress and seem VERY happy wih it but one hen just laid a Hanford egg -- all inside, no shell. Freakish. Normal or needs attention?
  13. Farmerbetsy

    Taking care of my recovering injured duck who won't eat?

    Hey friends. Mrs. Duck is recovering from her raccoon attack in our basement duck suite. She has a little swimming pool, food, water, a towel, fresh greens, and slug delivery daily. The only thing she's eating is the slugs, and it's a little hard to collect enough slugs to satisfy a hungry...
  14. Farmerbetsy

    Follow up -- was big white duck attacked by raccoon emergency

    thank you all so much for your support and helpful advice yesterday. we took her in to the emergency vet. They were swamped with emergencies so it took hours and hours. She received subcutaneous fluids, antibiotics, and wound cleaning. After they cleaned her they saw she had minor flesh wounds...
  15. Farmerbetsy

    building a raccoon proof run

    We are going to embark on building a new coop and raccoon proof run. Borrowing the neighbor's dog every night seems impractical, and bringing the chickens into the basement every night seems smelly. Since we have hawks, bald eagles, raccoons, and rats the size of poodles in our neighborhood, we...
  16. Farmerbetsy

    Emergency -- big white duck attacked by raccoon, how to care for her?

    The g-d, m-f, bloody stinking raccoon got into the pen again. My husband neglected to put the girls to bed and at 9:30 sent me out. The raccoon was in the tree so I had a satisfying moment of hurling invective and sticks at it, and then it was gone. The hens were in the coop, and the duck must...
  17. Farmerbetsy

    Raccoon depradation! any ideas?

    In the last weeks we have lost nearly all our flock. We are down to 2 chickens from 8, and 1 duck from 2. One of our ancient banties and the runt of the litter we inherited from our son's school, dangit. The raccoon has just rampaged through, and we've had these random freakish die-offs for no...
  18. Farmerbetsy

    What are clues that hens are too old to lay?

    Two of our hens died a few months ago of unknown causes. Egglaying in the other 6 hens and two ducks has completely stopped for the past two months, as well. Here in Seattle, sunrise is about 8 am and sunset is about 4 pm. We do have a light on in their nesting box from about 4 to about 9 pm...
  19. Farmerbetsy

    Update, was: please help with dosages ... what could be killing them?

    Thanks for sanity check. Went to co-op, this is what they gave us. Obviously they are not chicken experts. Rooster booster is Vitamins & Electrolytes with lactobacillus. This is what I thought that y'all had told us to dose them up with. First chicken was kinda droopy and staggering around a...
  20. Farmerbetsy

    Please advise dosage vitamin/electrolyte and antibiotics!

    First chicken took a week to die. Second chicken dropped dead without warning. We bought electrolyte solution "rooster booster" and Terramycin. Rooster booster says 1 ounce per 16 gallons water. We give about 2 gallons water per day. We don't know how to calculate that much smaller dosage. the...
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