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  1. cate1124

    Appetite stimulants for old injured hen?

    My 10-year-old Welsummer, Charlotte, is just barely eating and drinking after what I assume was an awkward fall from the roost or attempting to get on it Monday evening. Did not see it; discovered her in pine shavings beneath. Vet has diagnosed a badly wrenched knee, and Charlotte has been on...
  2. cate1124

    Chronic respiratory disease

    Greetings. Looking for possibilities regarding my 5-year-old speckled Sussex, Ev; she has chronic rales/crackles, is more sedentary and exhibits more labored breathing than her age peers. After a normal first 3 years, she did not return to lay last year. She also has a dark comb, indicating to...
  3. cate1124

    Frankincense/essential oil expertise?

    Has anyone used the essential oil Frankincense topically for a chicken? My 10-year-old buff orpington Tess is failing; I don't know for sure why (apart from being vulnerable in the way of old things), but she has symptoms I interpret as neurological, including circling, not cuing off the flock...
  4. cate1124

    Old hen cognitive deficits

    Wonder if I might hear from azygous and other veterans who've had experience with many geriatric hens. My 10-year-old buff Orpington, Tess, is showing what appear to be symptoms of cognitive decline, perhaps small neurological events like TIAs in humans. I first noticed her turning repeatedly...
  5. cate1124

    Good layer suddenly "off" -- time-sensitive

    My 4-year-old Easter Egger, Toi, is abruptly "off." She has been seeming and laying well; I think she last laid 2-3 days ago. Last night she was briefly in the nest box before perching -- a bit odd. This morning she was very slow off the perch, and she is just not herself. She did not lay...
  6. cate1124

    Dexamethasone for cancer symptom relief

    Wanted to post this for those of you whose chickens are demonstrating symptoms of tumors, which are sadly common as birds age, especially reproductive tumors in hens. I had an 8-year-old black Australorp, Ginny, who in January slowed down greatly, then stopped eating and drinking, then...
  7. cate1124

    Two old girls in two months; not urgent, just sad

    Just wanted to post after losing my second 9-year-old in as many months this morning. My barred rock Stella had heart failure (excellent mobile poultry vet heard a murmur) and started to decline noticeably 2 1/2 weeks ago. In consultation with my vet, I tried Clavamox and dexamethasone (which I...
  8. cate1124

    Curled toes, in retrospect

    Greetings, all! Today, I am celebrating the 9th birthday of three hens, my barred rock, Stella, my Welsummer, Charlotte and my black Australorp, Ginny. Here they are as babies: Charlotte, the Welsummer, developed two curled toes on her right foot over time. It wasn't visible initially, as...
  9. cate1124

    One for a nutritionist

    I feed my elderly cat raw meat with a completer, EZ Complete Fur Cats, because this diet helps immensely with her multiple health conditions. I've got an old ailing hen who is showing an interest in meat, but not much else. I've given her cooked hamburger and raw, mixed with nutri drench...
  10. cate1124

    Hail Mary: Vitamin E?

    I've got a Black Australorp hen, nearly 9, who began failing seriously a week ago. She went off her feed and water, and began walking less. This beautiful old girl has been sitting slightly off-kilter, toward the left, for months, but otherwise behaving normally, if eating a little less and not...
  11. cate1124

    Postmortem regrets ...

    I've been keeping hens for more than 20 years, and losing them just seems to get harder, especially when I feel I could have prevented it. I am looking for consolation, I guess, or at least company. I lost my beautiful 3-year-old cream legbar Anabel -- happy, healthy, sweet-natured...
  12. cate1124

    Anything else I can do? (Dog attack)

    A dog came into my yard and made off with my little cream legbar hen. It appears from a feather pile and what witnesses said that he chased her down, pounced on her and carried her down the road for maybe 15-20 seconds before dropping her. (Someone apparently yelled at him.) I retrieved her...
  13. cate1124

    Ration for mixed spent and laying flock

    I've typically fed 16 percent protein crumbles to my hens, which seems to support them well. (I halve it with 22 percent meat bird crumbles during molt, to bring protein to about 19 percent.) I see here, though, that many folks routinely feed an all-flock ration with higher protein, for reasons...
  14. cate1124

    A birthday commemoration

    I've just re-read my blog post from 2015 and enjoyed all over again the video at the end, showing my young birds discovering they can fly. I thought you might, too. The roo pictured in the video was re-homed, but I'm still graced by the three hens with which he was reared; I now have four...
  15. cate1124

    Old hen sitting on hocks

    I've just noticed my 7-year-old barred rock sitting on her hocks. In other posts about this behavior, I've heard a Vit. B deficiency called out. I've got Durvet Probiotics Daily in their water; it contains riboflavin, as well as niacin, pantothenate acid and thiamine. But she doesn't seem...
  16. cate1124

    Pain relief; likely cancer

    Hello, All: My 7-year-old Welsummer has slowed down visibly in the last few days; when I picked her up to palpate her abdomen and check for egg-binding (as a precaution; she has not laid this season), I noted that much of the area ahead of her vent, on her underside, is just ... hard. It...
  17. cate1124

    Ataxia and possible atypical eggbinding

    The last time this happened, April 27, I posted in the egg-laying behaviors forum: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/transient-ataxia-and-egg-laying.1523132/#post-25653242 Now, it's recurred, and I'm seeking help to prevent or effectively resolve what appears to be ataxia related to...
  18. cate1124

    Transient ataxia and egg-laying

    Occasionally, one of my hens will suddenly start walking oddly -- almost as if she has a hitch in her gait -- and become uncoordinated in a kind of scary, seemingly neurological manner, with no apparent cause. Then, it passes as quickly as it came. This happened this morning with my young...
  19. cate1124

    Guess your best on this mystery ....

    7-year-old Welsummer (you may call her Charlotte) has been periodically snicking and gaping for 2-3 months. At first, I thought the gaping was a stress response to being handled, which she hates. Then I saw her doing it while dustbathing. The snicking/sneezing routinely occurs after eating...
  20. cate1124

    Gapeworms?

    My 7-year-old Welsummer is gaping; I noticed it a couple of weeks ago when I was handling the birds and thought it a stress response as she has never liked to be handled. But I see her doing it now while she is sun/dustbathing, and small sneezes and coughs are common. She is eating, drinking...
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