Wow! I've had chickens for several years now and had no idea crop problems even existed I've done some research and think I've found some helpful information. So thank you!!
Tonight I noticed that one of my buff's had a large bump/growth on her right breast.
Any ideas what it could be? She's still as bossy as ever and doesn't appear that she is ill (not positive if she is still laying.).
Any ideas what it is? Have you ever experienced this? How did you...
Do you think a predator of some kind got the one and the others ran away out of fear? Being so young, maybe they weren't sure where to return?? One more thought, maybe what ever got the one chased the others away? I watched a CAT, yes a CAT, chase one of my chickens away.
Hope this is the right place to post this....
This morning I cracked an egg open to find this:
The beginning of a chick? In person, you can clearly see where talons and a beak are forming and it clearly resembles an embryo.
My question is...I've had the same six chickens for three...
I'm sure. I have found holes the size of beaks in the eggs. Plus, I stood outside of the coop yesterday and watched her move an egg around, then proceed to peck at it until she broke it open. I'd really love to keep her alive because she is a good layer, but is it better to let one bird go than...
I have an egg eater and I've singled her out. I've done everything I can think of in the last few days to discourage the egg eating, but she doesn't seem to be phased. She's even eaten two eggs filled with dish soap and one with miustard! I'm afraid she may be encouraging the others to join...
Thank you everyone! This all makes perfect sense. The girl who seems to be the instigator of it all just started laying again. She stands at the door of their nests and sqwuaks so loud I often go outside to check on them. Now I know it's just because she is proud of herself! And those hormones...
All of the sudden my girls seem to be clucking LOUD and OFTEN! They have plenty of food and water as well as clean boxes and coop. It seems like they are yelling at me!
Do you have any idea what they are clicking about? The only thing I have changed recently is that I have added some...
I took Judy's advice and put them together so they could figure it out. Unfortunately one of my hens won't have any part of it and is just plain mean. Would we be the meanest owners ever if we put the mean hen into the little coop for a few days to "humble" her? The other hen doesn't seem to...
I have some 14 week old pullets that I have kept in a small coop for five weeks. Their little coop has chicken wire and is placed up against my large coop that also has chicken wire. They have been there for five weeks in plain sight of each other. They have also been let out into the yard...
Thanks! When I went out to check on her the next day I noticed the bump had gone down considerably. She seems to be 90% healed so it won't be long until she is back to her old self!
Thanks! One of the girls has returned to normal laying but the other still hasn't laid since the incident. I suppose it will return with time, after she has fully recovered from her injury. The strange thing is though, the girl that lays has started laying in a new box that she never used...
Last week after my chickens were attacked they each laid one egg that morning (assuming that it's because the egg was already formed). One that was injured has not laid since, which I expected, and the other has laid intermittently. The strange thing is, they won't return to their nesting...
Last week my chickens were attacked by dogs. We only lost one but a second one was bitten and injured. She limped and took it easy for a few days but five days later she behaves like she is back to normal. She hasn't laid but I figured that would return in time. That was until today when I...
At 12:30 this morning we were awakened by our chickens screeching. My husband quickly grabbed a gun and ran outside to find two dogs helping themselves to our chickens. One of the dogs ran off when they heard the back door open but the other had a fatal night. I caught these same two dogs at...
Today I got a phone call from a good friend who needed to get rid of a chick asap. It's a long story, but I agreed. It was totally unplanned and almost dusk so we had very little time to figure things out. The chick is old enough to be outside now so I'm not worried about that but as soon as...
Thank you! I think you must be right about the ice cream truck! Although my husband does feed them, though not as often, I am the one who always brings them treats like kitchen scraps. No wonder they follow me! I believe this case is closed. Now if I could just get over my fear that they...
My four girls were free range up until a few weeks ago when they got a little too brave and started roaming all over the neighborhood and trying to cross the road. They had always behaved and stayed in the yard, which is rather large, but as soon as we got a cat, it's like they knew something...
I have five 13 week old chickens who have been outside for about 8 weeks. For a while we kept them inside the coop 24/7 until they were used to the it and big enough to roam around the yard on their own. But each night they gather around or even on top of the coop and wait until we come and...