I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help and I know if someone else here had any idea, they certainly would have helped put you in the right direction!
I did want to add that as I was reading some information today on egg bound chickens, I started to notice some similarities of what you described...
I don't have any experience with what you've described, but I wanted to tell you I'm sorry you lost your hen!
If I had seen that in one of my gal's, I would have tried to give her Nutri-Drench to give her quick assimilation of nutrients trying to provoke an immune response in her body. It...
The best advice I can give you is to scour this site for years on end and buy the book, "The Small-Scale Poultry Flock", by Harvey Ussery.
Then sit back and enjoy the adventure!
I learned the hard way that nutrition does make a life or death difference in chicks, so as long as it is not showing signs of physically harming them, I don't see the problem of adding a fermented probiotic to their drink (ACV) that only adds friendly bacteria to their gut flora, which would...
I'm so glad to see others pushing back to buy local and support fellow Americans (for those of us in the U.S.). That was my resolution for 2012 and I am happy to say, I did quite a bit of buying local and American made!
Resolutions for 2013? To not lose heart, as I watch my country go down...
How I wish so very, very, very, very (did I mention VERY?) much I wish I had listened to such advice? I have since lost what I thought was a very close relationship after hiring a friend to do some work on my house without a written contract of any sort. Based on the relationship, I fully...
, from Virginia!
Worst thing? I learned a hard lesson about proper nutrition. My gals developed symptoms that were classic of the dreaded Merek's disease. Knowing a bit about good nutrition, I delved deeper into proper chicken nutrition and with my research, I decided to go out of my way to...
, from another fellow Virginian!
I scoured the ideas in the coop section to get ideas before deciding on my own plans. If you're looking for a coop that will accommodate a good fertilizer source, I highly recommend you look up the "deep litter method" to incorporate in whatever coop you end...
Yay, I'm glad you are going to keep Ricardo! He is one blessed little rooster to have found you!
If I were you, I'd post a picture of him in the, "What breed or gender is this?" You'll get more answers there. My guess is a Delaware, but I'm not breed savvy. I have a couple Deleware...
, from Virginia! The beginning of keeping chickens is always so exciting!
I know in my flock, we had a learning curve in the early days where the leader of the flock and one other hen had to be removed from the rest for two months. When we were able to bring them back, we quickly found out a...
, from Virginia! What a lovely surprise you have on your hands! So sad his lady hen friend didn't make it, as I'm sure he does miss all his friends. I'm glad your cat is trying to keep him company in the mean time!
If I were in your shoes, I'd ask my neighbors how they felt about having a...