thanks I'll keep that in mind for my next bantam broodiness. A couple of weeks ago I found her sitting on 12 eggs in the depths of a massive horseradish plant. I ended up rigging up a rain barrier etc but nothing made it to hatch.this week I found 3 eggs on another side of the plant- it really is huge. So I took them and the next morning she sneaked over there, found them gone and swore in chicken for a good 10 minutes stomping up and down the raised bed. I felt really guilty...
Another morning for chicken emergencies...
My bielefelder hen, Schnitzel, met me at the door with her abdomen on the ground. On picking her up, I found a vent prolapse much worse than any else that I've seen.
I was too busy trying to cope with the situation to take photos. Hopefully, it doesn't pop out again, but given what I've read, it probably will.
I cleaned her up, applied preparation H, pushed everything back in, and am keeping her inside/isolated. Electrolytes and vitamins as well. I know that I should keep her in dark/dim light for most of the day so that she does not try to lay an egg. I did check for an egg, but didn't feel one inside of her, and didn't find any in the coop.
Any advice please?
I hate to hear it. I feel like I know Hansel.... poor thing.My beloved Biel rooster, Hansel, broke his beak yesterday....badly. He's always had a weaker beak and has broken the top of layer of it off a few times, but it's always grown back. This time....he broke it through to the core to the point that he was bleeding all over the place. I'm watching him closely to see if he can eat and drink, as I suspect it will never grow back this time. All because he chose to fight with a young cockerel through the fenced enclosure. Silly bird.
My beloved Biel rooster, Hansel, broke his beak yesterday....badly. He's always had a weaker beak and has broken the top of layer of it off a few times, but it's always grown back. This time....he broke it through to the core to the point that he was bleeding all over the place. I'm watching him closely to see if he can eat and drink, as I suspect it will never grow back this time. All because he chose to fight with a young cockerel through the fenced enclosure. Silly bird.
Oh no! I've never heard of that happening. Do you have to cauterize it to stop the bleeding, or is this one of those styptic pencil moments? How did he manage to fight through the enclosure? Poor baby. Tell him he is a prize fighter with a broken nose. He can be the Muhammed Ali of the chicken world!
Don't laugh, but I think that I saw something about prosthetics for chickens... maybe they have a beak? Stop laughing, I'm being serious!!!All of my boys fight like that with the young-uns all the time. Those young cockerels start crowing their superiority and the mature roosters are all too ready to set them straight...and too impatient to wait until the cockerels are allowed to free range. It's probably a fight over a girl.
I brought him in the house and cleaned him up before putting him in what I thought was a large enough kennel to accommodate him. He's so tall he had to crouch down to avoid hitting his head on the top of the cage. The bleeding stopped on its own and I left him in the air conditioned house for about six hours to rest while we were gone for the evening, which he actually seemed to enjoy a bit. He had water, but no food as I didn't want him pecking at anything and trigger the bleeding again. I returned him to the flock last night and have been observing him ever since. I watched him peck gently at some food on the ground, but have yet to confirm that he's actually eating and drinking. His crop is flat, which concerns me. He's still active and social, but I'll be worrying over him until I know he's eating and drinking.
Good job being a chicken attendant.Schnitzel's prolapse update.
Schnitie seemed ok outside in the dog crate which was covered on 3 sides. She did a few poos and everything was still inside. The last time I checked, she was being attacked by flies, so I decided to bring her inside, clean her up and keep her inside. When I went to clean her, she was prolapsed again. I decided to give her an epsom salt soak.
It is not easy giving that girl a bath/soak. I ended up sitting on the floor next to the plastic bin which was the only thing big enough to put her in! And then I had to hold her down while making sure her head didn't drop into the water when she was dozing in between trying to get out.
Getting her out was like taking a dog out of a bath! wings flapping furiously...
Then there was the blow drying.
I've trimmed a lot of those bottom feathers, so I'm hoping that it will be easier to keep her clean.
