Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Fancychooklady]

Does any one know if scaly cracking bits on a Chooks legs are a parasite or can it be caused by something else. I saw it when I caught randy the other day but didn't get a picture.

A pic would be good. If it's scaley leg mite , I've tried every remedy there is and the only thing better than Vaseline is Vicks. The camphor soothes and it only needs to be applied once or twice. The problem with oil is that it is viscous and doesn't stay put long enough to smother them so it needs to be applied more often.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens.html

 

[Anniebee]

Ok ... about Mindy....

Had hoped I would not have to say anything, but ........

Have done some research - and came up with this URL which seems the best of quite a few I investgated : http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/450/several-reasons-why-your-hens-may-stop-laying-eggs/

Mindy - after laying quite a few soft shells, ( she has layed two outside in her run twice ) shoved one with her beak towards the wire run fence, for Miss Ruby dog to grab out and eat ????

... seems to be perhaps, giving up on laying altogether.

In the past few weeks, she has laid a few good eggs - strong shells, but many soft shells, which she occasionally eats, but also now on occasion, ignores.

She is one weird chook - always has been. Has taken to cluck cluck clucking with an enormous cockerel shriek at the end of it. ( which I took to mean "I have laid an egg " ).

Not so .... she is now 4 days without a good egg, or any egg ... and this from a very prolific layer, is a bit disturbing. While 4 days is probably not much to many people, it seems strange to me as she has been the most productive of chickens .... 6 or 7 out of every 7 days .... was always pleased when she took a day off.

I know that chickens have a 'limit' ... they only produce eggs when they can, and can run out of productivity ( for want of a better word ).

She is fiesty, interesting in everything, stands tall, talks a lot, feeds well ( always a good full crop end of day ) .... walks well, squats for anything that moves, and looks ultra healthy.

Today I bought a bag of calcium powder ( not calcium carbonate - but the type used for horses ) ... which I was assured is ok for chickens. She will get a dessertspoon full of that mixed in with some of my 'special tucker' starting tomorrow - twice a week. Am also aware that bi-carb of soda in drinking water may help - coutesy of a regular poster here - so sorry I cannot find the post or remember who it was who mentioned that.

The worry always is, will an ill-formed egg get stuck in the system ? ... which would / could result in death. There is no sign of a stuck egg ( via palpation ) .... in her nether regions.

All 3 chickens are fed Barastoc Layer pellets ( which should give them all they need ). Works for the two big girls ... but not so much for Mindy who has been several weeks laying soft shells here and there, and 4 days without any laying at all. She does not appear to be broody either.

I had hoped a couple of days back, that I wouldn't have to write this.

The other thing is, since the massive elm tree in the rear property has grown all its' leaves now, there is not much sunshine at all for Mindy to enjoy. The big girls get some sun per day. With that in mind, the long clippers must come out and do something drastic to that tree, and surrounding foliage, to let sunlight in properly for her. More work for my recently retired husband.

Just wondering - if anyone has any further thoughts about this situation ........

Cheers - and thanks in anticipation ...... AB

RodneyRooster ..... you asked in an ovation - how old is Mindy Araucana. ?

Just turned 3 yrs of age. Not old for a chook, but she's laid like there's no tomorrow since she began laying at around 23 weeks of age ( but not when moulting of course ) .... a most prolific producer of good googies.

Tomorrow she begins the calcium mixed with rice / vegies cooked, rolled oats, bran, finely chopped greens, and scratch mix all mixed up together. I serve it as dry as possible.
Always divide it up for her, and then my two big girls. So she will get a level dessertspoon full of calcium ( not carbonate ) ... calcium powder that is used for horses and chickens. Advice given by the stock and produce store owner, as to how much and how often ( twice a week only ).

Can only hope ... meanwhile I will be doing a very careful internal investigation as well ... AND btw - she is still squatting for anything that moves. ????

Palpating her nether regions, this evening, there was nothing untoward in that area. She is happy and into everything, eating well. Soooo interested in her clean coop too.

I have put a dummy egg in her nesting box, to try and stimulate her - she got rid of that, quick smart. Turfed it out of the box.

Thanks for the enquiry and your interest.

Cheers ...

 

[Anniebee]

When my Buttface girl started to get older she began to lay a string of jelly eggs - about three weeks worth before the calcium and the tender loving care I was giving her finally started to turn it around. She's back to laying daily again - though has decided that she can't handle flying up to the roost or into the nesting boxes so we've tended to her special needs by giving her a special, low roost and a ground-floor nesting box. So at 5 years old - and after a few jelly eggs and special circumstances - we still get 4-5 eggs/week from my 5 year old SLW.

I also feed mine Barastoc Layer Pellets - but did find that we had calcium issues on occasion with it. I began mixing small amount of scratch mix in (with grit) or occasionally giving them treats of baked eggs (including the shells) and that seems to have done the trick.

It may well be that she IS laying but the eggs are completely shelless right now or the shells are getting eaten before you can see them. Buttface began laying her jelly eggs on the poop boards while she roosted at night and about 80% of the time they'd be eaten before I even let them out in the morning. I only found out because I caught them one morning. To all appearances, to me - it appeared she wasn't laying at all. Bad jelly eggs will basically come out without a shell at all, just the contents of an egg spat onto the floor or with a parchment-thin, soft membrane which passes for a shell.

I'd give her time, really. If she's laying jelly eggs and then stopped altogether, her body may well have just decided, "Right, we have enough calcium to have bones OR lay eggs so laying eggs is going to have to wait."

Even when you begin to give her calcium, it will take a while for her stores to properly replenish. It took Buttface ~2 weeks to begin laying "normally" again.

I hear you on the elms. We have them growing along one side of our yard on the fenceline. My phone reckoned to me yesterday that I walked 6km. All I did yesterday was mow my yard (half acre) which involved hours of mowing down elm suckers and nettles. 6km of elm sucker murder. Ugh.

On a related note - I have been wondering to myself if Buttface might have something like chicken arthritis. I have arthritis myself and it might just be me anthropomorphizing my chickens - but there's something about the way she walks which suggests to me soreness and stiffness. It's nothing new. She's just been sort of progressively wearing down over the last year or so. I had thought about treating it like arthritis and supplementing her diet accordingly like I would myself (non-inflammatory treats, omega 3, tumeric, etc).

I'm disinclined to put her down because apart from this - she seems fine. She lays well, her comb is red. She's a bit slow and she's getting over-mated so I put a saddle on her and we're increasing our hen to rooster ratio over the summer to give all of the hens a bit of a break (which was always my intention for this summer anyway). I originally realized she wasn't roosting when I found her sleeping on the poop boards underneath her flock. She kept leaving the special roost I made for her and going back on the poop boards. One day I found red ammonia burns on her belly and decided to try a different approach, taking one of her nestmates (someone beneath her in the pecking order but only just) and putting that hen on the roost with her. Now that she's no longer alone, she stays. Her belly healed fine, and our system seems to be working for everyone.

I'm open to suggestions on her behaviour and how I should tackle it.

Our new Araucana girls (and yeah...the whole Araucana v. Americauana thing, btw? Freaking -confusing-.) are doing well. One of them - always the one -without- a dark spot on her tail (None have names yet) keeps stuffing her impossibly fat little body through the space underneath my front gate and doing a runner.

Now..finding chickens on the footpath in front of my house is hardly unusual. My neighbours love it because my birds are friendly and personable and any chicken out there will briefly decide to follow unsuspecting people on a walk for half a block in a "Can I come home with you?" fashion before turning around and coming back home. When groups of children walk by my house I hear them squeal, "THERE THEY ARE! YOU'RE SO FLUFFY!" It's the best...really.

Except...one of these girls doesn't camp out in front of my gate. So far she's gone missing four times and each time I've found her walking down the street more than a block away from my house. My new chicken is Nope-ing right out of my yard. Dangit, bird!

Thankfully, yesterday after I put her back into my yard (I open the gate and then passively herd them toward the gate) she actually stayed. I realized a couple of days ago when I was pointing at the gate and she followed my directions that chickens actually get pointing. And then it hit me like an embarrassment truck. Of course they do. Roosters point when they tidbit. It was like I had this glorious moment where my brainparts played back all the times I watched my rooster gesture with his wattles and head, pointing to the girls - and then a big, floridly written banner reading, "You dumbass." pasted itself over the memory.

At least my self-mockery is whimsical.

Tandykins. ....

First, thank you for the advice about 'jelly eggs' ... what a brilliant name for them. Would never have thought of describing them in such a way, but that is exactly what they are. Plus a few that are properly formed, until the last bit --- which is fragile and easily breaks when laid. On straw bedding, on wood shavings - anywhere - if it is fragile at the pointy end, it's usually broken and eaten ... or not. Or I find it 'cracks' when I bring it inside - ( change of temperature ? ).

In between times there have been really good shelled eggs. And now she has simply 'stopped' ... ( for a while ?? )

Now this is a chicken - when a year ago was in her then laying mode, laid eggs that required a
jack-hammer to get through the shell. Tough as all get out they were.

To me, considering her recent efforts, all that spells something wrong with her own calcium distribution / metabolic processes... but that's only a guess. ??? Probably not a lot could be done about that ... it's bit like whether a human is prone to hay-fever - or not ( by way of example ). Animals, birds and humans have quirks --- in their bodies and how things act and react. Can only hope the calcium twice a week helps - and will be patient for several weeks while she gets herself sorted ( hopefully). She has just turned 3 yrs of age.

..........

How tolerant you are Tandykins. .... If my 3 girls went 'a-wanderin' ... my family could find me in the nearest hospital under heavy sedation !! LOL. .... I couldn't bear them going missing or on walk-about. I am admittedly quite stupidly paranoid about the safety and well-being of my 3 girls .... can you imagine if I had a flock - or a rooster to cover them, and produce littlies. ??
I'd be off my face.

Someone just recently told me that chickens have no brains ... and if they have it's the size of a pea ?? ( a breeder no less !! ) - - I held my anger. They DO learn, and learn well. Claim to fame is the use of the word "BED" ... when they obediently round themselves up into the coops for the evening. Without hesitation. Have not yet taught them the word "NO" ... !!!

still working on that.

Have answered a few questions in above post, to RodneyRooster who asked. ... so there's more info. in that post FYI.

Thanks again for your insight and help.

Cheers ......

 

[Anniebee]

Hello folks.

I haven't been around for ages, because life got busy. And then chickens got busy. My gorgeous Rooster, Wellington, became a violent bully. At home, with me? He was fine. My husband? He attacked. My daughter, he attacked. THEN he attacked the toddler next door! Then he became coq au vin. I lost my Ancona, Antimony, who had been laying absolutely gorgeous green eggs for u, and my beautiful Maran just...dropped dead off the perch. That was a real loss - she was one of those chickens who comes over to cuddle you, so it was very sad.

Chicken math occurred, because I'd lost several chickens and then felt sad so treated myself to some faverolles...and I felt guilty over Wellington, so I adopted three ex factory hens and am currently rehabilitating them to make up for having to get rid of him. They lay such gigantic eggs, but they're half the size of my birds. It's really quite sad, but boy do they love me now - they follow me around and let me hug them.

Which is when THIS lady showed back up:



With fifteen babies.

FIFTEEN BABIES.

So sorry for your losses Steampunked .... and also that you were forced to face drastic measures with your rooster Wellington - who had turned sour.

Who knows what causes things like that ?

As for your hen who turned up 15 littlies ??? I'd have passed out, or left it all to hubby to deal with. !!

In reality I would love some little chicks to raise --- have just finished having a discussion about it with husband --- but it seriously is not possible - unless we remove at least half of the tenderly cared for garden and spend scads of $$$ . hmmmm. !!

Cheers ......

 

[Anniebee]

I see you are very crafty. I used to be crafty , in another life. Life before horses and a 15 years and counting renovation.
On the subject of arthritis in chickens, it's more likely to be visceral gout. Too much calcium and or protein is usually the problem. The legs , feet and toes will usually thicken and look much fatter than they should. The bird will show discomfort and eventually go down on its haunches . At the other end of the scale , if the calcium to phosphorus rates are out of whack they can suffer a form of rickets.
Annie, Calcium should only be offered ' free take ' , not added to the feed for any length of time as you will only encounter more problems further down the track. Calcium carbonate is more readily absorbed than other calcium supplements.

Thank you Fancychooklady .... your advice is much appreciated - as always.

Would believe you know the calcium that is introduced to horses ( albeit very carefully and correctly administered - can cause problems with them too I am told ).

I am prepared to go twice a week with a level dessertspoon or slightly less, of this calcium - for a short time. ( giving it 3 - 4 weeks only, to see if it has helped ). Other than that, I have friends / neighbours who have horses who might like to use the remainder of the calcium, IF the horses might need it. Owners would have to know the correct ratio of calcium and phosphorus for the good of their horse(s). I would be extremely prudent in offering it. The dosage, reasons & needs are complicated.

Have thought of grinding oyster shell ( which she adamantly refuses to eat ) .... in a pulverised form ( mortar and pestle, and hard work ) .... onto the rice etc. etc. mix I make for them all.

I do think her metabolism must be out of whack .... so everything I do will be gently, and carefully administered.

Might be just that she has used up all of her egg laying capabilities for the moment ( they have their eggy limits I have read ), and is on vacation for a while .... a bit hard to judge when she is hale and hearty and as usual, a feisty, sneaky, noisy and nosily delightful, bundle of mischief. I would so hate to lose her.

Cheers ........

 

[Anniebee]

Could be protein - I have been giving them quite a high protein diet lately. I don't usually supplement them with calcium but keep a bowl of grit around instead for "free take". The recent(ish) calcium supplementation has been because when I last pressure washed the coop I forgot to put the grit back in and began noticing calcium problems (whoops). I'll take stock of the nutrition of the treats I'm giving them and have a look at cutting back the protein.

Tandykins .... was under the impression that protein should only be given when chooks are moulting.

They need it then - but not when laying. My own rule of thumb is cooked meat / eggs - and cheese when moulting. .... other goodies when laying - home made mix ( no protein ) ... plus yoghurt, water melon, good washed green kitchen scraps .. plus a few other delicacies like pumpkin with seeds, cabbage, cauli leaves, kale etc. .... and some scratch mix extra.

Well - them's my thoughts anyway.

Cheers .....

 

[Anniebee]

Yeah absolutely - I had a hard time finding stuff that was either okay to use on birds or was either not really bad for use on birds. The flea shampoo I use is pyrethrum based, as is the spray I use on them. I'm not of the school of thought that pyrethrum is harmless for chickens, however, and we never use it as a preventative. I prefer to prevent mice and lights (mites and lice) with herbs and reserve the nasties for the treatment when my gentler methods fail - then I use it sparingly. I prefer to tackle the coop itself by marathon pressure-washing rather than heavily spraying the place.

^^^ THIS.

I love my chickens to the point where -I make clothes for them-. I still, very rarely, forget to lock up their coop at night. That hasn't ended in tragedy for us yet, but it may well one day. These things happen to the best of us. I chalk it up to learning and just try to do better next time. If you feel bad, just give them extra cuddles and maybe some penitence treats. XD

And on that note...because you can't mention chicken clothes and then not show people (that would be rude):

I based the design on a chicken saddle. I was already sewing them due to my hens being a bit bare along their backs. I'm a total novice with sewing so this is all very new to me - but it was my first attempt and I thought it turned out excellent. I intend to keep fiddling with the design and (based on the suggestion of a friend) we decided that Pipper needs a tiny Victorian-style bonnet to go with her dress and I'm in the process of making that now.

Because I have mental problems and too much time on my hands. >.>

(Pipper, btw, is a 7 month old Golden Spangled Hamburg X Lavender Araucana and was hand-raised indoors for her first 16 weeks as a solo chick. My attachment to her is so great she has her own Instagram hashtag #PipperTheChicken XD)



I also make chicken hats (bc that's totes normal), diapers, bow ties, crow collars, horrific implements of chicken torture and whimsy...

https://instagram.com/tandykins/

While I am a bit speechless at your crafts ---- they are in fact great, and most unusual to be for chicken clothing ... I congratulate you on your innovative endeavours.

Do the chickens mind being dressed up ? Most probably not. While all is well, nothing much worries chickens.

Love the photograph, and the hash tag for PipperTheChicken .... you sure love your little darlings. So far I have never forgotten to lock up my girls come early or darker evening - mainly because a close relative of mind lost quite a few of his much loved chickens to foxes one night. He'd forgotten to lock them up before rushing out to an evening event.

Besides which I am paranoid about my chooks ( as noted many times, elsewhere here ).

We can all make mistakes, so far I haven't, but I could ... anything is possible.

Cheers ........

 

[Anniebee]

you may well be right, although I couldn't find any photos of black tail buff babies, the characteristics were similar, but I think they may be a cross, because the top and bottom photo babies are very red with yellowish legs( not as dark as wyandottes legs), and the middle photo, which is more brown, has cream legs. It was sad to lose the other little one, there were no symptoms at all, I have a feeling the little rooster was picking on her and wouldn't let her eat because he started to do that to the little Wyandotte, so I removed him and now he spends his days in my garden, and nights in another pen. Every time I go outside I have to sit on the grass to keep company because he's on his own, he can see the others, but he likes my company.

Don't really know Meeka3 ... if right or wrong ... but here is a link to the colours of black tail buff chickens : https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...X&ved=0CBsQsARqFQoTCJmCg4DegMkCFcHmpgodhggHqw

( Good grief - the URL is not long enough ?? )

Might be of a little help. Can't see much on these pics, as far as I went - as to the colour of legs.

You are probably right - they are cross bred. Nothing wrong with that though, as long as they are healthy and happy.

Sad that your little rooster has had to be segregated .... but the male of the species ( any species ) can become overbearing and ultra-dominant, which is all par for the course for male entires.

Cheers ......

 

[Anniebee]

I have four chickens. Two have all their feathers and look very healthy. The other two... They are missing almost all of their tails feathers and are aggressive towards the other chickens and my duck. The feathers just don't seem to be growing back. They came from a battery farm of some sort so my mum and I thought maybe that's why they had no feather because of either stress or others pecking at them in such a confined space. But we have had them two months now and still no growth. I'm starting to think they're maybe sunburnt on their tails now too because it is red raw. Occasionally I will see the other chooks peck at the rear of the two with no feathers, but mum has looked constantly at their behinds and can't see any mites or anything.
Anyone have any idea what it might be?





Hey all,

The only thing I can think of EllaLouise94 ... is that maybe the other chickens have pecked out the 'lesser chickens' tail feathers, and keep pecking to make the areas raw.

Some 'pecking order' going on ???

I am no expert by any means .... but it's just a thought about what might have been happening. If possible, separate the 2 from the 2 - and see if the tail feathers begin to grow again on the raw tail-less chickens .... Meantime, treat the raw patches with some antiseptic lotion that is kind to chickens ( others here could help with that ) .... and see what happens.

Cheers .......

p.s. ... I have seen now some other posts that are far more informative than this one of mine - on this subject. All of them great advice.

 

[sjturner79]

I have four chickens. Two have all their feathers and look very healthy. The other two... They are missing almost all of their tails feathers and are aggressive towards the other chickens and my duck. The feathers just don't seem to be growing back. They came from a battery farm of some sort so my mum and I thought maybe that's why they had no feather because of either stress or others pecking at them in such a confined space. But we have had them two months now and still no growth. I'm starting to think they're maybe sunburnt on their tails now too because it is red raw. Occasionally I will see the other chooks peck at the rear of the two with no feathers, but mum has looked constantly at their behinds and can't see any mites or anything.
Anyone have any idea what it might be?

Hey all,

Once the others are used to picking thier saddle feathers you either need to isolate the two or get saddles for the to get the feathers to grow back.