bent comb,water white strand poo,need diagnose please.

[Fergie]

Actually, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out this nutritional stuff. I thought having layer feed, grit and oyster shells available was all a person needed to worry about.

We give them whatever fruit, veggie, bread and dairy scraps we have going as an occasional treat. And they forage around our yard for bugs, grass, berries and seeds. But, now I'm wondering if we have screwed up somehow. I live in Washington State, and know that we people up here have to keep an eye on our vitamin D intake, so it makes sense the chickens would be vulnerable, too.

The vet said it would be okay to give them a supplement to get their levels up, but I haven't added anything other then giving them a smaller sized oyster shell. I'll probably get something to add to their food or water. I'm dealing with this as I have time, in between taking care of my children and enjoying summer....!

 

[threehorses]

Yogurt, given as a treat, has vitamin D3. I think your vet probably knew something about the feed -thus recommending another. Not all feeds are created equal. I'm finding lately that some feeds can get away with labeling with vitamins just if they HAVE them, that they're not a complete feed.

Also oil vitamins more easily degrade out of feeds than the other vitamins. And of course the oil vitamins are A, E, and... D. And yes - sunshine does play a part in the conversion of D3 into the right form for calcium absorbtion. Interesting about Washington having an issue with that for humans. I'd ask your vet if and how that applies to your birds.

A well designed and well stored (including at the feed store) complete feed, some oyster shell for the calcium component, grit for their free ranging and whatever trouble they manage to find, and lots of fresh clean water... that's usually all you need. But I was reading some books the other day on disease and they said that sometimes feed manufacturers even make mistakes - too little or too much of something. Add to that feed that doesn't turn over quickly, maybe sits at the feedstore a while, maybe some heat or exposure to a non-cool environment - and some nutrients are lost.

If you look for a calcium supplement, let me know. I have a lot of caged-bird calcium articles available as african greys are susceptible to low levels of calcium and D3.

 

[Fergie]

The vet was nervous that the feed bag said "organic livestock pellets", and had a picture of a chicken, pig and cow on the front. It made her nervous that it was feed manufactured for multi species, which she doesn't agree with due to the difficulty including all the nutritional needs for those species in one pellet. The white tag sewed into the seam did say organic layer pellet, but she still urged me to change to another type of feed anyway.

I didn't argue rememering the horrors of what occurred with dog food a couple of years ago. Animal food is just not as regulated and doesn't have the same oversight and inspections that human food does....

My hen appears to be passing away this morning. She's not standing up and is barely breathing. Poor gal.

 

[threehorses]

I agree with your vet's position on the all-stock types of feed. Those types of feed also tend to be the low end of any feed brand's line - the seconds of grain, etc - things that were too poor to feed whole so they grind them up into pellets.

I'm very sorry to hear about your hen. Because this has happened to more than one, I would highly recommend that you get your vet to do a necropsy on her. If she passes, rinse her under cool water to cool her, pat her dry, and put her in the refrigerator (never freeze). I think it would give you peace of mind to know exactly what happened. There might be some internal reason.

IN any case, I'm terribly sorry you've had to go through this.

 

[Fergie]

Well, our hen died today and we did get a necropsy. The vet said everything looked great except the festering yolk material in her abdominal cavity. It pretty much confimed her diagnosis of egg yolk peritonitis. We are hoping the other one with it makes it. She seems to be doing better so far.... She looks feisty, eats, drinks, forages, preens, and does everything normal except laying. And her distended abdomen has shrunk a bit.