California - Northern

[ronott1]

anyone dealt with an egg bound hen before? I think I may have an egg bound silkie but have not had the nerve to "explore". any recommendations. i noticed her not moving around well last night and then this morning she was in the same spot she was in last night which is not normal. she'll eat and drink but walks very slow and kind of waddles. i have her in a warm bath right now but also have to leave in 15 minutes so any quick ideas would be helpful!

You feel for an egg around the vent area. If you feel one, then put some olive oil into the vent.

I did this once, but the Hen was not egg bound. My youngest said I needed to stop molesting that poor chicken...

Hopefully she will pop the egg out into the warm water. Also, give her some BOSS(black oil sunflower seeds)

Bye

 

[zooweemama]

Mine actually seem to lay better when I give them scraps/leftovers. If you can provide a good blend of leftovers/scraps including protein, fats, carbohydrates, fruits and veggies etc. then I don't see a problem with feeding them the same as we eat (but watch out for too much salt/fat). Now if you only fed "junk" then they won't get enough protein or calcium and your egg production will suffer. It will also suffer if the leftovers/scraps are not of good nutritional quality or you give too much of one thing (not a "balanced diet). Of course I have free choice oyster shell and "regular" feed for them too as well as other supplements. I just don't want to see all that food (leftovers/scraps) go to waste.

Trisha

I do watch the sodium. Mostly my kids eat crackers, cheese and fruit for snacks. There is never leftover crackers or cheese lol- so really it comes down to fruit pieces leftover. Sometimes supper but leftovers are usually minimal...like a little pasta here, a couple taters there...sprinkles of steamed brown rice...not enough to fill the belly of 20 chickens! Likely enough for a snack - if that. But it sure beats tossing it in the garbage if we aren't eating it.

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Yes! You are still giving them chicken feed. You are not getting eggs(maybe stop giving them scraps until they lay?) but if you were and they were not getting enough nutrition, the eggs would start having soft shells and etc.

The thing to worry about would be too much carbohydrates. That is where too much scratch will mess them up.

Ron
Mine actually seem to lay better when I give them scraps/leftovers. If you can provide a good blend of leftovers/scraps including protein, fats, carbohydrates, fruits and veggies etc. then I don't see a problem with feeding them the same as we eat (but watch out for too much salt/fat). Now if you only fed "junk" then they won't get enough protein or calcium and your egg production will suffer. It will also suffer if the leftovers/scraps are not of good nutritional quality or you give too much of one thing (not a "balanced diet). Of course I have free choice oyster shell and "regular" feed for them too as well as other supplements. I just don't want to see all that food (leftovers/scraps) go to waste.

Trisha
You are feeding them well. Zooweemama posted about people in Redding only giving their chickens Scratch and maybe table scraps. They will become sickly that way. If you can free range them, they probably only need scraps in the summer. Winter is another issue and they should get good feed and not too much scraps then.

Bye,

Edited to add: You can get a compost system that composts meat and other scraps. Then feed the compost to worms or those beetle bugs to feed to the chickens. That would be great for the chickens!

 

[zooweemama]

You feel for an egg around the vent area. If you feel one, then put some olive oil into the vent.

I did this once, but the Hen was not egg bound. My youngest said I needed to stop molesting that poor chicken...

Hopefully she will pop the egg out into the warm water. Also, give her some BOSS(black oil sunflower seeds)

Bye

bahaha!!

 

[ronott1]

Information on Cascade Feed from MaGill:

Sorry for the long delay as we our slammed...For us to send a whole load down is the only price break, (22 ton). The price would be 890 ton for 50# bags and .41cents per lbs for bulk bags. Thanks and if we can help please let us know. Larry

[email protected]

The bulk bag cost would be $20.5 or 50 pounds. Really good for Organic Non Soy Non corn. I might be worth seeing if you could get them to give you a break on a smaller amount.

Ron

 

[lawatt]

I read another article about large predators living inside of cities. Chicago has coyotes living in an Urban area and other places have Bears living in the town.

The take away was that keeping chickens in Cities will require us to protect against large predators, not just Cats, Raccoons and such.

lots of critters are definitely adaptable -- as are we, after all! i'm just always on the side of adapting ourselves to their presence, rather than asking them to leave...

 

[PGRanch]

I contacted a local breeder about trading my 3 sicilian buttercups for some Cukoo maran pullets. He said yes! It would be cool to have some really dark brown eggs.

 

[Meg2000000]

I'm so glad you guys are liking the Pita Pintas. They are STUNNING. The cockerels' red combs and wattles have an amazing contrast against their black and white feathers. Also, when the sun hits their black feathers you can see blue, purple and green on them. I love watching them walk around and "change" colors!

Thanks Ron! I had no idea they were redder than others' birds. I only thought Jessie was (he's so beautiful.) I have a couple of really red girls too. It's so fun watching them grow and change!

Thank you guys for the comments! I miss you all and this great community!

 

[Meg2000000]

About Hope: I noticed for about three days she had a very large crop that hung really low. I took her to Cheryl's and Cheryl put a tub down her throat and into her crop. She then filled the crop up with water and mineral oil. This made Hope throw up a bunch of times and we were able to empty the crop completely. I brought her home and noticed her crop was full again and huge the next day so I did the following: Day 1) No food, Day 2) yogurt only, Day 3) Eggs and olive oil only, Day 4) Yogurt, olive oil and mashed medicated food, Day 5) Same as day 4. She's been back in the coop for a couple of days and is back to normal now!!

 

[ronott1]

I'm so glad you guys are liking the Pita Pintas. They are STUNNING. The cockerels' red combs and wattles have an amazing contrast against their black and white feathers. Also, when the sun hits their black feathers you can see blue, purple and green on them. I love watching them walk around and "change" colors!

Thanks Ron! I had no idea they were redder than others' birds. I only thought Jessie was (he's so beautiful.) I have a couple of really red girls too. It's so fun watching them grow and change!

Thank you guys for the comments! I miss you all and this great community!

You should also notice less gray and crisper blacks on them.

Ron