California - Northern

[Miss Molly]

Deb, your kill'in me. So dang lovable <3

 

[lawatt]

any advice on trying to clean up the backside of a grown hen? i've got a light sussex who's had some rather loose poops lately, seems perfectly healthy otherwise, but her feathers below her vent are a mess -- but she does not like to be handled, and i've never tried to clean a grown chicken before. any suggestions?


and broody update: Eleanor the broody is still only half-heartedly paying attention to the remaining four eggs in her nest -- in her excitement to show the new babies stuff. no sign of any pips or zips -- i think they might be gone.

no shortage, given all the other broodies in action, but i feel kind of sad for those four eggs...

 

[debs_flock]

My quotes aren't working.

Anyway, Laura..............a bucket of some warm water to submerge the bird as deep as you need, some dish soap and work it through with your fingers. Then rinse thoroughly and let the bird dry in a warm, draft free place. It's basically the same way you bathe a chicken for a show.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Deerling's comment about her Banties being not really a part of the rest of the flock made me think. I don't have them because I wanted BIG fluffy chickens and had read that Banties sometimes need their own coops. I plan to have a retired hen pen as my girls age out of productivity and Della is a problematic layer and I would never get rid of her because of it so I totally get having chickens that don't have an obvious use just because they make you happy. So is that why people have Banties? Just because having pretty little mini chickens makes you smile? (which is an absolutely valid reason) Or is there something I am missing.

It's like quail, I didn't know why people hatched them unless it was to set them free in their yard but now I know that their eggs have added benefits and that people raise them for meat too. Educate me please

I started out with LF. I got a few bantams because I wanted broodies. I found out the Silkies lay a good sized egg for their size, they eat less, they are more friendly and WHO can resist the cute little fuzzballs once they get to know them? I have actually sold off most of my young LF girls (only keeping 3 for me and for Izzy) and am eating the bantam eggs instead of the LF eggs. More Yolk!

any advice on trying to clean up the backside of a grown hen? i've got a light sussex who's had some rather loose poops lately, seems perfectly healthy otherwise, but her feathers below her vent are a mess -- but she does not like to be handled, and i've never tried to clean a grown chicken before. any suggestions?


and broody update: Eleanor the broody is still only half-heartedly paying attention to the remaining four eggs in her nest -- in her excitement to show the new babies stuff. no sign of any pips or zips -- i think they might be gone.

no shortage, given all the other broodies in action, but i feel kind of sad for those four eggs...

Check out "Vent Gleet" for your hen. Usually a hen with loose poops will not mess her backside much - they clean themselves. If its messy you might want to find out if it is Vent Gleet and treat her for that if it is.

Some mommies will diligently sit until all the eggs are hatched. Most will not sit over three days. However if the chicks can get away from where she is she will go after the chicks in preference over sitting on the eggs (a chick hatched is better than two eggs in the nest)..

For your eggs, I would take them and listen to them. If they peep then keep them warm and they may hatch for you. If they don't peep give them the "float" test. Put them in water that is warm to the touch and see if it floats.. or sink. If they float - do they wiggle? Sinkers are stinkers. Floaters are chicks - and wiggling floaters are trying to hatch. Dry the good ones off - maybe you can put them under another broody?

 

[PetRock]

I want to introduce you to the 2 newest chickens in my coop!







These are my 2 youngest grandkids, Adele & Lucas! They love my chickens and their coop! It is against the rules for them to be in there but the 2 year old especially loves climbing the ramp and walking around in the coop. I guess that it is just her size plus she is at the age where she just can't resist breaking one of Nana's rules!

 

[ronott1]

any advice on trying to clean up the backside of a grown hen? i've got a light sussex who's had some rather loose poops lately, seems perfectly healthy otherwise, but her feathers below her vent are a mess -- but she does not like to be handled, and i've never tried to clean a grown chicken before. any suggestions?


and broody update: Eleanor the broody is still only half-heartedly paying attention to the remaining four eggs in her nest -- in her excitement to show the new babies stuff. no sign of any pips or zips -- i think they might be gone.

no shortage, given all the other broodies in action, but i feel kind of sad for those four eggs...

I treated Vent Gleet with Monistat--Wash like Deb said(I just popped the hen into the kitchen sink and yes my DW thinks I am an odd fellow). Dry off the irritated area and put the cream there. Cut the suppository into three pieces and insert one piece into the vent. You are supposed to treat twice a day but I just treated once at night. I did this for 10 days.

I also broke a probiotic capsule with Bifidus into yogurt and let the hens in that pen(4 of them) eat it and repeated the yogurt the next day.

The things I do for my chickens....

 

[PetRock]

Shantih, The EE we got from you in Feb laid her first egg yesterday! It is a beautiful turquoise green that is actually darker than the pic! Today's egg was a little more green and normal shaped!






The green egg is from my hatchery EE and the light blue egg is from my CL.

 

[chickee]

Feather quality issues? What would cause something like that? The hens that are mated those most are 1 of the EEs from you, 1 of heaven sents BO hens, and 2 of hers that came directly from Don Chandler. Two of the other Buffs have minor feather loss - it's only in the saddle area on 3 and the 1 BO from heaven sent is the one that was mated like crazy - when we had the BO roo he loved her way too much (he became supper), my top roo is flat out not all that nice to her for some reason and my Marans roo likes to mate her a lot. I've checked for lice and mites. I wormed back in February. She is also the only one that pecks me if I reach under her to check for eggs. They are very well fed. Flockraiser mixed with whole oats and whole wheat. Free choice oyster shell. Water with acv. Free ranged and a few times a week they are given organic produce in small amounts. Am I doing anything wrong?

Many of my Ameraucana hens are getting thin feathers on their backs (again) and I will be putting the hen saddles on them soon. I read that when the hens are producing lots of eggs they put most of their bodies energy into egg production and they loose feather quality because of this. Brittle feathers then are broken off during mating. My hens have really picked up laying now and it is showing in their feathers.

I would like to have separate pens for my roosters to give the girls a break!

 

[lawatt]

My quotes aren't working.

Anyway, Laura..............a bucket of some warm water to submerge the bird as deep as you need, some dish soap and work it through with your fingers. Then rinse thoroughly and let the bird dry in a warm, draft free place. It's basically the same way you bathe a chicken for a show.

thanks so much -- we're starting to get afternoon fog drifting in, so i'll wait til its sunnier and warmer tomorrow to try it, so she won't get too cold while drying (believe it or not, i do not own a hair dryer!).

greatly appreciated!!

 

[lawatt]

Check out "Vent Gleet" for your hen. Usually a hen with loose poops will not mess her backside much - they clean themselves. If its messy you might want to find out if it is Vent Gleet and treat her for that if it is.

Some mommies will diligently sit until all the eggs are hatched. Most will not sit over three days. However if the chicks can get away from where she is she will go after the chicks in preference over sitting on the eggs (a chick hatched is better than two eggs in the nest)..

For your eggs, I would take them and listen to them. If they peep then keep them warm and they may hatch for you. If they don't peep give them the "float" test. Put them in water that is warm to the touch and see if it floats.. or sink. If they float - do they wiggle? Sinkers are stinkers. Floaters are chicks - and wiggling floaters are trying to hatch. Dry the good ones off - maybe you can put them under another broody?

thanks, i look into the vent gleet issue (although i always give them ACV in their water & feed them plain yogurt regularly, in part to try to avoid this!) -- and thanks Ron for the treatment detail (i must say it sounds like more than i can handle at this point!). Did your chicken that had it ACT sick at all, or did she seem perfectly healthy otherwise?

and after watching eleanor for a while this afternoon, i've concluded that she's really given up on the eggs -- and they're cold again, no sounds, no movement. so, it's a learning process...