Chicken Tips - Take a Tip, Leave a Tip

[henney penny]

It does help,this hen had no feathers on the top part of her wings,the rooster was a very large one and not very good to his girls,he was vry rough and nasty so he went to a new home and from there into a stew pot cause he got really nasty to peaple
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Golden comet with her hen saver on.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/44824_golden_comet_with_apron.jpg

so do the extra shoulder pads help? that looks awesome!

 

[aoxa]

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I wish I had done this. Now it will have to be added on.

X2
I was able to divide my coop and run with a temporary, crazy- looking system of screens and chicken wire, but need to build a permanent division with doors (I was actually crawling through the pop- door for a while this summer!). I've used mine for a broody, an injured chick, and new pullets growing out in close proximity to the existing flock.

I would also add that it is handy to have a separate pen that is not visible to the hens for growing out roosters.

I did this by adding on to my run and attaching a dog house

Works great, and I can section off that part of the run when one is sick.

 

[vanyen5400]

A separate coop-only pair of boots at the back door is great but I often stop by the coop and don't have my boots on. I keep a pair of surgical booties on a clothes pin at the coop door. I can slip them on over whatever shoe I'm wearing and go in to see my girls.

And building bigger rather than smaller is GOOD advise! Thought coop was huge when building - now wish it was even bigger!

Lov'in my girls after 5 years!
Marti

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

The Recommended Treatment for the Dreaded Prolapsed Cloaca (An Egg Stuck in Your Chicken Drags her Insides Out):

One of my young (5-month-old) Buff Orpingtons began laying...and one day had a prolapsed cloaca with an egg stuck halfway out and a lot of poo just behind it. Panicked, I broke the egg to get as much off as I could, brought her inside to sluice her sore, nasty bottom with warm water (the temperature you'd use for a baby human, tested on my wrist), and then....took her to my veterinarian. She couldn't help, knowing nothing about chickens, but referred me right away to a country vet trained in livestock.

But he was honest enough to tell me he didn't know what to do, either! He said that in vet school, they don't teach anything about treating sick chickens, because their main customers will be people with flocks of 10,000, whose approach to an ill chicken is culling (i.e. KILLing).

But he went off and did some research, and here's what we did, which saved my chicken and cured the problem:

She needed a tiny shot every day for two weeks of a bird-safe antibiotic that doesn't linger in the system. You want Naxcel, 1 cc per day; my doc loaded a syringe [25x5/8] with several doses, and the medicine had to be kept cold, even during the drive, so take a cold pack and a little cooler with you to get it. Also, not every vet stocks it, so phone your vet and ask whether they have the medicine you need. (Be careful what you get, because the first-choice livestock antibiotic lingers for 18 months--fine for beef cattle, perhaps, but terrible in a bird whose laying life will only be two or three years.)

Also, DO NOT push the cloaca back into the hen. As it heals, it will withdraw on its own. Pushing it causes pain, damage, and puts bacteria (hers AND yours) into her body.

Keep the hen in a small or medium-size dog kennel, indoors and nice and warm (warmth is critical, I'm told; I actually added a little space heater to my warm bathroom for her), with her own food and water supply and protein treats like hard-boiled eggs, for about 72 hours max. (Any more and it's hard to get her re-introduced to her flock.) Sluice off her sore bottom with body-temperature warm water a couple times a day for the first few days, then leave her alone except to keep the kennel scrupulously clean for her, since part of her insides are in contact with it. Dead tissue is going to slough off, so don't be freaked out when there are gross fleshy dark strands in the kennel, as well as poop.

Re-introduce her back into the flock by putting her in the coop at night, when everyone's asleep in there. A "stealth return" helps keep them from picking on her so much, although my flock did give my sick girl a few pecks the first day, the little brats!

You'll still be needing to catch her to give the shots once she's back in the flock, and it's wonderful that after a few days, you won't be able to tell which chicken has the problem! So notice SOMEthing different about your sick girl's appearance, besides that sore behind, so you know who's supposed to get those shots! Alternate which breast you place the shot into and have a helper hold the bird for you. (My helper was a Physician's Assistant neighbor, who actually made house calls every morning and administered the shots. We looked up where to put the injections on the Internet. She gets free eggs for LIFE!)

Anyhow, my little gal is perfectly well and laying eggs nearly every day. I am so relieved! Finding her with part of her insides hanging out was one of the most awful pet animal experiences I've ever had, in my long life!

I hope this helps anyone whose much-loved hen has this terrible problem. (The whole veterinary extravaganza cost me $61.50, so I want you-all to help me get my money's worth. The medicine itself is very cheap--totalled only $8.00.)

Last edited by Lee-in-Iowa (Today 8:17 am)

 

[Lee-in-Iowa]

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Yes yes yes... I have made this mistake a few times... Hard to explain it to mu wife with logic...

Oh my yes! I was lying on the sofa reading a book...and discovered I still had four eggs in my pockets! After a while, it becomes so normal to have pockets-ful of eggs....

 

[TroutsChicks]

Chicken beauty tip: Chickens LOVE

dangly earrings! ow ow OOW ow

 

[Marcymom3]

They also think bandaids are treats. (found out same way you did....oww!)

 

[mawmaw]

I have a baby monitor in my chicken barn with the other part on my nightstand. If a predator tries to get in or anything disturbs the chickens, I can hear and investigate. Saves lots of worry.

 

[workinnanie]

Quote:
great idea!

 

[Backyard Hencam]

I have a baby monitor in my chicken barn with the other part on my nightstand. If a predator tries to get in or anything disturbs the chickens, I can hear and investigate. Saves lots of worry.

Gosh this would have been a lot cheaper than what we have. We have cameras on the indoor and outdoor run. I check in several times a day (as well as about 100 other people since it is also on my website). I'm not sure why we did this. I had a chicken website and thought it would be fun to put the camera on it. Now I have to watch out that I am properly dressed when I go out in the morning and open up the henhouse. Oh, well!