Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[speckledhen]

Mommy 2 Wee Ones, you should really post this in Emergencies so it can be seen. At times, that hanging head/hanging wings can be a sign of botulism, but best to post it in the proper section so it can be seen quickly and not lost in all this.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

centrarchid I have her soaking in the tub, and she has perked up, will keep her in a separate cage for tonight & see how she looks in the morning.

Thank you so much for the pic. & info. This is our first illness in 7 months of having chickens.

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
I wasn't trying to scare anyone (my apologies to anyone who I frightened) - but I thought this thread was for no-nonsense replies.

TCL, I am in total agreement - try it - if it works, you like it, they like it, then go for it!

I've never been one to not try something that seemed to make sense, even if it came with caution warnings - good to know as much as you can going in. I'm sure your chickens are happy & healthy - you'll be able to know if there is a problem early on, I suspect.

It is for such replies and though I have never even seen a hen with impacted crop in my 55 years I have indeed heard of it and know it happens on occasion. I wonder if perhaps it would be do to a sudden "New" item in the coop that a hen just goes crazy over eating till they almost burst causing the impacting?

I had one hen we had to put in a different coop once after using wood chips, normally we use only hay and straw. We were given a bale of wood chips and put them over the sand after cleaning the hen house. Well one of our RIR that had never before seen them being used to hay and stray and would not stop eating them and we worried she would have issues, but luckily she was fine. After a couple days she lost interest in them, but is was something else to see.

A warning is always a good thing so folks watch for odd activity by their hens and boy can a hen do some really... um.... stupid things at times that cause them injury.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

After 20 min in the tub, her head perker up, she started looking around, as I talked to her, she was tilting her head like they all do. She is dried off, in the dog crate, eating BOSS & rice, and is acting normal )for now).

Will post this in emergencies, and see what others say.

centrarchid - may I borrow your pic, to show what she looked like?

Thanks!
Brenda

 

[toofarout]

Quote:
The rooster we had when I was a kid stood like that with his head hung even lower, after a dog attack and his neck was injured. We isolated him in the greenhouse and let him be not knowing if he would recover or not. Much to our surprise he did recover.
I'm not suggesting your dog had anything to with it btw!

 

[Wile E.]

All right. I'm a newbie with chickens.

So here's a question. Do I have to be paranoid about handwashing after handling eggs? I don't even worry about it, but the missus thinks I am a biohazard when I bring in an egg. (So far only one chicken is laying.)

Next, something my OT uncle told me. If the chickens have mites, you can hang a bananna peel near the roost. The mites will crawl onto it and you can throw it out.

Also, I was told a lot of parasites like lice, etc come from barn swallows. I suppose pigeons carry them too.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

toofarout - Nope was not our dog, he is scared of the chickens, and keeps a very safe distance from Owl our roo.

My hubby wondered if Owl (our roo), might have been a bit rough with her. None of my hens have missing neck feathers, just the usual loose under feathers near their lower back. But Owl is a bit grabby when he grabs them by the neck, and I did hear a few hen screams today while I was checking for eggs. But did not see who was doing the screaming.

I did do a post in the emergency form, will see what others have to say.

Again, thank you everyone for your input.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
Those are 3 wk old Cornish X broilers, the skin is Rubbed w/ Olive oil seasoned with several of the best spices for fowl= rosemary, thyme, sage, S&P, paprika.

The stuffing is homemade stale bread cubed and seasoned then baked at 275 for 30 min, then mixed with chopped cranberry's, walnut's, and finely chopped chicken gizzards sauted in chopped celery, onion in a light butter bath. mix it all together in a bowl with course chopped fresh flat parsley, 1 beaten egg and hand squished LOL. Then stuff the bird packing well, tie up the leg's with twine, roast at 350 degrees for 1 hr basting with a butter & Olive oil slurry till golden brown and slap Yo Mammi to good lookin to eat Golden brown.

There you have it...................... The food of the god's....................... sorry cooking is my deal, I am Italian ya know.

AL

 

[flagirl]

i got my hens from a friend and she uses hay, so i am also. i am in florida and an earlier poster mentioned using what ever was locally available. he is also from florida and says her uses spanish moss, sooo i put some in 2 nest boxes and hay in the other. the hens pulled it all out and ate it and layed in the hay box-they now all have hay. if they want moss, they can eat it when they are out foraging! our hay is just called coastal-whatever that means and straw is twice as expensive here.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Al Thanks! That sounds so yummy. Will have to try that after the holidays.