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

[Alibabe]

I am in the UK, where our temps are fluctuating between 2 - 3 deg at night last week to this week seems to be around 5-8 degs at night. Day time today was 13deg so a 'warmish' day in comparison to last week when we had days of 7 - 8. I did add more straw to their bedding over the weekend - there is now about 3 - inches of a mixture of straw and wood shavings in there. The door of the shed is open all day but closed at night.

I will have to get some pics as soon as I can but at the moment it is dark when I get home from work but will try tomorrow morning and see if I can get some and will post.

Fluctuating temps 'sounds' right to me as the coop was cleaned on Sunday and by today, the white combs are reappearing on my 2 big girls. I am thinking of adding more ventilation but just worried about making it too cold for when winter sets in.

I am trying to convince my hubby to add leaves and some soil to the bottom of the coop and not to clean it but turn everything over once a week as I am thinking it might be too dry in there - does that sound right or am I completely off track here?

Thanks for the help, really appreciate it

 

[smyers32]

I'm so glad and appreciative that you took the time to do this necropsy and I encourage other newbies to do this sort of exploratory investigation when you have unexplained and sudden deaths as well. You can learn so much by just looking. You may not know what you are looking at but there are many pics online that can help you compare what you are looking at with the other chicken anatomy and you can always ask here. Someone here has usually had experience with cutting up a chicken and can tell you what you are looking at.

Now you know why your bird died and you don't have to worry about the rest of your flock and the possibilities of contagion. Now, you need to think strongly about the breeds you keep, when to cull for egg laying efficacy and what to look for to prevent egg peritonitis in the future. That's the easy part!

It would be really cool to post this on the Road Less Traveled thread so that others could see one good reason to cull non or sporadic layers in the flock before troubles occur.

Bee, thank you so very much for your input on this. I was really expecting to see an egg in there, like a real egg not a cooked white with no shell. When I didn't see that, I was really perplexed and frankly worried that my other chickens were going to start dropping off. So to know that my first guess was right is a huge relief, not for the sake of being right, just to know it's not a disease that will spread.

I really appreciate your tutelage on the matter. I'll admit I was a little grossed out and hesitant when I started the process, but once I got everything out and was trying to sort thru and determine what's what, it was kinda fun. Other than the smell...

 

[chickachee]

You really don't need it on their combs. Frost bite is a humidity problem, not a dry comb or cold comb problem. Just provide good ventilation in your coop to prevent the humidity levels during cold weather. I stopped having comb tips freeze when I started using deep litter in the coop, with pine shavings. I think the pine shavings actually absorbed some of the high humidity in the coop because we have had colder weather since and I was using the exact same coop, with the same ventilation(plenty) and haven't had a frost bit comb since starting the deep litter.

Thanks Bee! I didn't know that frost bite was related to a humidity problem. Now I do. I think my coop is good so far humidity-wise. I do a kind of a semi-deep litter. I have the shavings and leaves on the floor, but I have a poop board and scoop it off each a.m. Don't know if I can revise that, as the food trough is hung under the poop board and if I removed that (the board), I wouldn't have a spot for the trough. I suppose I could toss the poop onto the floor and go from there, eh?

 

[Beekissed]

I am in the UK, where our temps are fluctuating between 2 - 3 deg at night last week to this week seems to be around 5-8 degs at night. Day time today was 13deg so a 'warmish' day in comparison to last week when we had days of 7 - 8. I did add more straw to their bedding over the weekend - there is now about 3 - inches of a mixture of straw and wood shavings in there. The door of the shed is open all day but closed at night.

I will have to get some pics as soon as I can but at the moment it is dark when I get home from work but will try tomorrow morning and see if I can get some and will post.

Fluctuating temps 'sounds' right to me as the coop was cleaned on Sunday and by today, the white combs are reappearing on my 2 big girls. I am thinking of adding more ventilation but just worried about making it too cold for when winter sets in.

I am trying to convince my hubby to add leaves and some soil to the bottom of the coop and not to clean it but turn everything over once a week as I am thinking it might be too dry in there - does that sound right or am I completely off track here?

Thanks for the help, really appreciate it

I think its the temps and the humidity. Closing the coop at night may be the problem and the extra ventilation won't make them any less cold...just as long as it isn't blowing right on them. I'd add some more venting up at the roof line..those garden sheds are pretty tight. I'd also encourage hubby to see the light...the extra DL can absorb some of the extra humidity as well. Humidity is the enemy when it comes to frost bite and combs.

Dry is good right now but let it build up and layer it in. Let the chickens do the work of turning by throwing some scratch in the bedding in the mornings when you have to keep them cooped up...they will have it all turned and fluffy when you come back home. I'd do that just every now and again to keep the moisture from the manure form forming "caps" in the bedding.

I think you are on the right track! Keep it up... and welcome to the thread and the forum!

 

[Beekissed]

Thanks Bee! I didn't know that frost bite was related to a humidity problem. Now I do. I think my coop is good so far humidity-wise. I do a kind of a semi-deep litter. I have the shavings and leaves on the floor, but I have a poop board and scoop it off each a.m. Don't know if I can revise that, as the food trough is hung under the poop board and if I removed that (the board), I wouldn't have a spot for the trough. I suppose I could toss the poop onto the floor and go from there, eh?

Yep, it would be a start. It sounds like your coop is pretty small? If so, it won't take much to get some good, cultured DL going in there...just make sure you have lots of ventilation going on. Those small coops are difficult to provide venting without drafts.

We are all learning...I remember putting Vaseline on my combs not so very many years ago!

 

[Beekissed]

Quote: I really appreciate your tutelage on the matter. I'll admit I was a little grossed out and hesitant when I started the process, but once I got everything out and was trying to sort thru and determine what's what, it was kinda fun. Other than the smell...

Just think if you hadn't had the cajones to do that necropsy? We would have never known! Thank you so very much for posting the pics and the experience...it was about time this thread got back to being a learning site with all the gross pics and all!

 

[delisha]

I don't find them gross myself, but, understand that others do.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't either but the uninitiated may find them a little much....I find them merely educational.

That is why folks come to this thread, I imagine..to learn something they cannot find elsewhere.

 

[NanaKat]

Great improvement in those White Rocks! Now I need to go read the entire thread...

 

[Pozees]

Goodness, you have all had a productive day! Lots of learning to read tonight!

I really appreciate the "gross" (educational) pictures, and also am fascinated by the necropsy. This is how doctors, nurses, veterinarians and techs learn about the ways health issues present. I admire the curiosity and desire to learn overcoming the initial reluctance to cut open an animal, and the explanation Bee offered - especially the final diagnosis. Extremely helpful!

Fred, Bee, and all other WR fans - if you could not have white chickens would another color Rock be your first choice, or is there another breed you feel is closer to the collection of attributes that is the WR?

On the topic of soft shelled eggs, my red hen laid a few soft shelled eggs, they already get ACV and FF, so I added a dish of yogurt 3 times in a week, and whether that had anything to do with it or not, the soft shelled eggs stopped and I have since been presented with a nice hard shelled, well-colored egg 6 of the last 7 days. This week I added BOSS and some wild bird seed to the FF and the shell is even darker. Again, could be pure coincidence, but I am happy to see it.