Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

Night before last the pop-door (on a timer) shut out 5 chickens. When I went to check on them about 9:30, they were REALLY pi.. uh, irritated. They were all stacked up roosting on the ramp up by the door, and when I opened the door, they all piled in and chewed me out royally for shutting that *&^% door too early. So I changed the timer by 20 minutes, and last night I only had one hen shut out. I guess it is still closing too early, ya think????? I'll try 20 more minutes on the timer for tonight -- that will put the closing at about 9:10.

My head hen is a Campine, and she was quite vocal in her disapproval of the whole situation. If you have ever been around a Campine, you know what I mean.

 

[chickmama1662]

Morning everyone. I have an Orphington hen (about 4 months old) that is having trouble standing up. I was sitting outside last night watching them and noticed that she was sitting a lot. She can stand up for a little bit and then starts to wobbling front to back and then sits back down. She can get around well enough that she could get away from me for a little bit while I was trying to catch her but not for long. I picked her up and my DH and I both looked and felt her leg & thigh and couldn't tell anything was wrong. While holding her I put my hand under her feet and I think I felt the same amount of pressure against my hand from both feet. We separated her overnight to help protect her but she's not standing much better this morning. My Maran rooster tries to bully this group of 8 so they are still in a separate pen from the older group but I do let them out a little together. The Maran was chasing them last night but I'm not sure if he caused her to hurt her leg or not. Does anyone have any suggestions ... should I keep her separated from the rest of her small group of put her back out in the run? Thanks.

 

[Hawkeye95]

My one goose is still lame. I really don't know what to do for her. I set them up a double kennel over by the barn and then strung out 100 feet of that safety fence you recommended so they could get out and eat the grass. But she never leaves the pen. I think she is too afraid she can't get away fast enough if she gets scared. Poor thing! I am trying to get her a better diet but she isn't improving much.

Then I went to work on my quail pen and took it apart and tried to rebuild it. I think I am done except for cutting some grooves for the trays to slide out, and bracing the bottom so the wind won't blow it over. I tried to make it as light weight as possible but in doing so it isn't real steady in a gust of wind. I was really wanting to get it done and move those birds out today but I just ran out of energy.
I need to go back out and water everyone again and tuck them into bed later.

Sorry about your goose! What happened to her? Are you talking about that orange safety fence they use for construction and snow breaks? Will you need to tie down the quail pen someway? I used those cork screw ground ties to tie my chain link dog kennel down with. It blew away twice before I got smart.

The Bone Jacking

That collie looking dog is really pretty! Love him! Cute story! I have two little dogs and they go round and round with dropping a chew and the other grabbing it. The dynamics can be pretty entertaining!

Hawkeye, I've decided to wait until tomorrow night to put the guinea eggs under the hen-- the Australorp. Maybe if I get some more from my guineas I will try a few with the Cornish. I have never heard that about the eggs reabsorbing the chick--- that is crazy!! Did the little chick make it okay??

If she's still sitting, then you're good to go! It's pretty smart to wait a couple of days and make sure she is really sticking with it. As far as the eggs reabsorbing-- the study I read, and I saved the link in a file I'm keeping info in, said that on birds that have 5 toes, if they get cool in the middle of incubation, that they have found the outer toes to be susceptible to becoming reabsorbed. It never mentioned any other body parts, just those outside toes. I found it really interesting, because I think my own chick might have had that happen. Possibly. The thing is that, that genetic mutation is an incomplete dominate and for it to happen to only ONE of my chicks, when I have hatched out close to 16 now-- seems a little suspicious. Because the odds lie in favor of nearly most of my chicks having that mutation if it were being passed on genetically. And I know that my hen kicked that egg out a couple of times and I stuck it back under her. Either way, I won't be breeding that chick myself. The only way to figure out if it was genetic is to breed it and see if it has offspring with brachydactyly or if their toes are fine. If their toes are fine, then it's indeed an incubation problem. It's the ONLY chick that had that happen.

Gosh it was so hot here today, I about died! I just don't take the heat well at all any more. My granddaughter left when my DH went to work, he took her home on his way, so I took the opportunity to lay down for a nap while it was super hot, I was exhausted. We had trouble getting her to bed last night, she wanted to call her mom at 1:00 in the morning, which we promptly told her we were not going to do. Then she got my DH up at 7:30 & he was not too pleased about being woke up at that hour since we don't ever get to bed until about 1:30. So he's going to be a tired guy tonight too. Anyway, after I got up from my nap I went out & did all my chores & it was still hot as can be. I decided I just had to work on that turkey pen, so I sat out in the driveway in the shade & put the hardware cloth on the two sides & the gate tonight. I was soaking wet when I came in, I'm heading for the shower soon. At least I got that much done & tomorrow I need to build the box part for the shelter for them & hook everything together. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this one. It's kind of like the chick pen, but only with an attached shelter for them to get in since it's outside. I probably will end up putting a tarp over part of it too for some shade, we'll see about that part after I get it put together. I'm still using the wood & pallets I got from the air conditioner place, so it's being put to good use. I think I have about two more small pallets left of all the ones I got. I have torn them apart & used them for the pens I've been building. I hope they get some more pallets there & I can go back & get some more, they sure seem to be handy to have around. I didn't think I would like tearing them apart & it is kind of a pain, but the free wood is worth it.

Yikes, that sounds like not a very fun night with your granddaughter staying up that late! I bet her mom would have been pretty upset to get a phone call at 1 in the morning. Unless my kid broke his arm, I wouldn't want that call! ha! Good luck with the turkey pen! I'd love to see what it looks like when you get done.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Night before last the pop-door (on a timer) shut out 5 chickens. When I went to check on them about 9:30, they were REALLY pi.. uh, irritated. They were all stacked up roosting on the ramp up by the door, and when I opened the door, they all piled in and chewed me out royally for shutting that *&^% door too early. So I changed the timer by 20 minutes, and last night I only had one hen shut out. I guess it is still closing too early, ya think????? I'll try 20 more minutes on the timer for tonight -- that will put the closing at about 9:10.

My head hen is a Campine, and she was quite vocal in her disapproval of the whole situation. If you have ever been around a Campine, you know what I mean.

It's not really getting dark until nearly 9pm-- my chickens are staying up later and heading in right around 9. Sounds like the girls were not thrilled with being left out. I don't even know what a Campine looks like, so I'll have to take your word that they are vocal.

Morning everyone. I have an Orphington hen (about 4 months old) that is having trouble standing up. I was sitting outside last night watching them and noticed that she was sitting a lot. She can stand up for a little bit and then starts to wobbling front to back and then sits back down. She can get around well enough that she could get away from me for a little bit while I was trying to catch her but not for long. I picked her up and my DH and I both looked and felt her leg & thigh and couldn't tell anything was wrong. While holding her I put my hand under her feet and I think I felt the same amount of pressure against my hand from both feet. We separated her overnight to help protect her but she's not standing much better this morning. My Maran rooster tries to bully this group of 8 so they are still in a separate pen from the older group but I do let them out a little together. The Maran was chasing them last night but I'm not sure if he caused her to hurt her leg or not. Does anyone have any suggestions ... should I keep her separated from the rest of her small group of put her back out in the run? Thanks.

It sounds like she is weak, rather than a leg or foot problem. Not sure what that might indicate. Could she be wormy? Have mites on her? I'd check her over first for mites and see if she's being run over with them. Look at her vent and tail area-- that is the best place to see them. I just flip up all the feathers around the vent and look. If you see white crusts or even scabs-- then she's got them. Dust her with Seven or even a puppy flea and tick powder. I use both (not at the same time)-- just whatever I grab first. I have heard of mites killing chickens. I've never seen it first hand though.

 

[prairie]

I love this photo!! Terv is a fantastic looking dog! What breed is he?
Our temps here was 90 but the humidity must have been higher cause I was sure sweating when I came in from the garden about 11am. Our hens have lots of cedar trees in their run so they can keep cool but I think I will get some bigger pans for them to stand in too. Thanks for the info, Danz.

Prairie, It must have been a bit cooler over here. I got my watering and transplanting done (thinning my tomatoes to give some to a neighbor/friend). It was warm, but with a light breeze and I was in the shade, anyway. Your poor hen had the right idea, though.Wish mine would do that when it gets too hot.

 

[prairie]

Sharol, I have noticed too that it sure is light for a long time in the evening. Last night I was waiting until dusk to move the Austrlorp into her new broody box but it was about 8:45 before I finally went out. The chicken house is much darker inside too so that helped.

Aussie didn't mind at all -- even though hubby didn't get the little towel over her head -- he got it on her body! but she just cackled a little and I hurriedly put her new nest box in and swapped the eggs -- er. golf balls -- and put her back. I think she just settled in and is still not raising a ruckus this morning. I found this post about moving broodies and am trying his way.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/162759/moving-a-broody-hen#post_1962433

I didn't have two boxes but have a removable top on her box and then a piece of plywood in front of the door. Because of the heat I think I will remove the plywood and top by about noon and hope she will keep setting. I plan to put the guinea eggs under her tonight.

 

[chickmama1662]

Thanks Hawkeye, we have had mites on this group before; I last treated them about 10 days ago. It was about 8:00 last night when all this was happening and I did look at her vent and didn't see anything; last time I could see little red specks around their vents. I dusted her vent area with Sevin again just to be sure. I'll check her again this afternoon when I get home. At this point mites would be prefereable, at least we can kill those little buggers; not sure what to do with a leg problem. I'll keep you posted.

 

[chicken danz]

chickmama, I would separate her for a few days and see how she does. Once in a while a chicken will go lame or have an inflamed joint for no apparent reason. I have given a few chickens a couple drops of children's liquid Ibuprofen and it seems to do wonders for them. If it is inflammation you will see a difference in a short period. Make sure she has plenty of vitamins in her diet and maybe feed her some extra treats like thawed frozen peas or left over veggie salad or something. I've given my ill birds everything from tuna to hamburger to boost their protein level and they do love it.
Be sure not to let her get overheated while she isn't doing well.
I don't close doors on chicken houses but there are certain pens I close up at night. It was like 20 after 9:00 before I got the last group of girls shut up. And I still had a couple roosters that hadn't gone to bed yet. My little goslings had no intention of going back into their pen until I walked them back into it.
Hawkeye this Sabastopol goose went lame a couple weeks ago or longer. I have no idea why. I thought it was a niacin deficiency but so far she hasn't gotten a lot better. They are such heavy birds I am sure their poor legs take a beating. Josie, told me to buy some of that orange safety fence and some cheap fiberglass posts to make a temporary pen. It won't keep anything out but it is just enough barrier to keep them in. They only need a couple of feet in height and they'll stay in unless something is after them. I'm trying to let them get out and eat weeds and grass. I guarantee you if my yard was fenced these girls would probably have the weeds gone in no time. I might never have to mow again with a big flock of geese. Right now I just made an extenson of their kennel out of a 100 foot roll of fencing so they have a lot of room to graze.
I'm not an expert but Terv looks like a sable collie to me. Unusual to see one with a lack of white on it though. Kansaseq, give it up. What breed is he?

 

[chickmama1662]

Danz, thanks for the information. I do have some children's ibuprophen that I can give her. Sounds like she is in for lots of treats too! She will be so spoiled, she won't want to go back in the run.

 

[Myabcs3]

Chickenmamma1662 - I had an large black orp which exhibited the same syptoms last fall. Upon advice of others with large orps, I isolated her in a place where she could not roost and did not have to fly up or jump down. The theory is that with the large birds, the landing off roosts can cause inflammation or impact injuries in the hips and legs which are difficult to diagnosis. After a few weeks she was just fine. I then worked on my coop before reintegrating her to make sure that I had lots of padding under my roosts for landing and actually made it so she didn't have to jump/fly off the roost.

Hope that helps.