Dominique Thread!

[centrarchid]

buffalogal,

I am good friends with multiple vets and a co-worker that specializes in developing control of foot rot of small ruminanents. Ground mostly upland, or based on what they tell me, I would still be in trouble. Another co-worker specializes in control of internal parasites using anti-helmenthics (spelling off) of the chemical and herbal types. Wormwood was being investigated, now interest in chickory. The former are loosing controlling power over the barber worm. Yet another co-worker is starting a long-term project to develop goat and sheeps lines with increased natural immmunity to these nasty's.

Fences will be a problem to be sure.

Co-grazing yes. We used to free range games in barnyard and feed lots. Large animals (cattle, hogs and horses) would come into feed but when returning to pasture it was beyond foraging range of games. Larger animals moved too fast I think. Pastures there each at least 40 acres. Smaller setup I have now similar to yours and maybe more likely to work. I hope chickens will provide a measure of insect conntrol.

 

[RedDrgn]

Quote:
The Dominique will have the rose comb, the comb on the BR is a single comb and at that age will look like a teeny, tiny pink picket fence. Easy peasy.

Something that works for me during first few days is size of egg chicked hatched from. Some of my dom strains lay larger eggs than others and that is a very accurate predictor of relative chick for a short period (days following hatching). If memory serves BR have much larger eggs than doms. You can then distinguish if you have both types together.

Next time be smarter than me. Put cover over pedigree basket.

Oooh, yeah, definitely noticeable "picket fence" on the one as compared to the other....yaaaaay, we can finally stop saying they're one of two types when asked. XD

We got our chicks as day-olds, so we never saw the eggs. Will definitely remember that, though, thanks!

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

Good Morning Here is a 16 week old pullet that I am raising to show. Her crop has become large and very soft now for a couple of weeks. Seems to hang lower than normal. Does not decrease in size. So large it causes her to waddle around like a duck. She eats well, open range etc. After drinking water I have seen her vomit and she will right back to eating. She is inbred. She is now isolated. And none of the other birds show this type of problem. All are from separate breeding also, she has no siblings on the farm. I would cull her but she is the only bird that is old enough for show and has such good type that I wanted to get others suggestions on remeidies. John

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

In early 2010 we had a Red Sex Link hen get a crop full of long grass. "Artemis" was slowly starving to death. After searching BYC, my brother suggested we use olive oil to help her pass the blockage.

I realize this pullet probably has something else totally, but olive oil shouldn't hurt and you said the crop doesn't go down. We used an eye dropper and after a few doses Artemis decided it was yummy. She opened her beak for my daughter to dribble the oil in.

After the oil has been added to the chicken (this is sounding like a recipe!), hold the pullet and massage her crop. Repeat a few times per day or until someone more knowledgable chimes in and instructs otherwise.

 

[centrarchid]

Having a distended crop for any length of time is bad news. In most instances when my birds affected, condition worsened if I did not intervene. How is birds non-crop weight holding up?

 

[Delight in Dominiques]

Growth and weight gain do not seem to be an issue. I will isolate her in a cage with only water and soft foods for a couple of days to see how she does. The oil seems like a good idea also. Also searching on distending crop others have massaged the crop with some success. Sour crop does not seem to be the issue. John

 

[flitter]

Good luck. I hope it all works out for her and you.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

The other things we did for Artemis was to mix chick starter with yogurt. Might need a touch of water to keep from turning the mixture into spackle. Apple cider vinegar in the water is another "won't hurt, might help" thing we did.

Finally you need to borrow a pre-teen chicken lover to hold, pet, preen, massage, and pep talk the pullet. Middle Child (aka "Chicken Hugger") even got up early on school mornings to have time to massage Artemis prior to the school bus coming. Want to rent a kid? LOL.

 

[Gallusfarm]

Quote:
She has wonderful pattern. Rare to find pullets where the light bars are wider than the dark. Looks to have a nice tail spread as well. That crop - poor girl. I agree, yogurt is a good thing to feed her - you said her crop was soft, is there a foul odor to her breath? Does she burp if you massage it?

Keep us posted. Good luck to you...

 

[buffalogal]

If the crop isn't hard, iit could be that she has (for want of a better word) a dropped crop. It's a defect that is made worse when the birds that eat something that swell and stretch the crop, even if they are eating enough grit to grind it enough that it can be passed. Think of it like a person who eats constantly; even when their stomach is empty, it's still stretched out. For humans, you can have that excess stapled, no comparable option for a chicken. The crop falls out of place to an unnaturally low position, and eventually, bird has digestive problems because it doesn't empty like it should, and it's not as efficient at grinding feed. I hate to say it, but that's what it look like this girl has. I know a genius Dominique raiser who, after performing surgery on an impacted crop, used a pair of little boy underpants to hold everything "together" and keep her from grooming her stitches. It was put on so the head went through the hole in front, the wings went out the leg holes, and the waist; anyway, I wonder if the super padded training pants wouldn't help hold her crop up in place.

The only other thing I can think of is to make sure she has access to grit (not oyster shells). I don't know if feeding whole grain and grit would be better than pelleted feed or commercial mash at this point. I guess you could try her for acouple of weeks on one and then the other and see which she does better on.