Hello from Vancouver, WA!

[drumstick diva]

 

[Ohgrr]

Hello and welcome from up the road in Yakima, WA

 

[John Lemley]

Nice meeting you Audrey. I also live in Vancouver, WA and just found this group. We seven laying hens. A couple weeks ago our bantam hen died suddenly. She had whitish liquid coming out of her vent. My wife, a nurse, felt inside the vent. There wasn't a stuck egg. Then, this morning a hen drowned. We think a dog scared her and she fell into a water barrel. One of our hens is raising seven chicks. They are three days old today. When she starts setting we go to the feed store and buy chicks to put under her. She's an excellent mother. We bought 14 red Cornish chicks in mid-May. We were told that they were an older meat breed. About one chick has been dying each week. We have seven of these chicks left. They start by being sluggish, then begin panting for air and die in a few days. Sure wish I could figure out why. I'm in the phone book. Give me a call if you want. John and Lois Lemley

 

[De Novo Farm]

Nice meeting you Audrey. I also live in Vancouver, WA and just found this group. We seven laying hens. A couple weeks ago our bantam hen died suddenly. She had whitish liquid coming out of her vent. My wife, a nurse, felt inside the vent. There wasn't a stuck egg. Then, this morning a hen drowned. We think a dog scared her and she fell into a water barrel. One of our hens is raising seven chicks. They are three days old today. When she starts setting we go to the feed store and buy chicks to put under her. She's an excellent mother. We bought 14 red Cornish chicks in mid-May. We were told that they were an older meat breed. About one chick has been dying each week. We have seven of these chicks left. They start by being sluggish, then begin panting for air and die in a few days. Sure wish I could figure out why. I'm in the phone book. Give me a call if you want. John and Lois Lemley

I would go ahead and slaughter the Cornish. They need to be slaughtered between weeks 6-8 depending on the protein ration you are feeding them. They grow so fast that their hearts can't keep up which is why they become lethargic, begin panting, and die.