Help I have a butt pecker

[Hannah2911]

If you are concerned about parasites, deworming can't hurt. We use Valbazen liquid, purchased at TSC. You can find very helpful information, including dosing in the following link:
Post in thread 'Valbazen Dosage?'

You'll need to weigh your girls. If you have a scale, take your weight without holding the bird, then take it again, wearing the same clothing and weigh your bird and subtract the difference.
Some people have luck weighing their chickens on a kitchen scale. I have tried this and it doesn't work so well for me as they are too squirmy and I want a more accurate weight. Plus I'm holding them as they won't stand still on the scale so that interferes with the result.

@thecatumbrella has given good advice on the Calcium. Typically it's recommended Calcium Citrate with D3. It absorbs quickly and can help especially during contractions. The recommended dosage is 300-600 mg, one tablet a day for 5-7 days. If you have a helper to hold her it would be easier to dose but if not, wrap a towel around the chicken's wings to help calm her and makes it easier to control her. Hold her under one arm like a football and then with the same arm holding her open her beak and with the other hand pop in the tablet. It is a large pill but they can swallow it no problem. They may spit it out, just try again. Ensure her head is level, do not lift it up skyward when placing the vitamin pill in. We have one chicken that spits it out and it takes 3-4 do-overs for me before she finally gives up and swallows it. Hopefully the calcium will be all your girl needs for a boost to get past the soft shelled eggs. I have never used the calcium powder and would hold off putting that in the food. Definitely do not use the powder AND the calcium tablets -- too much.

Cold weather does not impact egg laying, it is the hours of daylight that determines the lay schedule. Some breeds do lay during the winter months once molting is complete. Other breeds take the winter off until days grow longer again.
Soft shelled eggs are no uncommon for new layers or they may have an occasional hiccup and lay a soft shell but then return to normal shelled eggs.

There are many threads here on egg quality and there's a great article in the Articles tab (3rd brown tab in the top banner), check under the Learning Center. There is information on egg quality. I'll look for items I've bookmarked and when I find them I'll post it here.

Happy to hear it's happening less frequently. That's a positive update.

Hey! I found this in poo today. I had taken a stool sample of a few I had one day to the vet for fecal. They said they didn’t see anything. But I found this while cleaning the hen house today. It had to have been passed last night bc I clean every day to help with moisture right now bc it’s so cold and icy

 

[Bawkbok]

woah - what is that? What is the texture? Is that in a location where you would normally find poop?

 

[Hannah2911]

woah - what is that? What is the texture? Is that in a location where you would normally find poop?

Definitely looked like a worm. I didn’t feel it bare handed. I had a glove. I showed the vet and he said he thinks roundworm. I’m taking new stool samples of each bird and that worm and a chicken to the vet tomorrow. Since I can’t find that med you said to get he has fenbendazole in paste and will give me a dose for each girl based on weight and show me how to give it. It was stuck to a piece of poo

 

[Bawkbok]

It's great that you have a vet that will accept chickens; most of us don't have access to one. Let us know what they determine.

 

[Hannah2911]

It's great that you have a vet that will accept chickens; most of us don't have access to one. Let us know what they determine.

He technically doesn’t but I used to work for him and he has chickens. I still help him here and there so in return he will help with meds and stuff for the birds. I’ll keep y posted

 

[Hannah2911]

It's great that you have a vet that will accept chickens; most of us don't have access to one. Let us know what they determine.

Hey. Coming for advice in panic. So e had that worm. They didn’t have valbenzen and it would have taken longer to get it. They got fenbendazole but still took a few days. Liquid kind not the put in water. I was to give .5 ml three days to each. The one I suspected most of worms hasn’t shown any sign of sickness except not laying eggs. I gave oral Sunday and last night. I put a little on their tongue and let them swallow and did that slowly till it was gone. Went fine Sunday. Yesterday I was scared bc I was trying to do it slow and I think the plunger in syringe was stuck and it shot in. Now that happened on two out of five. Four are ok and this one I was able to slow. But this morning I checked at 5 am bc I was worried. The ones it shot in seem ok. I listened to their breathing and doesn’t sound off and normal behavior. But this one was in the hen house under the perches which is abnormal for them. So I went out and she couldn’t walk well. I have her inside. I put vitamin water and some food in there. I have no idea what to do and I have to work today (started new job so can’t call in) she’s just laying down. Any idea? Also it is nice to have a vet for meds and he has chickens but I have said stuff to him and I don’t think he’s a chicken pro. He knows some basics. I think he is a put a couple hundred on land and doesn’t monitor like I do. I just googled and it said they would show immediate respiratory distress if it was aspiration and none of them did. I waited for a few mins and all seemed fine before I left. But I am now looking at videos and there were signs of restlessness in the night and early morning was making this sound. She’s quietly laying right now. I will add video of then and now

 

[Bawkbok]

I don't know what to suggest - asking for assistance from those more experienced with worming and potential side affects. @thecatumbrella @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @coach723

 

[Chickenman59]

The suspect is the pictured hen. They are Easter eggers and are 9 months old. This is a new thing. This hen is picking out the others tail feathers. I put no pickn on the girls tails today. I will do blue kote tomorrow. About our setup. I’m in the city and not a lot of space so my girls don’t leave their run. I wish I could make it bigger but this is what I have. Their run is 8 feet by 12 feet and I have 5 hens. Their hen house is connected and it’s 4.5 feet by 8 feet. It is shorter and not big like I’d like but I didn’t know much about chickens when I started. I added onto it making it longer. I will build a larger one this year sometime. In their run they have two feeders a waterer a concrete block to trim beaks and a perch I’ll add a photo. I had a swing but they didn’t use it. I have a tangerine toy on the side of the wire hanging. I feed nutrena crumble layer feed. I have a separate feeder with oyster shells. I give lettuce in hanging bags and have a dangling stick thing I spike veggies and fruit on that hang from the roof. I give meal worms as treats regularly. I bought a small dog kennel for a chicken jail. When I saw her pluck a feather I put her in it but intend to let her out of jail for bedtime. I don’t know how to stop this and any help would greatly be appreciated

Try isolating the bully for a few days that will reset the pecking order and maybe it will help

 

[thecatumbrella]

I hope your girl is feeling better this morning. Unfortunately, I don't have any direct experience with worming and can't answer to that. I do have reasonable experience giving meds in general.

If you need to give liquid medication in the future, you can try adding it to a small amount of a high value treat (like cat food), but ensure your patient has the appetite first and will actually take it.

If you're only giving a small amount of liquid, and your patient won't take food, then I'd get it into their mouth by slowly smearing it along the crack of the beak. The liquid will naturally work its way in and be swallowed. Beware this is a slow process, but it's one I've had to do for chicks.

Hoping the educators will be along this afternoon to help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Hard to tell if she has aspirated, but I usually only give 1/2 ml at a time, or put it in a very small serving of egg or something they will take all of quickly. She might just be feeling poorly. I would check her crop to make sure that it emptying by morning. If the crop doesn’t empty overnight, they might have a crop disorder or sour crop, and can have crop contents come back up into the throat causing gurgles or choking. The SafeGuard liquid for goats is sufficient for most chicken worms if given for 5 days 1/4 ml per pound of weight. Chickens who have laid soft eggs may be suffering from a reproductive disorder such as salpingitis (inflamed oviduct) or have a calcium deficiency. The calcium citrate can be given for up to 7 days to help with that.