HELP! I'm crying... I honestly don't know what is happening?

[purpletree23]

How is everyone doing tonight? Better I hope. On their way to a full recovery with lots of TLC.

 

[RedneckChikns]

Agreed on the fact that a caged/cooped chicken CANNOT EXIST on oatmeal and scraps. And laying is up to the bird and enviromental conditions....not OATMEAL and who ever told you that should be shot! Table scraps make a nice addition but they should always have calcium...oyster shell and a layer feed FIRST. Hope they make it!

 

[lululemon436]

@rooster lover, I hope your hen makes a speedy recovery.

To everybody else, thank you for all the help. I have never had so much help with chickens. You guys are a chicken saver! Here is an update:

The black chicken, is doing pretty well.

The brown hen, who was walking funny, is now able to stand up and waddle around. she tries her best, but her wing still "falls" down like rooster lover mentioned. I think they are hungry because poop is green. I am going to the feed store first thing tommorow afternoon to get real chicken pellets. Also, the brown chicken pooped a lot of sand and very small pebbles out... I guess natural "grit" but she ate way to much of it. Should i continue to fee them grit mixed with food (i have some grit at home)? Or is oyster shells better? What about crushed up crab shells? I have spent a lot of $$$$ already on finding different options for them so please if it is inexpensive that would be great.

 

[honeydoll]

I just offer grit to my chickens in a seperate dish and they eat what they need when they need it. Chickens only have so much room in them to get their nutrition so it is important that they get enough of the proper nutrition, adding grit may not leave enough room for the nutrient rich feed. There are proper proportions to mix grit with feed but I don't know it. Doing a search would quickly give you that. If you have black oil sunflower seed on hand, that will given them protein and also is good for healthy feathers. Anyway, oyster shell should be good for calcium, I also offer that in a seperate dish. They will eat what they need if offered to them freely. Grit and oyster shell serve two different purposes and cannot do both jobs, they need both. Canned cat food is also a good choice but not on a daily basis (at least I wouldn't think), if noone mentioned this so far. Crickets, meal worms from a pet store are good as treats, but can be pricey if buying alot. Buying a dozen isn't too expensive though.

HTH

Carolyn

 

[blefky]

Quote:
Rooster lover, Epsom salt, taken internally, is a laxative. Given twice daily for any length of time, this in itself will cause your birds to become unhealthy. If your hens are fed only on table scraps, I think you might want to try the advice given to lululemon. Creating good health in the flock, and good healthy eggs requires proper nutrition.

 

[tammye]

give them some vitamin B complex and vitamin E in their food, sounds like a possible vitamin deficiency, this has happen to one of my hens, took two weeks of extra vitamins in her food until she got better and able to walk, but she is fine now, very strong. I have tread here that silkies are even more prone to vitamin deficiencies, disolve a vitamin in their water or get a powdered pill form break open the pill and sprinkle the vitamin powder on a favorite treat, do this like every other day, don't give vit. E every day stays in the body longer than B vitamins. also you can get some electrolyte solution and add to their water for a boost. good luck

 

[chickengrl]

OP: you have great advice here already, good luck with your hens. Rooster lover: I don't think epsom salts would be a good idea to give your hen. I think you may be dehydrating her with it. The vitamins should be helpful. Good luck.