HOW to hold a chicken upside down?

[al6517]

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How scared will you be if you don't hold her upside down and she passes because you didn't. save her life first then take her to see Dr Phil as soon as your able. Come on folks get real.......................

AL

 

[DIMBY]

I learned from my first birds that grabbing them by both legs, then gently turning them upside down is the best way to calm and handle them, especially the ones that aren't too friendly, or roosters generally. They seem to go limp after just a few seconds. I'm not saying leave them upside down for more than a minute, but for quickly getting them into a crate or on to of a table for a check up, it's the only way to go.

 

[Chickiemama1010]

I have held a chicken by the feet upside down for several reasons. Never had sour crop, but had to blu-kote a hen that had been picked on, had to inspect various wounds and raw under wings from overly zealous rooster love, check for suspected mite problem, and clean up bloody vent from big egg issue so the others wouldnt make the backside worse pecking at the red blood.

I think its harmless, as long as you are gentle and as considerate as possible to the bird. They calm down right away, and almost seem to go into a chicken trance. Holding a skittish bird or a mean roo in your hands seems to cause more stress and fighting than the upside down method. So if you need to, be like Nike......Just Do It

 

[Minniechickmama]

Mrs FP, you are just a smarty pants, aren't you?

I know I am glad I had read about sour crop before it happened so I had some idea of what was happening.

wcheek- I just hold them around their backs and squeeze gently from the feet end of the crop toward the mouth, they will open their mouths and let it come out. I do this for a couple seconds then let off, sort like if one were wretching when vomitting. You can't just squeeze and keep squeezing and not let up. The take it well. But if you can do it by the feet, I suppose that would be fine (AL), but I think that mine feel a bit more secure with my holding them the way I do. I am not a huggy kissy type with my birds, so it isn't about that.
And when squeezing, I mean it is more of a firm massage unless that doesn't result in anything. It is more important to have water for your bird than food, and unless she is on death's door, I would try the apple cider vinegar water only for a couple of days and follow what I said I will be doing with my birds. They will have an appetite, and you should see yours perk up a bit more. What is worse, if she dies without you doing something, or if she dies after you know you were trying to help her? If she is eating feed, you are also feeding the yeast in her crop. In fact, the feed has yeast in it, and most of the rest is perfect food for a sour crop to thrive, so your first action is to try to reduce this by 1.) expelling the excess gunk, then 2.) doing something to reduce the yeast in the crop which is what the ACV is supposed to do. I start out with about a tablespoon in one cup and then dilute it a bit more from there. I hope this helps.

Good luck, those of you who have birds with this problem.

 

[al6517]

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AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh......................... Another voice of reason. Thanks for posting.

AL

 

[al6517]

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Good point's one in all, I like the squeezing part it makes alot of sense and seems like a reasonable method.

AL

 

[Beekissed]

AL, one of my chickens was reading this post and suddenly turned to ask me this question, "Now why don't I ever get kissy poos and huggy pies????" She also didn't realize that there were other ways to hold a chicken besides upside down until reading this post....needless to say, it will be all over the coop by tomorrow morning!

Thanks for raising the bar on chicken care here at my place......

 

[al6517]

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Well thank you my dear, anytime I can help just holler LOL.

AL