Im overwhelmed.. is all this normal?

[Morgan06]

Hi, I am very sorry to hear about your birds.....
I have been experiencing some of those problems myself. For the low calcium and vitamins, I like to give my girls the Purina Flock Block Poultry Supplement. I go to my nearest TSC and they normally have it. It provides the girls with enough vitamins and calcium, and the block also has treats inside of it, which makes them very happy.
I hope your birds get better!

 

[samanthaoverton]

They have their coop, run, and a fenced off part of the yard to free range so they definitely have a lot of space and things to climb on, areas to dig and dust bathe.. so I'm not sure but good questions

Im sorry you're feeling over run right now.. I live in the country and I hate to see all the stipulations put on chickens in the city.. some people can't live in the country like I can and they just want a taste of country. I know you're worried someone will complain..

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Hi everyone.. I have 6 backyard hens that are almost 1 year old. They have been laying for 5 months or so. They have been so loud since they started laying. Some days are better than others but sometimes they will be so loud for hours on end, especially one of them. She is going on 6 hours of nonstop noise today. Will this ever resolve? I live in a suburban area and I honestly can't deal with the noise anymore either.

Also... I think my hens had worms based on their dirty eggs. I treated that and the eggs are clean again. But now I am sure I have a mite infestation...

You can use a flashlight to check at night for mites.

It seems like all hell is breaking loose at once. I am starting to feel overwhelmed. Starting today I am restricting food to only layer pellets and oyster shells. This spring has not been fun... is this normal at all?

I've had multiple problems at once. It's not fun, but it gets better!

Any tips?

What does their coop/run look like? I would make sure there's the problem before treating it.

I love my little chooks .. I try to take care of them as best as I can. I thought I had great husbandry but I don't know anymore. I'm feeling pretty down over it all!

It's ok! You're doing the best you can!

-treated worms with DE in the food

FYI, DE might help prevent worms, but it doesn't actually help when they have them.

Plus, DE is a respiratory irritant-you don't want them to ingest it. It's ok, though. Just try to remember that for the future.

-treated coop for mites with Permethrin concentrate on everything, changed bedding.
-treated birds for mites with good dusting of permethrin poultry dust

Sounds like a good treatment for mites!

-oyster shells are store bought
-food is 16% protein layer pellets from Nutrena
-also just put some chick saver vitamins in their water today

Is there anything else I should/can be doing??

I don't think so-sounds like you're trying your best! I would definitely cut out the treats, as you've been doing.

Seriously? I don't need you to show me pictures or come back to this post. Thanks

If you ask a question on here, you're bound to get answers. They just may not be the answers you want.

You start to get to know the members the more you're on here. For example, @Kiki is very, very knowledgeable and nice, just can be a little.... blunt... at times.

 

[allameraucana]

You can use a flashlight to check at night for mites.


I've had multiple problems at once. It's not fun, but it gets better!

What does their coop/run look like? I would make sure there's the problem before treating it.

It's ok! You're doing the best you can!

FYI, DE might help prevent worms, but it doesn't actually help when they have them.

Plus, DE is a respiratory irritant-you don't want them to ingest it. It's ok, though. Just try to remember that for the future.

Sounds like a good treatment for mites!

I don't think so-sounds like you're trying your best! I would definitely cut out the treats, as you've been doing.



If you ask a question on here, you're bound to get answers. They just may not be the answers you want.

You start to get to know the members the more you're on here. For example, @Kiki is very, very knowledgeable and nice, just can be a little.... blunt... at times.

thanks for all of your responses. i really appreciate it

 

[Acre4Me]

Sometimes it seems overwhelming. But, everything can be resolved. We are in year 5 of chicken keeping, and still learning things. Some batches of chickens are more of a pain than others, in our experience.

1. Permethrin is exactly what you needed to spray for mites/flies/lice. It is meant to be diluted in water, though…unless yours says to spray directly bc it was already a dilution ready-to-use. We mix our permethrin in a garden sprayer. We put on disposable gloves and we directly spray the chickens too. This is after we clean and spray the coop. With gloves on, and coop clean and closed, one person holds the chicken upside down by the legs. The other person uses the sprayer to spray the vent area, and under the wings (and any other place that might need it). The sprayed chicken goes into the clean coop. This way we know who was sprayed snd who was not. Spray again in 7-10 days to get any newly hatched bugs. This 2x treatment should solve that problem.

2. Feed/diet. They are so fun to treat aren’t they? It is easy to give too much. Just limit the treats s bit, to a small amount. Another tactic is to give them their feed as a treat…all it takes is some water to turn it to a batter or oatmeal consistency…sprinkle a little scratch or seeds on top and they will be in chicken treat nirvana. You can practically hear my chickens gobble, glug, and slurp it up. Crazy chickens.

3. Calcium: provide some oyster shells - in a dry place. But, if you have a particular chicken with an issue, buy some calcium citrate tablets (meant for humans) and crush one and add to some scrambled egg or yummy wet feed with scratch (something wet and s small amount they will easily consume). Give to that chicken separate and repeat every other day for a few days or week. Repeat if needed. We had to do this with one chicken. Only a few doses and she never had that issue again. Others on BYC note a particular chicken needs the calcium citrate cycle more than once (but not all the time).

Worms: if there are no worms in the poop, I don’t think it’s needed to de-worm. But, I’ve never dealt with worms so I am not experienced with this topic.

Good luck!

 

[Weeg]

@allameraucana, how have your hens been?
I hope we're able to help you out and answer your questions. I'm sorry if @Kiki cam off harsh, she is a very knowledge member, she just tends to come off frank.

I think you're already on top of it cutting out the treats. I personally think that vegetable scraps, and treats in that area are okay, since they have nutrition value. Vegetable and fruits have antioxidants, nutrients, and vitamins, its important for all species to get a variety of fresh nutrients, and especially antioxidants for laying hens. I think it would be fine for you to keep feeding that, just cut out the scratch, which it seems you've already done, nice work!
How is your hen with the soft shell eggs? How old is she? Sometimes new layers just throw flukes, or in times of stress its normal to get some odd eggs. Stress can be predators lurking around, time of year, or similar. Is she still laying soft eggs?

Could you give me the dimensions of your coop? How many birds are in there? Your lady might be singing the egg song, but some lady are just loud unfortunately. Sounds like they have plenty of run space, thats great!

I do agree that you need a conventional wormer for chickens with worms, but I love holistic/natural remedies, so I think that DE is a great preventative. Just makes sure they can inhale it since it can irritate their respiratory system.

I hope this helps, if you have any more questions please do ask. Also, a bleated welcome to BYC!

 

[allameraucana]

Sometimes it seems overwhelming. But, everything can be resolved. We are in year 5 of chicken keeping, and still learning things. Some batches of chickens are more of a pain than others, in our experience.

1. Permethrin is exactly what you needed to spray for mites/flies/lice. It is meant to be diluted in water, though…unless yours says to spray directly bc it was already a dilution ready-to-use. We mix our permethrin in a garden sprayer. We put on disposable gloves and we directly spray the chickens too. This is after we clean and spray the coop. With gloves on, and coop clean and closed, one person holds the chicken upside down by the legs. The other person uses the sprayer to spray the vent area, and under the wings (and any other place that might need it). The sprayed chicken goes into the clean coop. This way we know who was sprayed snd who was not. Spray again in 7-10 days to get any newly hatched bugs. This 2x treatment should solve that problem.

2. Feed/diet. They are so fun to treat aren’t they? It is easy to give too much. Just limit the treats s bit, to a small amount. Another tactic is to give them their feed as a treat…all it takes is some water to turn it to a batter or oatmeal consistency…sprinkle a little scratch or seeds on top and they will be in chicken treat nirvana. You can practically hear my chickens gobble, glug, and slurp it up. Crazy chickens.

3. Calcium: provide some oyster shells - in a dry place. But, if you have a particular chicken with an issue, buy some calcium citrate tablets (meant for humans) and crush one and add to some scrambled egg or yummy wet feed with scratch (something wet and s small amount they will easily consume). Give to that chicken separate and repeat every other day for a few days or week. Repeat if needed. We had to do this with one chicken. Only a few doses and she never had that issue again. Others on BYC note a particular chicken needs the calcium citrate cycle more than once (but not all the time).

Worms: if there are no worms in the poop, I don’t think it’s needed to de-worm. But, I’ve never dealt with worms so I am not experienced with this topic.

Good luck!

thank you so much for the detailed response, i really do appreciate it.

 

[allameraucana]

@allameraucana, how have your hens been?
I hope we're able to help you out and answer your questions. I'm sorry if @Kiki cam off harsh, she is a very knowledge member, she just tends to come off frank.

I think you're already on top of it cutting out the treats. I personally think that vegetable scraps, and treats in that area are okay, since they have nutrition value. Vegetable and fruits have antioxidants, nutrients, and vitamins, its important for all species to get a variety of fresh nutrients, and especially antioxidants for laying hens. I think it would be fine for you to keep feeding that, just cut out the scratch, which it seems you've already done, nice work!
How is your hen with the soft shell eggs? How old is she? Sometimes new layers just throw flukes, or in times of stress its normal to get some odd eggs. Stress can be predators lurking around, time of year, or similar. Is she still laying soft eggs?

Could you give me the dimensions of your coop? How many birds are in there? Your lady might be singing the egg song, but some lady are just loud unfortunately. Sounds like they have plenty of run space, thats great!

I do agree that you need a conventional wormer for chickens with worms, but I love holistic/natural remedies, so I think that DE is a great preventative. Just makes sure they can inhale it since it can irritate their respiratory system.

I hope this helps, if you have any more questions please do ask. Also, a bleated welcome to BYC!

hii, thank you so much for your detailed reply, i appreciate it a lot. you know this is all new to me, i have never had livestock before and i am just figuring this all out on my own. i don't know why, but i didn't even know i was giving them too much for treats.

as for the the hen with soft shelled eggs, she is currently in the nesting box right now, i am hoping those 2 soft shelled eggs were a fluke, but i am not sure. they all like to share the same nesting box so i will monitor eggs today and tomorrow to see if i have gotten one from each chicken. 4 of them lay brown so it is hard to tell sometimes. otherwise, she seems healthy, eating normally.

so, i have 6 chickens and the coop is about 6ft x 4ft, the run is 12ft x 4ft, and their "pasture" is 11ft x 11 ft.


Thank you for the info on deworking/preventatives

and thank you for the welcoming. I appreciate it

 

[Weeg]

hii, thank you so much for your detailed reply, i appreciate it a lot. you know this is all new to me, i have never had livestock before and i am just figuring this all out on my own. i don't know why, but i didn't even know i was giving them too much for treats.

as for the the hen with soft shelled eggs, she is currently in the nesting box right now, i am hoping those 2 soft shelled eggs were a fluke, but i am not sure. they all like to share the same nesting box so i will monitor eggs today and tomorrow to see if i have gotten one from each chicken. 4 of them lay brown so it is hard to tell sometimes. otherwise, she seems healthy, eating normally.

so, i have 6 chickens and the coop is about 6ft x 4ft, the run is 12ft x 4ft, and their "pasture" is 11ft x 11 ft.


Thank you for the info on deworking/preventatives

and thank you for the welcoming. I appreciate it

You're welcome, I'm glad I can help. You can still feed scratch in moderation, just make sure. I used to over feed treats before BYC, theres definitely a learning curb there. Its so easy to over treat them isn't it.
I'm glad she seems healthy. If she keeps throwing these flukes, then you can feed her some calcium citrate tablets like mentioned above.

That seems like a good sized coop for the 6 of them, just make sure you don't add anymore birds, since that coop is maxed out currently. For the 6 it should be fine though. Sounds like they have a very spacious area, lucky girls!

You're welcome I'm glad I could help! If your not seeing any worms in the poop, theres probably no reason to worm. I'm going to bet that the eggs got cleaner because you treated for mites which can cause diarrhea.
Overall, nice work!