INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kittydoc]

@Faraday40 I am so sorry to hear about you losing a chicken to impacted crop. Unfortunately, your friend made a common mistake. Turning them upside down and letting it drain almost always results in a dead chicken within 1-3 days. There is a safe way to try to get some of it out, but turning them 90 degrees upside down isn't safe. If you care to look, I posted a successful treatment of one of my hens a few months back on this thread. I'll look it up and repost the link shortly.

I don't think there is any genetic predisposition. Some chickens just make the mistake of eating long, fibrous material more than others, and once they start eating a very long piece of tough grass or weed, they can't stop. Literally. They have no way to bite it off, so they have to keep eating it. Their crop can't handle it without intervention. If I see a long piece of material sticking out of a hen's mouth, I pull it out, and we do our very best to keep weed/grass height low enough that they can't get impacted. That can be tough if one lets them free range over a wide area. It's just one of the many hazards of keeping chickens, and nobody's fault.

We have straw in our coop but I don't believe that was the cause. I've never seen them eat more than short sections of straw, but I have definitely seen them eat or try to eat long pieces of green grass and weeds.

I'm sorry this was such a special bird for a youngster. Adds to the heartbreak. Again, my condolences.

 

[kittydoc]

@Mother2Hens, I am SOOOOOO sorry about your cochin babies! Misery on top of misery with losing Nene! I'd be sick. Just hope that they went fast, which as chicks, they probably did.

I wonder, though, if there is more hawk predation at some times of year, such as when the juveniles are on their own and looking for easy pickings. A friend up in Northern Indiana told me they used to lose chickens every year to Great Horned Owls until they put up netting, just FYI. We just mounted a plastic great horned owl in the chicken yard to help deter the hawks until our netting arrives.

I looked at your darlings that are left, and personally can't tell gender yet. Not having had cochins, I'm not sure how big their wattles and combs get.

My black/lav Orpington splits are 9 weeks old, and I still have an "intermediate" group that I'm not sure about the gender. I'm sure I have at least two pullets and three cockerels; the other two are still a little puzzling. Could be pullets with big wattles and combs (I have some like that among my buff Orps), or could be boys lagging a bit behind. I started looking at leg thickness yesterday and think at least one of my "intermediates" is a pullet. I'm keeping all the pullets and one cockerel, and will be selling the remaining cockerels, so if any of you lavender folks are looking for outcross splits to use in your program, let me know. They are a beautiful bunch of chicks. They came from a pen with two black English roos that were huge and typey, and four lavender hens that were also nice sized and stocky. I hatched them myself, and all seven eggs were fertile and hatched healthy babies. They have all been vaccinated against Marek's disease, too, and we are NPIP certified. If anyone is interested, PM me. They should be ready to rock 'n roll late this winter (hatched mid-August).

My one pure black English Orpington pullet started laying this week, so with the two lavs and the one Ameracauna that have all started laying recently, we have the cutest collection of little eggs. Medium-dark brown, pale pink, and a lovely green. Has anyone else had lavender Orps that laid pink eggs? The eggs they hatched from were pretty much the same color as my buff Orp eggs, maybe with a slight tint of pink.

 

[kittydoc]

@Faraday40, here's the link to my post about treating my impacted crop hen. She has done just fine ever since. The clue for me was that when I opened the coop door to the yard, she just stayed inside, standing still. Then I noticed her crop was huge.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/32090#post_13983689

 

[kabhyper1]

Yes, I am behind once again! I wish my life would settle down.

In my chicken world, I'm still morning the loss of Nene because it's just not the same without her crazy personality.

Last week, I had to make a quick trip to Indy. My last voice treatment didn't work, so they fit me in their schedule with only 24 hours notice. The treatment worked better this time, but my reason for even bringing this up is that while I was away, two of Bonbon's Black Bantam Cochin chicks disappeared (eggs from @ellymayRans ). It rained off and on all day last Wednesday--the day I left. That night, my DH locked the bantam cage where Bonbon and her chicks stay. He didn't count them because it was raining, and he assumed he'd hear chicks crying or Bonbon clucking if there was something wrong. He said that the next morning when he opened their coop, there were only three chicks. He looked everywhere around our property, but didn't even find any signs of them. The missing ones were the youngest two, and they often lagged behind. All five of her chicks were born on different days, so they've been different sizes. We can only assume it was a hawk since we've seen one around regularly for the past month. It's strange to have two missing, though, unless it swooped in twice. We've been lucky not to have lost any chickens from predators-- before this. It's just strange and so sad.

Poor babies. Of course, my DH was horrified that it happened on his watch, but I told him that I know from reading this thread that all kinds of things happen. Sometimes I've had difficulty counting the chicks since they're black, Bonbon is brown, it's dark, and they're underneath her.

Here are the remaining three chicks. They are 6 weeks old, but several days apart-- can anyone figure out what sex each one is? Besides this crummy photo, I have a crummy video, which may help: My Movie

Oh no! Maybe they will turn up. Sometimes if they get scared they will hide for awhile.

As far as sex goes,It's a little difficult with this pic, but From the looks of it, I think you have 3 girls.

 

[Faraday40]

Black Australorp.

On the impacted/sour crop...how long was the pullet at the new home? Was she on a new feed there that is different from what you were giving her?

A sour crop is a yeast infection.

An impacted crop is just something that has been eaten that is not getting out of the crop. Could be very long pieces of grass. Could be a string or a piece of hardware swallowed by mistake (small nail, nut, screw, piece of metal shaving, etc.), or any other item that just isn't getting through the crop.

So...
Sour crop and impaction have different causes. And folks often use the terms interchangeably. The treatments for each are different.


Massaging crops - especially when putting the bird upside down like that - can cause aspiration of the fluid into the lungs and instant death. I've known more than one person who has experienced this and I never recommend that anyone do that kind of massaging. There are other ways that they can be treated that I would always try first. I only mention this for others that are reading so that folks aren't quick to massage crops while holding birds upside down.

We sold the chick around 7 weeks when we sure it was a female, so it lived at their house for over 2/3 its life. We visited several times & I never saw anything unusual. They had straw in the run which I prefer not to use. The village gave them trouble about free-ranging, so they keep the chickens shut in the coop & run all the time now. I'm not sure about the food, but I suspect it's fine. The treatment is what actually killed Superhero, but being so weak as they described, I'm not sure she would have lived. They mentioned she was only moving her head side to side and not walking or really responding.

I certainly wouldn't know how or when to massage a crop. For now I just want to know what to look out for & if some of mine (having the same father) would be at risk. This month, I have all kinds of construction debris around. I would think that my flock would be at a higher risk right now because they're all over the place & not contained. (Technically, they're locked up right now because of a visiting hawk eyeing my coop, but they're usually out.)

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40, here's the link to my post about treating my impacted crop hen. She has done just fine ever since. The clue for me was that when I opened the coop door to the yard, she just stayed inside, standing still. Then I noticed her crop was huge.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730582/indiana-bycers-here/32090#post_13983689

Thanks. Yes, not running outside would be a definite warning sign with my birds. I also worry if one doesn't come running when I call. (They know I always call with treats in hand.)

 

[chickiebaby1]

Please list all symptoms...what did you observe?

The only thing I really noticed was yesterday he seemed to move a lot slower and was all puffed out like he was cold. This morning he just didn't come out of the coop when I opened the door and I had to get him out of his corner. When I was carrying him to the house he seemed to be gasping, but wasn't making any noise and he had his eyes closed. He actually passed about an hour after I found him. I didn't notice any bloody stool or anything either, but he did seem to be really light. I hadn't noticed before I picked him up, because of his fluffy feathers, it was the same thing for the cochin I lost on Sunday, and these 2 were not even in the same coop/run together.

 

[ellymayRans]

[COLOR=8B4513]Yes, I am behind once again! I wish my life would settle down. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]In my chicken world, I'm still morning the loss of Nene because it's just not the same without her crazy personality. [/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Last week, I had to make a quick trip to Indy. My last voice treatment didn't work, so they fit me in their schedule with only 24 hours notice. The treatment worked better this time, but my reason for even bringing this up is that while I was away, two of Bonbon's Black Bantam Cochin chicks disappeared (eggs from[/COLOR] @ellymayRans [COLOR=8B4513]). It rained off and on all day last Wednesday--the day I left. That night, my DH locked the bantam cage where Bonbon and her chicks stay. He didn't count them because it was raining, and he assumed he'd hear chicks crying or Bonbon clucking if there was something wrong. He said that the next morning when he opened their coop, there were only three chicks. He looked everywhere around our property, but didn't even find any signs of them. The missing ones were the youngest two, and they often lagged behind. All five of her chicks were born on different days, so they've been different sizes. We can only assume it was a hawk since we've seen one around regularly for the past month. It's strange to have two missing, though, unless it swooped in twice. We've been lucky not to have lost any chickens from predators-- before this. It's just strange and so sad.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Poor babies. Of course, my DH was horrified that it happened on his watch, but I told him that I know from reading this thread that all kinds of things happen. Sometimes I've had difficulty counting the chicks since they're black, Bonbon is brown, it's dark, and they're underneath her.[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]Here are the remaining three chicks. They are 6 weeks old, but several days apart-- can anyone figure out what sex each one is? Besides this crummy photo, I have a crummy video, which may help: [/COLOR] My Movie

Such sad news! Lovely video! Cuties! ! Pics are difficult to tell for sure but I would expect larger pink combs than they appear to have. I had shared with you all my little sister had me hatch some of these cuties for her. ..she ended up with 4 and 1 is frizzled! I almost fell over though when I went to visit ...at two weeks old and still covered in fuzz one little guy tried with all his might to crow! Soo stinkin funny! The breed definitely seems to be early shower of gender and crowing.

 

[ellymayRans]

The only thing I really  noticed was yesterday he seemed to move a lot slower and was all puffed out like he was cold. This morning he just didn't come out of the coop when I opened the door and I had to get him out of his corner. When I was carrying him to the house he seemed to be gasping, but wasn't making any noise and he had his eyes closed. He actually passed about an hour after I found him. I didn't notice any bloody stool or anything either, but he did seem to be really light. I hadn't noticed before I picked him up, because of his fluffy feathers, it was the same thing for the cochin I lost on Sunday, and these 2 were not even in the same coop/run together.

I know i feel like I'm always suggesting this but parasites! I have had the exact symptoms occur and treated with poultry protector or ivomec and Boom! After a couple of hours they were showing huge improvement. Sometimes you think you don't see them. .and no one else is acting off..but it seems some are affected by them much more than others. I lost little babies from lice and some several months old caught a couple of those in time. .treated and in the bathtub with vitamin water and feed..4 hours later was able to rejoin the flock. One was a silkie pullet and i noticed her stumbling and not really bothering to move much at all. So I sprayed her down, took her in to take the chill off and now she's great. None of the other Silkies looked infested but I treated them anyway just in case. Crazy though how it can strike them.

 

[samirah226]

I am looking for a BYCer near hopefully Indianapolis that I can visit to learn about keeping chickens or other birds and coop ideas. Any volunteers?