INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

if not broody and not egg laying issues, my next guess would be bugs. Not so much lice as those eat feathers and are not blood suckers. But fleas and mites, mosquitoes, pestering gnats,... if not bugs then maybe mice. Anything that could be decreasing her blood supply.

I'm worried that it's an egg issue. Last egg was Tues & it was an odd shape. Didn't think much of it then. Her feather shafts, legs, & skin look OK. Her crop doesn't feel hard. Not sure what sour crop would feel like. While on my lap last night, I put her on her side to check the vent. She put her head down & some clear liquid came out. I read that it should smell nasty if sour crop, but it wasn't a very strong odor. She's not making weird head movements today, but she did a few last night when I tried to give her Tums. (Perhaps the taste or surprise because I hid it in food.) Still leaning toward an egg issue b/c of the heavy feeling in her gut.

 

[daskhan]

I'm worried that it's an egg issue.  Last egg was Tues & it was an odd shape.  Didn't think much of it then.  Her feather shafts, legs, & skin look OK.  Her crop doesn't feel hard.  Not sure what sour crop would feel like.  While on my lap last night, I put her on her side to check the vent.  She put her head down & some clear liquid came out.  I read that it should smell nasty if sour crop, but it wasn't a very strong odor.  She's not making weird head movements today, but she did a few last night when I tried to give her Tums. (Perhaps the taste or surprise because I hid it in food.)  Still leaning toward an egg issue b/c of the heavy feeling in her gut.

I'm no chicken medical expert by any means and this is really just a curious guess but in some human cases people were able to have some small runny poos while technically being constipated... Basically liquidie poos could squeeze by but a larger mass was lodged upstream. Is it possible your chicken is constipated? That would account for the heavier weight to her and if her guts are pushing on her reproductive organs would explain the odd egg shape.. And as if in humans would explain the mood change... No idea how to check for that in chickens humans use X-ray machines doubt you have one of those laying around but maybe some animal x lax? Again this is just a curious guess I've only worked/studied/helped with humans never done medical on animals..

 

[daskhan]

On another note about one time a month or two I will find a slightly longer egg or two and rarely are the eggs uniform from my girls is this any cause for concern and what may cause this

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: I thought of the 2 legged 5 finger discount possibility. But the last time I posted about someone taking a rooster of mine, I never heard the end of other animal possibilities. The turkeys that "flew" off were mostly female and my prettiest ones too. But it would have been hard to pick those out in the dark.
So many possibilities but I don't want to invest in security cameras. I have thought about getting a gate for the driveway but that would not truly stop a person wanting to steal a bird or few.
Ugh I know.. We are still talking about fencing the whole property here, and getting LGDs.

Cuddles Update:
I check for an egg with a gloved lubed finger. (Index finger went 1.5" with no egg felt.)
I removed feed last night & her crop felt empty this morning.
She pooped runny 2x last night. Second one was greenish.
Not eating, but drinks a little.
I mixed a gal of Corid water; she drank a little,.
Much less activity today. Not really walking around. Not "talking" to me in her usual way.
Her gut feels bloated/full/heavier than it should.
Comb is still red/ normal-looking

Keeping fingers crossed. LO are a hardy breed. Your girl is far more a pet, and your kids are probably really concerned.

Quote:
If you do, watch close. Silkies are the most forgiving and accepting moms I have seen. Still thats a stretch.

Quote: She is a beauty.. Hope she will be ok!I know what you feel right now, I just adore my LOs. They have such sweet loving personalities.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: My hen that was egg bound was 2 in february. I am sure we had different breeders, but my line was Brushy Creek. They bought direct from GFF. Both my girls were awesome layers, never an odd egg, misshapen etc.Few weeks ago, my hen was eggbound and died. With my moms fistuala cleanout and dads heart visit I didnt catch it in time. I would soak her in tepid water, just to be sure thats not whats happening. I had a GC hen earlier this year it saved, she dropped 3 egglets in our bathtub. One very large egg! warm water seems to relax them.

 

[chick rookie]

On another note about one time a month or two I will find a slightly longer egg or two and rarely are the eggs uniform from my girls is this any cause for concern and what may cause this

No need to worry about larger eggs once in a while, I get them all the time, once in a while from different hens. Always have and it has never caused a problem, as for what causes it.... have no clue but my egg customers like it... lol

Ugh I know.. We are still talking about fencing the whole property here, and getting LGDs.

Keeping fingers crossed. LO are a hardy breed. Your girl is far more a pet, and your kids are probably really concerned.

If you do, watch close. Silkies are the most forgiving and accepting moms I have seen. Still thats a stretch.
She is a beauty.. Hope she will be ok!I know what you feel right now, I just adore my LOs. They have such sweet loving personalities.

I think I am going to try when she is 3 days old ( tomorrow ) that way she will be able to keep up, not worried about being cold... not as hot as it is right now, and believe me I know its hot... our central air went out yesterday, this is miserable. I will give her to the hen that lost her chicks to the dog.

 

[browncow15]

@kittydoc was it you that posted about making coq au vein? Can I have your recipe? I've got a couple of older roos that I processed that I'm trying to decide how to fix.

 

[ellymayRans]

Wow - just caught up with over 1000 posts! I don't think I have posted since the end of June. Lots of new members - welcome everyone! I've read through a lot of ups and downs, and I have had plenty of my own. We butchered our first meat birds on the 4th of July - smoked and BBQ'd - AMAZING!! We did three Cornish X, total weight of 14 lbs. It was some work pulling feathers (my job) and pulling all the inards (my dad, always cuts up the chickens when cooking, but hasn't fully butchered a chicken since he was in high school. He told me about the neighbor lady who had a tree stump with nails...chickens running around the yard at the end... I think he enjoyed getting to do this since it brought back his youth a little! So I figured I ended up paying $6.65 per bird. I figured that was a pretty good price for the size and knowing that I put the work into those birds, I know what they ate, etc. We have a couple more due this weekend as well! I have had broody central this summer! My BO hatched out one mix, a Mille Fleur, and 4 Marans chicks (I got from @ellymayRans ). Then both of my BLRW sat on a few eggs each and hatched them out (all mixes), then my oldest MF has been trying to be broody half the summer. The girl doesn't give up!! She hatched out two...finally! Then my poor BO went broody again. After several attempts to break her, I let her sit. She was sitting on all mixes. She had about a week to go and was fine one day, then the next day I found her dead and the nest was a complete disaster. No idea what happened there. She was only two. I know that was probably too much broody work for her, especially in the summer. but she had plenty of food, water, room to move, and a light fan on her. Very sad sight there. Fingers crossed that no other hens go broody this year. I really don't want to worry about young pullets working on feathering out as the weather changes. We lost several CornishX, something gnawed and dug its way into their pen and took out most of them. Lastly, my sweet little Frances, the Silkie x EE cross (my first hatch out ever that was growing into a gorgeous pullet) was killed by something. She just had to sleep in the tree and she/I paid the price. I will hopefully be able to hatch out another like her because I have school kids wanting to know how she is doing!! (I did show and tell at my sister's Head Start class last spring). On a high note (quite literally!) my baby brother got married in August in Colorado, in the mountains! It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever seen. And after that, Roxy (my loyal fur child) and I took a road trip to the Grand Canyon and then headed home on Route 66. It was a 18 day trip from southern Indiana to CO and then down to AZ and back home, covering 13 states. I had a friends take care of the chickens while the whole family was gone and she did a great job, then my parents took over. All the birds were very happy to see their chicken mama back home though!! Well, I think that catches me up! I am working on building a new coop for the winter and am also looking at a different home that is more farm adaptable because chickens are a gateway farm animal and I want goats!! Hope the rest of the summer goes well for everyone! Roxy and I on a hike in Texas. Hot hot hot! My brother and his new wife have "locked" their love and are throwing the keys into the mountainside. Dad on the right.

Busy body!! Really sorry to hear about the losses though. Hugs

 

[kittydoc]

@kittydoc was it you that posted about making coq au vein? Can I have your recipe? I've got a couple of older roos that I processed that I'm trying to decide how to fix.

I looked up several online, and just kinda winged it (ha ha) depending on what I had around. I know we used the requisite dry red wine, probably a full cup (even a stale bottle is fine as long as it hasn't turned into vinegar), a can of chicken broth, a whole onion cut into quarters, some carrots, and I used an herb blend called herbs de Provence. It has a lot of herbs in it, but I know rosemary and thyme are two of them. Also salt and pepper to taste. We cooked that mature rooster for 10 hours on low. A younger one might only take 6-8 hours on low or about 4 on high, but I would not recommend cooking a mature rooster on high. There is a lot of tough connective tissue to break down, and low and as slow as possible is the way to go!. We flipped the whole bird over about halfway through.

The leftovers make great "pulled chicken" sandwiches. Just pull the remaining meat off the bones and mix with BBQ sauce of your choice! Or you could make chicken and noodles with the leftovers. He came out very moist and well flavored.

Enjoy!

 

[kittydoc]

On another note about one time a month or two I will find a slightly longer egg or two and rarely are the eggs uniform from my girls is this any cause for concern and what may cause this

Totally normal. They aren't like eggs from the store. Well, many are--but especially as they get older, the egg shapes can vary. I occasionally get some that are shorter/rounder, and not uncommonly get ones that are more oval than egg-shaped. Sometimes we get some really weird ones, mostly from the older hens, although I do have a hen that has laid the weirdest eggs since she started, and needless to say she won't ever be bred. They are nice sized and perfectly fine to eat, but they look like they have a "twist" in the shell when they are laid.