Is Hay Good for Chicken Bedding, Or Not Good?

[Sillystunt]

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Just put out plenty of water and they will drink what they want. Summer time they drink more. I have a 3 gallon waterer and 12 chickens. It's gone in a day~

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I use hay in my coops. I put it down thick and it stays clean and they scratch it all up and keep it tilled. I used pine straw before and I have used pine shavings a couple times but I like hay the best. My hens prefer to lay in hay over pine straw. I love the hay, never had any issues

 

[Chickenz1]

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Love your signature line..

I figured out there is about 27 ML to 1 ounce of water..That's 27 eyedroppers full.. That's not much..and if my rooster was getting a full ounce of water in a day, that doesn't seem like enough, and he's not been getting that much because he doesn't appear to drink out of his bowl, and only accepts so much from the eyedropper..What is a mother to DO??

His face and back of his little head are dry and flakey looking. Could anything else cause that but dehydration?

 

[ChooksChick]

Well, I can't say for certain, but I have a 5lb rooster who has to be hand-fed daily, so I might be your best bet on an answer.

My boy eats about 3/4c of pellets mixed with about 1/4c of yogurt and 1/2c of water daily. I also use a syringe to give him about 10-15 mL of water daily.

I'm not sure what could be causing the flaky skin, but that could be mites or a vitamin deficiency. When my birds are down and trying to heal, I will often supplement whatever they're eating with Baby Parrot Food (Exact is the brand I use) and mix a paste and let them eat it. I also use a lot of scrambled eggs.

You might mix some vitamin E in with his food, too- that could help skin health. You can tell if he's dehydrated by his poo- is it really firm? Runny? Normal?

 

[Chickenz1]

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Ok, poo first..It varies..The last couple days, it has seemed moist one time, very wet the next. Basic brown in color with that white part sometimes like normal.. He weighs only about 3 pounds at most, I think..
Your 5 pounder eats a LOT. Way more than my healthy chickens do..
Yesterday, my sick rooster ate a little more than half a piece of honey wheat bread, a piece of watermelon bigger than his head, 3 grapes (cut up), and mixed grains..Not all at once, but through the day. I'm not sure how much water he got but it was no more than a ML or 2 at a time, and no more than 6 to 10 times through the day because he flat won't take more, and doesn't appear to drink from his water container.
From the whole day, he only pooed one or twice.
This morning he was very hot and panting til I got the fan turned on and ice in jars near him..He cooled down pretty good, but still breathing a little faster than usual..It's too dang hot....He did not want to eat anything at first, but I got maybe two eyedroppers full of mixed yogurt and water into him, and later he picked up a few pieces of his grit, which he needed because the last two poos had a few whole seeds in there..I forgot he can't scratch up his own grit, so now am keeping grit available..He later moved himself over on top of his mixed grain, and has fruit and corn right there..
(His water has vitamins and electrolytes in it along with Aureomycin. In case he is getting too much Aureomycin, I started giving him one half dropper of medicine water followed by one half dropper of clear water..
Are mites not visible if they are on the skin? I can't see anything on him..
I have tried boiled egg for him, but he wants nothing to do with it..I'll try scambled egg..Do you use any oil or butter/margarine when scrambling them?

 

[ChooksChick]

I DO use a bit of butter, as I cook exclusively in cast-iron.

I definitely understand him not eating very much, as he's not active AT ALL, right? When I was nursing my 6# hen through a broken pelvis, she ate a couple of tablespoons of pellets, a bit of yogurt, and just a tad of water daily. She only pooed once or twice daily.

Be very careful about his keel in that if he isn't moving around a lot he'll get sores and that can be dreadful- I had my immobile hen in a puffy dog bed for 6 weeks. We used old towels to line it and swapped out the towel after she went- it could be shaken and then washed.

It makes a difference when they aren't out walking around- the poo can be very runny in this case. Also, depending on what his ailment is, that can change it. Mites can hide very well on the skin, and different kinds of mites hang out in very specific parts of the body. You can dust him lightly with Sevin to get rid of them quickly, paying attention to the tail, vent, and anywhere he has pin-feathers.

Poor little guy!

 

[al6517]

I use hay and like it just fine, but then again we cut our own and there's allways plenty to be had.

AL

 

[ChooksChick]

Also, if he's recovering or healing from something, it may be prudent to bring him inside. My broken-pelvis hen lived in the house for about a month+, and when Professor was still wearing his prosthetic beak, he was inside, too- now both are better and out with everyone else.

It may slow down his recovery if he's in the heat outside- if you can bring him in, it should help.

Mine weren't active, really, so they just lived in the dog bed in whatever room we were in.

We have realllllllly tame birds, though! This, of course made them all the tamer.

 

[Chickenz1]

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Broken pelvis? 6 weeks? Was she inside AC place?
If my baby lives through this night, I will no longer give him water with the eyedropper and let him drink if he will..He DID drink on his own today..6 sips..But he was drymouthed from panting because (I dicovered later) his nose was stuffed up.. I thought he was too hot, and brought him in the AC, and it made it worse..
Put him back out this evening..
He was able to ooch himself around, but this evening, he did not have the strength to ooch to the front of his bed bucket..He was so stressed from breathing through his mouth he ate very little today..I got a bit of yogurt mixed with the medicine water into him, and he ate a few grains and grit..Maybe one litle bite of watermelon..But he got no more than a couple tablespoons of fluid all day..That can't be enough, can it?
ALso, I have tried to keep hay under him to pad his breastbone area..I put a towel under the hay last night for the first time, in an effort to make it easier on him..It was a new hand towel folded..and not washed first..I wonder could something in it have stuffed up his nose..I got rid of it this day and also got rid of the new *house* ( one of those rubbermaid box containers turned on it's side) I got for him a few days ago in case there was something in that bothering him..
Maybe he's been getting too much of the antibiotic with my using the eye dropper on him..He maybe was drinking more than he needed because I was persistant..I did not pry his mouth open and squirt it..Just dribbled it on the side of his bill..
It is breaking my heart for him....

 

[Chickenz1]

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See my other post about bringing him in the AC..
I forgot to mention I did scramble an egg in a tiny bit of butter..He did not want anything to do with it..
Would mites just bother his face and back of his head?? Skin under his body feathers and around his little butt isn't dry looking or scaley...Just the regular light color...