Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

I'd think 10-12 day old chicks are too old to bond with a new mom.

 

[CoopChick719]

Yeah that's what I was afraid of.

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed. Too old. This morning when I went to move Mama and babies to the tractor, one of the little boys pecked me! Twice! The little bugger! So, I'm pretty confident that I have 4 pullets and 2 cockrels in this gender selected batch. Pretty good odds, IMO. Since without selecting eggs... I've always ended up with 60% or more cockrels!

 

[buckabucka]

Anyone have any experience with prolapse? I really don't know what is going on with this hen. This is kind of a disgusting story, so feel free to skip to the next post!
Yesterday this hen was acting sluggish. Last night I noticed her straining on the roost. I thought she was egg bound and her rear end was messy, so I gave her a bath. This morning, it looked like she might have passed something, as the shavings on the poop board were yellowy and it looked like egg white was hanging from her butt. The other hens were very interested in it, but eventually left her alone.

This evening after work, she is on the roost but straining again. She is pushing a very large egg-shaped mass of blood red tissue out of her vent, like a giant blood-red water balloon, which then goes back inside when she stops straining. DH thinks the egg somehow got on the wrong side of her vent tissue. It certainly looks like that, -a perfect egg shape, but behind a wall of blood red tissue. I'm thinking we may have to cull her. I'm doing some reading on prolapse, but she doesn't have anything that protrudes from her vent until she strains. She is still able to defecate.

Anyone ever have something like this happen?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Yes. I culled.

Some people have "success" using preparation H to "reduce" the swelling and then pop it back in and try to remove the egg. But it will likely continue happening each time she lays an egg from here on out.

Up to you. I culled.

 

[buckabucka]

Thanks SCG. It seems like culling may be best, especially if it will likely recur.

 

[lazy gardener]

I lost an other hen to predation today. This is getting so old. I'm at this point thinking that I need to build a rock sturdy run for the flock. It would be a beast to construct, b/c the soil is heavy clay subsoil, and laden with rocks. Not to mention that it would be a pain with snow load. I'm wondering if I could make it with bird netting over the top, and remove the netting when snows come. How soon is hawk migration finished in this area?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I've had a few do it... mostly turkens for some reason.

First time I noticed one it was way too late and the other birds had noticed it first. Not pretty.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I lost an other hen to predation today. This is getting so old. I'm at this point thinking that I need to build a rock sturdy run for the flock. It would be a beast to construct, b/c the soil is heavy clay subsoil, and laden with rocks. Not to mention that it would be a pain with snow load. I'm wondering if I could make it with bird netting over the top, and remove the netting when snows come. How soon is hawk migration finished in this area?

If you've got hawks can you string fishing line over your run? That's what I do in a cats cradle non-pattern. Slows the predatory birds down so everyone can make a run for it.

 

[buckabucka]

I separated my egg bound hen. She now has a small, but permanent prolapse, and I didn't want to come home to a massacre.

My question: If we end out culling her, is there any reason we can't eat her? She doesn't appear to have anything else wrong, - maybe a little vent gleet, although it may be just an egg bound effect, I don't know.