Maine

[buckabucka]

We try to only have dead ground hogs here
It has only been 24 hours (and I haven't been out this morning), but so far, metal collars have been working. No losses yesterday.

We had a strange rooster incident yesterday. I found my $100 rooster hunched and unable to do anything but sleep. I told DH he would be dead within hours and to check on him when I left for work. He spent all day lying flat, head down, eyes closed. DH kept checking for breathing. Sometimes he heaved with breathing, other times it was barely detectable. On occasion, he would get up and take a few steps, then DH would find him crashed in a different location. He syringe fed a little water.

We had company when I arrived home, but I watched from the window a failed attempt at mating, then he went inside. DH assured me he would be asleep again, so I went out with a cage, scrambled egg, and water.

But the rooster was standing and even ate a little feed and drank on his own. He went to roost quite early. This morning I hear him crowing. I won't know if he is 100% until I see him, but he certainly isn't dead.
Can chickens survive a heart attack? Or could he have eaten a poisonous plant? I never saw anything quite like this...

 

[IZZYBELLA]

I have no advice, but I hope your rooster pulls through, bucka!!

 

[CoopChick719]

We try to only have dead ground hogs here

It has only been 24 hours (and I haven't been out this morning), but so far, metal collars have been working. No losses yesterday.

We had a strange rooster incident yesterday. I found my $100 rooster hunched and unable to do anything but sleep. I told DH he would be dead within hours and to check on him when I left for work. He spent all day lying flat, head down, eyes closed. DH kept checking for breathing. Sometimes he heaved with breathing, other times it was barely detectable. On occasion, he would get up and take a few steps, then DH would find him crashed in a different location. He syringe fed a little water.

We had company when I arrived home, but I watched from the window a failed attempt at mating, then he went inside. DH assured me he would be asleep again, so I went out with a cage, scrambled egg, and water.

But the rooster was standing and even ate a little feed and drank on his own. He went to roost quite early. This morning I hear him crowing. I won't know if he is 100% until I see him, but he certainly isn't dead.
Can chickens survive a heart attack? Or could he have eaten a poisonous plant? I never saw anything quite like this...

WOW that IS strange!! Pretty sure my Columbian Wyandotte died of heart failure after a fox attack. She's the one I found in shock in the woods.

I hope your roo pulls through!!

Well I told Mrs. Kravitz if she kept hopping the fence the fox would get her and it did. DH texted me after work yesterday to say we were missing a chicken & he had searched 3 houses up but didn't see her. He had to leave for his second job so I told him I'd look for her when I got home. I found a feather trail and followed it into the woods but it petered out at a jungle of ferns & tree falls. I'm gonna' miss her. She was very nosy just like her namesake (the neighbor on Bewitched)! RIP Mrs. K

 

[lazy gardener]

Sorry for your loss Coop Chick.

 

[buckabucka]

Sorry about your hen, Coopchick
My rooster is still not in good shape. He spent the day alternating between sleeping and looking like a regular rooster. At least today, he slept mostly hunched or upright, - not lying flat and looking dead. I had to blue-kote his foot this morning. The girls took advantage of his condition and snacked on his feathered feet until they started to bleed.

I got home from work fairly late. When I went out to top off their food, the rooster took a few bites but could not keep his eyes open and went immediately to the roost. He's droopy on the roost and I thought he might fall off. A little later, after putting the chicks to bed, I peeked in on him to see him off the roost and running full speed after a hen he wanted to mate with. After a few minutes pulling weeds, he was hunched again with eyes closed. It is very odd and came on overnight.

The only other weird symptom, -his droppings look healthy (not runny), but they are very bright green. They have been out ranging around, but no one else has droppings this color, -like green tempera paint.

I suppose compared to yesterday lying dead, he may have improved today, but only a little.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

Sorry about Mrs. K coopchick.

 

[Brahmalover4eva]

Strange, sure its not respiratory disease? avian flu was going around... the roos usually get hit harder for some reason. our roo, Oreo had some respiratory disease we gave him tetracycline and surprisingly he coming back and hes 6 y/o!

 

[collie1470]

My fiance and I may be moving to Maine (if he can get the transfer through work....fingers crossed). I was a bit worried about chickens with the cold, but I'm reassured seeing people in Maine raising chickens

 

[lazy gardener]

Welcome collie: Hope you can get transferred to Maine. (the way life should be) That's a common Vacationland advertising slogan. Yes, chickens do live well here. I see more and more back yard flocks all the time. One suggestion that I have is that you choose your flock members with our weather in mind. I prefer pea or rose combs, naked feet. As with coops everywhere, ventilation is key, especially in winter. The moisture in a closed winter coop is a recipe for frost bite. So, lots of ventilation to get that moisture out is key to a healthy winter flock. a lot of us take advantage of providing our flocks with sun rooms of one sort or an other. That helps immensely.

 

[collie1470]

Oh yeah. I grew up in the Northeast and we went up to Maine a lot, so I've been telling my fiance about just how awesome the winters are up there (we're in Kansas now, so we hve the opposite problem....it's super hot, and I hate it). We plan to build our own moderately insulated coop