Minnesota!

[FoxyChicken]

Has anybody tried these snugglesafe pet warmers in the nesting boxes under the bedding?  I wonder if it would keep the bedding just warm enough not to crack the eggs till I get home from work.  I may buy one and close off 2 of the 3 nest boxes (only 4 of mine are laying right now) and see if it works.  What do you guys think?

I had this exact same idea last winter but never tried it! Let us know how it goes if you do!

 

[Minniechickmama]

I'm in need of an opinion here. One of my girls has sour crop. It's been a few weeks now and she was doing better for a while, but it seems to be getting worse again. I fear I am going to need to releave her of her suffering. So, I was wondering if the meat is affected by crop issues. I can not find any info on this with a google search. Has anyone had experience with this?

First, what all have you tried with her? If you wanted to, you could eat her. The problem is just that she has an overabundance of yeast in her crop, if it is truly sour crop. That has no effect on the bird being edible.
Have you expressed the crop to clear it?
I have only had this a handful of times, and most of them I had gotten straightened around, but sometimes they just keep coming back. I have to watch in Spring and Summer when I am putting the birds on pasture, some will gorge themselves on grass that just gets packed in their crop. I did surgery on the first one I had, it was impacted pretty bad. I cleaned over a cup of mess out of her crop. She was doing okay until the stitches burst in her crop and she developed an infection. But I have saved a few of them by putting them in a cage after expressing their crop clear, taking them off feed and only giving them water with apple cider vinegar for about 3 days. Then to bring them back to food, I start with yogurt and scramble eggs for about 4 days, then start mixing a little lay crumble with that for a few more days.

 

[Vashjir]

Our cracked & frozen ones get thawed in a very happy dog's bowl.

The ones in my dog's bowl don't get a chance to thaw. They're usually chomped down in about 30 sec. She has the shiniest coat at the dog park in early spring when she's getting 1-2 every day.

 

[Dandelioness]

Has anybody tried these snugglesafe pet warmers in the nesting boxes under the bedding? I wonder if it would keep the bedding just warm enough not to crack the eggs till I get home from work. I may buy one and close off 2 of the 3 nest boxes (only 4 of mine are laying right now) and see if it works. What do you guys think?

I haven't heard of these specifically in nest boxes, but I read a blog somewhere and the lady made rice or corn sock type of pads. They were approximately the size of her nest box's base. She heated them up in the microwave in the morning & put them in the nest box, under a piece of burlap or something similar to keep them relatively clean, and put bedding on top of that. She said it kept her eggs from cracking in the cold.

 

[Dandelioness]

The ones in my dog's bowl don't get a chance to thaw. They're usually chomped down in about 30 sec. She has the shiniest coat at the dog park in early spring when she's getting 1-2 every day.

LOL! This is an outside dog, so things stay in her bowl until it's time for her to come in & have her food or a treat or a good belly rub.

I think if she were right there she'd eat them frozen, too!

 

[newpioneer75]

I did express her crop a few times and she was on plain organic yogurt and acv/water for about 5 days. She is also isolated in the warm basement in a cozy 4x4 crate. she was seeming to be doing a little better , so I started introducing wet oatmeal and warm wet mash a little at a time. I was getting ready to put her outside now that its a little warmer out. But, the past 2 days she seems to be taking a turn for the worse again. I dont feel surgery is an option for me. So, I have decided to just ease her pain and would like to use her if it was safe to do so. I just wasnt sure if the infection could travel through the body. I appreciate the quick response to my question.
Paul

 

[Cluckies]

I'm in need of an opinion here. One of my girls has sour crop. It's been a few weeks now and she was doing better for a while, but it seems to be getting worse again. I fear I am going to need to releave her of her suffering. So, I was wondering if the meat is affected by crop issues. I can not find any info on this with a google search. Has anyone had experience with this?

What have you tried to help her? I did the Monostat treatment and I would try olive oil and/or coconut oil and gently massage her crop 2-3 times a day. get her on a good probiotic, I used this mixed with warm oatmeal. You can get it at the vitamin shop or online at Amazon. The good bacteria in her crop probably needs to be replaced so that it can do its job.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I did express her crop a few times and she was on plain organic yogurt and acv/water for about 5 days. She is also isolated in the warm basement in a cozy 4x4 crate. she was seeming to be doing a little better , so I started introducing wet oatmeal and warm wet mash a little at a time. I was getting ready to put her outside now that its a little warmer out. But, the past 2 days she seems to be taking a turn for the worse again. I dont feel surgery is an option for me. So, I have decided to just ease her pain and would like to use her if it was safe to do so. I just wasnt sure if the infection could travel through the body. I appreciate the quick response to my question.
Paul

I know sometimes it takes expressing a few times to get it to clear up. I have had to do it for a few days before I got it to go down and stay. But I have had some that just never seem to get over it and they just waste away.
Good luck with whatever you do from here, Paul.

 

[duluthralphie]

I moved the guinea fowl out of the laying hens coop. They are locked in the back portion of my CX babies coop. I will let them see daily next year or the year after..............(actually I have ordered a game bird net to cover the pen attached to their area, so they should be able to get fresh air next week.

Anyways back to my observation. I am still way down on the number of eggs I get, I got 8 today, I am noticing the EE are not laying, I am getting no blue eggs or green eggs, I got one olive today. The rest are light brown.

I am not getting any of the dark chocolate brown round eggs either. Is it possible something I have done is upsetting the cycle on the dark brown layers and the EE?

I thought this warmer weather would bring back more eggs.... I guess I just sit and wait, unless any of you have an idea.

9 eggs from 33 hens does not cover their rent!

 

[duluthralphie]

I have found the egg problem, I think.

I had to go outside this morning at 5:30. I noticed the light was not on in the coop. Upon further investigation, it was discovered the program was turned off. I do not want to point fingers, but I think a human did it. HOWEVER, I would not put it past Rick or Ernie to turn it off either.

I reprogramed the dang thing and hopefully in a week I will have my eggs back. I had thought about giving the birds a little rest, so I guess they got one, accidentally.

I was even thinking maybe my watch dog was finding a way to crawl in through the chicken door and eating eggs. The dog almost lost roaming privileges. Anyway, time will tell, but I think all is good.