Hello,
We have owned our Red Star Hens for about 11 days now. They are maybe 8-10 months old and have been laying every day so far.
One girl, Goldie, has not laid for 2 days now. She has been laying around alot in the corner of the run. We separeated her from the 2 other hens last night and put her in a kennel. We wondered about sour crop or maybe she is egg bound. Those things could still be a possibility but we are having a hard time figuring things out since this is our first experience with chickens. We don't think we feel an egg inside of her but...??? Her crop might be kind of lumpy but it is hard to tell. I tried tipping her upside down and massaging her crop but nothing happened. I put her in a warm bath with mineral oil for 20 minutes today then washed her up with soap to get the oil off the feathers. She LOVED the bath. After the mineral bath she pooped and it was pretty runny. Then, after the soap bath she pooped out a super ball sized piece that was very hard. She seems to be eating and drinking a bit but not as much as normal.
Now we noticed that she has a callused black circle on each foot! I'm assuming it is bumble foot.
I checked the two other chickens and one other girl, Henrietta, has a tiny black spot on her foot too! When we brought Henrietta home she also had a broken toe! That seems to be better now though (we wrapped it for about 5 days). What do I need to do with bumble foot? Do I really need to start cutting feet open and pulling out infection? Does anyone have an idea of how much a vet would charge to do this? We have a farm vet that comes to the house for our dog but I can't get a hold of her today. I really don't know that I have the ability to to surgery on their feet.
SO, I'm suddendly questioning my decision to have chickens.
Are they really this much work on a regular basis? How common is bumble foot, sour crop and stuck eggs?!?!? I am really hoping it is NOT common so I can keep these girls. I just spent most of my weekend caring for and troubleshooting chickens instead of interacting with my family (hubby & 7 little kids...including a newborn). Not cool.
Thanks everyone!
We have owned our Red Star Hens for about 11 days now. They are maybe 8-10 months old and have been laying every day so far.
One girl, Goldie, has not laid for 2 days now. She has been laying around alot in the corner of the run. We separeated her from the 2 other hens last night and put her in a kennel. We wondered about sour crop or maybe she is egg bound. Those things could still be a possibility but we are having a hard time figuring things out since this is our first experience with chickens. We don't think we feel an egg inside of her but...??? Her crop might be kind of lumpy but it is hard to tell. I tried tipping her upside down and massaging her crop but nothing happened. I put her in a warm bath with mineral oil for 20 minutes today then washed her up with soap to get the oil off the feathers. She LOVED the bath. After the mineral bath she pooped and it was pretty runny. Then, after the soap bath she pooped out a super ball sized piece that was very hard. She seems to be eating and drinking a bit but not as much as normal.
Now we noticed that she has a callused black circle on each foot! I'm assuming it is bumble foot.
SO, I'm suddendly questioning my decision to have chickens.
Thanks everyone!