Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

A Mystery chick from Sand Hill. It is perhaps an Erminette.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Good morning. Hope you aren't eating breakfast while you are reading this!

This is an update on Banjo, with a bumblefoot. Her foot was swollen, but it didn't feel like it had a kernel that needed to be removed. I did use some tweezers, and I was able to remove the pine needle piece below. It seemed like it might irritate her foot more if I kept messing with it, so I bandaged her up and kept a close eye on it. Over the last couple of weeks she has seemed to walk better on the foot. Last night, when I checked it there was a marked improvement. While her foot pad still looks swollen, it does not feel so hard or look angry. When I had checked it before, it also smelled bad, different than normal chicken poo smell. Definitely infection. It looks like it is healing for sure. I am just posting this so that others can learn. Although this was a foot problem, it was more likely an infection from a splinter, than a true bumble foot. It still requires intervention, but not the invasive surgery I have had to do on others.

The picture below is the newest, with her improved foot.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

View attachment 1181923
Not something I wanted to open up the coop to this morning... Flock was cooped up yesterday due to weather and me not feeling well. My Pepper has plucked herself so much that she has bald spots around her chest and neck. I'm watching her preen and feathers just keep falling out. So they will be out for as long as I can manage today. *deep sigh*

We are currently putting their new converted shed-coop and larger run together and I'm really hoping we can get it done this weekend. They'll be so much happier with the extra space and cozy shed.

Are you sure Pepper is not just molting? Most of mine are molting right now, and it looks like a pillow fight happened in the coop. I would pull her off a roost tonight and inspect her. If she has lots of pin feathers, she is just molting and you are seeing her preen her new feathers. Let us know.

 

[fisherlady]

Are you sure Pepper is not just molting? Most of mine are molting right now, and it looks like a pillow fight happened in the coop. I would pull her off a roost tonight and inspect her. If she has lots of pin feathers, she is just molting and you are seeing her preen her new feathers. Let us know.

I agree that I would check for molting...though minimum space for birds is certainly needed, and you have a great start on that.

 

[chickachickayea]

Are you sure Pepper is not just molting? Most of mine are molting right now, and it looks like a pillow fight happened in the coop. I would pull her off a roost tonight and inspect her. If she has lots of pin feathers, she is just molting and you are seeing her preen her new feathers. Let us know.

I agree that I would check for molting...though minimum space for birds is certainly needed, and you have a great start on that.

Thank you both!
I think she may just be molting... She turned 1 in the Spring and has never been through one before - and I've never seen one before so it was quite alarming! Especially seeing her tail feathers falling out. I did see some pin feathers on the back of her neck. Skin did not look irritated. I also threw some leaves in their run, and added a flock block to get some pecking out. They are also on All Flock crumbles so protein levels should good.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

@chickachickayea Yep, looks like a molt to me. She is the right age for one, and it is just that time of year. They can look just awful when they molt. Often their behavior changes a little as well. They may be a bit more shy. Some high protein treats can help it along, but mostly it's a waiting game.

 

[chickachickayea]

@chickachickayea Yep, looks like a molt to me. She is the right age for one, and it is just that time of year. They can look just awful when they molt. Often their behavior changes a little as well. They may be a bit more shy. Some high protein treats can help it along, but mostly it's a waiting game.

Yeah it came all of a sudden overnight! Oh she's gonna look rough for awhile then I guess. No pictures please!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Yeah it came all of a sudden overnight! Oh she's gonna look rough for awhile then I guess. No pictures please!

Molt can be so rough! It hit my turkeys hard this year....but I took pictures lol

Cuddles

Sweet Pea

Princess

 

[Blarneyeggs]

@AnneInTheBurbs The white birds are White Marans -one of the three varieties of Marans accepted in the Standard of Perfection. We were lucky to get this flock from a neighbor who stopped raising birds a few years back (we already had BCMs)

@chickachickayea Ummmmm WOW!! What a set up you have going on. We’ve yet to build an outbuilding with storage space. As it is, all bedding, feed, ect is stored in the basement and garage. After seeing your space, it’s obvious to me that we need to change our ways.

 

[FluffyButt789]

So today was in the low 20's and we had snow. I let the chickens out for a little bit figuring that they are smart enough to go in the coop if they are cold. I went to lock them all up not long ago and noticed our rooster has a little bit of frostbite. Swollen, darker tips of comb and wattles. I put him in the house to warm up and put petroleum jelly on him. I put him back in the coop as I don't know what else to do and all the girls are fine, even the ones with larger combs. I'm not sure how much I should worry about it. How is he going to do in the worst of winter? Ugh