Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[OneMountainAcres]

I'm feeling REALLY good today I have 2 dozen eggs to one of my neighbors up the road the other day. They told me that they usually drive to shine other town to pick up their eggs 3 dozen at a time. Well today, while at the bus stop waiting for the kids to get home, they happened to drive by. They stopped to tell me that they didn't know what we were feeding but that the eggs were delicious with such big dark yolks and hard shells. They were very impressed and said any time we have extras they'd love to have them lol. Feeling great and like we're doing a great job

 

[chiques chicks]

Just cross-posted in the Emergencies/illnesses forum

One of our ~14 week old chickens has been acting lethargic and just standing or laying a lot today. We just lost a chick last week to wry neck and I'm kicking myself for not questioning her health when I first thought something might be off (maybe we could have saved her?).

I can't 'see' anything wrong, the chickens have free access to grower feed and water and the occasional veggie scraps, she just isn't running around with the other chickens and doesn't seem interested in eating or drinking. I opened up the run to give them access to a fresh patch of yarn and a garden bed, but she's just resting under the coop (where I can't reach her, of course). This is the first I've noticed her not acting completely normal and active.

I mixed up some Sav-a-Chick electrolyte water and put a separate dish out in the run so they wouldn't need to go up into the coop to drink, but she didn't come for any. I got a dropper and had my 3yo go under the coop to bring her out... she didn't peck at the dropper like usual but she did drink a tiny bit that dripped on her beak before escaping back under the coop.

She is the smallest of her group (and has been since she was a little 5 week old chick)... am I looking at failure to thrive? Could there be something else going on? These are our first chickens and I really don't know much about chicken illnesses yet.

What can I do for her? Should I separate her? I have a little dog crate I could keep her in. Force feed her more Sav-a-Chick? Give her something else? A scrambled egg?

Please help! I don't want to lose another one!

I'm not good with chicken illness, but I would sperate, keep warm, give plenty of water and scrambled eggs, and vitamins (liquid infant vitamins without iron). Electrolytes can't hurt, either.

 

[stake]

So, got an egg out of the new coop already. Well, actually, from under it. How do I tell the girls to lay in the nesting boxes? For that matter, how do I get them to go in the coop at night?

I threw a couple of golf balls in the nesting boxes and that was enough....

 

[dheltzel]

Just cross-posted in the Emergencies/illnesses forum

One of our ~14 week old chickens has been acting lethargic and just standing or laying a lot today. We just lost a chick last week to wry neck and I'm kicking myself for not questioning her health when I first thought something might be off (maybe we could have saved her?).

I can't 'see' anything wrong, the chickens have free access to grower feed and water and the occasional veggie scraps, she just isn't running around with the other chickens and doesn't seem interested in eating or drinking. I opened up the run to give them access to a fresh patch of yarn and a garden bed, but she's just resting under the coop (where I can't reach her, of course). This is the first I've noticed her not acting completely normal and active.

I mixed up some Sav-a-Chick electrolyte water and put a separate dish out in the run so they wouldn't need to go up into the coop to drink, but she didn't come for any. I got a dropper and had my 3yo go under the coop to bring her out... she didn't peck at the dropper like usual but she did drink a tiny bit that dripped on her beak before escaping back under the coop.

She is the smallest of her group (and has been since she was a little 5 week old chick)... am I looking at failure to thrive? Could there be something else going on? These are our first chickens and I really don't know much about chicken illnesses yet.

What can I do for her? Should I separate her? I have a little dog crate I could keep her in. Force feed her more Sav-a-Chick? Give her something else? A scrambled egg?

Please help! I don't want to lose another one!

Do a search for Coccidosis and see if that could be it. Generally their is blood in their stool, but I'm not sure how to tell which is hers to check. I've seen it more in younger chicks, maybe 3 - 6 weeks. Just lost 3 last week. If you have or can get Amprollium (Corid) it wouldn't hurt to give her a little orally.

Are her eyes swollen or is she making any wheezing or sneezing noises?

 

[stake]

I'm not good with chicken illness, but I would sperate, keep warm, give plenty of water and scrambled eggs, and vitamins (liquid infant vitamins without iron). Electrolytes can't hurt, either.

Ditto:

A scrambled egg has all the goodies a chook may need.....If the girl is the smallest of the flock, she may not be getting to the feed bowl enough....I always have a couple of bowls of food and always arrange to throw multiple handfuls of scratch around so everyone can find a spot to chow down....sometimes they may not have a good constitution....

 

[stake]

Just to follow up on other's observations....over the past week my egg production has tanked....I am only getting a couple of eggs out of 10 laying hens..

Also, my broodies have kicked 5 of 8 eggs out of the nest box...I really hope I don't have a solo hatch....c'est la vie .....

 

[LadyBehir]

I only had 2 eggs today but I think that is because of the move.

 

[tpolinsk]

LOL. I'm glad nobody ate it since it turned out to be a string of caulk, but they likely all thought it was a worm or something. My ducks do something similar when they get a worm or slug. Out of our eleven ducks, it's almost always our little Khaki hen that finds it. It's easy for us to tell she's found a "prize" because she wastes no time breaking from the rest of the flock and running in the opposite direction as fast as her little feet will carry her. Of course all the others go running after her to try to steal her worm, then it becomes like a bunch of kids playing tag. She zigs and zags and ducks and dodges for as long as it takes her to consume her prize (sometimes a slug). If she gets surrounded, she takes to the air and flies over her pursuers, which gives her a big advantage since she's the only one of them that can really fly. Once she finishes her snack on the run, she just suddenly stops and looks at all the rest of them like "What?" then strolls over to get a drink of water to wash it down.

Have you been raising chickens for long? I think poultry are so much fun, every bit as much as dogs and cats, just in a different way.

i got them in april and they have been a wonderful source of entertainment for the family. my husband calls it "chicken watching". we have lawn chairs in the yard and let them walk around while we are there. my hubby even enjoys giving them treats!

 

[fisherlady]

Also, I will be going on vacation from Oct. 6th to th 10th. If anyone in that area has a decent young of preferably a brown color, I would be so happy to pay you for her.

Wish you were closer to our part of the state.... I have some Buckeyes that might fit the bill, though I think they technically call them 'red'

Just cross-posted in the Emergencies/illnesses forum

One of our ~14 week old chickens has been acting lethargic and just standing or laying a lot today. We just lost a chick last week to wry neck and I'm kicking myself for not questioning her health when I first thought something might be off (maybe we could have saved her?).

I can't 'see' anything wrong, the chickens have free access to grower feed and water and the occasional veggie scraps, she just isn't running around with the other chickens and doesn't seem interested in eating or drinking. I opened up the run to give them access to a fresh patch of yarn and a garden bed, but she's just resting under the coop (where I can't reach her, of course). This is the first I've noticed her not acting completely normal and active.

I mixed up some Sav-a-Chick electrolyte water and put a separate dish out in the run so they wouldn't need to go up into the coop to drink, but she didn't come for any. I got a dropper and had my 3yo go under the coop to bring her out... she didn't peck at the dropper like usual but she did drink a tiny bit that dripped on her beak before escaping back under the coop.

She is the smallest of her group (and has been since she was a little 5 week old chick)... am I looking at failure to thrive? Could there be something else going on? These are our first chickens and I really don't know much about chicken illnesses yet.

What can I do for her? Should I separate her? I have a little dog crate I could keep her in. Force feed her more Sav-a-Chick? Give her something else? A scrambled egg?

Please help! I don't want to lose another one!

If you can separate her it will allow you to control and monitor her food and fluid intake and also observe her droppings to check for worms or blood.... I am not good with chick illness but I am one for gathering as much info as you can through observation and assessment so you are better prepared to figure out the therapy needed. An overnight in 'chick sick bay' won't hurt her standing in the flock but will allow a lot of info to be gathered.

My poor little injured hen. Today she had a poop with round worms in it. I checked the rest of the flock's poops and they showed no signs. Should I treat her now while she is healing, or wait a week or two until she is better?

Since you have her separate I would go ahead and treat her individually... but if one in the flock has it then most likely they all do, I would make a clean spot under their roosting area (or place down some newspaper or something similar, then check the droppings that are on it in the morning to see if it is a flock issue and since it is nearly molt time anyway and egg production would be expected to be reduced then it may be a good time to treat everyone.

I'm feeling REALLY good today

I have 2 dozen eggs to one of my neighbors up the road the other day. They told me that they usually drive to shine other town to pick up their eggs 3 dozen at a time. Well today, while at the bus stop waiting for the kids to get home, they happened to drive by. They stopped to tell me that they didn't know what we were feeding but that the eggs were delicious with such big dark yolks and hard shells. They were very impressed and said any time we have extras they'd love to have them lol. Feeling great and like we're doing a great job

. You ARE doing a good job! You have progressed by leaps and bounds this year and have the beautiful coop and happy hens to show for it!!!

I'm not good with chicken illness, but I would sperate, keep warm, give plenty of water and scrambled eggs, and vitamins (liquid infant vitamins without iron). Electrolytes can't hurt, either.

x2!!!

Ditto:

A scrambled egg has all the goodies a chook may need.....If the girl is the smallest of the flock, she may not be getting to the feed bowl enough....I always have a couple of bowls of food and always arrange to throw multiple handfuls of scratch around so everyone can find a spot to chow down....sometimes they may not have a good constitution....

Good point! Food competition can often leave some behind.

Just to follow up on other's observations....over the past week my egg production has tanked....I am only getting a couple of eggs out of 10 laying hens..

Also, my broodies have kicked 5 of 8 eggs out of the nest box...I really hope I don't have a solo hatch....c'est la vie .....

Ours is down recently also... and even though we currently have 7 broodies I would expect more... but the 'pillow fight was here' appearance in the coop each morning gives me a good idea of what is going on.

i got them in april and they have been a wonderful source of entertainment for the family. my husband calls it "chicken watching". we have lawn chairs in the yard and let them walk around while we are there. my hubby even enjoys giving them treats!

I can't begin to tell you how many hours my DH and I have spent in or around the coop just 'chilling with the peeps'!! I can tell you he has a few who actually come when he calls them by name!

 

[LadyBehir]