I've started saving eggs for setting on the 9th, and I got four eggs yesterday. One egg was a pullet egg from my chanteclers and I'm so excited they're finally laying.
When I got home from work, the cats had knocked off the carton of eggs and broke every single one!! I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come!
WHEW!!! What a morning! We have a new hen! A rescued SLW who is currently suffering from a mild prolapsed vent. Saw the ad on Freecycle this morning. Lady just wanted someone to put her down humanely, didn't know at all what to do - called it prolapsed uterus!!! They even didn't care if she ended up being someone's dinner!
We picked her up and when my sister told the lady that she might be able to help the hen get better, the lady said that was up to us if we wanted to deal with it, she didn't want the hen back!
I don't think it is a pure SLW, maybe just hatchery quality, the lacing on her body is not defined at all. The prolapse was not as bad as we thought, only out a little bit (maybe about 1/2-1 inch) and she had a ball of white crusty urates on the feathers below the vent. We washed her off as best we could, dried her, and then(after reading several threads on here about prolapsed vent) we put honey on the prolapsed bulge, waited a few minutes, and then gently pushed it back in. It went in fine, and looked normal...until she pooped and it came back out. So, we did it again, and held a gauze pad with witch hazel on it against her vent for a minute or two. She started clucking calmly and my sister said she felt an egg in there (the lady said she had laid an egg yesterday too!). So we have her in a large tub for now with lattice covering it. We will watch to see if she lays the egg, and then perhaps repeat the treatment as necessary. She seems to have a nice calm temperament, and is pretty perky and healthy looking other than her vent problem. We will see, but I have a feeling she will recover just fine!
Here are a couple pictures of our new patient...
(my sister took these and was trying to avoid showing her problem area)
WHEW!!! What a morning! We have a new hen! A rescued SLW who is currently suffering from a mild prolapsed vent. Saw the ad on Freecycle this morning. Lady just wanted someone to put her down humanely, didn't know at all what to do - called it prolapsed uterus!!! They even didn't care if she ended up being someone's dinner!
We picked her up and when my sister told the lady that she might be able to help the hen get better, the lady said that was up to us if we wanted to deal with it, she didn't want the hen back!
I don't think it is a pure SLW, maybe just hatchery quality, the lacing on her body is not defined at all. The prolapse was not as bad as we thought, only out a little bit (maybe about 1/2-1 inch) and she had a ball of white crusty urates on the feathers below the vent. We washed her off as best we could, dried her, and then(after reading several threads on here about prolapsed vent) we put honey on the prolapsed bulge, waited a few minutes, and then gently pushed it back in. It went in fine, and looked normal...until she pooped and it came back out. So, we did it again, and held a gauze pad with witch hazel on it against her vent for a minute or two. She started clucking calmly and my sister said she felt an egg in there (the lady said she had laid an egg yesterday too!). So we have her in a large tub for now with lattice covering it. We will watch to see if she lays the egg, and then perhaps repeat the treatment as necessary. She seems to have a nice calm temperament, and is pretty perky and healthy looking other than her vent problem. We will see, but I have a feeling she will recover just fine!
Here are a couple pictures of our new patient...
(my sister took these and was trying to avoid showing her problem area)
I've started saving eggs for setting on the 9th, and I got four eggs yesterday. One egg was a pullet egg from my chanteclers and I'm so excited they're finally laying.
When I got home from work, the cats had knocked off the carton of eggs and broke every single one!! I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come!
[COLOR=FF0000]Hmm..Mstricer's got me a little worried. Below 0 in Ohio?? Storm on the way?? My Barred Cochin eggs were mailed yesterday morning at a post office in Ohio. I received the official Click-n-Ship notice. Oddly, there is ZERO activity when I click the link. Only says Electronic Shipping Info Received. No estimated date of arrival, or where they are , where they've been, like normal. Really nervous!! Do you think they're sitting in a frozen warehouse in Ohio?[/COLOR]
I have 200+ eggs on their way due tomorrow at the hit of the storm here as well as some that just shipped this morning coming from the south through the storm to PA!
We van only hope for the best.
Also have a young hen that wants to be broody, so this hatch could turn interesting for me. Only had chickens for a year, so this will be a learning experience. Just worried since she insists on the nest box 20 inches of the floor and will not accept anywhere else!
I'm trying to decide if I want to let my eggs sit a little longer to be closer to saturday with everyone else. Although being my first time trying to hatch eggs I might want to give them all the help they can get and set them on thursday like planned lol....I can't decide.
