The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Yeah there was some one eyed turkeys running around here, I actually thought that something happened to their eye before I figured it out, think it took about 3 weeks until they started looking better.

 

[CoopChick719]

So I'm 330 posts behind but jumping back in...I'll catch up later. It's been a long summer. The kids are in their own places...for now. 1's looking for a job; the other is in Jr. year of college! Hubby had some double-vision issues which had me as the Limo driver for about a month or so. Wasn't THAT fun?! NOT!!

After the first week of his complaining about my driving, I turned the radio up & my hearing aid down!

The eye is healing thankfully!

My oldest girl, Shirley, hatched 4 chicks. They're 13 days old now. BA's & BR's crossed w/Lavendar Orp Roo.



Here's Ragnar, the Roo, dustbathing with Vern, a PR. I love watching them dustbath! They seem so happy!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Nice photos! I'm just getting back from being gone too.

 

[lalaland]

can't believe it is September!

Hey, has anyone used liquid calcium? I am wondering if it would help a hen who had occasional soft shelled eggs. think she might end up with a prolapse if she keeps straining to get those jelly balls out.....and yup, there is plenty of oyster shell and green stuff.

 

[potagergirl]

I wish I had taken a picture but I didn't. Tonight I found one of the old hens about 14 years old looking like she had the scours. Picking her up her entire rear end was swollen and liquid soft. It looked as if her internals had burst open from the inside. There were no gashes or cuts that I could see. I began to clean her to see if there was anything I could do and maggots began crawling out of under her feathers. I looked but still did not see an opening. I can't believe I missed this. She had quit getting on the roost about two weeks ago. I thought well she's getting really old and probably can't get up there. Then I found this.
I would like to know what it is if anyone has run into this problem or seen this kind of thing before?? I did probe for an egg or egg parts etc... but found nothing. It really looks like her insides burst open on the inside of her.??? Any ideas I can research would be great I would like to know what might have caused this so I can watch for this a lot closer in my other chickens.
thank you for any thoughts you might have.
very sad =(

 

[islafarm]

I wish I had taken a picture but I didn't. Tonight I found one of the old hens about 14 years old looking like she had the scours. Picking her up her entire rear end was swollen and liquid soft. It looked as if her internals had burst open from the inside. There were no gashes or cuts that I could see. I began to clean her to see if there was anything I could do and maggots began crawling out of under her feathers. I looked but still did not see an opening. I can't believe I missed this. She had quit getting on the roost about two weeks ago. I thought well she's getting really old and probably can't get up there. Then I found this.
I would like to know what it is if anyone has run into this problem or seen this kind of thing before?? I did probe for an egg or egg parts etc... but found nothing. It really looks like her insides burst open on the inside of her.??? Any ideas I can research would be great I would like to know what might have caused this so I can watch for this a lot closer in my other chickens.
thank you for any thoughts you might have.
very sad =(

Sorry, don't have anything to suggest, just wanted to offer my condolences, poor old girl. I hope she's singing with the sky birds now. Please if you find out what it was, post it!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If she was fourteen years old, than that's an old chicken, sorry about it, you are a lot stronger than I would be, I am a bit squeamish about such things. My oldest chicken was nine, so I would think it is just one of those things that goes will old age.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I wish I had taken a picture but I didn't. Tonight I found one of the old hens about 14 years old looking like she had the scours. Picking her up her entire rear end was swollen and liquid soft. It looked as if her internals had burst open from the inside. There were no gashes or cuts that I could see. I began to clean her to see if there was anything I could do and maggots began crawling out of under her feathers. I looked but still did not see an opening. I can't believe I missed this. She had quit getting on the roost about two weeks ago. I thought well she's getting really old and probably can't get up there. Then I found this.
I would like to know what it is if anyone has run into this problem or seen this kind of thing before?? I did probe for an egg or egg parts etc... but found nothing. It really looks like her insides burst open on the inside of her.??? Any ideas I can research would be great I would like to know what might have caused this so I can watch for this a lot closer in my other chickens.
thank you for any thoughts you might have.
very sad =(

@potagergirl
Check out these 2 articles on fly strike. This is probably what was going on.

http://www.tillysnest.com/2013/05/buzz-off-preventing-flystrike-from.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2014/07/flystrike-in-backyard-chickens-causes.html

 

[Leahs Mom]

Also, my chicken health book recommends using a sulphur/petroleum jelly mix to repel flies around the vent or wounds. If you have some NuStock that will accomplish the same thing.

The recipe in the book is 2 Tbsp. sulphur powder mixed into 1/2 C. petroleum jelly. Apply to affected area daily until the wound is healed. (also for scaly leg mites).

You can check over your other chickens bottoms. If there is any messiness, it wouldn't hurt to be proactive to keep the flies from getting at them.

 

[JanetMarie]

Hi everyone. I have a question on worming. I have never wormed my chickens before and decided to because I think one may need it. I ordered a natural poultry wormer that is call EZ Natural. The ingredient is Kieselguhr, and after googling learned it is a heated form of DE. Has anyone used this? Does DE work for worming? I use food grade DE all the time to keep mites under control. What I've read about using DE is that it does not work when it gets wet. The Kieselguhr is in a liquid solution. Thanks for any help.