The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[mlowen]

I got the book via Kindle & read it on my iPad...everything worked well. The pictures are beautiful. Justine, when you can...someday...you could publish a book of JUST your photos. Your eye and your animals are an awesome combination.

 

[countrygirl74]

X2 - love your animal pics!!

 

[delisha]

I'm incubating duck eggs!

Calls & Runners. Not for me, for a friend. I had to wash these eggs. They were really dirty. Those of you with ducks know what I mean.. I spoke with Jamie and he said he washes them if dirty. I didn't use any soaps just warm water and paper towel.

Here's to baby duckies!

I am terrible at incubating Muscovy duck eggs..Muscovys are a pain, you have to cool them so often..It is weird and I forget to take them out and cool. I need to read about them at a better place. Right now I have a mom on a few eggs. I will see how she does with these cold temps. It had been 0 for the last few days. Frozen solid water every morning. Brrrr

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm sorry if I missed this back a ways but what is the title of the Ebook?

Here is is:
Oh the e-book is out! You can find it here

:

 

[kian]

I need some advice please.

I have a 25 week old pullet, the one a few posts back that I think laid the shelless egg, and she is having some issue with her vent. It's not prolapsed, it's protruding. Well, the top is protruding, not the 'pucker' part. When you see it from the side it looks like an egg is starting to come out (in fact that is what I thought was happening as I saw her on the way to the nest box LOL). There is a LOT of dried poop there, and the vent is closing around it. I have soaked her twice for close to an hour each time. I have picked off as much of the poop as I can, while soaking her. I cannot, however, get it all, no matter what. I've peeled and pulled and she's torn and bled from it (not a lot and always under the warm water). We're on about day 4 or 5 here. I've applied vaseline and the vent has pulled some of that in. I've been applying coconut oil solid to it in the hopes that not only would it lube up and soften the whole shebang but also for it's medicinal properties. I'm pretty darn sure there must be an egg or two even blocking up in there, not to mention poop that can't get out.

She can poop, but, when she does she makes a sort of turkey sounding cry and she does cry a little. Sometimes she'll actually poop then, sometimes not. Never very much. She ate some kale two days ago, and pooped within a half an hour of eating it and it was the color of the kale. In fact I checked to make sure it *wasn't* kale, but it wasn't and it's obviously gotta pass through. Yesterday after the soak she pooped a good amount, it was a little watery but not much (she swallowed a bit of the soapy bath water-- I had these foaming medicinal baths in the water, hoping it'd relax her muscles enough to expel and hopefully fix this). She didn't cry at that time.

She is eating very very well. She will win when I toss treats out (grapes yesterday, spinach today). She is actively going for food and drinking water. She is roosting. She periodically goes and stands in the nest box. (her comb, wattles and face are SO RED that I fear she's gonna burst into flame. She's redder than my layers!). She is moving a bit slower today than she has been, rather like I expect her too.

I have soaked, I have picked, I have applied, I have massaged, I have prayed. I do not know what else to do. I hate to cull her when she's otherwise being so chicken-y, but yet I do not want her suffering, nor do I want to (please, hopefully) fix this and have it happen again and again.

Any advice?

ETA: literally as I hit submit I heard her turkey cry again. Went out to check and found two good (better) sized poops right under her. Dark green with white, normal looking. She cried again and pooped a little one, the same color.

 

[Sally8]

I need some advice please.

I have a 25 week old pullet, the one a few posts back that I think laid the shelless egg, and she is having some issue with her vent. It's not prolapsed, it's protruding. Well, the top is protruding, not the 'pucker' part. When you see it from the side it looks like an egg is starting to come out (in fact that is what I thought was happening as I saw her on the way to the nest box LOL). There is a LOT of dried poop there, and the vent is closing around it. I have soaked her twice for close to an hour each time. I have picked off as much of the poop as I can, while soaking her. I cannot, however, get it all, no matter what. I've peeled and pulled and she's torn and bled from it (not a lot and always under the warm water). We're on about day 4 or 5 here. I've applied vaseline and the vent has pulled some of that in. I've been applying coconut oil solid to it in the hopes that not only would it lube up and soften the whole shebang but also for it's medicinal properties. I'm pretty darn sure there must be an egg or two even blocking up in there, not to mention poop that can't get out.

She can poop, but, when she does she makes a sort of turkey sounding cry and she does cry a little. Sometimes she'll actually poop then, sometimes not. Never very much. She ate some kale two days ago, and pooped within a half an hour of eating it and it was the color of the kale. In fact I checked to make sure it *wasn't* kale, but it wasn't and it's obviously gotta pass through. Yesterday after the soak she pooped a good amount, it was a little watery but not much (she swallowed a bit of the soapy bath water-- I had these foaming medicinal baths in the water, hoping it'd relax her muscles enough to expel and hopefully fix this). She didn't cry at that time.

She is eating very very well. She will win when I toss treats out (grapes yesterday, spinach today). She is actively going for food and drinking water. She is roosting. She periodically goes and stands in the nest box. (her comb, wattles and face are SO RED that I fear she's gonna burst into flame. She's redder than my layers!). She is moving a bit slower today than she has been, rather like I expect her too.

I have soaked, I have picked, I have applied, I have massaged, I have prayed. I do not know what else to do. I hate to cull her when she's otherwise being so chicken-y, but yet I do not want her suffering, nor do I want to (please, hopefully) fix this and have it happen again and again.

Any advice?

ETA: literally as I hit submit I heard her turkey cry again. Went out to check and found two good (better) sized poops right under her. Dark green with white, normal looking. She cried again and pooped a little one, the same color.

I'm so sorry! Your story makes me want to cry. I have no advice other than what you are doing. I hope that someone on here can help. Hugs to you. sue

 

[kian]

I'm so sorry! Your story makes me want to cry. I have no advice other than what you are doing. I hope that someone on here can help. Hugs to you. sue

Thank you Sue.

 

[aoxa]

Thank you Sue.

Kian,

This sounds just like my Orp who had egg binding and once I helped the egg broke inside of her and she had an infection from it. She was swollen in the vent area, and had a hard time pooping. Just like you are describing. She WAS pooping and eating and drinking, so I thought she would be fine. Unfortunately she wasn't. She was just not showing the extent of her infection to us. One night I had Dylan close up, and he didn't know to check on her for me. The next morning she was under the car in the barn (there was a car stored in there at one time) dead.

If it were me, I would either put her down. Laying problems are very painful for the hens. I wish I had of put Olive down before she had to suffer like she did..

Good luck. It does not sound good to me though...

 

[TeriO]

I hate to pile on here but I need some guidance. I have a 10 month BO Sally, who has been healthly and laying since mid October no problems. Yesterday I noticed she was keeping to herself and not eating much. I got an egg from her on Sunday. Today I found her laying down in the corner of the yard with her head down and when I approached her she was making small sounds. She has no coughing, eye or nose discharge but when I lifted her tail to check her vent it was dripping with pale yellow and green stuff very thin urine consistency. I filled up the outside sink with very warm water and wrapped her in a towel and put her in to soak then dried her and didn't want to put her back in the yard so the only quiet secure place was in a spare bathroom in walk in shower. Put down towels, water and some scrambled eggs. She drank some water but no interest in food at all. I couldn't feel an egg but think that may be the problem. I have AVC in their water all the time, oyster shell on the side and feed organic non-soy Scratch and Peck feed. There is only one avian vet near me and he is out until Friday. Can anyone please advise me on what I could do? Her comb is nice and red. Thank you so very much. I hate to see any animal in distress.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I just want to say that I'm reading these but I don't have any other advice. I'm hoping someone may have more to say.

ETA: I'm wishing a good outcome for you both. (Kian and TeriO)