The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[armorfirelady]

Thank you Mumsy for sharing the pictures. I learn from you & others who take the time to take pictures and share them with us newbies.

I to have a hen with a very pinched tail, crooked keel and weighs less then her siblings. I know she will be a cull this spring/summer. The only reason she has not been culled yet is that she is still laying & her prolapsed vent has rectified itself & she continues to eat & forage well........for now. I keep a close eye on her and am waiting for when she does stop laying.

I also want to get some new pullets for my flock & I think once I have replacements she will be culled.

 

[aoxa]

Mumsy..

Great job on being such a good, responsible advocate for the life and health of your chickens. You are a treasure. You are showing that culling is for the benefit of the flock, The life of the flock, not the detriment.

Egg binding is painful. If you can't resolve the problem in 24 hours you need to cull..it is not a hard decision. The birds are in pain. You can't fix every thing. I am sorry you are going threw this, but, think of the bird. The bird must come first.

I wish I had of been here with you guys when Olive started acting that way..

So here's the million dollar question...and I think one that haunts us "newbies":

What if we misinterpreted what was going on and culled one that didn't need to be culled?

I think there is always that thought going on in the back of our minds that we may take one out and find that everything looked healthy and it was really not what we thought it was. It's that "overactive conscience" and the fear that we will make a BIG MISTAKE.

I do agree with culling....I'm just posting from the perspective of the newbie that has that nagging question of if they overreacted or whatever.


I know that the more experience we get the more we'll have the confidence to make those decisions and know it was right.

We all have that thought in the beginning.

I had that thought when I culled a naked neck for failure to adjust to our cold weather and was just slow and also developed sour crop toward the end. I just couldn't have that. I could see she was uncomfortable.

My assumption is there is an egg in there. I am basing it on the other assumption that it was she who laid a soft shell egg and then the shelless yolk. No other egg has appeared, I can identify the eggs I have been getting. I cannot feel an egg, but I am so new to this that I may be feeling in the wrong place. I cannot try pigeonguy's advice: there is no way I could get my finger in there to feel. The way this is protruding, the poop I cannot get off or out.... nothing is going in that way.

From the start I have figured I'd have to cull her. I do have the feelings Leah's Mom talked about. I have the feelings Aoxa talked about. I have the feelings Delisha talked about. I know the right thing to do here. Like Mumsy said, if she's having this much trouble at the very start, it's never going to get better. Of COURSE I wanted to come on here and have everyone tell me that it's just one thing I didn't try and everything will be better. But I come here for advice and education, and I appreciate each of you so very much. I honestly don't want to do this and I really really wish she wasn't acting so very nearly normal so "I" could feel ok with this decision. But the thought of making her suffer is worse.

A practical question: how would I know if she has an infection prior to opening her up? Her poop looks and smells normal to me. Everything about her looks normal except for this vent issue.

I am so grateful to all of you for the advice and commiserations. You are all seriously awesome.

We're here for you

 

[chikenscratch]

Hello everyone. One thing that crossed my mind is that even though I am about to cull my first 3 remaining hens each for a different reason, I am completely unprepared in the event that my girls get sick or have other issues. I have been blessed as a newbie. We started with 10chicks, culled the 7 roos and I am moving onto a different breed. I have a lot to learn!

 

[aoxa]

Hello everyone. One thing that crossed my mind is that even though I am about to cull my first 3 remaining hens each for a different reason, I am completely unprepared in the event that my girls get sick or have other issues. I have been blessed as a newbie. We started with 10chicks, culled the 7 roos and I am moving onto a different breed. I have a lot to learn!

I've found it much easier to cull roosters than hens.

Sick birds you feel relief. You know you have done them a service by ending their suffering.

Mumsy, that pullet looked very narrow! Wow!

 

[delisha]

Mumsy..did you open her gizzard?

 

[Leahs Mom]

This is my opinion and it is NOT directed to you or anyone. I understand many times you put up questions for others to learn. You are a good teacher.


I do not care what you find in the bird after culling. If the bird is suffering for 24 hours and has problems passing eggs, and you have tried many things to help the bird and it still is not passing the egg.. it has to be culled. That is not a mistake. That is a responsibility. The mistake comes when you cull after the poor bird has suffered for days on end and you keep trying. Infection, sepsis, and puss invade the chicken. Never ever worry about culling to soon. Most worries are culling too late. Killing a bird is never a mistake when the bird is suffering or for food. You still have a meal if you kill in time. You give- instead of take. You give- to your knowledge, your family and the future of your flock. You can open the bird and try to discover what happened if infection has not set in. What you can do to prevent another death. What you can do to avoid the same thing. You can't do that if the bird is riddled with infection. You will never know exactly why the bird got the infection. You will have to speculate. I never recommend cutting open a bird riddled with infection. It should be destroyed. The health risk to you and your family is not worth the risk to open a bird filled with infection.

On another note..the person saying the bird has yellow discharge. It could be anything. If it smells it might be vent gleet. That is treatable.

Egg bound mean the bird can't pass an egg.

If the bird is egg bound and is discharging infection you need to kill the bird.

I changed the word cull to kill. I want to be clear I mean to kill the bird and not remove it from the flock by any other means.

This is exactly what I was hoping for...thank you for the response (added a thumbs up on your reputation thingie). We need to hear these things to encourage us and give us confidence to be better at this without "false guilt". Thank you.

It was so very clear this pullet was in decline to me though to a newbie maybe the signs would be missed. She did not lay an egg though the roo was covering her and her hatch mate was laying and is now the brood mama of five healthy chicks. This pullet was eating, drinking, and free ranging. She was spending time in the nest box but not sitting. She was standing, tail down and she was getting a leaky vent. Yellow stained bum feathers and yellow stained poo. She was pale in the face and comb when she should be coloring up. She just didn't look right or act right even though she really didn't appear sick. Her symptoms were very subtle.

Also a thumbs up on your reputation thingie. Thank you for the photos and teaching us from your experience. Same as above...helps us newbies to gain confidence and the ability to fight off that "false guilt".

Y'all need to know that the things you are teaching us are giving us courage to do things we never imagined we'd ever do and it has been good.

 

[Pullet Surprise]

Quote: Amen to that!

 

[delisha]

Hello everyone. One thing that crossed my mind is that even though I am about to cull my first 3 remaining hens each for a different reason, I am completely unprepared in the event that my girls get sick or have other issues. I have been blessed as a newbie. We started with 10chicks, culled the 7 roos and I am moving onto a different breed. I have a lot to learn!

Everyone should have a first aid kit for chickens in the coop

Everyone should be picking up there chickens and doing at least a brief exam..(weight and feet). It takes 2 seconds.
Right now I changed feed. They ran out of Organic grains and crumbles. I have wet butts. It is so gross..I have been checking daily. I keep thinking it has to be something. I guess I have to wait till this bag is gone. But I still pick someone up and check to make sure it is not something I can't see. Birds loose weight fast. If you go a week with out noticing it is too late. I am assuming it is feed since everyone is effected.
I need to find something that is going to detox them in a week. I might do the led wash out.

You need sharp scissors, tweezers and a knife. This is for removing things out of feet, cutting odd strings they tend to find.. things like that. Chickens scratch the ground. I have pulled straw, staples, glass, metal, and all kinds of things out of feet. Chickens do not complain. They can be in extreme pain and not say a word.
Vet wrap, antibiotic ointment, Nu Stock. Just slap some on when you see something off..even those odd little spots they get this time of year on combs and waddles. If you are not sure, spray some bleach water on paper towels and wipe it off. Look at it. Smell it.
Hand sanitizer, Spray bottle of bleach and water..a roll of paper towels..After an exam sanitize your hands.
My DH bought me another medicine chest. I store my supplies on my shelves in my coops and they are filthy. The birds do not mind roosting on my shelves.

If I were to redo my coops I would make an area the birds can't have access to. You can remove birds dust, but bird poo is almost impossible to completely remove with out a good soaking.

 

[aoxa]

Everyone should have a first aid kit for chickens in the coop

Everyone should be picking up there chickens and doing at least a brief exam..(weight and feet). It takes 2 seconds.
Right now I changed feed. They ran out of Organic grains and crumbles. I have wet butts. It is so gross..I have been checking daily. I keep thinking it has to be something. I guess I have to wait till this bag is gone. But I still pick someone up and check to make sure it is not something I can't see. Birds loose weight fast. If you go a week with out noticing it is too late. I am assuming it is feed since everyone is effected.
I need to find something that is going to detox them in a week. I might do the led wash out.

You need sharp scissors, tweezers and a knife. This is for removing things out of feet, cutting odd strings they tend to find.. things like that. Chickens scratch the ground. I have pulled straw, staples, glass, metal, and all kinds of things out of feet. Chickens do not complain. They can be in extreme pain and not say a word.
Vet wrap, antibiotic ointment, Nu Stock. Just slap some on when you see something off..even those odd little spots they get this time of year on combs and waddles. If you are not sure, spray some bleach water on paper towels and wipe it off. Look at it. Smell it.
Hand sanitizer, Spray bottle of bleach and water..a roll of paper towels..After an exam sanitize your hands.
My DH bought me another medicine chest. I store my supplies on my shelves in my coops and they are filthy. The birds do not mind roosting on my shelves.

If I were to redo my coops I would make an area the birds can't have access to. You can remove birds dust, but bird poo is almost impossible to completely remove with out a good soaking.

So true!!

 

[aoxa]

For Lala:




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