The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[chickiemomy]

What do you use to weigh live birds?? not chicks - full-size birds. I have a platform scale, but they are too wiggly! Just wondered how you all did this??

 

[delisha]

What do you use to weigh live birds?? not chicks - full-size birds. I have a platform scale, but they are too wiggly! Just wondered how you all did this??

weight the box, put it to 0..add the bird in the box.

 

[Bulldogma]

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.

I was going to sleep on it and take another look at her in the morning. My husband came home from work and I told him about the pullet. He said, "Do you think this pullet has a future in your flock?" I had to answer no. It was the absolute right thing to end her suffering immediately. And it is hard for me to do this. I've had a tough two weeks with chickens in intensive care. But this was a no brain-er. The pullet was in slow decline. And it would have gotten much more painful for her with each passing hour.

Look closely at these necropsy images and you will see the blunt and painful truth what this pullet was dealing with and couldn't voice to me what was going on. Only by what I could observe in her behavior did I know she was in big trouble.

You certainly did the right thing! I have never seen such a skinny pullet with so many fat deposits on her organs and intestines! I would expect that with a very fat chicken. I wonder what caused her body to misappropriate the fatty tissue and put it on organs instead of on her breast, etc???

Also - great insights on LM's question about knowing if one did the right thing to cull! Delilsha - you have a great way with words!

And now it's my turn. We have a bantam cochin pullet who has been up and down. She'll seem just fine and then the next day she is laying on her side. I thought it was a hip injury or something (and it may be) but she was doing better for a while. This morning she is bad again. I would like to cull her right now and end this suffering, but she is my daughter's pet, so I have to wait until my daughter gets home... and possibly until after my daughter goes to bed as I don't think she'll want to be there for "the deed."

It's weird - it's either a hip issue or neurological. On one hand it looks like a loss of balance, but her head does not waver which would indicate dizziness. Therefore, I would guess if she is unable to handle weight on that hip, this is causing her to fall over, Further, if the other leg and hip are trying to overcompensate for the injured side, it may now be sore and causing her further issues.

*sigh* I wish they could tell us what was going on... but of course if they could, they'd probably drive us nuts because they would likely never shut up about things like getting them some scratch or just gossiping about who isn't laying that day...

 

[chickiemomy]

Quote: I think you answered this for me before - didn't stick in my brain that time - hopefully it will this time (blaming my cold - am being sickie-momy right now)

 

[countrygirl74]

You certainly did the right thing! I have never seen such a skinny pullet with so many fat deposits on her organs and intestines! I would expect that with a very fat chicken. I wonder what caused her body to misappropriate the fatty tissue and put it on organs instead of on her breast, etc???

Also - great insights on LM's question about knowing if one did the right thing to cull! Delilsha - you have a great way with words!

And now it's my turn. We have a bantam cochin pullet who has been up and down. She'll seem just fine and then the next day she is laying on her side. I thought it was a hip injury or something (and it may be) but she was doing better for a while. This morning she is bad again. I would like to cull her right now and end this suffering, but she is my daughter's pet, so I have to wait until my daughter gets home... and possibly until after my daughter goes to bed as I don't think she'll want to be there for "the deed."

It's weird - it's either a hip issue or neurological. On one hand it looks like a loss of balance, but her head does not waver which would indicate dizziness. Therefore, I would guess if she is unable to handle weight on that hip, this is causing her to fall over, Further, if the other leg and hip are trying to overcompensate for the injured side, it may now be sore and causing her further issues.

*sigh* I wish they could tell us what was going on... but of course if they could, they'd probably drive us nuts because they would likely never shut up about things like getting them some scratch or just gossiping about who isn't laying that day...

So sorry to hear this - I hope your daughter will be okay with everything. I dread the day I have to "take care of" any of my girls. It was hard enough to do the extra roos.

You really had me laughing though with your last comment about them being able to talk.

 

[Leahs Mom]

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.

Quote: Pigeonguy


Had to run from the computer earlier but I wanted to thank Pigeonguy for his response too. His answer on what could be tried was based on the someone wanting to try what they could before culling. Thanks PG for the input too!

 

[Mumsy]

Mumsy..did you open her gizzard?

Yes. Though it was unbelievably encased in a thick layer of fat. It was the strangest revelation to open up this thin little creature and find so much fat around her internal organs. So weird. I have fed this pullet the same as the entire laying flock. FF with all those additives, free ranging the orchard every day with access to the compost pile. Just a normal life for a chicken on my small property.

I had to actually cut away the fat before I could get to the gizzard. It was a deep good red color in the muscle. Tough to cut into as it should be. The contents were grass from the orchard mixed with grit and FF. Turned inside out and washed, it was a good looking gizzard. No ulcers or pits on the Koilin that would indicate disease. The organ was in such good shape, I couldn't remove the koilin layer to examine the inner mucosa.

 

[delisha]

Thank you mumsy..

As you sure she was a young bird? Any chance she was a hermaphrodite?(sp) her organs are so interesting. I would have liked to have been there. She looks like the fat content cut off blood supply to many of them. Your good care kept that bird alive much longer than normal. She should have been dead months ago. You feeding your birds magic?

 

[delisha]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps029

When you have an opportunity..please take the time to read this everyone. Many beneficial bits of information.

 

[Sally8]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps029

When you have an opportunity..please take the time to read this everyone. Many beneficial bits of information.

That sure is an information packed article. Thanks for sharing. When I first started with chickens, I didn't know about egg binding. I will always be filled with remorse as I let her suffer way too long. They don't whine and cry like we do, you really have to be in tune to your chickens to catch some things early on. If your hen is egg bound, I'm pleading with you, don't let her suffer. If you research, the percentage is small of the hen that comes through an egg binding and doesn't have trouble again.