The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[farmerfogg]

Does anyone have advise on best way to treat a rather open laceration on my hen, caused by my rooster? I'm going to get saddles to start with, but this needs cleaning out and ointment.

 

[delisha]

Quote: I have no idea to be honest. I will just have to see. I am thinking they are marked wrong. I know the buff is buff, and the white is white..however the white has a dark spot on top of the head. The porcelain is correct. The blue does look black, but I am sure it is blue.

Quote:

Does anyone have advise on best way to treat a rather open laceration on my hen, caused by my rooster? I'm going to get saddles to start with, but this needs cleaning out and ointment.

You need to remove the spurs. Clean and disinfect the wound. keep her way from others till healed.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am ordering a new incubator today. Is it the Hovabator 1588 that most of you use and like? I have a 1602N that I don't like, so will sell it or use as a hatcher.
Any opinions?

 

[Sally8]

Sally - could you post a photo or 2 of your BCM .... chicks and adult age?

Will do when I get home. After losing pic's on my crashed computer, I keep them on an external hard drive separate. Getting ready to set some tomorrow.

 

[PeepsCA]

I am ordering a new incubator today. Is it the Hovabator 1588 that most of you use and like? I have a 1602N that I don't like, so will sell it or use as a hatcher.
Any opinions?

The Hovabator Genesis 1588s are great (I've been using my 2 for several years now)... but if the one you order has the new LCD panel control on it you might want to have an extra thermometer/hygrometer (or 2) in the unit to double check the temp and humidity settings. A lot of people are having issues with them not being accurate (both of mine are older models, so I don't have first-hand experience with the LCD model).

Your 1602N should work fine as a hatcher, but if it were me I'd add a small PC fan to it to give it better circulation, lol. I'm just not a fan of anything still air, at all (for hatching or incubating)

 

[Mumsy]

After such an awful experience with my sweet Grey Silkie Binkus and the possible lead poisoning ordeal, the last thing I wanted to post about was another of my Silkies in distress. An yet....here it is again so soon.

The Catdance pullet 'Dumpling' with crippled feet is in big trouble. She started laying six days ago. She passes eggs easily and quickly. Just drops them out where ever she is sitting. She had good appetite, and she could scoot around anywhere she wanted to be. I posted here a few days ago that I set her and her buddy Bonney with the Catdance roo in a breeding pen of their own. I notice both pullets scratching the shavings and eating it. I mean, they were really gobbling the small bits up like it was the yummiest thing they had ever seen. This is so wrong! Catdance uses pine shavings in all pens. I was there. I saw it. All my Silkie pens have shavings.
Yesterday morning Dumpling was choking, wheezing, gurgling, and making hoarse cawing sounds with each breath. I immediately brought her into the house and palpated her crop and abdomen. I could feel an egg in the oviduct close to lay and her crop was flaccid and squishy. The more stressed she became, the louder her breathing noises. I administered the oil in one Cod liver gel cap, offered water and watched. She passed her egg within the hour and drank. She passed a lot of watery poo with stain and little substance. No real normal firm stool that I could tell. I massaged her squishy crop and I could actually hear liquid sloshing in it. There was no foul or sour smell. Every couple hours I massaged her crop. The loud breathing and vocalizations got less and less as the crop shrank. By 3 pm yesterday she seemed normal enough to offer plain yogurt sprinkled with Game Bird chow. (what I normally have been feeding mixed with slops from the FF bucket. I offered it dry on the yogurt. No ACV in the water. Just plain water. She ate and drank. By evening she seemed comfortable and quiet.

This morning. She is struggling to keep up right on her crippled legs. No poo over night. Not eating or drinking. Beak open and panting heavily with quick respiration. This is not looking good. I suspect impaction of the gizzard. The crop is empty but still a little flaccid. I can feel a teaspoon of what feels like grit in the bottom of the crop. Palpation of her abdomen feels normal. I can feel no distention or hardness.

Am I going to have to perform another necropsy on a beloved Silkie? Any suggestions? I've never had a chicken with impacted gizzard before. I've never had a chicken that ate shavings willingly either. This is just bad bad bad.

 

[aoxa]

I am ordering a new incubator today. Is it the Hovabator 1588 that most of you use and like? I have a 1602N that I don't like, so will sell it or use as a hatcher.
Any opinions?

Yes 1588

 

[aoxa]

After such an awful experience with my sweet Grey Silkie Binkus and the possible lead poisoning ordeal, the last thing I wanted to post about was another of my Silkies in distress. An yet....here it is again so soon.

The Catdance pullet 'Dumpling' with crippled feet is in big trouble. She started laying six days ago. She passes eggs easily and quickly. Just drops them out where ever she is sitting. She had good appetite, and she could scoot around anywhere she wanted to be. I posted here a few days ago that I set her and her buddy Bonney with the Catdance roo in a breeding pen of their own. I notice both pullets scratching the shavings and eating it. I mean, they were really gobbling the small bits up like it was the yummiest thing they had ever seen. This is so wrong! Catdance uses pine shavings in all pens. I was there. I saw it. All my Silkie pens have shavings.
Yesterday morning Dumpling was choking, wheezing, gurgling, and making hoarse cawing sounds with each breath. I immediately brought her into the house and palpated her crop and abdomen. I could feel an egg in the oviduct close to lay and her crop was flaccid and squishy. The more stressed she became, the louder her breathing noises. I administered the oil in one Cod liver gel cap, offered water and watched. She passed her egg within the hour and drank. She passed a lot of watery poo with stain and little substance. No real normal firm stool that I could tell. I massaged her squishy crop and I could actually hear liquid sloshing in it. There was no foul or sour smell. Every couple hours I massaged her crop. The loud breathing and vocalizations got less and less as the crop shrank. By 3 pm yesterday she seemed normal enough to offer plain yogurt sprinkled with Game Bird chow. (what I normally have been feeding mixed with slops from the FF bucket. I offered it dry on the yogurt. No ACV in the water. Just plain water. She ate and drank. By evening she seemed comfortable and quiet.

This morning. She is struggling to keep up right on her crippled legs. No poo over night. Not eating or drinking. Beak open and panting heavily with quick respiration. This is not looking good. I suspect impaction of the gizzard. The crop is empty but still a little flaccid. I can feel a teaspoon of what feels like grit in the bottom of the crop. Palpation of her abdomen feels normal. I can feel no distention or hardness.

Am I going to have to perform another necropsy on a beloved Silkie? Any suggestions? I've never had a chicken with impacted gizzard before. I've never had a chicken that ate shavings willingly either. This is just bad bad bad.

Oh Mumsy

I'm sorry you are going through this.

My impacted silkies never gasped or had gurgling sounds. I am not sure WHAT to say.. What kind of pine shavings are you using? Are they Kiln dried? Are they from the feed store?

 

[lalaland]

mumsy, when delisha thought my hen might have an iimpacted gizzard, she told me to give her olive oil and no food.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your silkie Mumsy. I have heard of people doing crop surgery on threads here, but it sounds as though you think it is the gizzard. Perhaps you can call the breeder for some advice. She may have seen this before.