The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

It was 78 today with a nice breeze. She was on the floor of the coop which was around 72, pop-door open & people door open so nice cross breeze on the floor. It's 67 tonight but she's in the garage so it might be 70 in there. Could she be egg bound? I honestly am not sure if she's laying yet or not.

That is the only thing I can think of.. but egg bound hens do not poop, and they strain. If they do get poop out, it is very runny and mostly urates and liquid. It wouldn't be a lot of liquid either..

When I had my egg bound hen she looked cold, not hot. :/

Those temperatures would not cause heat exhaustion, and she should not be dehydrated if you had given her water earlier that day. Chickens won't die if they go a few hours without water (unless it is extremely hot).

If she does not improve by morning, I would say you have a cull on your hands.

 

[CoopChick719]

Thanks Aoxa! They do have 2 waterers in the run and 1 small one in the coop. My hen didn't make it. I'm pretty sure now that it's cocci. I found 3 bloody poops on the roost this morning. She didn't have blood in her poop though. We have had so much wet then hot weather I've heard that's a good recipe for cocci. Put Corrid in all the waterers this a.m. Any other suggestions while treating with the Corrid? Diet? Bedding? Amendments in the run?

 

[aoxa]

Thanks Aoxa! They do have 2 waterers in the run and 1 small one in the coop. My hen didn't make it. I'm pretty sure now that it's cocci. I found 3 bloody poops on the roost this morning. She didn't have blood in her poop though. We have had so much wet then hot weather I've heard that's a good recipe for cocci. Put Corrid in all the waterers this a.m. Any other suggestions while treating with the Corrid? Diet? Bedding? Amendments in the run?

Panting is not really a sign of Cocci.

Are you sure the bloody poops were blood and not intestinal lining? I'd hate for you to medicate hens that don't need it. Cocci isn't usually a big problem for grown chickens, as they've developed an immunity. Unless there is a big overload where they are.

If you can move your hens to fresh ground it would be very beneficial. Usually barren runs are a problem.


I just finished dealing with Cocci with young chicks. Lost three white silkies to it. It was a real shame. I am hoping that the others are fine. They are eating and drinking and running around like chicks do when healthy. One is smaller than the others.

I have no more Corid on hand. Hope they are good now. Our temperatures have dropped thankfully. No more 100 degree days for a couple weeks now.

 

[delisha]

Hi all - Lovin' these cooler nights! We get used to sleeping with the air on so it's hard to sleep with it off.
Even with Mom still in the hospital, now with pneumonia in both lungs, I'm taking a few hours off this week end to build a pen just for the boys. I have way too many roosters but don't want to send them to freezer camp just yet. Armorfirelady, you can be assured that George is on duty now. He and dear old dad are rivals but he's not been able to convince the ladies. I'm thinking George might be the better choice. He doesn't have quite the color as Wrinkles.
The Twisted Sisters actually hatched a chick but I snatched it and brought in with 3 others that finished incubating in the house. Ths lonely one is the only EE that I allowed to finish hatching.
I did a horrible thing. I smelled some awful smell from the incubator, so I put the eggs aside and quickly cleaned the bottom tray and put it all back, not thinking about the bleach smell. It wasn't very strong but It killed the 4 eggs.
Can anyone tell me how many chicks can a Sizzle mother at one time? She has 5 and does a great job. Would 4 more be too many? Tomorrow or Saturday night I'm going to try adding these 4 to her brood.

Sally.my thoughts are with you and your mom

Quote: coopchicken
panting is a sign of stress or high temp..bacterial, lung, or both problems in the coop. Makes sense with your wet hot weather. It also might have cocci as a secondary issues. You might want to do an autopsy with your lost bird to help point you in the direction you need to go with the living.

I am sorry for your loss

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Thank you. My friend's bird (that has been sick way too long) is pretty bad and at least up to this time she's not willing to cull. She's pretty desperate to try to do something for her. I'm going to take her some of the oxine this evening and she's going to try it.

She has the bird isolated in a rabbit hutch in the garage which will be perfect as far as covering with a sheet and misting if she can find a cold air vaporizer or humidifier.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Bummer, coopchick.

And Sally - good to see you. Thinking about y'all and sending a prayer.

 

[armorfirelady]

False alarm on red being broody. She was out bright & early this am.

 

[lalaland]

couple pics of one of the ameracauna chicks. I think/hope she is a pullet! about 10 weeks old here. Her comb is still pale...she is a sweetie.

 

[BlueMouse]

I did a horrible thing. I smelled some awful smell from the incubator, so I put the eggs aside and quickly cleaned the bottom tray and put it all back, not thinking about the bleach smell. It wasn't very strong but It killed the 4 eggs.

Wait... bleach smell kills eggs? AUGH. I had an egg explode in my incubator, and because I was concerned about the bacteria I wiped all the interior really thorougly with my homemade bleach spray (less than 10/1 bleach plus a squirt of dawn. Mostly use it to bleach my white porcelain sink since I don't do a whole lot of disinfecting) then dried it with paper towels and popped the eggs back in. Never occored to me that the smell would harm them. good grief. I figured these eggs had poor chances of hatching anyways, but I think their chances just dropped to about zero. Currently so discouraged about trying to hatch anything.

 

[aoxa]

couple pics of one of the ameracauna chicks. I think/hope she is a pullet! about 10 weeks old here. Her comb is still pale...she is a sweetie.

That is so a girl, and looks like a standard version of Nora!!


Nora is my cutest adult. She is smaller than my foot. Cutest thing ever. She is quite friendly as well. I found every single one of my Ameraucana bantams to be SO friendly, even my cocks.

Thank you. My friend's bird (that has been sick way too long) is pretty bad and at least up to this time she's not willing to cull. She's pretty desperate to try to do something for her. I'm going to take her some of the oxine this evening and she's going to try it.

She has the bird isolated in a rabbit hutch in the garage which will be perfect as far as covering with a sheet and misting if she can find a cold air vaporizer or humidifier.

Once they reach a certain point, the Oxine won't help. Hopefully it isn't that far gone.