Good!
I have one girl that is not thriving since molt. Hasn't regained her bright red comb and wattles and is obviously "off". I have not wanted to bring her inside to do a thorough exam because of the temp change. But I'm wondering if there may be mites. I've looked some and didn't see anything but she is a solid black bird so it's hard to see some things on her. I've had all kinds of thoughts about what it might be.
Maybe I'll just need to break down and bring her inside so I can really see better. I just haven't wanted to do any soaking in a bucket, etc., because if I do I feel that I'll need to keep her in rather than expose her to the extreme temp change by putting her back out.
Sis checked all other chickens--no mites--but did a full clean out of coop & dusted everyone and everything with wood ash for good measure. I think she bathed the sick hen, Mildred, with dog flea shampoo. I know she dusted her a few times w/wood ash because Mildred did NOT like it! She put her in a big garbage bag w/ashes then used the bag to scoop up ash and rub it in. Cocci had been making the rounds up here according to some of the feed stores. They were having a hard time keeping Corrid on the shelves. I think she treated for it as a possiblilty.
Kassuandra I remember when you first posted that. To bad you couldn't train the chicks to dust with them when they are done
Leah's mom- I know I have mole/voles and mice around. Rats? Doubtful. I've never seen them or tracks. I haven't even seen the mice tracks. They prefer to live in the wood pile for the winter. If my dogs don't get them the neighborhood outdoor cats sure would. I even rarely see the mice or moles. I only know their around because sometimes when we move wood we see them take off or find their babies. Now I know there is a bunny around. I see his tracks and poop all over where the girls are except in the coop. I believe once I wrap the hoop coop in the hardware cloth nothing small will get in the coop.
I think it's the big girls pecking at her, but I'm still keeping an eye on it.
I wish the warm wx would get here. I'm itching to get the billboard on the coop as well as the new "windows". I'm going to try & make the south end all "windows". It was amazing the temp difference in the coop today with the sun shining in
She is probably fine..some take longer to get into spring..she also might be double moulting poor girl..pick her up and check her weight..look at her vent. If her vent color is whitish..and not pinkish she needs more time. Check her belly..is it hard or soft?Good!
I have one girl that is not thriving since molt. Hasn't regained her bright red comb and wattles and is obviously "off". I have not wanted to bring her inside to do a thorough exam because of the temp change. But I'm wondering if there may be mites. I've looked some and didn't see anything but she is a solid black bird so it's hard to see some things on her. I've had all kinds of thoughts about what it might be.
Maybe I'll just need to break down and bring her inside so I can really see better. I just haven't wanted to do any soaking in a bucket, etc., because if I do I feel that I'll need to keep her in rather than expose her to the extreme temp change by putting her back out.
This will be a good experiment to keep track of
I ordered a garden sifter thingie that is supposed to come today or tomorrow to sift the lumps out of my ash. It usually has some various debris in there that needs sifting and I'm too unmotivated to make anything. Good timing I guess. I was looking at all of these on Amazon:
Ended up ordering the one that looks like a spring form pan as the folks that were reviewing it said it fit over the top of a bucket well.
