The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

So my husband has this one silkie that is simply around because she beat the odds and is, I have to admit, endearing. She basically had retarded growth on one entire side of her body, leaving her totally lop sided. However she can chase bugs, eat, drink, is super friendly and for some reason, has never been picked on. I knew her body might not be able to pass an egg when the time came but as she will be a year old next month, I was hoping she wouldn't ever lay.

When I got home Tuesday night I found her standing alone in the rain all puffed up and hunched forward. She has a very messy bottom and very little interest in food/water. I could not tell if an egg was present due to her odd body shape but am guessing she is egg bound. Had no calcium on hand so blended an egg with 5 shells and some oregano but she was really not interested. I honestly think culling right then would have been best but DH wanted to give her a day. Separated, left her with the scrambled eggs and water. When I got home she was actually a bit perkier and was preening like crazy but hasn't really eaten much.

Any ideas? He had the day off so I left it in his hands this morning. I know what I would do but if he wants to keep treating I thought I'd give her a bath when I got home. Could it be something else? Worms?

Tell your husband if he is not going to cull he has to make some decisions..that bird is in obvious distress. She is loudly telling you something is wrong.
He needs to give her a nice warm long soaking bath
He needs to palpatate her belly and feel for an egg..if he feels one he needs to remove it while he has her soaking
Blow dry her
He needs to smell her bottom

Make her warm
Let her rest in a dark room
Offer her a scrambled egg/ fresh water
Check her in a few hours.

Sometimes chickens just feel icky for a day..but that is rare.

sometimes they do not let you know they are sick till it is too late to do anything..it is a survivor instinct.

 

[stonykill]

Tell your husband if he is not going to cull he has to make some decisions..that bird is in obvious distress. She is loudly telling you something is wrong.
He needs to give her a nice warm long soaking bath
He needs to palpatate her belly and feel for an egg..if he feels one he needs to remove it while he has her soaking
Blow dry her
He needs to smell her bottom

Make her warm
Let her rest in a dark room
Offer her a scrambled egg/ fresh water
Check her in a few hours.

Sometimes chickens just feel icky for a day..but that is rare.

sometimes they do not let you know they are sick till it is too late to do anything..it is a survivor instinct.

x2.

 

[armorfirelady]

Today was an eggaplaoza at Critter Casa. Girls left us 7 eggs

I was so excited.......everyone laid except Sophie. I finally figured out what egg Lucy is laying. Its a darker brown the the big girls but not a dark dark brown like Sophies. I caught her in the nesting box one day & that was the warmest egg. And the coop cam shows her in the nesting area on the days I found that egg

Now to get Sophie to start laying more than a couple times a month............

Thought I would share some coop cam pics.......It seems Stella & one of the big girls like to get a birds eye view of the lens........

One of the big girls

Stella being Stella........bet she was seeing if there was food in the camera lol

Now I need to figure out how to put the camera so I can see this nest on the ground and the one above them in the litter box. Seems they rotate between the two. Wont they be upset when I attach the old nesting boxes from the old coop and they will only have there to lay

 

[tcmstalcup]

OK guys and gals. Have tried it all and finally figured out the boiled egg thing. Pull up a chair and listen carefully. Cold H2O with baking soda in it. I pricked the air cell end of 2 day old eggs with a tack. Bring to boil. Turn stove off and leave for 10 minutes. Drop eggs in ice water. after a few minutes kinda squash the air cell end. Go pick up son (about 1 hour). Open beer. Roll eggs between palms and peel. Take good pulls off beer between each egg-sometimes more frequently. Works pretty well. Might require 2 beers.

 

[mlowen]

OK guys and gals. Have tried it all and finally figured out the boiled egg thing. Pull up a chair and listen carefully. Cold H2O with baking soda in it. I pricked the air cell end of 2 day old eggs with a tack. Bring to boil. Turn stove off and leave for 10 minutes. Drop eggs in ice water. after a few minutes kinda squash the air cell end. Go pick up son (about 1 hour). Open beer. Roll eggs between palms and peel. Take good pulls off beer between each egg-sometimes more frequently. Works pretty well. Might require 2 beers.

 

[Leahs Mom]

OK guys and gals. Have tried it all and finally figured out the boiled egg thing. Pull up a chair and listen carefully. Cold H2O with baking soda in it. I pricked the air cell end of 2 day old eggs with a tack. Bring to boil. Turn stove off and leave for 10 minutes. Drop eggs in ice water. after a few minutes kinda squash the air cell end. Go pick up son (about 1 hour). Open beer. Roll eggs between palms and peel. Take good pulls off beer between each egg-sometimes more frequently. Works pretty well. Might require 2 beers.

Will it still work if I substitute chocolate for beer?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Today was an eggaplaoza at Critter Casa. Girls left us 7 eggs

I was so excited.......everyone laid except Sophie. I finally figured out what egg Lucy is laying. Its a darker brown the the big girls but not a dark

I finally have been getting 8 eggs/day for the last couple days (out of 10 layers). But.... I think one of my girls still hasn't laid since sometime last November. This is the ONLY girl whose eggs I want to hatch (of course). She is a non-crested SFH.

I remember Karen (Ki4got) saying that some of her SFH wouldn't lay unless they were free ranging which certainly hasn't been happening around here in all that time. It would be totally frustrating if this girl doesn't lay! She just turned 1 yo around the first of the year.


AFL - are you using a regular trail cam in your coop? I don't remember. I know some folks that got some kind of video cam (like the ones used for property surveillance) to have in the barn during kidding season on the goats. I sometimes think if I had more livestock I might invest in something like that - or just use it as part of an alarm system in various places on the property.

 

[tcmstalcup]

Worth experimenting with Leah's Mom!!!

 

[armorfirelady]

Leah's mom it's just a regular game cam I found on clearance. It was more for my entertainment to see who is laying. And to see what kind of predators I get at night. I had it outside the first couple nights and saw nothing. Then inside to watch the girls. It's back outside on the back of the coop to see what goes by. I'll be happy if it just shows deer I'm hoping the gray fox hit last year in front of my house moved on. I've seen red fox down the road so hopefully they and the coons stay away also. Lol. It does have video capabilities but I haven't tried it yet.

The hawk has been around but the crows have been in my yard the last week so the hawk is staying outside their perimeter. I am ok with that.

 

[lalaland]

Does this mean I have rats?

there is a nest the hens like that they've made on the floor wedged behind a door in the coop in a pile of hay. usually there is a pile of eggs. last night, no pile, instead, all the eggs were lined up in a row, about 4 inches apart, leading away from the center of the nest out behind the door. there was also an egg in the middle of the floor.

It defies imagination to think the girls laid this way (never happened in my life) or that the girls hauled the eggs out of the nest and lined them up.....

remember, I had something going on a few months ago with the girls coming off the roost at night and huddling in the opposite corner of the coop. as far as I know that stopped. I did put the rat zapper in the coop, but the batteries kept freezing.

no signs of rats or mice, but of course they are there....

Ideas?