The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

Here's an odd question

Has anyone ever had any of your chickens get a piece of feed or seed or wood shaving up in their nostril? Then perhaps have it get crusted over until you had to remove the blockage?

 

[slayv4petz]

Can't say that I have :\

 

[Lacy Blues]

Here's an odd question

Has anyone ever had any of your chickens get a piece of feed or seed or wood shaving up in their nostril? Then perhaps have it get crusted over until you had to remove the blockage?

Is this just for fun or have you a new experience to share?

As for my part, ummm... no. :/

 

[Leahs Mom]

I've been perusing around here on byc and seeing several situations in which a bird has a blocked nare and it ends up being a piece of food causing the blockage.

I have observed one of my birds with something that looks like it may have something stuck on the nostril so I am curious just how common this might be. I'm going to take a closer look again tomorrow and see what I can see.

 

[lalaland]

yeah, I had to remove a clot of rotted feed - it smelled like rotten meat and I only noticed it because I had picked up the chicken to check for mites and was looking closely at her neck feather. I smelled it, and then realized it was coming from a clogged up nose. Thankfully I was able to kind of pick at the edge and got out a glob. Next morning her nostril was still clear and the smell was gone. It was sooo gross.

 

[armorfirelady]

Back side of the coop. The little entrance cover has shower curtains covering it. (piece of the old doll house coop) Once I move the pop door to the other side of the coop (after the snow comes) I am able to secure the outside door & give them a little extra floor space in this area. It will be like a little sun room

Back and side view again

The front of the coop. Tho the clear plastic is grungy from the weather you can see through it to the other side. I am hoping this will allow more sunlight in this winter. The back side faces south. The little short building to the right are the entrance cover for pop door and the the cover for where their food and water will be. I used up the extra plexiglass I had & made a frame for it. Its hinged to the little building to keep most of the snow & rain out & allows the girls to easily get in and out of there. (another piece of the old doll house coop)

I couldnt resist adding a picture of Zorro. 20 weeks old & taller than all the hens. However he seems to have problems walking with his huge feet. Reminds me a clown walking with their big shoes Still quiet & afraid of the hens except his *sisters* who he hatched with

 

[Leahs Mom]

yeah, I had to remove a clot of rotted feed - it smelled like rotten meat and I only noticed it because I had picked up the chicken to check for mites and was looking closely at her neck feather. I smelled it, and then realized it was coming from a clogged up nose. Thankfully I was able to kind of pick at the edge and got out a glob. Next morning her nostril was still clear and the smell was gone. It was sooo gross.

Thanks. That is what I think I'm seeing but I don't think it's been there long. No noticable smell when I saw it.

May I ask if it was wet feed that got stuck?

 

[Lacy Blues]

armorfirelady, I don't know if Zorro has the same problem as my boys when they reach 3.5 to 4 months of age... they seem to walk strange too. They don't relax their feet when they take a step, keeping their toes all stretched out as if they were still on the ground, plus, they lift their feet higher than they need to. I have found that the problem is with the tendons and have needed to increase their calcium. I have started putting oyster shell dispensers in with the growing boys plus I changed my pelleted feed to Flock Raiser as it has a higher calcium percentage than chick starter but is still ok for chicks and grown birds. Giving them this extra calcium, plus the dispensers, has helped a lot and they don't walk weird anymore.

 

[Lacy Blues]

yeah, I had to remove a clot of rotted feed - it smelled like rotten meat and I only noticed it because I had picked up the chicken to check for mites and was looking closely at her neck feather. I smelled it, and then realized it was coming from a clogged up nose. Thankfully I was able to kind of pick at the edge and got out a glob. Next morning her nostril was still clear and the smell was gone. It was sooo gross.

When you noticed the clogged nostril, did the other nostril weep at all? I culled some birds last spring that showed a single weepy nostril as I was afraid it might be something worse. I never even considered that there might be a food blockage... ugh! Don't tell my son ok? They were his birds. If I ever see it again, I will be sure to check for blockages.

 

[slayv4petz]

Back side of the coop. The little entrance cover has shower curtains covering it. (piece of the old doll house coop) Once I move the pop door to the other side of the coop (after the snow comes) I am able to secure the outside door & give them a little extra floor space in this area. It will be like a little sun room

Back and side view again

The front of the coop. Tho the clear plastic is grungy from the weather you can see through it to the other side. I am hoping this will allow more sunlight in this winter. The back side faces south. The little short building to the right are the entrance cover for pop door and the the cover for where their food and water will be. I used up the extra plexiglass I had & made a frame for it. Its hinged to the little building to keep most of the snow & rain out & allows the girls to easily get in and out of there. (another piece of the old doll house coop)

I couldnt resist adding a picture of Zorro. 20 weeks old & taller than all the hens. However he seems to have problems walking with his huge feet. Reminds me a clown walking with their big shoes Still quiet & afraid of the hens except his *sisters* who he hatched with

That's cool coop! My husband was attempting to make a run using a trampoline, I wish I had taken a pic of it, he lengthen the legs to make it well over 6ft tall! But took it down, I guess he's going to refigure, how to go about it while keeping it safe, I tried daring him to climb up on it and jump on it, to see what would happen, he didn't go for it!
Love Zorro! He's pretty!