The Old Folks Home

I just rescued a little dove. It slammed into the screen on our patio. It's small. It looks like it's recently fully feathered in. It was VERY windy out. I suspect it might have been trying to fly, and got caught in the strong winds. Dh thought it had broken it's neck, and was dying, so he set in in the grass outside. I noticed it was still alive after about 10 minutes, and was holding it's head fine. I figured it had knocked itself out, or was in shock from hitting the screen. It looked like rain, so I put it in a clean towel, and brought it into the patio.

After supper, I walked out, and it had cuddled up more in the towel. It tried to fly away when it saw me. It's now in a tote, on a towel, with a screen over the top. I put a very small weighted water dish, with a little bit of Nutri-Drench in the water for it. I then got some chicken feed, and put in there. I know they are predominantly seed eaters, but I don't have bird seed. They can eat grains, and I have chicken feed on hand, so that will hold it until tomorrow, when I can get some seeds for it. It's still acting shocky, so I don't know if it will eat much. I did dip it's beak in the water. I wanted to get some of the vitamins from the water into it. I'll make sure it stays fairly warm through the night. I'm not overly concerned, since the low is going to be 73. I'll set the heating pad by it, on low, in the wee hours, so it won't get cold.

Hopefully, it'll be fine in a couple days, and ready to go back outside, and can find it's way home. I'll wait until I'm sure it's recuperated, and can fly good, before I turn it loose.
 
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I have a vitamin for egg layers that I give them.
My egg problem is the sack around the yolk is weak. Lots of broken yolks when I crack eggs open. DH complains about either broken yolks, or they break when he flips them because he like his over easy.

I feed 20% organic all flock. I add a bit of Calf Manna 2-3 times a week. Their main "treat" is their food wetted into a mash. They get weeds from the garden 2-3 times a week. Sometimes some fruit, very seldom a bit of bread.

I have 3 Black Australorp hens, 15 months old. Suggestions???

Would eggs like these be worth trying to hatch, should I ever want to?
 
It was interesting how slowly she improved. Very tiny bits at a time.
I had a hen that I found unable to stand out between the barns one day. Maybe a year ago? No sign of any trauma. I put her in the broody buster, figured I'd have to kill her. She was eating and drinking but not standing. Little by little she began to try to stand. Then she stood a little, eventually fully recovered though she was in the buster well over a week. She's currently raising the 6 chicks I got 3 weeks ago. Chickens are pretty amazing creatures.
 
I finally got some pictures of Swan. He's improving. He's just well, weird. Doesn't want to move his head around. He is alert, strutted over to his treat bowl when I gave him some sunflower seeds and I've seen him eating. Anyway. I'm going to rooster booster him but I fear he has either a neuro injury or muscle injury. Granted the wound was deep and big but today is day 7 and it's amazing how fast he is healing.

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He even walks with his head tucked in like you see in the pictures. Any thoughts anybody?
 
My egg problem is the sack around the yolk is weak. Lots of broken yolks when I crack eggs open. DH complains about either broken yolks, or they break when he flips them because he like his over easy.

I feed 20% organic all flock. I add a bit of Calf Manna 2-3 times a week. Their main "treat" is their food wetted into a mash. They get weeds from the garden 2-3 times a week. Sometimes some fruit, very seldom a bit of bread.

I have 3 Black Australorp hens, 15 months old. Suggestions???

Would eggs like these be worth trying to hatch, should I ever want to?
It is possible that the flock had a virus and the egg glands are now messed up.

Do the eggs have wrinkled shells?

It might work to hatch the eggs but it depends on if the virus is systemic and will be passed into the eggs. Some chronic things will and others will not.

The thing that you might need to do is give the current flock away, sterilize as best you can and start with a new flock after several months.

One thing I could do here is send one of the hens in for a necropsy to see if they have something. The basic charge here is $20.00 and then an extra charge for the pathology test for viruses.

That would help make a decision.
 
@getaclue I love it that you saved the little dove. I read a story in a Readers Digest years ago about a little dove that a woman rescued when her horse stepped on its wing and broke it beyond repair. She amputated what was left of the wing and nursed it back to health. Unable to return it to the wild, she set about taming it and was successful. The little dove lived out her life with her, successfully being a surrogate mom for every baby bird that she found that had fallen out of it's nest. She said the dove didn't have a fulfilling life in the wild raising her own chicks but she was a mother none the less.

I've had a soft spot in my heart for doves since reading that story. We have a big fir tree in front of our house. This year there were two Ring necked doves nesting in it.

@Sally PB I have a few bantams that are laying eggs with thin skinned yolks. Following to see what the problem could be. Everyone else's is fine.
 
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