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[GroningerGeens]

Hi Skippy hi Chell.

I have a sick hen I think. .
She is a Sussex hybrid and she has always had runnier poo than my other hens, but she is looking really messy and seems to be sitting down lots and may even be waddling a bit when she walks.

Anyone experienced this?

I have moved my chicks and mum now, in to a bigger pen so u am going to separate the Sussex from then main flock tonight while she is sleeping.

What should I check for while I have her separate?

I've been reading that natural yoghurt is good for crop and digest health - do you think it could help?

Geoff.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

@Yorkshire Coop


Hi Kim

No men in white coats required for me last night thank goodness!! Oh what bliss!
Don't think I want to use that little coop as a broody pen again though, at least not unless I put a broody in there that can marshall her chicks and take them to bed.... like Tasha.... but can't see me ever wanting to remove Tasha from the main flock, so will have to find another use for this. Maybe a small breeding pen or grow out for the male pekin chicks.

I can imagine moderating on a forum this size must be a pretty comprehensive and time consuming job. Hope it doesn't mean you have less time for riding.
Ian and I went out on Archie and Zak again last night. There has been a lot of forestry work in the woods and some of the routes have become impassable, so it was a bit of a scouting expedition.. We found a couple of small logs and some ditches to jump and Ian is going back today to cut back some of the places where branches are closing in on the track and perhaps pull some other logs out onto the track or at the side, so that there is a jumping option. Zak did very well though and didn't hesitate at the logs so I think Ian was quite pleased with him.

Think that is all my news for now.

Regards

Barbara   

Morning Barbara

So pleased the men in white coats didn't have to come round
Is it one of those little coop and run combos? If so had the same trouble with my hen and chicks in mine. They are good as a chicken jail or sick bay and I used it as a grow out coop. Your going great guns on the riding with all those legs and ditches, so pleased all is going well and I bet your enjoying the jumping too!
Moderating won't interfere with riding or any other activities, once I have the hang of things moderating wise I'm sure I will be back to normal posting on here. Lots to read and lots to learn but I'm getting there.

Hope you have a great day today!
Kim xx

Actually now u say Pekins I think that's what I was told they were I have such poor memory haha

Lovely little birds, I have some due to hatch on Friday!! Can't wait to see them

Hi Skippy hi Chell.

I have a sick hen I think. .
She is a Sussex hybrid and she has always had runnier poo than my other hens, but she is looking really messy and seems to be sitting down lots and may even be waddling a bit when she walks.

Anyone experienced this?

I have moved my chicks and mum now, in to a bigger pen so u am going to separate the Sussex from then main flock tonight while she is sleeping.

What should I check for while I have her separate?

I've been reading that natural yoghurt is good for crop and digest health - do you think it could help?

Geoff.

If she has a really poopy backside I would clean her up and have a good look at what's going on there. Has she laid any eggs recently?

 

[rebrascora]

@GroningerGeens

Hi Geoff

How is your girl doing?
As Yorkshire Coop says, it would be a good idea to bath her in warm water to clean her up and get a good idea of what's going on. If you can't catch her or don't like the idea of giving her a bath, get some scissors and carefully cut back all the soiled feathers around her vent, so that you can see what's going on. I do this on the roost on a night with birds that don't like to be handled or I can't catch.

There are 3 things that come to mind so far....
Ascites....water belly.... the chicken belly starts filling up with fluid causing them to have a taut bag of fluid between their legs. This causes them to have a wide upright stance and waddle and will eventually put a strain on her heart and lungs and eventually most likely lead to death. It happens over a number of weeks/months and can be drained but will usually fill up again in time.

Egg Bound.... this is where an egg gets stuck and usually causes problems and death quite quickly (a matter of a few days I believe) if not resolved. The egg that is stuck can usually be felt by gently inserting a lubricated finger into the vent. Treatment includes warm Epsom salts baths, lubricating the vent with olive oil and feeding a calcium supplement... a quarter of an indigestion tablet like Tums should help.

Salpingitis.... internal laying....where the eggs are dropping into the digestive tract instead of coming out of the vent. They eventually become infected, but similar to ascites, it usually takes several weeks of months.... antibiotics may help short term on the infection but the mass often inhibits digestion and elimination of waste and like ascites, puts pressure on vital organs.

I hope that gives you some clue as to what may be amis with your hen and how to treat it.

Good luck

Barbara

 

[GroningerGeens]

@GroningerGeens

Hi Geoff

How is your girl doing?
As Yorkshire Coop says, it would be a good idea to bath her in warm water to clean her up and get a good idea of what's going on. If you can't catch her or don't like the idea of giving her a bath, get some scissors and carefully cut back all the soiled feathers around her vent, so that you can see what's going on. I do this on the roost on a night with birds that don't like to be handled or I can't catch.

There are 3 things that come to mind so far....
Ascites....water belly.... the chicken belly starts filling up with fluid causing them to have a taut bag of fluid between their legs. This causes them to have a wide upright stance and waddle and will eventually put a strain on her heart and lungs and eventually most likely lead to death. It happens over a number of weeks/months and can be drained but will usually fill up again in time.

Egg Bound.... this is where an egg gets stuck and usually causes problems and death quite quickly (a matter of a few days I believe) if not resolved. The egg that is stuck can usually be felt by gently inserting a lubricated finger into the vent. Treatment includes warm Epsom salts baths, lubricating the vent with olive oil and feeding a calcium supplement... a quarter of an indigestion tablet like Tums should help.

Salpingitis.... internal laying....where the eggs are dropping into the digestive tract instead of coming out of the vent. They eventually become infected, but similar to ascites, it usually takes several weeks of months.... antibiotics may help short term on the infection but the mass often inhibits digestion and elimination of waste and like ascites, puts pressure on vital organs.

I hope that gives you some clue as to what may be amis with your hen and how to treat it.

Good luck

Barbara

Hi Barbara / Kim,


So yesterday I gave her some yogurt - friendly bacteria !
Tonight I am going to take some pics of her while she is sleepy and I am going to have a good clean / cut feathers so i can see what is going on.

she is still laying eggs - though yesterdays egg has a funny shell - Ill get a pic up of that soon too.
She laid today too and it was fairly normal, maybe a little paler than usual.

Also , now she is separated I can tell she has had a couple of poo's and they don't actually look to bad - maybe the yogurt helps?.

She hasn't drunk much water though !.

I really appreciate your suggestions and advice - thanks. I am quite worried about her. I don't mind dispatching one for meat but it is sad to know one that is a good layer is poorly. She was one of our first hens and she is only 8 months old! Our first hens we named as they are layers and were never for meat!
.
Ill give an update later and some pics of my first hatch too!

Geoff

 

[GroningerGeens]

Hi All

Update on my Sussex who I think is poorly.
This is how she looked before I cleaned her up



She seemed ok letting me deal with her. I had my daughter Erin help me, I used a towel to keep the light from her eyes and think she stayed asleep for about 5 mins.

After being trimmed a little she looked like this


So, this is the first time i have had a good look at her in this way and i am not really sure what to look for. She did not seem red and inflamed and there was nothing stuck in there as far as i could see. And as she has been laying I don't think there is an egg issue.

I took the opportunity to have a feel of her abdomen ad her crop, looked at her feet etc.

I also then looked at two other hens to have a little comparison. Her crop was the softest - full but quite liquid compared with the other two - though not a massive difference
All of their abdomen felt as firm as each other. She did not make any uncomfortable noises while I was having a good feel - and she was awake during this time.
She had a feed too on a few sunflower seeds as a treat and then ate some layers once I put her back in her area.

So - I found no evidence of anything really, so I will just monitor her I think, Maybe get some cider vinegar to put in her water and a bit more yogurt!

If there is anything else I should have looked for please let me know and I will be Vet tomorrow night too!!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Geoff

The clean up will have made her feel so much better. I'm guessing she has feathers that just can't stop collecting poop, they sure do look fluffy and soft! Her vent looks good but I was just wondering about the grey matter below it. Could those be lice eggs? Is it just a bit of poop that wont come off?

What was the funny looking egg like? Do you have them on layer feed? Often if they produce a funky egg this can cause them to be off it. I had a hen that looked like she was on deaths door, the next day she produced a soft shell egg and was soon back to normal.

Here are some egg quality problems so you can identify what hers was like ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems

Hope she is feeling better today

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

@rebrascora

Chicks are hatching!

First one was out yesterday morning when I got back from the yard about 10 ~

Day 20 so a little early and unexpected! Another at T time and one about 8.30 last night. Woke up this morning to 8 hatched so far, more pips but keeping track is hard now they knocking everything about in there. These little lemon Pekin sure are cute Silver lace Wyandottes are cuter than I thought too with nice markings ~

 

[Athaid]

Awww cute chicks @Yorkshire Coop

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Thank you @Lsky

10 hatched now

 

[Athaid]

They're beautiful Do you have a large flock, or are you hatching them for other reasons?
Also where did you get the eggs from?