What did you do with your flock today?

[TheOddOneOut]

Me? Well, I have two girls with bumblefoot on BOTH FEET. So after I got home this afternoon it was an epic showdown between me and a pair of angry hens who wanted no part in my “soak, clean, slather, wrap, repeat” process. I have a cut next to my eye from a sharp, broken wing feather shaft that hit me while my Dominique had a flappy fit.
I have painful scratches all over my arms, too.
I eventually got their trotters cleaned and wrapped and sent them on their merry way.
I’m also in a power struggle with a perpetual broody who has a deformed, chronically pendulous crop.

And my SBE is a neurotic biatch who is picking on and balding said sick broody.

I also have a hen laying weak shelled and soft eggs at random and I can’t figure out what the hell is going on with her.
So, yeah. My 6 girls are really giving me a run for my money. They’re like suicidal toddlers sometimes.
“I have a bright idea. Let’s eat lead paint!”

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have like 3 old Hens 2 belonged to my best friend one is red Star small bird, big attitude tonight she was picking on this poor young bird horribly ..
I stepped over to Red she wqas on the table so put my hand under her wing held her down like a rooster .. She was so surprised she did not move for 3 minutes but no more pecking

 

[kurby22]

Me? Well, I have two girls with bumblefoot on BOTH FEET. So after I got home this afternoon it was an epic showdown between me and a pair of angry hens who wanted no part in my “soak, clean, slather, wrap, repeat” process. I have a cut next to my eye from a sharp, broken wing feather shaft that hit me while my Dominique had a flappy fit.
I have painful scratches all over my arms, too.
I eventually got their trotters cleaned and wrapped and sent them on their merry way.
I’m also in a power struggle with a perpetual broody who has a deformed, chronically pendulous crop.View attachment 2864293
And my SBE is a neurotic biatch who is picking on and balding said sick broody.View attachment 2864295
I also have a hen laying weak shelled and soft eggs at random and I can’t figure out what the hell is going on with her.
So, yeah. My 6 girls are really giving me a run for my money. They’re like suicidal toddlers sometimes.
“I have a bright idea. Let’s eat lead paint!”

Oh my! They are giving you a run for your money!! It’s so true that they truly feel like suicidal toddlers some days I haven’t had to battle bumblefoot on a chicken yet and I’m dreading it. I’ve treated quail feet but a large angry hen or rooster seems much more intimidating I’m sorry to hear that your one hen is always struggling! I have one that seems to always be sort of fragile. Since I got her she’s had mites, MG, IBV, dying tissue around injection sites, and poor clotting. The vet said she also has an odd shaped bone structure and one of her toes is missing the end toenail portion. She’s a fighter though, I’ll give her that! It’s a good thing they’re so cute! I hope tomorrow is better!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Oh my! They are giving you a run for your money!! It’s so true that they truly feel like suicidal toddlers some days I haven’t had to battle bumblefoot on a chicken yet and I’m dreading it. I’ve treated quail feet but a large angry hen or rooster seems much more intimidating I’m sorry to hear that your one hen is always struggling! I have one that seems to always be sort of fragile. Since I got her she’s had mites, MG, IBV, dying tissue around injection sites, and poor clotting. The vet said she also has an odd shaped bone structure and one of her toes is missing the end toenail portion. She’s a fighter though, I’ll give her that! It’s a good thing they’re so cute! I hope tomorrow is better!

I seemed to have a “Honeymoon period” with them. I got them all in April of last year. They had perfect health until my SBE screwed up her left leg pretty bad. She was 8 weeks old and tiny. It wasn’t a fun time. We had to take her to the vet! Which we swore we wouldn’t do. But nothing was working, and she couldn’t walk, and her sad little baby eyes made it clear she needed help we couldn’t provide.
She recover fine.
They all started laying, and were happy to wreck the garden and crap on the lawn furniture whenever they wanted. For that first 11 months everything was awesome.
They hit the 1 year mark and boom. It was like they all fell apart at once.
My crop issues girl has a malfunctioning or deformed crop that is not fixable.
Ever since she was a few weeks old she had issues.
But she was fine in the summer. Radiant and bright and cheerful. Laid lots of eggs.

She did her 10 month molt and things went sideways. Her crop got blocked up and she began to act ill and lose weigh.

Her crop hung low and saggy. It was always full.

We ALSO took her to the vet, because my family has a soft spot for suffering creatures.

She got a neon crop bra and a new attitude.
It helped. But we soon learned that nothing can fix her crop. No matter what we did, she would have good and bad weeks. And here we are. She’s almost 2 years old and her crop has never been normal.
I’m hoping she’ll be better this winter.

 

[kurby22]

I seemed to have a “Honeymoon period” with them. I got them all in April of last year. They had perfect health until my SBE screwed up her left leg pretty bad. She was 8 weeks old and tiny. It wasn’t a fun time. We had to take her to the vet! Which we swore we wouldn’t do. But nothing was working, and she couldn’t walk, and her sad little baby eyes made it clear she needed help we couldn’t provide.
She recover fine.
They all started laying, and were happy to wreck the garden and crap on the lawn furniture whenever they wanted. For that first 11 months everything was awesome.
They hit the 1 year mark and boom. It was like they all fell apart at once.
My crop issues girl has a malfunctioning or deformed crop that is not fixable.
Ever since she was a few weeks old she had issues.
But she was fine in the summer. Radiant and bright and cheerful. Laid lots of eggs.View attachment 2864304
She did her 10 month molt and things went sideways. Her crop got blocked up and she began to act ill and lose weigh. View attachment 2864305
Her crop hung low and saggy. It was always full. View attachment 2864306
We ALSO took her to the vet, because my family has a soft spot for suffering creatures. View attachment 2864307
She got a neon crop bra and a new attitude.
It helped. But we soon learned that nothing can fix her crop. No matter what we did, she would have good and bad weeks. And here we are. She’s almost 2 years old and her crop has never been normal.
I’m hoping she’ll be better this winter.

Ahh poor baby!! While they’re always trying to die, they are also crazy tough! What a sweet girl and I sort of love the neon crop bra It’s a great color for her!

I’m sort of dreading that first real molt…and hoping that everyone handles egg laying okay! I know that IBV can cause damage to the reproductive parts sometimes and I feel like fragile Miss Marianne would be the one to deal with something like that :-/ I’m sort of hoping the mites, MG and IBV running thru the whole flock has satisfied them for awhile from trying to die and they’ll stay healthy (knock on wood!) for a good while!

 

[TropicalBabies]

Well, everybody's gals sure are pretty for being so pesky. I'm loving the Ameraucana's. Mine are so unfriendly but I was not their first mom.
Sorry for all the troubles @Odds. I have a 3yo girl with crop issues and she is still hanging in there. Good days and bad days. Now she is molting and a hot visual mess. I have low expectations for her but she sticks around.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Ahh poor baby!! While they’re always trying to die, they are also crazy tough! What a sweet girl and I sort of love the neon crop bra It’s a great color for her!

I’m sort of dreading that first real molt…and hoping that everyone handles egg laying okay! I know that IBV can cause damage to the reproductive parts sometimes and I feel like fragile Miss Marianne would be the one to deal with something like that :-/ I’m sort of hoping the mites, MG and IBV running thru the whole flock has satisfied them for awhile from trying to die and they’ll stay healthy (knock on wood!) for a good while!

Salt (crop issues girl) is definitely a tough cookie. All my girls are. Hey, if they survived my terrible newbie brooder, they can survive anything!
My Orp girl, the only one with a spotless health record, (meaning she’s the only one who’s never had a major injury, infection, or mental issues, or other illness) bullies my ten pound Chihuahua mix into yelping terror.
All my girls have had issues minus the Orp.
One of my Doms is half of the bumblefoot issue, and has sprained a leg in the past.
My other Dom is the crazy crop gal.
My EE has bumblefoot.
My SBE (Super blue Egger) is a neurotic bully who has had a bad leg injury AND a scary egg binding.
My Sussex lays soft eggs sometimes. For no reason. Also regularly exhibits symptoms of “Help me, I am a dummy with no
A.) Inhibitions
B.) Common sense
C.) Understanding of basic physics, (I.e you can’t walk through walls or levitate)
D.) all of the above.

And my Orp is just…normal. Weirdly, I have one seemingly normal hen. Lord knows what crazy things she’s hiding.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Well, everybody's gals sure are pretty for being so pesky. I'm loving the Ameraucana's. Mine are so unfriendly but I was not their first mom.
Sorry for all the troubles @Odds. I have a 3yo girl with crop issues and she is still hanging in there. Good days and bad days. Now she is molting and a hot visual mess. I have low expectations for her but she sticks around.

My girl is a hot mess sometimes.
Last winter, she would make her crop worse and worse because she was ravenous. Food didn’t pass into her system quick enough. So as she ate more she made it worse!

 

[FrankieDoodle]

I haven’t been doing a lot with my birds recently (aside from the normal stuff), but I discovered the SFs love the berries from one of my trees. And by love I mean the berries turned them into greedy little monsters. XD
I’ve never had anyone that excited for the berries. It’s even more shocking because the SFs are reeeaaally picky eaters.

Everyone is all scraggly and molting right now, so no pictures. Yen is almost done with hers, and Molly is pretty close, but everyone else is just starting. So far my ducks have it the worst. While the ducks themselves look fine, the coop looks like a crime scene before I clean it every morning. XD

Honey is still getting better with the birds. I can walk by them with a loose leash, and the other day she was out running while the caged birds were in their run and she barely glanced at them.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Not too much to report today! Spent a lot of time with the babies today but nothing special got lots of snuggles from the Ameraucanas

I want the floofy girl in the last pic. She’s so cute!

Me? Well, I have two girls with bumblefoot on BOTH FEET. So after I got home this afternoon it was an epic showdown between me and a pair of angry hens who wanted no part in my “soak, clean, slather, wrap, repeat” process. I have a cut next to my eye from a sharp, broken wing feather shaft that hit me while my Dominique had a flappy fit.
I have painful scratches all over my arms, too.
I eventually got their trotters cleaned and wrapped and sent them on their merry way.
I’m also in a power struggle with a perpetual broody who has a deformed, chronically pendulous crop.View attachment 2864293
And my SBE is a neurotic biatch who is picking on and balding said sick broody.View attachment 2864295
I also have a hen laying weak shelled and soft eggs at random and I can’t figure out what the hell is going on with her.
So, yeah. My 6 girls are really giving me a run for my money. They’re like suicidal toddlers sometimes.
“I have a bright idea. Let’s eat lead paint!”

I’m sorry you’ve been having issues. Bumble is the worst!