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Micomicona posted:So, uh, is it normal for a molting hen to... list sideways? Yesterday, the bald girl was walking all crunched down and kept going to the right, like she couldn't walk a straight line. None of my other hens have done this while molting yet, but none of my other hens have ever had such a major molt either. She's eating fine, just hugging the walls of the coop. Check her feet for injury/infection. If they are fine she might be ill, sit her on a (low) perch and see if she falls off.
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Oct 24, 2016 18:26
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expensive video carb posted:And we've had barred rocks that looked like their butts had been chopped off during molt.
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Oct 24, 2016 21:16
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Morningwoodpecker posted:Check her feet for injury/infection. If they are fine she might be ill, sit her on a (low) perch and see if she falls off. She's been perching like a champ, sleeping even on the high bar, so no trouble there. She's a bit ungainly on the dismount, but that's because she's assless and it is basically like dropping a plucked rotisserie chicken three feet. I'll check her feet when I get home.
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Oct 25, 2016 01:21
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Micomicona posted:She's been perching like a champ, sleeping even on the high bar, so no trouble there. She's a bit ungainly on the dismount, but that's because she's assless and it is basically like dropping a plucked rotisserie chicken three feet. I'll check her feet when I get home. I was thinking bumblefoot (nasty but treatable foot infection) looks like a manky black spot and makes them limp you can't miss it, it's disgusting. She could just feel vulnerable on her bald side (if she's molting unevenly) and be trying to conceal it from predators as she's missing plumage (camouflage), the other chickens may also have pecked at or even caused the bald spot (have a look for small wounds and scratches on the exposed skin antiseptic spray to treat and deter further pecking because it tastes bad). Sit and watch to identify feather-plucking flock behavior, if she's low in the pecking order it could be that.
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Oct 25, 2016 12:25
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the fun never stops with my flock, desdemona is doing great but now one of my other older chicks has bumblefoot  i trod on her foot about a week ago (the perils of having tame chickens that want to be close to my ankles at all times) and though it was badly bruised and painful there was no open wound, it was still warm and she could curl the toes so i thought it wasn't anything too serious - i put her in a brooder for protection anyway but didn't pay more than cursory attention to the foot because i thought there wasn't an infection risk with a closed fracture, but it turns out even closed trauma leaves them prone to bumblefoot. today her foot is hot and swollen and has black scabs on the pad. i'll be treating her as soon as i get home from work this afternoon, she's a real sweetheart so i hope she'll be okaysome websites recommend full-on aggressive home surgery but others say that just removing the scabs and thoroughly disinfecting and dressing the wounds is enough. i don't really want to vivisect a conscious chicken's feet with no pain relief unless i have to - has anyone else itt had success with the less invasive treatments?
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Oct 25, 2016 21:46
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in the past month I've had to deal with bumblefoot, wry neck, coccio, lice, a predator killing literally all my quail, an incubator malfunction hatching out brain-damaged chicks that died after a few hours, and my gay hen has a new girlfriend. next i predict either marek's, a meteor strike, or the whole flock ascending to heaven in a blaze of light. luckily they waited until i got a full-time job so i can afford to deal with all these disasters
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Oct 25, 2016 22:07
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it's the bokbokalypse
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Oct 25, 2016 22:10
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I'd go with foot baths, cleaning the sore and antiseptic wound spray (maybe isolation of the chicken somewhere clean) for a few days before I'd even consider home surgery. A couple of days won't make a massive difference if the chickens just limping, and as you can see the scabs there's a surface opening hopefully no need to make one. This webpage has both methods : http://fresheggsdaily.com/2012/03/bumblefoot.html Good luck.
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Oct 25, 2016 22:35
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okay, the vet via the receptionist told me that bumblefoot is only curable through surgery by a qualified surgeon  but after much discussion (ie "i'm not going to spend four hundred bucks on a chook") they gave me an antibiotic lotion intended to treat pinkeye in large stock, which is apparently the strongest antibiotic solution commercially available in australia that's safe for chickens. i also got a safe-for-pets lotion intended for burns from the chemist, who said that's what she'd give to a human with golden staph infection who couldn't get in to see the doctor for whatever reason. while i was scraping at the sores with a sterilised toothpick the chick was super chill and fell asleep on my lap a few times  and she now has dressings on both feet, as the other one had some dark scabs on it too. hopefully the vet is telling filthy lies. it's a bit difficult because obviously all the online guides have american brands and i can only guess at australian alternatives. most of the bruising from being stepped on has faded so i'm guessing that means there was no major fracture, so if things had gone smoothly she would probably be walking on it properly around about now - so if she's not putting weight on it in a few days i may have to buy a scalpel and try for the amateur surgery. please send positive thoughts, she is super sweet and nurtures the keets despite being a chicken teenager
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Oct 26, 2016 10:56
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Positive thoughts from me. If she was one of mine I'd sit her on my knee and sing sea shanties at her, which mine seem to like.
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Oct 26, 2016 17:49
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From PYF. http://i.imgur.com/Dff6lXA.mp4
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Oct 26, 2016 19:06
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update: bumblebee is (tentatively) putting weight on her bad foot 
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Oct 27, 2016 21:25
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Are you still treating for bumblefoot?
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Oct 27, 2016 23:14
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yes, i'll be dressing the wound every day for a week or so even if she's apparently good as new
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Oct 28, 2016 04:52
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Avshalom I'm surprised a vet told you that you need to pay them hundreds of dollars for surgery because in the US, most vets are like "ayyy lmao you want me to treat a chicken?" I just learned about some changes occurring January 1st in the US with regard to the use of antibiotics in poultry called the Veterinary Feed Directive. You won't be able to buy the majority of antibiotics over the counter anymore and instead you'll need to have an "established" relationship with a veterinarian who will prescribe them. (This doesn't apply to medicated feed because Amprolium isn't considered an antibiotic but a coccidiostat.)
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Oct 28, 2016 23:25
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samizdat posted:Avshalom I'm surprised a vet told you that you need to pay them hundreds of dollars for surgery because in the US, most vets are like "ayyy lmao you want me to treat a chicken?"
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Oct 29, 2016 00:27
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Mabel the chicken is standing about looking miserable, head tucked down with very little appetite. She hasn't laid since the day before yesterday and has a poopy butt. I suspect a soft shelled egg (slowing down for winter), and I'm hoping it's not an internal lay or broken egg. I'm going to feed her some mashed potato (her favorite) mixed with a bit of honey (for energy), anyone got any suggestions.
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Oct 30, 2016 08:58
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Mabel's now squirted out egg white and a broken yolk, no sign of shell (soft or otherwise even after KY exploration). She's cheered up a bit but looks knackered. And now there's a buzzard watching her.
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Oct 30, 2016 14:51
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Morningwoodpecker posted:after KY exploration Could you elaborate? Every time I have to feel a hen up I'm afraid to hurt her even if just gently squeezing from the outside. Hope Mabel didn't mind (and is feeling better).
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Oct 31, 2016 04:23
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Mabel has been to the vets and has a virus and is on anti-biotics, I popped her back in with the others for the day and she came and sat on my knee for a sleep even though I'd given her a bum bath. Poor thing, she's a bit droopy but more alert now and drinking lots. Hoping for the best but as a prey species they hide symptoms till they are really bad. The vet performed the same KY check we did and I watched to make sure we do it right. Two person job I hold the chicken my partner (with a lubricated finger) pokes it up the bum and has a feel around, looking for unlaid shelless egg or (worse) broken egg shell fragments. Have a good poke gently around about an inch and a half in not past the second knuckle (female vet with small hands be careful if you've got shovels like me), the egg duct is (I'm pretty sure) above the pooping system so feel upwards. The chicken will understandably not co-operate with this so I hold them on one knee gently against my side with a palm on the outer side and one on top so they can't move forwards/sideways, on a table hold the chicken like an American football or English rugby ball holding the wings in place with your palms stopping her going forward fingers spread so she cant jump up or duck down. They make a soft groaning sound when you do the check, that's normal*. The vet grabbed her tail and bent it upwards about 45 degrees (as they do for cockerels) with her other hand to afford herself easy access. Wear scruffy clothes there's always a splash of jelly/poop/egg/slime when the finger gets removed (especially if you use my on the knee method). *as normal as your day can be with your finger up a chicken.
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Oct 31, 2016 17:26
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A kestrel got one of our newer babies yesterday. Poor baby. And poor kestrel, because he was interrupted before he got his meal. Lose/lose. I think we're going to order a dozen chicks in the spring once our Awesome Mom goes broody again, and she can be amazed and proud at her ability to produce so many babbies.
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Nov 1, 2016 17:15
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After a few days living in the bathroom being given oral anti-biotics twice a day Mabel has recovered enough to be reintegrated into general population. She's lost weight though which means I have to sneak her high fat meal worms whilst distracting the others.
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Nov 8, 2016 08:24
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Morningwoodpecker posted:After a few days living in the bathroom being given oral anti-biotics twice a day Mabel has recovered enough to be reintegrated into general population. She's lost weight though which means I have to sneak her high fat meal worms whilst distracting the others. Come on Mabel!
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Nov 8, 2016 09:37
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spookygonk posted:Come on Mabel! She's looking good tonight she pushed sideways at the other chickens whilst pecking furiously at the corn in my hand. Having lost weight my biggest worry is her getting cold with no fat reserve, she now stands in the lee of the wind and presses against your foot when she wants warming up on a knee and she's developed the sense to get out of the rain which I've never seen her do before. No worries during the night as they all huddle in the coop which is now knee deep in wood shavings. I think she's out of the woods.
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Nov 8, 2016 21:10
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  look at this absolute beast. she hatched twelve chicks out of ~17 eggs, occasionally having to fight off the guinea fowl that really wanted her nesting spot for some reason, and so far has lost not a single one. it's peak hawk season and they haven't managed to snatch one yet. none even died at hatching or soon after birth. they're all super healthy and happy and curious, and now they're too big to fit under her they curl up around her to sleep so from above the lot of them looks kind of like a roast chicken surrounded by a wreath of baked potatoes. to make this even more impressive, she was an incubator hatchling! she never even had a mother of her own! her name is zeborah but we call her zebby.
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Nov 11, 2016 08:45
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Look at that proud mama! Also she look's like she'll CUT YOU if you touch her babes. Please provide photographic documentation of the chick-potato wreath!
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Nov 11, 2016 14:32
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From PYF.Gorilla Salad posted:
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Nov 11, 2016 15:42
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Morningwoodpecker posted:Mabel the chicken is standing about looking miserable, head tucked down with very little appetite. She hasn't laid since the day before yesterday and has a poopy butt. I suspect a soft shelled egg (slowing down for winter), and I'm hoping it's not an internal lay or broken egg. One of ours, Madeline, is doing the looking miserable, stooped, head down things that to us normally means internal lay (  ) however there's none of the usual signs of that and instead what is apparent is she's: had a massive crop for the past few weeks, she is often doing that head movement as if she's trying to shift something (you know the one like a sassy black woman saying "oh no you didn't"), and sometimes makes a choking motion. We've felt the large pouch and it's firm. We're going to google and look it up in our chicken manual but has anyone here experienced it and got any suggestions? Chicken Heimlich?
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Nov 13, 2016 11:44
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Final Cause posted:One of ours, Madeline, is doing the looking miserable, stooped, head down things that to us normally means internal lay ( Check their crops every morning so you spot a problem early, I open the door and then feel each chickens crop as they come down the ramp. A small bump of grit is normal a full crop is not. Blockage in the crop could be a tangle of string/long grass of a backlog through her system from a digestive problem. Smell her breath is it's sour it's an infection in the crop (treatable). If it's a blockage and she still eats try her on cold mashed potato with lots of olive oil mixed in (tasty so they eat it, the oil lubricates the blockage and can help clear it) make sure she drinks to soften whatever it is. If it stays big and hard and doesn't reduce overnight take her to the vet they may be able to flush it or operate (if she's a pet). Worm them if you haven't done it for 3 months. We identified the problem with ours (Mabel's fine then the others got ill but are recovering). My partner (an educated expert) insisted on trying to use a worming medicine free organic method, clear up the droppings to reduce worms eggs and get the poop tested for worms eggs regularly, which came back negative. Whilst ignoring everything I said about visible worms in poop and weight loss/runny bums. I wormed them without her knowledge and piles of dead worms were the result. The day after worming one of them got really ill (hard crop) as a result of the now dying heavy worm infestation blocking her insides, but has now recovered. Moral of the story don't use online worm tests just worm regularly, and someone elses qualifications don't override what you see in front of you.
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Nov 13, 2016 13:21
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Great advice, we'll try the olive oil and mash for lubrication. For now we have segregated her and left her with just a tiny amount of food with grit in and plenty of water. I'll try messaging the crop to see whether it breaks it up. From now on I'll make sure my wife and I check their crops every morning when they exit the coup.
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Nov 13, 2016 15:28
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Update: the mash and olive oil + messaging the crop has worked perfectly. She's no longer making a gargling sound, the crop has gone down in size and she has much more energy. Thanks Morningwoodpecker.
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Nov 17, 2016 13:15
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Great news and you are most welcome, as is Madeline. I'm trying to fatten up Mabel after she lost weight with meal-worms, but she's now turning her beak up at normal food. I hope she's just got a bit spoilt and isn't still ill. Anyone know a good way of fattening up chickens ?.
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Nov 17, 2016 22:36
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mealworms are great but if you want to wean her back onto normal food, the absolute best foods for fattening up a sick chick are hardboiled eggs and sunflower seeds. just mash them all up together with some grain mix or pellets, whatever you feed the others, and as she gets back to her normal weight decrease the ratio of eggs and sunflower seeds until she's eating the regular old stuff again. make sure the eggs are chopped up well obviously so mabel doesn't realise that the round things that come out of her bum every day are actually delicious. half an egg and a handful of sunflower seeds per day will give her heaps of great fats and oils.
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Nov 18, 2016 22:31
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Thanks Avshalom. I tried her on her high energy no mess feed whilst filling the wild birds feeders, which she scoffed with great enthusiasm it's mostly sunflower seeds so that sounds like a plan. The only problem is she's still supposed to be eating medicated wormer feed which she's consistently refusing, winters here, she's underweight and she's now molting. It has not been a fun few weeks for Mabel. I'll have to extend her dose, I suspect the wormer feed tastes bad but it's the only one licensed for poultry where I live. Hopefully the mixture will get more of it into her.
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Nov 19, 2016 08:08
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yeah that's frustrating, we have a worming solution available over the counter here that you just put in their water - it's a lot easier to make sure they all get the right dose because they all drink more or less the same amount and if the water supply with the solution in it is the only one available they'll just suck it up and drink it no matter how bad it tastes. whereas not even impending death can make a chicken eat something it doesn't want to. you could ask at the front desk of a vet surgery without actually making an appointment with a vet to see if they have anything like that available? (i don't know what vet surgeries in america are like, in australia they're like a really sophisticated pet supplies shop crossed with a doctor's surgery so you can go in there just to buy stuff)
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Nov 19, 2016 09:09
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I recently moved into a new apartment that's close to the edge of town. Enough so that starting at about 6 AM every day a nearby rooster somewhere in the area will start crowing its lungs out and not stop for a good four or five hours. Chickens are fine. But I'm starting to question why anyone would want a rooster.
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Nov 20, 2016 16:17
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Cythereal posted:I recently moved into a new apartment that's close to the edge of town. Enough so that starting at about 6 AM every day a nearby rooster somewhere in the area will start crowing its lungs out and not stop for a good four or five hours.  but yeah I'd never consider having a rooster if my neighbours were any closer than they are, a flock of hens does fine without one if you don't want breeding and it's like a car alarm that can't be switched off so it's pretty selfish to have one in a residential zone
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Nov 20, 2016 19:26
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it's a shame you're in an apartment or I'd suggest getting some guinea fowl and starting a war. nothing drowns those idiots out, unless the other person decided to really escalate things and get some peacocks
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Nov 20, 2016 19:28
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Weird, I have 3 guineas and they're quieter than any of my roosters ever were. Maybe I got lucky.
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Nov 20, 2016 20:17
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A couple of my chickens started laying this week, they are all 5.5 months old. They seem to lay at different times each day. I have to keep going out to check the coop because I'll find an egg in the morning and another in the afternoon. They're starting to understand what the nesting boxes are (got fake eggs in them).
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Nov 21, 2016 06:27
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