i had three chickens until last week
2 are about 9 months old, and the one that died was about 3 and a half years old. for about her last month or so, see walked around the garden tail down and sleeping. figured she was old for a hen, and that was that

got two more on thursday, so now got 4. now one of the older two is up the top of the garden, tail down and eyes closed. we got her at 10 weeks old in october, so shes not old, but i don't know whats wrong with her. don't want her to be sick and not know what to do for her.
yesterday she 'laid' an egg with no shell too. they've got all the food they need, chicken pellets and meal. oyster shell grit, bugs, worms, and anything else we can give them

anyone know? vets here don't deal with many hens

[Edited on 30/5/11 by blakep82]

Luego junior keeps chickens, he's away today but I'll ask him to drop you a line later

calcium deficient

Just make sure you give them proper food. Best if you buy commercial feed as it comes with additional supplements.

PUT oyster shell in with there feed.

just spent the last little while powdering the oyster shell (which has been in with their food, but quite big lumps, so they easily missed it) and mixing it with all sorts of other stuff they like. layers pellets and meal, mixed corn, oats and wild bird seed that they seem to love. mixed all that up and put it in their feeder and threw some handfuls of grass in their run. she's standing next to her water thing, drinking loads, she's not really eating anything though. she had a nibble at the grass though. hopefully she'll eat soon, theres loads of oyster shell in there.

i've also mixed them up a load of food like that for the next few days. fingers crossed she'll be back to normal soon.

she did a lot of shouting the day before yesterday as i was cutting down a tree, so all 4 of them were kept in their house 2 days after the little ones arrived, so they weren't best pleased. don't know if she's a little stressed with the new ones, but they were all cuddled up last night, so don't think she's really bothered by them now

doing some investigating, seen something about possible blocked crop? they can get it from eating stuff like wood chips and stuff. now i have been cutting down a lot of trees with the chainsaw, so perhaps shes been eating the chip/shavings that came from that?

her crop does feel quite full, and while i don't know what it normally feels like, its kinda like i can actually feel grain and seed in her crop? is that normal?

saw something that said about massaging the crop. don't know exactly how hard to do it, so i gave it a rub and a gentle sort of squeeze and rub, but i don't know if i'm doing it right. will have to go to tesco for shopping, so while i'm there i'll get some vegetable oil for her (apparently this helps?) and as much other stuff as i can think of that she'd like

i don't like this i don't really know how their insides work so its not easy

I would suggest you change your vet for a start. Chickens can be susceptable to lice and if the feed thing does not work out, it maybe lice infestation (you can,t see them) but a good vet will advise. I live on a farm and the chickens here just find their own grit, oyster shell seems a bit excessive to me, just let them find their own grubs/grit ect and just feed them a little chicken feed (layers pellets) to get them to come in at night. If you want to feed them extra git use the egg shells from the eggs you have used, it's natural and less expensive than oyster shell.

[Edited on 30/5/11 by spiderman]

U2U sent

^ replied thank you

quote:

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Originally posted by spiderman
I would suggest you change your vet for a start. Chickens can be susceptable to lice and if the feed thing does not work out, it maybe lice infestation (you can,t see them) but a good vet will advise. I live on a farm and the chickens here just find their own grit, oyster shell seems a bit excessive to me, just let them find their own grubs/grit ect and just feed them a little chicken feed (layers pellets) to get them to come in at night. If you want to feed them extra git use the egg shells from the eggs you have used, it's natural and less expensive than oyster shell.

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I agree with the need for grit.

Quote from the net:-
"A bird swallows small bits of gravel that act as 'teeth' in the gizzard, breaking down hard food such as seeds
and thus helping digestion."

The egg shell thing is also good. Crush them with a rolling pin, the egg shells, not the chickens.


For the grit try doing a spot of road side verge sweeping. The bottom of a hill (country road) is a good spot
as rain washes it down and it collects at the bottom.
A shovel full in the corner of the run should do it.

Cheers,
Paul G

it always amazes me what animals can get away with. Can you imagine what it would do to you if you tried to eat a load of gravel from the bottom of a hill?!

we're definitely not short of grit here theres sand all over the garden from various building projects, and open bags, also across the road theres a small dip before the drain, it gathers everything so they do get that in there sometimes too.

i let her back out to the garden earlier so she gets some of the day out there. she was walking around, tail up for a bit, but now perching on the back of a bench with one of the others. neither have their tails up, but they don't really when perching there. don't know if it helps balance. if shes no better tomorrow morning, then a trip to the vet i think

Inevitably ...

I know a vet in maybole that does alot of livestock (mainly large animals i think, but they deal with a bit of everything)
but I guess thats a bit too far away from you

quote:

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Originally posted by Rod Ends
Inevitably ...

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Hens

I like the name of the Haynes manual author - very appropriate...

quote:

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Originally posted by mcerd1
I know a vet in maybole that does alot of livestock (mainly large animals i think, but they deal with a bit of everything)
but I guess thats a bit too far away from you

quote:

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Originally posted by Rod Ends
Inevitably ...

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I prefer this version


Hens

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quote:

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Originally posted by blakep82

quote:

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Originally posted by mcerd1
I know a vet in maybole that does alot of livestock (mainly large animals i think, but they deal with a bit of everything)
but I guess thats a bit too far away from you

quote:

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Originally posted by Rod Ends
Inevitably ...

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I prefer this version


Hens

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aww i'd like to race chickens

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They are good with chips

Sorry for chiming in late - not been paying attention.

I'd recommend having getting a copy of the Haynes Manual, it has answered loads of questions for me.

Sounds like you are doing the basics right - problem is with chickens they're quite highly strung, and can suffer with lots of different illnesses.

Get a copy of the manual, it talks you through loads of ailments (common and not so) and at least it will rule out any of the big nasties for you.

We thought ours were suffering terribly with mites - turned out they were just malting massively. Sometimes you can worry to much about the pets! keep an eye on them, and post up some pics.

What breed are they?

hope your chickens are 'happy as larry' ASAP m8

oops, thought i'd posted on here she seems ok now! yeah shes fine now. not sure what her problem was, but kept her apart from the others, rubbed her crop for her in case of blockage, and gave her all sorts of tasty stuff to eat

i've got 4 now,

i've got tracy, a marran rock

Description

polly-anna, a black rock

Description

becky, a specledy

Description

and susan, a light sussex

Description

becky and susan are only a few weeks old, about 11 weeks i think, so they'll grow into their feathers soon

they're all quite happy now, although tracy's still not laying, but i think it was just with them two turning up, she got a bit stressed with it

[Edited on 6/6/11 by blakep82]

quote:

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Originally posted by Norfolkluegojnr

We thought ours were suffering terribly with mites - turned out they were just malting massively. Sometimes you can worry to much about the pets! keep an eye on them, and post up some pics.

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