madchickenlady

Sorry for your loss It's always horrid to lose one.

Doris died today, just before I could get her to the vets appointment. In a way I'm glad, because she went peacefully in her sleep and I was with her. I didn't really want to drag her out in the heat to the vet

Thanks. I suspect that she will pass away tonight, as she's taken a sudden turn for the worse She has a very swollen tummy, the skin feels like that on a drum, and she's now breathing noisily. She has taken herself off in to the garage to a quiet corner, so I've made her comfortable and syringed some water in to her and she is now sleeping. We will be heading to the vet first thing if she makes it through the night.

Not sure what is wrong with Doris She seems to have little appetite, and when I noticed she was a bit quiet last week I realised she'd lost weight. I immediately put flubenvet in the hens feed, and ACV in the water ( they were due to be wormed). We've been away for the weekend, and when I went out just now to check on the birds I found that Doris had watery green poo, and her bum feathers were dirty. So I bathed her, and her breastbone is like a razor She has no respiratory symptoms, eye bubbling, gasping etc at all. I can't see any sign of worms in any of the birds droppings. She is still dust bathing etc, but shows no interest in treats (and she's usually the greediest hen in the flock). Tbh, I am preparing for the worst, but can anyone shed any light on what might be wrong with her?

Hello I'm still posting, not sure why you're not seeing more up to date entries Are you following an old link?

Oh, thank you Andrew! I don't know why I can't work out the photo posting He/she seems to geta round ok. I hope it continues

Gah! Why can't I post photos to this forum?!?!

So, this is Hoppy's foot at 5 days old after I put a 'shoe' on him/her for 2 days. He/she is getting around fine, but obviously the toes are not going to fully straighten. Other than looking odd, will it matter? I have one pekin girl with fused toes and she manages ok

Aw, lovely to hear that she has her happy ending

Mine love baths If it's very warm, I bath early and let them dry off in the sun. But otherwise I use the hairdryer and they adore it. They usually fall asleep

Broody poo is a toxic substance

Exactly, Tasha Before I bought the eggs, I had spoken to my vet. Unfortunately I don't have any nearby poultry people who can show me how to cull. I keep thinking that I should do a course, just in case. You never know when you might need to put a bird out of its misery, and the delay in going to the vet etc might not be kind I have no problem with the idea of culling, I'm just so scared I'd get it wrong and cause unnecessary suffering to the poor thing.

Agree with Tasha that the piece goes a bit heavy on the emotional blackmail, but agree with the overall sentiment. I hatched 3 pekin cockerels last year, and was lucky to find them all good homes with fellow chook lovers. However, if that hadn't been the case I had an arrangement with my vet. I wouldn't have culled them myself purely because I don't have the experience/ability to do so without causing unnecessary suffering. But I would have taken my cute bundles of fluff to the vet, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it. In my opinion, if you hatch you are responsible, and that responsibility extends to dealing with unwanted males.

It might be an idea to lift her to see if she's messing in the nest If she's aggressive, wear gloves and be quick

Broody hens do go very pale in the face, and their combs shrink down. Have you found poo nearby? I judged my broody by how much poo she was producing. As long as she pooed every day, I left her to it