Fox attacks - a list of what happened?

[gingernut ranger]

 

 

right. have had 3 GNR's and 3 MissP's for ..ooh... about 2-3 weeks now. still no eggs but ho hum.

so far weve had one of the MissP's get a v sore foot, swollen to twice its size and not being used by her. she was clearly in pain. took her to the vet and have been giving her antibiotics ever since. (about a week now) she does seem more comfortable and is using the foot more... but the leg is v swollen still, looks all pale (i imagine it to be full of pus bleurgh) and is still roasting hot. we are continuing with the antibots and hoping for the best. it does seem to be working, if slowly.

 

have just read a sticky which suggests that even if they do start laying sometime soon we shouldnt eat any of them in case its hers (coz of the antibiotics) agh! dont really have anywhere seperate to keep her... [muses that one over]

 

um... my question is (sorry for roundabout post!) they dont seem, any of them, particularly interested in the layers pellets. they free range in a pretty massive area all day, and i treat them with mixed corn which i chuck in the run at 6-ish to get them all in and locked away from any roaming foxes for the night. i have started not letting them out the run forst thing to try to make them eat from the grub for brekkie... and tried mixing the pellets up with a bit of mixed corn, spice and grit to make it more interesting... but they still dont seem to eat that much. is this ok? they'll suddenly up consumption when they start laying wont they?

 

sorry for stupid questions - am v new to this! (and thanks muchly for wisdom and insights!

[Egluntyne]

They don't eat much at all when they are young.

 

As soon as they come into lay their appetites will quadruple as manufacturing eggs uses up a heck of a lot of calories etc.

 

You will know when they are coming into lay as their combs anf wattles will redden and develop, they will start "crouching", become generally friendlier....and their appetites will increase.

 

Sorry to hear about your limping chicken.

 

Did your vet say specifically what the problem was?

[gingernut ranger]

nope, not a word. just held the leg for a bit, then said 'yep, she will need antibiotics. here they are and heres a syringe'

 

i suppose i shouldve asked really (was my first ever visit to a vet, so a bit fish out of water)

 

ok, thats reassuring about the eating... they do wolf down the corn mix, i thought maybe they were being fussy (like my children!)

 

and the red bits are getting redder... hurrah.

 

should i separate the sick one so i know if i can eat the eggs or not? (how on earth would i know which one laid any given egg??)

[gingernut ranger]

and where would i house the sick one without buying a whole other eglu??

[Egluntyne]

Unless they are showing all the other signs of laying being imminent I wouldn't bother to separate them just yet. It might stress her...and then you will have the problems of reintroducing her later.

 

Re telling which hen laid which egg....no hard and fast rules I'm afraid. Sometimes it is really obvious as their eggs have distinctive shapes or colours. Sometimes it isn't.

[Cazjohn]

Echo the advice - I don't separate mine unless they are really poorly - if we have to a small rabbit hutch does the trick!

[gingernut ranger]

ah ok, wont do that then.

and thanks for the rabbit hutch tip, just in case.

[SueChick]

I am no expert on this as it is one of the only problems we haven't had to deal with recently (touch wood!) but your chick could have bumblefoot. I think there are some details on the forum about it if you do a search. I think the antibiotics should clear it up because as far as I know it is an abscess caused by bacterial entering the foot.

 

As far for the separating issue.....when I was patiently (okay, not so patiently!) waiting for my first eggs, it was very obvious who laid the first one. My Miss Pepperpot was in the eglo for absolutely ages and my gingernut ranger just carried on minding her own business scratching around the run. Hopefully you will have the same situation as I did whereby one chicken started laying a couple of weeks before the others and you can still enjoy the first eggs (as long as it isn't the poorly one of course!). By the time you have the problem of them all laying at once and not knowing whose is whose, your poorly one should be all fine and off the medicine.

 

Hope this helps....

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Welcome to the forum Gingernut Ranger . Sorry your hen is poorly. No advice to offer I'm afraid, just hope she gets better soon (and before she starts laying so you can eat the eggs ).

 

And, yes, they'll eat loads more when they start laying so don't worry! (Do you know if they're picking the mixed corn out of the pellets? If so, I maybe would leave out the corn - they do seem to much prefer corn so will eat that in preference to the pellets).

[Egluntyne]

http://club.omlet.co.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=9930&g2_serialNumber=2

 

The link above will take you to a picture of Bumblefoot.