4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[coco]

I got two ex batts yesterday and they both seemed fine. I ldet them outv this morning and one is all uffed up like a pufball, head resting onher chest and closing her eyes.

she isn't eating or drinking either. Any suggestions. I know that a few ex batts don't make it . Clould she just be very stressed or is she ill.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Can you bring her indoors to the warm in a cardboard box or cat basket with a food & water pot for her to snack on..........I'd suggest it's stress having seen my 4, but they didn't have feathers to fluff up ! If they are poorly, having to fight to keep warm doesn't help them at all

 

It could be that she's "brewing" a softie, this is classic "softie stance" in which case being warm would help her........

 

I hope you aren't unlucky , but if you are, she at least has seen something in her short life other than a cage and has felt the love of a chook-mummy

 

Sha x

[coco]

I think it might be a crop problem. i have just checked her crop and I think its full of grit. I gave them a pot with grit in yesterday and I think she' probably though it was food and eaten too much. Will it pass through on its own or should I give her some cod liver oil to help it along. [i remember when Prue turned into Miss Piggy and stuffed herself silly she went to bed feeling very sorry for herself.]

I put her in the catbox to bring her in after complaining loudly she ran out and jumped back in with the other one so thats a good sign. She has laid today and apart from having odd patches on it it was fine so no softie. Would the patches have been calcium deposits, they were white.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

No idea re the white patches, though it sounds a reasonable assumption to come to .

 

They are gannets to start with & my girls ate loads in various forms.....plain mash, mash porridge, a cage cup of corn was refilled several times a day ....I know corn is not good as a main food but it doesn't matter when they are regaining strength & getting used to other food than the mash they've always had.....my girls soon became happy to eat corn occasionally rather than all the time Grapes & sweetcorn were only accepted when they saw the other girls devour them...peer pressure is rife in chicken too

 

Glad she seems to be perking up...long may it last ...have we seen piccies of the newbies & I've missed them ?

 

Sha x

[coco]

Thanks Sha.

 

I have given her some warm water and massaged her crop which seems to have softened it a bit, I did try holding her head down to make her sick but nothing happened and I don't want to stress her out anymore than she is. I'll keep giving her warm water every couple of hours and see it this helps. I can feel the grit grating in her crop, I've taken the pot away from them now and have just given a bit in their food. Hopefully she will be ok and I'll put this dowen to expereince.

 

You haven't missse the photos I need to suss out how to posrt pics and find the lead for the camera. I ought to put pics of all the girls on.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Try giving her some weetabix & yoghurt...quite revolting, but if she eats it it will pad out the grit & maybe help it on it's way down. Be careful massaging with gritty stuff in her crop, it could scratch the inside & cause more problems, a spoonful of olive or cod liver oil wouldn't do any harm in lubricating the grit on it's way....we used OO when Buffie had impacted crop............made a right mess of my jeans as they were used by the minx as a napkin, but hey, it helped her

 

Sha x

[coco]

I've just caught the little madam eating shavings so have shut her out of her house. She's determined to make herself ill. Bless her. I'll try the weetabix and yoghurt and see if I can get some oil down her although she wouldn't let me open her beak to give her anymore water so she must be feeling a bit better. She's drinking again now as well.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

Maybe leave her to it then, offer her the weetabix, if the other one takes some she probably will too. Obviously if she doesn't start eating this evening or first thing tomorrow, you'll have to overcome her lack of cooperation & syringe her..heck it's getting dark....my girls need feeding...again

 

Good luck,

 

Sha x

[sandyhas3chucks]

I give mine the olive oil in something wet, like apple puree, so no need to syringe

I would encourage wet food only to help thin/dissolve /pass. the yohurt would be perfect too. try something like esybed?aiboise in the house rather than shavings or shredded paper for now.

Perhaps the shavings look like mash too much.?

[coco]

Hopefully she is over the worst and has been eating and drinking all afternoon. The kids had eaten all the weetabix and the shop didn't have any so I gave them a very sloppy layers mash with yoghurt which they seem to have eaten. I think she was dustbathing in the shavings cos she was covered in them bless her. I'm just waiting to see if they put themselves to bed, the other girls went about an hour ago.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep you posted.

[cathybc]

glad she is looking better

[sandyhas3chucks]

great news yesterday.

Still going well today?

[coco]

She seems much better today and tucked into warm layers mash this morning. I've just got in and she is happily scratching round. It was lovely the old girls always cluck like mad when I come in [thinking food] and the new girls clucked at me so they must be starting to settle. I think I'll keep the grit pot away from them for a while though, maybe just put a bit in their feed.