Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[kitchens]

Hi Omlets

 

I have one chook who seems to be a bit of an odd shape at the front. Would this be impacted crop or sour crop. She is also on a major feather eating mission at the moment and is not interested in her corn in the afternoon. All the others are fine (although missing a few feathers!!). She is fed the same as the others too so I don't understand why she wants to eat feathers. I'm also assuming that her crop has a lot of feathers in it .... hence her odd shape.

 

Your thoughs would be very grateful.

 

[Egluntyne]

If her crop is empty in the morning then there is no need to worry unduly.

 

The fact that she is keen to eat feathers might suggest that she needs a little extra protein in her diet.

[kitchens]

What sort of things Egluntyne? She has the same as everyone else. Layers pellets, kitchen s"Ooops, word censored!"s, bit of corn in the afternoon?

 

Thanks.

[The Dogmother]

Try giving them some meal worms (live or dead) for extra protein.

[Egluntyne]

A handful of unmedicated chick crumbs or some rinsed tuna are also good sources of protein.

[sandyhas3chucks]

are wax worms any good?

[Jools]

And maybe cut out the kitchen s"Ooops, word censored!"s to make sure she's eating enough pellets?

[The Dogmother]

Not sure on the protein content of wax worms, so can't recommend them.

 

I always use either tuna, meal worms or chick crumbs (avoid buying the odd sack that may be medicated with coccistats). Alfalfa is pretty good to and has the benefit of loads of other minerals.

[Jools]

I just had a quick look at the Smallholder website for the protein content of their poultry feed and this is what I found:

 

Their layers, growers and ornamental pellets/mash have a 16% protein content

Their ex-bat crumb has 17%

Their chick crumb 17.5% (and their's isn't medicated so no worries about ACS)

And finally, their breeder pellets are 18.2%

 

So if you can get hold of some breeder pellets, it might help with the feather pecking problem too.

 

The other thing I meant to say is when full, the crop can look odd and lopsided. The important thing is that it's empty in the morning before she's had a chance to get her beak around anything.

 

Whoops, edited to add that I just googled wax worms and they seem to have a lot lower protein content (around 20%) and a high fat content (around 15%) compared to mealworms which are nearly 50% protein. So they're probably better for building up an underweight chicken, though I've haven't tried them either.

[kitchens]

Hi all

 

Thanks for your replies so far.

 

I've been out to her this morning and she still has a large crop.

 

I'm convinced it's bunged up with feathers so in reality is olive oil and massage going to help or shall I go straight for maggots?

 

Shall I feed her?

 

Protein - would hard mashed up boiled eggs be ok to give her?

 

cheers

[Egluntyne]

If her crop is impacted, I would keep her on fluids only (ie no pellets or mash) for 24 hours.

 

Olive oil and hourly crop massage is a good idea, and then start the maggots when you can get hold of some.

 

You want the plain, undyed ones from an angling shop. They cost a couple of quid for a pint. Keep them in the fridge in a box with perforations in the lid. An old ice cream tub will do.

 

Homemade applesauce is reputed to be helpful in breaking down the contents of a bunged up crop too.

[debbier]

My local angling shop sells a "tot", which is a quarter pint, for around 60p. That did the trick when my hen had impacted crop (I'll post a link to my thread if I can find it).

 

edit: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=51441&p=767584&hilit=impacted#p767584

 

The other hens absolutely loved them

[debbier]

One of my birds (not the one I just posted of) has looked a bit "off" for a while. She has a much bigger chest/crop than the others, but it hasn't seemed hard, so I hadn't treated her like the impacted crop.

 

Unfortunately this morning she's not wanting to leave the nesting box. I've left her for now, but will go and have a closer look if she doesn't emerge in a while.

 

Sorry to hijack this thread, but it sounds similar to the first post's description. I'm fairly sure it isn't impacted, but is there anything else it could be? She's looked much different to the other two for quite a while now, but didn't seem bothered by it.

 

Edit: I'm fairly sure it was sour crop, from what I've read elsewehere. She died this morning.

[Biker Betty]

Oh - that's sad. I'm sorry to hear that.

[clucky h]

Oh debbier, I'm sorry to read that too.

 

kitchens, I hope that your hen is getting better.

[laurmurf]

We syringed avipro into our chook and then massaged as well as the oil (i think we alternated between the two) on the basis that it would also keep her hydrated while the blockage cleared.

 

It was amazing what hellymisscloud removed from her over the following days - it was like the magician and scarf trick (only the opposite end )