Poorly chicken

[oneyolktoanother]

Hi everyone hope everyone and their chooks are well have'nt been on in a while since my house bunny died and then my mom was taken ill but is alot better now

Had to take my newset hen Molly (had her since march) for surgery yesterday for a impacted crop, the vet was great and did a great job and she is back home looking alot brighter and is not as nervous and she use to be. But the probelm was she had a big piece of grit stuck and had been eating the bedmax, now the vet has said it would be best to change the bedding in the coop and the flooring in the run to prevent this happening again. In the coop we use bedmax but it had sold out this time so had to use a similar bedding and the flooring in the coop is woodchip from b and q and has been great but the probelm is us and the vet can;t think what we could change it too she suggested newspaper in the coop but will this keep them warm in the winter any ideas would be greatly appreiceated.

 

Also i have had to take the chooks off grit and she said to give them oyster shell instead now , does anyone else do this?

 

thanks in advance

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Glad to hear Molly has made a full recovery .

 

Perhaps you need to find a bedding that is slightly bigger or co"Ooops, word censored!"r? I've not used Bedmax but am I right in saying it's quite light and fluffy? I use Easibed (and have used Hemcore too) both of which have quite hard pieces although they are smallish. My girls show no interest in eating it.

 

Could you "borrow" a little bit of some different types from other chicken keepers (if you have any near you) to try them out?

[Melbourne12]

We use Aubiose, which I guess could be eaten, but one of the other chicken keepers on the allotment uses shredded paper which he swears by. He has a source of supply from a local office who shred their correspondence, so it has the further advantage of being free.

[jennym]

I give my ladies oyster shell as we had a few softies a while back - no problems since, and they do eat it. We don't provide any other grit (e.g. insoluble).

 

As for bedding we used shredded paper for a while and it was fine apart from a bit messy, as they kicked it about when they were digging around the nest box before laying. I think it would also have to be changed quite regularly as it gets a bit soggy and I don't think it would dry out as other bedding does. I wouldn't think it's fine if you're willing to tidy it up (or don't care about a bit of mess!) and change it regularly though.

 

We now use straw (not hay - hay will go mouldy & produce nasty spores) and it seems to work well. It dries out quickly and stays in place.

 

Good luck with Molly, I hope she gets well soon and stops eating what she shouldn't!

[oneyolktoanother]

thankyou the bedding we have got at the moment is the easibed, no sure about shredded paper worried she would eat it i have heard of a rubber kind of flooring for the run does anyone know of or use this?

[lillybettybabs]

I had a hen that ate all types of bedding apart from Bedmax large flakes.

[oneyolktoanother]

I had a hen that ate all types of bedding apart from Bedmax large flakes.

We had been using bedmax before and there weren't any problems this has happened since using eased not sure whether to risk the bedmax again just dont want this happening again. If you was me what would you do?

[Chortle Chook]

I've seen the rubber bits advertised in 'Your Chickens' and in 'Practical Poultry' though I've never used it. I think it is supposed to be good for the floor of the run and apparently just needs a hose down to keep it clean.

 

I use Aubiose which I swear by in the main part of the house and Supabed in the nest box. I saw the latter being used in my local pet shop which is one of the more caring kind. The Aubiose I first read about on this forum and find it really useful. My chickens seem to enjoy scratching about in it and all I have to do is pick out any poos every morning which is easy peasy because the Aubiose seems to make them quite dry. Then I refresh it totally once a fortnight. One bale costs between £10-£13 depending on where you get if from but it lasts for ages and ages. I think I've had only about 3 bales for 8 chooks in about 18 months.

[Lavenders_Blue]

I had a hen that ate all types of bedding apart from Bedmax large flakes.

We had been using bedmax before and there weren't any problems this has happened since using eased not sure whether to risk the bedmax again just dont want this happening again. If you was me what would you do?

 

I think I'd probably risk the Bedmax again. You would have to have a determined chook to swallow those massive flakes!

[lillybettybabs]

I had a hen that ate all types of bedding apart from Bedmax large flakes.

We had been using bedmax before and there weren't any problems this has happened since using eased not sure whether to risk the bedmax again just dont want this happening again. If you was me what would you do?

 

Not sure, The Bedmax large flakes are far two big for hens to eat so maybe you have used the small flakes?

[oneyolktoanother]

The problem i have is the vet said it would be best not to have any sawdust kind of bedding at all, but we have'nt got a clue what to change the coop bedding to We thought about sand in the run would this be a good idea? we have them on concrete slabs and usually have woodchip on it but the vet said that would'net be a good idea with the crop problems so have a problem don't what to use as oh only has tomorrow off to help me, and we have two in the house of a night at the mo the one molly who had the crop op and her friend with her as i am so scared of them eating the bedding could really do with ideas for the coop floor and nestbox bedding and the run floor covering which has a roof. I am so stressed

[lindafw]

There is an article on bedding on pg 13 of Your Chicken magazine..if that is of any help. Says no to sawdust and straw but yes to Bed down shavings (dust free), rapsorb, hempBed-E websites are given in the mag...it might be worth a read..others will know much more than me as mine free range, all day all year

 

Also the rubber stuff you were talking about may be from www.mud-management.co.uk

[oneyolktoanother]

There is an article on bedding on pg 13 of Your Chicken magazine..if that is of any help. Says no to sawdust and straw but yes to Bed down shavings (dust free), rapsorb, hempBed-E websites are given in the mag...it might be worth a read..others will know much more than me as mine free range, all day all year

 

Also the rubber stuff you were talking about may be from www.mud-management.co.uk

 

Went to country wide and bought the magazine will have a good read tonight

[sadietoo]

I've seen the rubber bits advertised in 'Your Chickens' and in 'Practical Poultry' though I've never used it. I think it is supposed to be good for the floor of the run and apparently just needs a hose down to keep it clean.

 

I use Aubiose which I swear by in the main part of the house and Supabed in the nest box. I saw the latter being used in my local pet shop which is one of the more caring kind. The Aubiose I first read about on this forum and find it really useful. My chickens seem to enjoy scratching about in it and all I have to do is pick out any poos every morning which is easy peasy because the Aubiose seems to make them quite dry. Then I refresh it totally once a fortnight. One bale costs between £10-£13 depending on where you get if from but it lasts for ages and ages. I think I've had only about 3 bales for 8 chooks in about 18 months.

 

wow...every fortnight.....I poo pick regularly but only refresh totally about once very six weeks. I then put the used aubiose straight into our compost (or if that is full...it happens!) I put it outside in a bin bag with a sign inviting neighbours to help themselves...so far the quickest time for it being taken....10 minutes!!

[Chortle Chook]

Hey that is a great idea about putting a bag of Aubiose at the gate with a sign on it, when my composter gets full up. I'll give that a go.