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Everything posted by sadieatthebridge

  1. Thanks Lewis. To be honest, I don't have a huge amount of faith in our vet. He's lovely but never seems overly confident in diagnosing/prescribing (the chickens). Last time I rang he said there was no point in seeing her and just prescribed Nystan to collect. That was in September so not completely locked-down.
  2. I found one our little rescues hunched and poorly looking yesterday. I brought her indoors and on examination she had a pendulous liquidy crop (couldn't feel anything solid in there at all). I had some unopened Nystan in from the last time she had sour crop so she's had 5mL twice yesterday and another 5mL this morning. (IIRC I gave her Dactarin oral gel last time and didn't need the Nystan) She is much perkier this morning. In fact I've had to bring her out of the conservatory where my husband is working because she's being too vocal while he is on calls! Crop is still liquidy but perhaps golf ball (from tennis ball). She won't drink anything but is obviously hungry. She passed brown liquid during the night. So my questions for any experts out there are... 1. How long do I continue the Nystan? I only have enough left for another 3 x 5mL doses. Do I need to ring the vet and get some more? 2. Can I feed her? What is best to give her? Do I keep her in until I see it pass out the other end? Any advice greatly appreciated! 😊
  3. Righto, I'll avoid yogurt - there is so much conflicting advice out there! She's had a few small meals of softened pellets, some normal poos and after 3 days in the crate I've let her back out today. Her crop felt faintly squishy this morning but to be honest I don't know if that was a normal empty crop on a skinny hen 😕
  4. Thank you. She's still pretty annoyed at being in the crate so I'm going to do one more night and then let her out with the other ladies tomorrow morning. Her crop this morning was smaller but still a little squishy - I'm wondering whether I can just feel it more as she doesn't have much flesh on her? However, the small amount of pellets she ate last night had gone (I think - I need to have a rummage around in the crate and look for poop 🙄). I'm also a bit concerned that she's been eating a bit of the straw in desperation so I'm going to clear all that out and give her a couple of small meals. Can she have a bit of yogurt, or scrambled egg or is that a no no? Or just pellets in warm water again?
  5. I caved and gave her a teeny bit of pellets and warm water this evening. She was trying to eat the Daktarin lid, and my watch, and my ring, and my eyes and a random smudge on my hand. And she is just so skinny 🙁😣
  6. Oh, and she's had Daktarin oral gel too. Thanks so much for your help! Nothing is ever straightforward in Chickenland 🙄
  7. Brilliant thank you! She's still very bright this morning thankfully and her crop is still soft and squishy but much smaller, nowhere near the big balloon it was yesterday. I'll give her ACV and keep her off food today. And I'll get some Bokashi Bran ordered too. How long can she be without food? Seeing as she's a wee scrap of a thing? Thank you
  8. Another update: I tried to clear her crop, got some grassy stuff up but not much. I stopped because I didn't want to hurt her, worried about her aspirating. She's still very perky, scratching about and very keen on escaping whenever I open the crate. She's had some water with ACV and a dollop of Daktarin. She had a normal poo after the crop clearing, then a liquid poo later on (after she'd had the water and ACV). Anyone? I'm going to keep her crated tonight and check her crop first thing.
  9. Quick update, I've just gone to give her a cuddle and some fresh water. Heard gurgling sounds from her crop (before she drank) but no yeasty smell.
  10. One of our new ex-caged hens might have sour crop. I say might as I've never had a hen with sour crop before so can't be sure what I'm looking for.... She is our littlest (only 1.4 kg) and when I went out this morning I noticed her crop was very large. Obviously because she is scrawny and low on feathers it was fairly noticeable. I had a feel and it was very squishy. A few weeks ago she had an impacted crop which I dealt with by isolating, massaging and giving a little olive oil. She'd had some porridge and corn and I cut back on the treats as she was obviously overdoing it! They free-range all day so have access to grass and windfall apples plus the usual garden plants too. So, back to this morning...I noticed her large, squishy crop but she had been out for around 3 hours already so could've had a considerable amount of food and drink in that time. She was also eating okay (apples). I've isolated her and just given her water which she's tipped over twice - she is very active - comb is floppy but has been floppy as long as we've had her (6 weeks) - she's pooed (looks normal) - hasn't laid - and tries to escape every time I check her :) So, she isn't acting particularly poorly. I was thinking that I starve her and keep her isolated until tomorrow and feel her crop again then. I can't get to the vet today but I could make an appointment for tomorrow, but to be honest I don't have much faith in our vet. We've taken chickens before to be PTS, for soft-shells (Calcium injections, Baytril) and for bumblefoot (bathe it twice daily in Epsom baths) but he never seems overly confident in his diagnoses. I've picked up all the windfall in case that is causing an issue. I can pick up some Daktarin Oral gel this afternoon - should I be giving her that? Starving her? Yoghurt? Massaging her crop? Clearing her crop? ACV? Every website/blog seems to have a different method....so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
  11. Hello everyone, I've had a small mouse problem and I'd like to remove their food source and start using a treadle feeder. The problem is my ex-commercial girls only eat crumble as they have been debeaked (Allen & Page Layers Crumble). I've read that the Treadle Feeders clog up with anything other than pellets. Does anyone have any experience of this? I've seen a few feeders that open at the top rather than use gravity IYSWIM, but are these safe? I have visions of one of my girls eating from the side and then getting their head crushed when the other hen steps off the treadle! Any advice greatly appreciated!
  12. Oh thank you both, that's reassuring! Getting a cat did cross my mind but we have a greyhound who might not approve! As you say, as long as they're in the garden it's okay. However, some friends of ours were without heating for several weeks this winter when mice chewed through all their heating pipes - had to pull up flooring etc and took weeks to sort out. So although I think the mice are lovely, I am aware of the damage they can do if they get into the house - maybe I will look into getting one of those high-pitched deterrent plugs just in case.
  13. Over the last few months I have regularly seen mice in our Keter storage shed where we keep our chicken paraphenalia (food, corn, dog food etc.). As I am soft-hearted (or stupid!) I haven't really done much about this apart from get better storage containers for the food and occasionally evict the mouse by sweeping out the nest and mess. However, over the last couple of days we have caught our ladies squabbling over dead mice on two separate occasions Eeek!! I have seen mice near the hen house and today I was collecting an egg from the nest box when a mouse darted out! (There was an eaten egg in the box but this is a regular occurrence for my chickens because they are egg-eating delinquents) For context, the girls free range in the garden all day and get put to bed on an evening. I leave the food out all night which is bad I know! What do I need to do to fix this? Will a treadle feeder and a thorough cleaning of the storage shed be enough? (please don't tell me to kill the mice....) Any advice gratefully received 😊
  14. How about the Dust Trilogy by Hugh Howey? I don't really read SF, but I loved them!
  15. Thanks guys! Re. the poor egg shell quality, all the ladies get mixed grit with oyster shell in a separate container. I'll see what the next few eggs are like and decide what to do. The soil in the run is a worry, because presumably the girls will all be reinfected within a few weeks...seeing as I've actually seen worms and they're scraggly rescues, I'll reworm again in 3 weeks time. I've never seen any worms with the original three, though that is not to say they've never had them. I've always just wormed every 3/4 months with Flubenvet, added ACV to their water, and sometimes garlic / herbal powder stuff to their pellets (can't remember what it is called). They don't spend much time in the run as they're free to free-range in the garden. I agree Dogmother, I assumed ex-barn hens would be worm-free. I've contacted the rescue just to check and ask for advice. We've had chooks for 2 years and this was our first worm sighting I've had a cuddle with them both this morning and they are still very thin compared to our 'big three'. Bright eyed, redder combs but still quite thin and straggly, plus Queenie has mucky bloomers, though it is dried on mud rather than anything really runny. She does sit down a lot more that the other hens, perhaps weak legs? so that could be a cause. But they both roost nicely of an evening Aah, Dogmother, I see you have lurchers We have a rescue greyhound (secretly terrified of the chickens )
  16. Thank Andy I see what you mean about the poo - had it not been for the worm I'd have thought it was just a caecal poo. The problem with the run is that it is just a portioned off patch of garden (uncovered), so the groundcover is soil and a few logs/pallets. So although I can clear out the coop, I can't really change the floor of the run (can I?). Would Nettex work? I add ACV to their drinkers as a matter of course. I'll get some poultry tonic as I think it'll help the new chooks 'feather up' a bit, although TBH they've improved a lot since we got them - combs already looker redder, eyes brighter, some bald patches getting better, bare bums gone Queenie's egg today had a very thin shell - cracked when I added it to the helter skelter earlier - presumably that will improve as her health improves. Thanks for your help!
  17. Oh, and 5. The girls have usually free-ranged in the past when I've given them the Flubenvet pellets - is this okay? Will they eat enough? All seems a bit random to me
  18. Two weeks ago we rehomed 2 ex-barn hens from a rescue charity (I did come on here asking for advice re. integrating them....) Newbies Sunshine & Queenie are currently in an open top run, sleeping in a dog cage overnight. Our original three are being lifted into the coop which is in the same run for sleeping and are spending the days free-ranging in the garden. So two groups separated by a wire fence. The rescue hens were meant to be health-checked, wormed etc by the rescue charity, though as they were only picked up the day before they were rehomed I'm not sure if this is really possible? After a week, I happened to notice that the charity uses Vermex for worming, and around the same time I noticed some foamy yellow droppings.... so I decided to give them a dose of Flubenvet just in case. Foamy yellow droppings with worms appeared within a couple of days, so I started my original three girls on Flubenvet too (they were last wormed maybe 2 months ago...). It will be 7 days tomorrow. Queenie has laid today for the first time in a week, and I last noticed foamy yellow poo yesterday morning. Now this is my first chicken worm experience so I have many questions! My questions are: 1. The new chooks are in a closed run and have been since we got them. Do I need to sanitise the ground somehow? Or do I just reworm in X number of days? 2. Am I okay to mix the new & old chickens this weekend? They will both have had a full week of Flubenvet by then. 3. Is the foamy yellow poo indicative of worms? Does this stop once the worms are gone? 4. Is the fact that Queenie is laying again good news? She is the scragglier of the two, but is eating and drinking fine and looks bright enough. Sunshine has laid everyday bar one Thanks!
  19. Micellar water worked a treat, thank you!
  20. DD was playing in the garden yesterday in her pale grey suede boots (grrr!) so I might try this. Thank you!
  21. Did you buy one?! I have one but I've never been brave enough to try it!
  22. Thanks So I can keep them separate during the day and I'm around to keep an eye on things but I still have the nighttime problem. Would the new hens be okay sleeping o/night in the dog cage? Obviously I'd try to fashion some kind of perch...
  23. Oh dear, I don't really know anyone else with chickens. What about a dog cage for nighttime then enclosed in the run during the day? (With the Big Three in the garden)
  24. Thanks Mulle. The problem is that the run is uncovered, so the only predator-proof area we have is the coop...

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