Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

rachbc

evening all - m poorly black rock seems finally to be better - we've had nearly 3 weeks now of no appetite, loosing weight etc . At one point she seemed to be improving but then wnt downhill again. Ended up contacting the woman I got her off as the local vets don't 'do' chickens and she sent me some antibiotics - after a week on those I was still virtually force feeding her and about to give up when she spent all monday (really hot here) huddled under the garden table and kept falling over. I was syringing water into her beak to keep her hydrated and fearing the worst each morning when I opened the coop. Yesterday she bounded down the ramp first out like she always used to be and wolfed down nearly the whole feeder...this evening she was jumping a foot in the air trying to get the clover my daughter was feeding them.

So happy- however when I went to shut them up there was a soft egg at the bottom of the ramp. Had the usual 2 eggs this am from the 2 well hens so do you think its the black rock just starting to lay again now she is recovering or could it be a problem with one of the others now?? I'm perplexed because every other egg has been totally fine, laid in the morning and in the nest box

SurreyLass1

Has anyone else got late-to-bedders? My girls currently dont go in till about 9.40 - its rediculous!

Gigervamp

It's around about 10pm here, although the sebrights go to bed early at about 8ish and our black rock Gracie has to be told to go to bed as she's always the last one still wandering around the field.

Rach, I would guess that it's because she's been poorly and is just getting back into the swing of things. Glad to hear that she's feeling better now.

rachbc

thants gigervamp - thats what I'm hoping - still waiting for the day I get 3 eggs from 3 chickens!!

rachbc

Oh no a totally shell less egg today, one egg laid and another sitting when I went to work.

Think I will drop all the treats for a few days and make sure they are eating thier pellets - easier said than done with a very enthusuastic 4 year old who wants to hand feed them stawberries!!

LAM2011

Rach - glad to hear your chicken is doing better. Perhaps she is just getting back into the cycle?

My chickens are also only going to bed at 9:40pm and even then its my cheeky one that is still standing by the back door so I have to sneak down to make sure she is in her house! She is very sharp - the other night I had looked out from upstairs and I knew she was about to jump up on the perch but I was faffing in the kitchen and when I opened the back door she was there on the porch! I just picked her up and put her in the hen house - for goodness sake the chickens go to bed later than I do lol!

doodlesmum

Rach,good to see your chicken is getting better .We have 7 chickens and 2 Campbell ducks they are all late to go to bed :rotfl:.We have 2 ex batts and the one Matilda will go and roost behind the coop if you are not careful,no idea why because she knows where to go into the coop.The ducks will sit it out until it is virtually dark,the duck will take herself off into the coop but the Drake he is another matter :rotfl: he sits quacking at the pop hole then as soon my son goes out he goes in,rather funny watching this out of the window .

doodlesmum

rachbc wrote: »

Oh no a totally shell less egg today, one egg laid and another sitting when I went to work.

Think I will drop all the treats for a few days and make sure they are eating thier pellets - easier said than done with a very enthusuastic 4 year old who wants to hand feed them stawberries!!

My eldest DD is 4 too and is the same ,loves feeding them .

Steel_2

SurreyLass1 wrote: »

Has anyone else got late-to-bedders? My girls currently dont go in till about 9.40 - its rediculous!

Yes! The last of mine don't go until after 10pm. We get up at 5:15am so no matter how tired we are one of us always has to stay up. Even when we go up there and it's almost dark, there's still one of them standing by the entrance with her beak still out of the coop taking in the night air!

Rachbc - are your chickens getting enough calcium? Sometimes that can be a reason for soft-shelled eggs. Oyster shell is good if you don't already feed them that and also a product called Calcivet, which you can put in their water.

I need some advice form you knowledgeable peeps. Bad news on the prolapse front. Went out there this morning to find it's happened again. I put her back in with the girls two days ago, which was a mistake as she obviously needed longer to recover. I was worried about her place in the pecking order so put her back in. She's back in solitary now in the dark and will stay there for the time being.

She lays such enormous eggs and lately they just seem to be getting bigger.

In terms of feeding: she's definitely underweight, as she was one that was attacked by red mite. I want to build her up, but on a grain only diet for the prolapse I don't think she'll put on much weight, as she's not overly keen on the grain.

Should I feed her good protein things anyway, but keep her completely in the dark to stop her egg laying cycle and hope the protein gets used for building muscle up?

Steel_2

Hey I think I've just discovered why she's thin but gobbles everything I give her by hand.

Her top beak is overgrown at the front a bit like a parrot.

I imagine the poor thing has problems picking up the pellets because she can't get her bottom beak in far enough to grasp them.

Poor little thing.