I have a chicken who did not eat yesterday, her crop was empty when I put them to bed. Today she sat on the floor all day in the same position. I have now got her in the house but don’t know what to do now. From Ina Hall
You’ll need to take her to the vet to have her diagnosed Ina. I hope she pulls through.
Hi there i have had hens for almost two years now. Chicken owners should always listen to others knowledge and ideas and do plenty of reading before purchasing. I feel that some sellers of hens do not give out enough information on the chooks for new buyers and this should be first thing past on to new buyers. I’d like to say this is a great informative site for people needing help and i have upmost admiration for you for setting up.
I use flubenvet for my worming and was wondering if it is worth using this along with verm-X ? My chickens are on a good sized area that due to size is not turned over that regular. Would it be worth worming them more regular (monthly or quarterly) with flubenvet due to this or is there a ground treatment you recommend that i could use to prevent the spread of worms through droppings etc. Also have you heard of using dry garlic granules in food to boost immunity in the birds as this is something i recently heard through another keeper.
Many thanks
Simon
It’s a ‘how long is a piece of string’ situation I’m afraid Simon – The ‘infection pressure’ on your birds depends on a number of environmental factors – run size, substrate (mud being the worst), how clean they are kept, the temperature … the list goes on. The only way to catagorically state how often you should worm would be to take worm samples and treat accordingly. As hobby keepers, we don’t tend to do this due to the extra cost.
I worm 6 monthly with Flubenvet and use Verm-X in between times but my birds are free range over a reasonable area. Some things to keep in mind:
Worms are not active below 10 deg C – so worming in the Autumn is the norm. here and then again in the Spring as the temperature rises.
Worm eggs are killed by U.V. so I keep the grass short to help this.
can you help i have three hens one has stopped laying loss of wieght all her red bits are pale she is hunched up and not eating right also poo is black
You need to seek the advice of your vet. The symptoms are just those of a sick bird and it’s virtually impossible to diagnose her problems.
First question I always ask myself before looking elsewhere is are they wormed. Worms can cause all sorts of problems.
I am new to keeping chickens & had a few people say to get them vaccinated
Is this correct or is it one of those things where its not really necessary
If correct on average what would be the cost
I have 2 Rhode Island Reds, they are only 10 weeks old
Many Thanks
Sally
Most vaccines are in vials of 1000 or more doses (designed for commercial use). You will find hybrid chickens that are produced in large quantities are often vaccinated but pure breeds aren’t. I have never had any of my birds vaccinated – if you keep them fit and healthy and avoid stress (see my page on stress) they have a certain amount of natural immunity.
Hi, I have 4 Bluebelles, they are in their first year and have been laying since mid summer. 2 of them appear to have bald spots in the fluffy feathers below the vent area, one has quite red looking skin. I can’t see any feathers at all in their living space. Would they molt at this time of year? If not, what should i do for them?
I would check them carefully for lice – the eggs appear to look like lumps of granulated sugar clustered around feather shafts just below the vent. They are often confused as muck on the feathers but if you look carefully they are right at the base of the feather and very hard to break off. Lice are fast moving and almost skin colour – so look for these in warm spots, especially under the wings. Once you part the feathers they scurry off.
I have a chicken who did not eat yesterday, her crop was empty when I put them to bed. Today she sat on the floor all day in the same position. I have now got her in the house but don’t know what to do now. From Ina Hall
You’ll need to take her to the vet to have her diagnosed Ina. I hope she pulls through.
Hi there i have had hens for almost two years now. Chicken owners should always listen to others knowledge and ideas and do plenty of reading before purchasing. I feel that some sellers of hens do not give out enough information on the chooks for new buyers and this should be first thing past on to new buyers. I’d like to say this is a great informative site for people needing help and i have upmost admiration for you for setting up.
I use flubenvet for my worming and was wondering if it is worth using this along with verm-X ? My chickens are on a good sized area that due to size is not turned over that regular. Would it be worth worming them more regular (monthly or quarterly) with flubenvet due to this or is there a ground treatment you recommend that i could use to prevent the spread of worms through droppings etc. Also have you heard of using dry garlic granules in food to boost immunity in the birds as this is something i recently heard through another keeper.
Many thanks
Simon
It’s a ‘how long is a piece of string’ situation I’m afraid Simon – The ‘infection pressure’ on your birds depends on a number of environmental factors – run size, substrate (mud being the worst), how clean they are kept, the temperature … the list goes on. The only way to catagorically state how often you should worm would be to take worm samples and treat accordingly. As hobby keepers, we don’t tend to do this due to the extra cost.
I worm 6 monthly with Flubenvet and use Verm-X in between times but my birds are free range over a reasonable area. Some things to keep in mind:
Worms are not active below 10 deg C – so worming in the Autumn is the norm. here and then again in the Spring as the temperature rises.
Worm eggs are killed by U.V. so I keep the grass short to help this.
can you help i have three hens one has stopped laying loss of wieght all her red bits are pale she is hunched up and not eating right also poo is black
You need to seek the advice of your vet. The symptoms are just those of a sick bird and it’s virtually impossible to diagnose her problems.
First question I always ask myself before looking elsewhere is are they wormed. Worms can cause all sorts of problems.
I am new to keeping chickens & had a few people say to get them vaccinated
Is this correct or is it one of those things where its not really necessary
If correct on average what would be the cost
I have 2 Rhode Island Reds, they are only 10 weeks old
Many Thanks
Sally
Most vaccines are in vials of 1000 or more doses (designed for commercial use). You will find hybrid chickens that are produced in large quantities are often vaccinated but pure breeds aren’t. I have never had any of my birds vaccinated – if you keep them fit and healthy and avoid stress (see my page on stress) they have a certain amount of natural immunity.
Hi, I have 4 Bluebelles, they are in their first year and have been laying since mid summer. 2 of them appear to have bald spots in the fluffy feathers below the vent area, one has quite red looking skin. I can’t see any feathers at all in their living space. Would they molt at this time of year? If not, what should i do for them?
I would check them carefully for lice – the eggs appear to look like lumps of granulated sugar clustered around feather shafts just below the vent. They are often confused as muck on the feathers but if you look carefully they are right at the base of the feather and very hard to break off. Lice are fast moving and almost skin colour – so look for these in warm spots, especially under the wings. Once you part the feathers they scurry off.