Recent content by azygous

The vet treated for egg binding in a thorough manner. The calcium combined with oxytocin is practically guaranteed to stimulate strong contractions. If that didn't produce an egg, then it's likely something else going on. And given how long this has been going on, it's probably not an egg.

Lots of questions. First, nothing to worry about until the new ones are on the threshold of hormones. Hormones, usually around five or six months, do effect behavior changes. But you won't know how they will all relate until the time comes. It isn't always predictable and breed and genes are...

Miconazole doesn't require precise dosing. For standard chickens I usually use half and inch to an inch of cream twice a day for seven days. So your pea size dose is in the ball park. I prefer to use a bit more to avoid the dose not being enough. No harm.

It's normal chick play. Not to say that in their exuberance injuries might not occur. Doctor the boo-boos as you would with rambunctious toddlers. Vetericyn spray is a quick and easy wound treatment. Just keep an eye out for ganging up on one chick or a single chick that might be getting most...

How much calcium and what kind? It should be around 350mg. Calcium citrate works quickest. That was a good move as the hen shows signs of possible egg binding. It would benefit the hen to be installed in a pet crate with absorbent towels and water to drink, placed in a dim, quiet place to lower...

Yes, that dust is safe for chickens. However, you've just brought up an important point, and that is to always read the ingredients of any insecticide that you are thinking of using on or around chickens. Some may include petroleum distillates in addition to permethrin, and that would make it...

You just did a home lab experiment and saw the difference between DE and permethrin. While both are dusty powders, they are very different. DE is the powdered remains of the skeletons of ancient ocean creatures. If you were to examine it under a magnifying lens, you would see lots of very sharp...

Do you remember your childhood friends changing when everyone started experiencing changes to your bodies? The boys became virtual aliens and even some of the girls behaved in ways that were a far cry from how they used to be. Hormones change things. Same with chickens. They may have been...

If the chicks breathed in the DE, you would know right away.

Are you using the permethrin dusting powder? Someone mentioned DE. DE does not kill lice and mites. And DE would be especially hazardous for baby chicks as it's extremely caustic to such delicate respiratory systems. The very thing in DE, calcified remains of ancient sea creatures, that...

The criteria for effective broody breaking is that the broody be deprived of anything she can use as a nest. Even solid dirt and grass can provide a reflective surface that prevents her from shedding her broody body heat which in turn perpetuates her broody hormones. For this reason, an...

Serial broodies can be a blessing or a curse. I had one once, and I could predict the exact day she would go broody, her cycle was so predictable. It made it easy to start saving eggs for her to incubate because I knew when she would begin to sit the nest. The sound your hen is making is the...

How old is she? Has she started laying eggs yet? The behavior you describe is that of most hens that are feeling the urge to lay an egg. They are usually extremely vocal before they finally decide to head to the nesting box. FYI- a vocal, loud chicken is a chicken that feels happy and well...

Hormones is why he's suddenly being a jerk. The only remedy is to keep him away from the hen or you will risk eventual serious injury to the hen. I had this issue in my flock. My young rooster became enraged by an older hen rejecting his advances. He literally lost his mind and chased her into...

It's up to you to feel the contents of her crop and make the judgement whether the contents are solid material as in grass or food or if it feels like just liquid. The first would be diagnosed as impacted crop and coconut oil is the treatment along with massage. If the crop feels mainly full of...