Recent content by JLB

I can't tell a lot from your picture... what I can see is that the "lump" looks like bare, pink skin and elongated? My 9 month old Orpington had a similar looking protrusion of pink skin, but hers was just above her cloaca. I took her to an avian vet who said it was a hernia. He did surgery...

Fencing off your veggie and flower garden is a must if you don't want your flock to devour and scratch everything up in a couple of days! That being said, I have a large raised bed with artichokes and sunchokes and a few mature salvias that the girls like to roam in (it is their own secret...

I have a 5'X4' raised henhouse for my 4 hens and I clean out the droppings from the night before on hardware area of the floor poop daily. The floor is half hardware cloth (Just under their roosting bar/ the other half is wood). I have a drawer that fits into a slide a few inches underneath...

cheepcheepnash, I feel your anguish and doubt. Thank you for sharing your experience. I just had a similar situation, needing to the same, due to suspected Marek's - Patience was the most docile and beautiful of our 3 chicks (my first(and last ) time raising chicks - I'm sticking to pullets...

I live in Sonoma County and usually describe it as northern California. But I don't subscribe to hard and fast boundaries. I say "northern CA" so that my southeast Louisiana relatives can get some idea of where I live. I tend to think more in regions and microclimates (given I'm a gardener...

I'm so sorry you and your chicken are going through this. I had a very similar incident with one of mine and ultimately she didn't make it. I was able to take her to a Veterinary and he had to put her down. I hope that your were able to get her to a professional. I know how horrible an...

WYorp Rock, thank you for posting this (I realize it was a long time ago) question of how to help a disabled chicken that is unable to dustbathe. I have a sweet pullet who suddenly lost ability to scratch the soil with her legs. She can also no longer perch.(Vet suspects Marek's disease)...

Thank you, Charlie Baby and Lilith 37 for sharing your experiences with the hormone implant. Your support is much appreciated. Now I don't feel so alone in this . After 3 days of anti-biotic and anti-inflammatory that my local Vet prescribed, Mimi perked up a bit but is still not her total...

My beautiful 6 year old Ebony Belgian Maline hen Mimi has just been diagnosed with internal laying. Her body was able to reabsorb the fluids for probably months, and she seemed herself except I had noticed intermittent labored breathing at times. Now I know why, as the build up of fluids was...

I have 4 backyard hens and have evacuated them twice during fire warnings here in N. California. I have metal folding fencing and 4 medium sized dog crates and a large metal folding dogcrate. We evacuated to a Costco parking lot (bathrooms available). I assembled the dog crate, covered it with...

The construction sand I purchased has cancer and respiratory warnings on it. Can you please be more specific about which types of sand are safe?

RE: using sand: the construction sand I got has a cancer and respiratory warnings on it . Can you please be more specific about what types of sand are safe?

I clean our 80 cubic foot coop (we have 4 hens )daily. The floor is half wire grate under the perches. Dry poop falls through to containers underneath. During winter when poop dries out slower I put newspaper under perches and dispose of paper and poop into compost bucket. Cat litter scoop, dust...

We have 4 standard sized hens. I clean our raised 81 cubic foot henhouse every day. The floor is half wire grate (under the perches), the other half is wood. Most of the dried out poop falls through the wire to buckets below, which we empty every few weeks into the compost pile. During winter...