The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[starlingdaly]

They are partridge. I was told Phyllis was - and she did not have any black. At first I thought she was Blue Partridge, but they assured me she wasn't (Sonoran & PeepBlessed). Here is Phyllis.

Phyllis Diller?????

 

[Mumsy]

I love this and I stole it. Is this at your farm?

This morning I plucked a june bug off my screen door and asked who wanted it. Teriyaki came over and snatched it, then ran to hide from the other girls who wanted to steal it from her.

I should have been in bed three hours ago, but I was 300 posts behind and glued to the saga of Balloon Chicken. I can't express enough how grateful I am that you take such detailed necroscopy and photographs. If he's always been such a fatty, it is quite possible that he fell (jumped down) and with his weight that could have been sufficient "trauma" to have caused the ultimate rupture.

Yes! Exactly! This was a chicken that rarely strayed far from the feed pan and followed me everywhere begging for handouts. His crop was always full morning, noon, and night.



I hate to sound morbid, but from reading what you have said you seem to have the same genuine curiosity and desire to "know" that stems from love... so I think/hope you understand that is the source of my question.
I wonder did you attempt to inflate the lungs? And if so, at what point (mouth/nares, trachea, etc.)? Using a straw or syringe maybe. That could have isolated a leak that may have gone otherwise overlooked.

A chicken does not breath air into their lungs like mammals do. They don't exchange oxygen the same way throughout their body.
I agonized on how to help this bird breath or to stop the inflation. Every time I touched him he stopped breathing and his mouth gaped open with tongue out and his eyes closed. But not helping wasn't helping either. He continued to fill with air. I did think about getting a needle and syringe to let some air out of his chest bubbles but it wouldn't have stopped what was happening to him. The rupture was so catastrophic that his entire body was filling up very fast. As long as he was breathing, air would have kept filling him up from the rupture as fast as I could have taken it out.
I'm glad you asked me this because it helps me explain what was happening to him. It was a horrific thing to witness. I was powerless to help him.



I would tend to agree though on your theory of the air sacs. That makes a lot of sense based on how the bird looked. Not that how the bird looked made any sense at all.
Again, THANK YOU so much for the learning experience.

You are welcome. I have learned a lot from this too but I hope to never see what I saw with this chicken ever again.

I am so sorry you have been plagued with The Weirdness, but you are also gifted with the ability to display it for the rest of us and follow through with the full results so that everyone can benefit from answers.
If I ever have The Weirdness I hope that I can follow your example of thorough documentation.

Thank you. I have enough material about The Weirdness with owning chickens that I could write a book.
And I so love your garden!

I love it too. It is where I go to recoup from the drama of daily life. It truly is a sanctuary.
Leah's Mom: I love Ms. Sweden!

Okay, obviously I get all lovey when I'm sleep deprived.
Bedtime.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Duck eggs arrived. Now I'm letting them sit for at least 12 hours before putting them in the incubator.

 

[Alibabe]

Duck eggs arrived. Now I'm letting them sit for at least 12 hours before putting them in the incubator.

You must be so excited. I would love to have ducks but don't have the space.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
I am exicited, we plan to only keep 3 of the ducklings but with 8 shipped eggs, I may not get more than 3. Since I only won 6 eggs, I was happy to see 8 in the box. None were cracked even though the PO has squashed part of the box.

 

[Alibabe]

I am exicited, we plan to only keep 3 of the ducklings but with 8 shipped eggs, I may not get more than 3. Since I only won 6 eggs, I was happy to see 8 in the box. None were cracked even though the PO has squashed part of the box.

What type of ducks? I love the Aylesbury ducks and the cayuga's, they are beautiful

 

[PatQ]

Wahoo - it's summertime - perfect treat for a 95 degree day

3 1/2 weeks old

 

[lalaland]

Wahoo - it's summertime - perfect treat for a 95 degree day

3 1/2 weeks old

they sure look healthy

 

[lalaland]

talking about the ridiculous lengths you can go for a chick....

you know that tiny ping pong ball of a swedish flower hen that isn't thriving? I put her in a basket with a buddy but never saw her ate and her crop was empty. So I took her out last night and tried to get her to eat some yogurt on my finger. Holding her in my palm, yougurt on finger - no dice. tapped her beak, no dice. started to lower my hand to put her down and other chicks came running and attacked my finger - and lo and behold, she grabbed a bite of yogurt.

long and short of it is: she will only eat yogurt if there are other chicks trying to eat it too. Has no interest if she is the only one. Trouble is, those chicks are ravenous and can eat the yogurt soo fast, while she has to put her head up and "drink" the yogurt she has in her beak. Done enough yougurt feedings that all the chicks come running when I put my hand in the brooder.


her poop is mucusy and yogurt colored, not dark like other chicks. I am pretty sure she isn't eating on her own. She gets maybe one 8th of a tsp in her before she is sleepy. I dip her beak in the water to encourage her to take a drink after she is done.

I'm going to mash up an egg yolk in the yougurt to see if she can get some more protein in her. Also going to make up a little electrolyte solution for her. any other suggestions?
I know I could cull her, and I sure wouldn't hatch eggs from her if she ever makes it to lay which is looking pretty doubtful at this point. She is 10 days old today.

 

[PatQ]