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my donkey riding, shoulder sittin' spunky fun smart wonderful chicken Beep Beep is really sick.
3 days ago i found her suddenly acting lethargic and the other hens had pecked her till she was bleeding out her ear. I rushed her inside the cabin and cried for an hour.
...
I have given her apple cider vinegar, ginger and usnea in her water... but i am not sure she is going to make it. It's been a chicken roller coaster this winter, but this chicken... is... my baby. She was a chick when i first got her, and JuJu had nailed her with her hooves and almost killed her. Beep Beep eventually learned to be great friends with the donkey and rides her back everyday. I really dont know what to say - I look forward to spring time when life is something full of hope and ease.
Xoxoxo
Chickens need more protein than people think. And I think the protein in the commercial feeds is of poor quality. I have to feed hard boiled eggs to the chicks I raise in order to keep cannibalism under control. They love the yolks - and why not? That's what they lived on for 3 weeks before hatching. Here's what else I use liberally -- kitten chow. They love that too. The apple is mostly water -- offer her some other things even if it doesn't make any sense -- mushy oatmeal, left over lasagna, scramble some eggs even. Let her pick and choose.
ReplyDeleteAnyway -- during a hard winter there's no bugs, and that's their free range source of protein.
Sorry Leslie. I hope beepbeep is okay.
ReplyDeletePoor little Beep Beep. It's tough. We have two pet (illegal) chickens, and it would tear me up if anything happened to them. I don't think people understand that chickens have their own personalities and are affectionate little critters. I hope Beep Beep gets better.
ReplyDeleteso sorry to hear about this Leslie :(
ReplyDeleteI hope she gets better and that spring comes sooooon for you
~♥~
After watching this video my chicken expert friend Judie looked at all her symptoms and noticed Beep Beep had a clogged crop (under the neck, front of chest) - when i felt it, it was really squishy and thick like one of those stress balls people squeeze. So She said I could give her 3 teaspoons worth of oil and massage a few times every few minutes.
ReplyDeleteI did these things.
Also, she had me hold her on her back, belly up between my knees with her head hanging back in order to induce a type of vomiting, where icky liquid should have leaked out.... but i massaged the crop and leaned her back, nothing came out.
:(
She is drinking even less and can't eat at all now. Apparantly when she was sitting back on her feet in the relcining position this indicates pain.
HOping for the best that the oil helps her pass the clogged crop through and she can be normal again.
----- thanks for the tip anonymous about the protien. Luckily this isnt the problem for this chicken, but is good to know.
And Thanks everyone who is wishing Beep Beep well. xoxoxoxoox
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On another chicken note ::: Beep Beep in an Americana (Americauna) chicken and I was told they get sickly. Red and Black Stars apparently get the least sick of all chicken breeds.
Rhode Island Reds are also a very sturdy breed of chicken. We've had no problems with ours (knock on wood) other than a mild case of fowl pox, which has cleared up.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greenmuze.com/blogs/green-muzings/2208-chicken-impacted-crop-or-sour-crop.html
ReplyDelete***
here is an article on what is wrong with Beep Beep and thing you can do to help if this happens to your chicken.
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"Sour crop and impacted crop, also known as crop binding, although relatively uncommon in chickens, is still something you need to watch out for in your flock. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation on the web about how to deal with this condition; many of the home remedies and solutions are extremely dangerous, and often very cruel for the hens.
Typically, a hen’s crop will become impacted by something the chicken has ingested. The blockages could be the result of the hen ingesting tough grasses, sawdust, straw, hard grains or meat bones that get lodged in the crop.
Chickens may exhibit a large bulge in the crop area, diminishing weight, isolating themselves from the flock, hunching down or protecting their injury. The bird may also jerk their neck around trying to dislodge the blockage. Additionally, the stuck items in the crop may begin to rot, resulting in a sour smell coming from the chicken’s beak.
The Chicken Health Handbook explains that ‘Even if the bird continues to eat, nutrition cannot get through. The swollen crop may cut off the windpipe, suffocating the bird’."..............
GO TO THE LINK for the whole article, it's really good! very helpful.
Sorry to hear about your chicken. When I saw the video the clogged craw came to mind for me too. I have had some real luck over the years hanging them upside down and swinging them a bit. I discovered this the first time when I had a sick one and was taking it out of the flock to put it in a quarantine cage. It slimed out a bunch of thick watery stuff and was recovering be the next morning. I have since used this method many times. And yes, chickens love and do very well on kitten chow. Good but expensive suppliment.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck. I really hate losing a chicken to illness.
Call a vet? To fight a virus - you need stronger medicines.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this memories of another life flooded back. I have been there but can offer no advice. I am shaking the good medicine rattle in your direction. It does no good but makes me feel better.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if chicken are like cattle, but whenever a big winter storm or cold front moves into Kansas, my good friend the organic wheat & barley farmer (who also has a big family cattle operation) has to put out extra hay bales before and during the cold spell, because the cattle instinctively increase the amount they eat during this period.
ReplyDeleteSeeing how the ailing chickens seem to respond positively to the warmth of the wood stove, I'm wondering if food consumption and temperature for chickens are related. If their food levels historically have been constant, a relative increase in temperature would help tip the scales of health in their favor. Please consider asking your chicken expert about it.
If every school kid saw this video, they would have such an appreciation of life, chickens and what you do. This is just better than TV. I'll say a prayer for Beep Beep. Peace.
ReplyDeleteHow is she doing today? Can you get or make some colloidal silver? It's very good to have on hand for everyone - is very effective against pathogens.
ReplyDeleteBeep Beep died yesterday. :(
ReplyDeleteShe had something called sour crop, and i did everything i could to save her, but it was diagnosed too late and was too much for her to pass.
xooxoxoxox
Hi, I have a hen called Beep who has a crop disfunction. I'm sorry to hear your little Beep Beep passed from a crop problem as well. :(
ReplyDeleteBeep the Chicken has her own facebook page if u want to check it out,
Warmest regards, April