So, I ended up just draining the barrel. I will spray it out thoroughly with my pressure sprayer to get the gunk off the inside surfaces, and then fill it with water from the hose. I may fill it completely, add a small amount of bleach to kill everything, then thoroughly rinse it again before...
Hello all. We have a 55-gallon food-grade barrel set up to collect rain water off of the roof of our coop, which it does quite nicely. However, the water smells bad. It's not like a sewer smell, but it does smell pretty nasty. I can't open the top of the barrel, so all I could do is drain it and...
Her comb is purple now. I suspect it's from her agonistic breathing and lack of oxygen. She is shaking her head occasionally now as well and gives a quick flap of her wings and then just settles down to try and breathe more.
I didn't see any bubbles or anything in her eyes. She has difficulty breathing with every breath, but no apparent swelling, head shaking, or mucus that we could detect.
No wormer, but I'll get some.
She's a new bird to the flock. We had five, and recently added five more. She is one of the...
This morning when my wife went to check on the girls, she found Nina wheezing and not moving much. I can't see any blockage in her throat either. She seems to be struggling to breathe. We isolated her and then had a friend come over who has a lot more experience (and a lot more chickens) to look...
Also, when I gently squeeze that softball-size lump, it's very soft and squishy. It's not hard, and she doesn't react. She is eating and free-ranging fine. No lethargy or odd behavior at all.
We brought Lucy up to the house for her spa day because she appeared to have a bad case of crusty butt. I cleaned her tush really well, and trimmed a few feathers. This is what she looks like. I felt for a bound egg and looked closely at her booty. I didn't see anything that I would consider out...
Look into the deep bedding and deep nesting method for your coop and run. We do it, and it is super easy and beneficial. Cleaning is maybe a few times per year; never daily. That's too much work.
This is a photo of another of our girls. Her name is Cali. The poor thing looks awful. She started molting just before all these frigid temperatures, but she seems to be doing ok. We do worry about her because of her lack of feathers. She is a fiesty one, though, even though she is the smallest...