Recent content by altair

I am very sorry. I've had it happen and it was very sad but for the best. If you ever hatch your own, I recommend feeding a breeder ration for your flock, wheat germ, and ample weeds for their nutrients at least a month prior to hatching any eggs. It helps to get healthy chicks and makes most of...

How's the chick?

That is great! See if she'll take scrambled eggs. I mince garlic with it and a smidge of plain yogurt or kefir. They usually eat it right up. Sour crop is a build-up of yeast, think a consistency of bread dough. So it feels like her crop has food but it's mostly bad stuff. You'll want to keep...

Do you regularly massage the crop? Some people will hold the bird upside down and try to force the mass out her mouth. This may work if she has an impaction but be aware it may also cause her to aspirate. If it's sour crop, nothing may come out but water. If she'll eat scrambled eggs, feed her...

Thanks for the advice! I had a horrid time with it. My breeder flock had ILT, MG, and Marek's (all vet-confirmed though my sick bird in question was a hatchery bird and vaccinated for Marek's). The state ag department quarantined our property against birds in and out, visited to band them all...

Do you know if your birds have worms? Unless they're showing signs of an overabundance of worms, I don't bother. I sell eggs and eat them myself and don't also want to bother with withdrawals, chemical residues, etc. Chickens and other livestock should be able to handle mild cases and not get...

My current closed flock has tested positive for MG. I'm unsure where it could have come from. I opted to keep my breeder flock, stop breeding, and just let them live out their days eating bugs and being enjoyable. I currently don't live near any other chicken flocks. I don't have a problem with...

If her crop hasn't emptied, I'd suspect sour crop, an impaction (perhaps a grass mat), or both. I'm not sure if that would influence her odd behavior much, but might have it if this has been ongoing for some time. Usually birds with crop issues still seem to have an appetite because they're...

Hi Emily, The chick looks like it has a dislocated hip joint which sometimes happens. I had one in the hundreds I've hatched or owned and it did not thrive or do well despite our best efforts. You could take it to a vet, or at least show the pictures, to see if they can correct it and what it...

What are your goals for the layer flock? If your objective is just eggs, or eggs then meat, then I think it would be fine to mix them. If the trio wasn't from a tested flock, then assume they probably carry permanent respiratory disease. Which isn't necessarily a death sentence provided your...

My closed flock currently has a host of crappy diseases, MG being one of them. It is common and it isn't deadly. Or at least generally not on its own. It can reduce laying in birds and make them unthrifty by making them more susceptible to other illnesses and parasites. But it's generally not a...

Stuck egg? Tumor? Salpingitis? A stuck egg may be treatable but the other two are generally not I'm afraid.

Yes, I believe you're right in it being common. I can't quite determine where I got it from, I suspect some adult NPIP birds I purchased on one occasion or even hatching eggs from other NPIP sources. Otherwise I've always gotten day-olds or hatched from my own flock. Lesson learned.

Yes, my flock does have vet confirmed MG. It does seem like a fragile organism from what I have read, thankfully.

I've always wanted some of this breed, how lovely. What is her diet like?