Recent content by leeyuh

Midget White poult. Anyone recognize this problem? Turkey is otherwise eating, drinking, acting fine. A few of them have the same symptoms but this one is the worst. We've been treating with colloidal silver with antibiotic treatment around the eye, and a 1/4 - 1/3 cc of Tylan 50. Just started...

So, we had two barred rocks that we got as day old chicks. They were great layers. In the fall, however, we found one of the barred rocks dead in the nesting box (age 1 1/2). We didn't really investigate the cause of death, I thought maybe she was egg bound since she was in the nesting box, and...

We've got a young flock, about 8 months, and our Campine is the smallest and she is kind of a loner. Flighty and nervous. Near the bottom of the pecking order. And she spends a good amount of time foraging in our neighbor's yard (which is about 1/3 of an acre of compost piles, wood piles, etc.)...

Quote: Yes, no rabies, but good question! It may seem wasteful to just take the breast and thighs, but, I HIGHLY recommend making chicken stock from the less meatier, unpopular chicken parts and carcass. Necks, wings if they are small, etc. Me and the boyfriend both agree we have never had...

Quote: I would recommend watching a video about it first. That's what I did, I feel like it made it easier. This is what I watched, there's two parts to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy_vutu5qO0 Also it helps when you have someone helping you, like in the above video. I think once you...

I don't for sure know the answer to this, but I just slaughtered my almost-5-month old buff brahma and she was very small. She looked huge but it was mostly the feathers. We could barely get our hands into the body cavity to pull out the "stuff" inside. She was on an organic feed and allowed...

We just had to slaughter one and we cut the artery and let it bleed first. We have a friend who raises and processes tons of chickens by hand, he also agrees to do it this way. When it came down to the moment, i watched this video and they say the same thing: Something about the way it...

We had to cull our first hen two days ago to put her out of her misery, following a nasty dog attack. Before we did the deed, we knew we would have to eventually, but we had hoped our first slaughter would be our mean, meaty rooster and not a young, beautiful, sweet hen. I held her while he...

Actually, the missing one did come back! So we still have 5 laying hens, so that's not bad. we got 8, because we figured between dogs, raccoons, and hawks, we would loose a few. such is life i guess...i do feel a little wiser today for making the right decision. When we plucked her, we...

Thanks for the advice everyone. We decided the best thing would be to put her out of her misery and cull her. The vet said she would definitely need surgery and antibiotics. The infection risk is very high. The antibiotics would render her meat and eggs useless. And it would be "iffy". And it...

Our vet does, in fact, see chickens, so we might go with that option...just because there is so much skin that needs to be "put back". Our vet is pretty good about recommending stuff that can be purchased at Tractor Supply for cheaper, so hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg. She's still...

THANK YOU for your speedy reply. So you think going to the vet to get antibiotics is worth it? I'm worried the vet will say she's too far gone, or something, and that I should put her down. But all these success stories I've been reading sound like she will make it. My dogs have been...

I came home to a chicken massacre today. 1 roo and 2 hens dead, 1 badly injured. 4 safe, and 1 missing (although I'm almost positive she flew over the fence). The injured one was standing in the garden when I found her. She seemed to be in shock...the back of her neck was completely removed...

Interesting story! My neighbor has a high fence around his garden so I'm not worried about her getting in...plus he has 5 hens and a bantam roo, who he lets free range. So far no encounters between the two flocks...but what would happen if they did encounter? Fight?

She mostly leaves when I'm not home, so I have no idea if she's running or not. She just comes and goes as she pleases. BUT, when I AM home and she gets out, she is quiet, I don't hear the clucking from her like I do when other chickens lay (I don't even know if she's old enough to lay -- 19 weeks?)