appreciate a bit of advice

[tlck9]

my omlet, (a chuck, not the house) seems to have a sort of swollen area on her breast to one side, it could be paranoid on my part as she seems fine in herself.

I'd say a sort of swollen look rather than a lump...

The same chuck today we found a few feathers in the nesting box...

One of the chucks has a sort of pinky colour bit in her poo, I've been trying to pin point which one it is. Sort of like a very tiny dropping with a salmon pink covering. Now i've had a dog before that (sorry about the next bit) had caught himself with some harder...you know what and had bled alittle (panic I did, but he was fine) I will try and get a photo and post....

I just wondered if i'm being paranoid or has someone experienced this sort of look before? being new I suppose I'm bound to be a bit that way

[MaureenHall]

It might just be a full crop after she's eaten. The crop is usually more pronounced on the right side and feels softish. If it's hard it could be impacted. A few feathers is often nothing to worry about, it might be the start of moulting. If she's not moulting check for lice or mites, I'd treat anyway as a precaution. Keep an eye on her and any more worries just yell

[tlck9]

would you say her right or my right as you look at her???

Does she need more grit?

Its her right, my left as I look at her. Tis softish, dont think it as hard. It was like it yesterday but I thought it was just me

[MaureenHall]

Her right, and it is her crop. They can look quite alarming when you first notice them and they can be a bit pendulous too. There's grit in the pellets but it's always a good idea to have a container with extra grit in so she can help herself. Has she got soil to scrabble around in? If so you might find that she doesn't take much grit as she'll be getting it along with any worms, grubs and seeds she's eating

[tlck9]

okay sounds like that then.... She is on grass, but she can scrabble around and one of them has as they ahve scratched the grass completely. I have set up a sand bath for them in a container (but its been raining so much) its quite drenched at the moment.

We move them weekly and moved her today, just we only got 2 eggs instead of the normal 3 (the 4th is not laying yet)

She is on the small holding layers pellets, mixed super corn (of a afternoon is sprinkled) grass and various peas, brocolli etc whatever is going to seed in the allotment

Thanks Maureen for the advice, will keep an eye on her anyway (and will definetly shout! )

[kirsty b]

I throw a handful of mixed grit into the run every other day or so, mine seem more inclined to take it if its scattered and they can scatch it up.

[RichmondHens]

The pinky area on chest sounds like she might be pulling her feathers out in that area? Difficult to say without seeing it.

Have you examined the poo? Can you extract the pinky bit and look at it more closely to see whether it is a parasite or just a piece of undigested corn? Sounds yucky I know but you can't be squeamish if you want to find out what it is.

[tlck9]

i spent this morning waiting for them too do their poop (joy) omlet's looked fine this morning but the others hadnt done their normal huge poop by the time I had left...so I will keep an eye on it

Your thoughts on it being undigested corn, may actually ring true as it it around that size, I will check it out when I see it.

Her bulge had gone down and I've borrowed some grit from a fellow hen keep (my grit is in the mixed corn) but I dont want to leave this available to them as they wont eat their layers pellets.

I placed some on the ground and kept some in a tray for them. So I will see how this goes....

Thanks again for the help, sounds all pretty reasonable to me, just a bit of panic crept in...

(I've got an additional 5 hens to look after next week, so that'll be fun, esp since two are broody at the moment)

[RichmondHens]

You can leave grit down all the time. A mix of crushed oyster shell (extra calcium) plus insoluble grit (for grinding) can be put in a heavy based container and left in the run for the hens to go to when they want.

[Nicos]

I sometimes throw down crushed oyster shells at the same time as the corn and they seem to eat them all at the same time.
Crushed, baked eggshells and oyster shell must do the same thing as grit don't they????- so they're doing 2 jobs in one???

[tlck9]

i read somewhere that if you sell your eggs then you shouldnt use the crushes egg shells, I went to the trouble of baking them and crushing them, then read that so the worms got them instead

Any thoughts on why this is the case?

[Hilary B]

I sometimes throw down crushed oyster shells at the same time as the corn and they seem to eat them all at the same time.
Crushed, baked eggshells and oyster shell must do the same thing as grit don't they????- so they're doing 2 jobs in one???

Oyster/egg shell gets digested, and becomes eggshell.
They also need hard grit that won't be digested to act as 'teeth substitute' in the gizzard.

[Hilary B]

i read somewhere that if you sell your eggs then you shouldnt use the crushes egg shells, I went to the trouble of baking them and crushing them, then read that so the worms got them instead

Any thoughts on why this is the case?

A red-tape precaution. There is a theoretical risk of crushed egg shells carrying some infection (they are probably fretting about salmonella). In practice, if the eggshell is thoroughly baked, and came from 'clean' eggs anyway, the risk is vanishingly small.

[tlck9]

on the subject of oyster shells and grill etc, will any shells do? eg scallop shells, what about cuttlefish, I can get a good supply of those

and I suppose if you could its a case of boiling them to sterilise them and then either grind them or do as the budgie get and stick them in for them to peck at

[Hilary B]

the budgie also wears down his beak on the cuttlefish bone/shell. Chooks don't need to do this.....
As a calcium source, should be OK, if adequately 'processed' (not sure exactly what would be appropriate). Snail shells may also be suitable (cuttlefish is a distant relation of snail).