last egg!

[snakeshack]

fantastic dinner,ironically the first totally home produced meal sprouts,spuds ,butternut squash and runner beans & egbert.
best tasting chicken I ever had.
thanx for the kind words folks.

[Nicos]

TBH...if Alice hadn't been on antibiotics, we'd have eaten her too
(She'd of had to have 'slept' in the freezer for a while though)

Glad she was yummy - although I think you were already suspecting she would be!
Well done Egbert x

[snakeshack]

Yesterday I let the chooks out as usual and went down the garden to feed scraps about 10.00am,went down to pick up the dish 1/2 hour later to find my other l/s hen (n'bacon) lying dead with a prolapse,my other 4 hens are still laying fine,the suprising thing was ,as I was readying her for an eskimo funeral (in the freezer)there was no sign of eggs at any stage of development,which begs the question WHY?
She obviously wasn't straining to lay or constipated.

[RichmondHens]

Sorry to hear Snakeshack. Have never come across prolapse in an immature hen. Had she been pecked at all or was it just "hanging out"? Cannot think what would have caused it.

[snakeshack]

It was a loop of intestine about 18ins long,the other birds did notb appear to have pecked it although she had lost a lot of blood,she was still very warm when I found her so had not been gone long.
I'm wondering if it was a problem with this batch as the other hens which are different have all been ok.
she was bought pol in early november so I would have expected to see some egg development at this age?

[Nicos]

I've just done a bit of Googling- and there's a mention of calcium deficiency causing poor muscle tone. I wonder if that would be why there no eggs developing? It's not about chooks, but cockatoos,ut they're still birds.

http://www.avianweb.com/Prolapse.htm

Did you get them both from the same breeder? What are the quality of the recent gal's bones?? I'm just wondering what they were fed on as chicks ( over here, most farm chooks are given loads of stale read- plus veg peelings - which could lead to a diet deficiency. Could they be inbred???
just a few thoughts.
I'd have a word with the breeder if I were you!!
Sorry to hear of yet another loss for you. x
poor lass- not a nice way to go

[tlck9]

how awful for you, I have not yet had to do the deed myself as I "chickened" out and took her to the vets

I am quickly learning about losing chickens and I'm still coming to terms with this horrid new sensation.

Although a nice dinner and I can quite understand, I havent quite got to that stage of doing just that, perhaps if it happens again and the chuck is healthy before hand then a maybe

I am trying to come to terms with produce it and eat it, can do it with my leeks, but not quite with the chickens....now if someone did the deed, plucked it and handed a dressed one I dont think it would be a problem

[Hilary B]

how awful for you, I have not yet had to do the deed myself as I "chickened" out and took her to the vets

I am quickly learning about losing chickens and I'm still coming to terms with this horrid new sensation.

Although a nice dinner and I can quite understand, I havent quite got to that stage of doing just that, perhaps if it happens again and the chuck is healthy before hand then a maybe

I am trying to come to terms with produce it and eat it, can do it with my leeks, but not quite with the chickens....now if someone did the deed, plucked it and handed a dressed one I dont think it would be a problem

You are too far away!

[RichmondHens]

We've "done" 3 more boys today. Only 14 more to go ...............!

Snakeshack - Reading your last message, a loop of intestine that large plus blood loss would suggest a hit from a predator. Is that possible? I'm really not convinced she could prolapse 18" of intestine by herself. The oviduct prolapses I have seen are of a few cms of oviduct hanging out of the vent, caused by a lot of straining.

[tlck9]

We've "done" 3 more boys today. Only 14 more to go ...............!
.

Oh boy.....

[RichmondHens]

Oh boy.....

Sorry Tlck, please don't be upset. They are a variety of ages and breeds, so mature at different times, so we do them in batches, usually 2 or 3 at a time. They have all had a happy life roaming round our fields, or in large pens, and we try to give them as stress free an ending as possible. I swear most don't have a clue, right up to "the moment".

[tlck9]

Sorry Tlck, please don't be upset. They are a variety of ages and breeds, so mature at different times, so we do them in batches, usually 2 or 3 at a time. They have all had a happy life roaming round our fields, or in large pens, and we try to give them as stress free an ending as possible. I swear most don't have a clue, right up to "the moment".

Hi Richmondhens, no not upset at all, I eat chicken and many of my friends said how could I, since I have 6 sitting in a run that I visit every day.

So I would be a bit of a hypocrite if I do not appreciate where the food comes from that I put on my plate, the very fact that it has had a good life before becoming "food" is enough for me to try and get my head round it.

I'm just in that phase where I would like to see where my food comes from, eg nurtured myself but havent got the metal to do it....

Good on anyone that can do it, I wish I could just get my head around it

I would love to raise pigs for food, just two, but...I could see them being in the field their whole natural life

[MaureenHall]

I am trying to come to terms with produce it and eat it, can do it with my leeks, but not quite with the chickens....now if someone did the deed, plucked it and handed a dressed one I dont think it would be a problem

That's exactly what I did about Basil, got someone else to "do the deed", I put him in a bag and took him to a friend who did all the messy bit and I took home an oven-ready bird who lived in the freezer for a couple of months. He really was delicious, and I've got no problem now about the same thing happening to some of his sons that I'm growing on. Maybe later I'll be able to witness the whole process and do the prep work, but not yet

[CoraxAurata]

It was a loop of intestine about 18ins long,the other birds did notb appear to have pecked it although she had lost a lot of blood,she was still very warm when I found her so had not been gone long.
I'm wondering if it was a problem with this batch as the other hens which are different have all been ok.
she was bought pol in early november so I would have expected to see some egg development at this age?

also double check for rodents - maybe unlikely but possible....

[snakeshack]

this was not a predator or a rodent the run is totally enclosed with a steel roof and 13mm weldmesh underneath as well covered with 2 layers of weed control fabric.there is oyster shell and mixed grit available.
the diet is layers pellets ad lib with a small amount of corn 1 hr before roost and occasional boiled peelings with oats and mash served warm about an hour after opening the roost to give the chooks time to get a full crop of layers pellets first,I dont think this is a calcium issue as the other 4 birds are laying eggs with strong shells.
think I will wait till spring and get 2 new pol hens.
thanks for the suggestions.