A Bad Chicken Week

This past week has not been a good one as far as chickens are concerned.  We had three new issues come up that were not so fun to deal with.

Wry Neck

This pretty little girl came down with what we believe to be Wry Neck or Crookneck. 

It was so strange.  She kept hanging her head.  She could walk around, but her neck seemed really limp and she wasn't able to eat or drink.  I tried giving her yogurt, eventually gave her honey and water down the throat.  I Googled her symptoms and looked them up on Backyard Chickens and we came to the conclusion that it was Wry Neck.  Several suggestions were to give her liquid vitamins which we did, but after a few days she still wasn't eating/drinking and, fearing she would die from starvation, Hubz put her down. 


Pecking

Another issue we've dealt with this week is pecking.  One afternoon a Barred Rock pullet was bloody as all get out on her comb and head.  Turns out it was just her comb.  We weren't totally sure how to handle it, but so far what we've done has worked.  We grabbed her up, cleaned up her head and put iodine on her comb.  We then separated her from the flock.  We put Josie's crate inside the chicken yard with some food and water in it for her.  That night we slathered an anti-bacterial cream on her comb and put her in the coop to roost.  She was all dried up and looking much better by morning.  She is still healing with no further assault so hopefully the Rhode Island Red that was bothering her has stopped.

Turns out there are several reasons why chickens might peck each other - too crowded, too hot, not enough feeder or waterer space or to determine pecking order.  I'm sure there are other reasons, but that's what we've learned so far.  I believe this was a pecking order issue.  The RIRs are top dogs in our flock and they will occasionally bully one of the others, but it's never been this bad.  One suggestion was to put Pine Tar on the chicken being pecked.  It apparently tastes horrible and will discourage further pecking.



Egg Eating

The 3rd issue we thought we were dealing with was egg eating.  It is apparently difficult to stop and we happen to like eating those eggs so we were a little concerned. 

We had a few clues that made us think we were dealing with this issue:

1. A wet nesting box
2. A couple days with very few eggs
3. Eggshells in a nesting box

And eggs that looked like this:

              And this.  Doesn't that look like dried yolk?              



So, we researched how to stop egg eating, like blow an egg empty and fill it with dish soap or mustard, put fake eggs in every box, etc.   Turns out, we don't have an egg eating problem.  Instead, we think we have a too many hens in the nest problem.  I wish I had my camera with me when I saw this, but one day over the weekend I went to check for eggs and 4 hens were in the same box - 2 sitting and 2 standing practically on top of them.  There ended up being 5 eggs in that box that day so I think they all got the job done.  It was too funny and a good end to our stressful chicken week. 

Who knows what this week might bring!?

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