[Planner]

 

Had to put down one of my girls yesterday. She had a significant prolapse and was bleeding.

On the positive side, I have had the 5 girls for 12 months as a newbie and this is the first casulty.

On a seperate subject, in the last few weeks we have been plagued with red mite. two weekends out of three we have had to deep clean the coop. I s anyone else having seen an increase over the last few weeks.

I have today used decorators caulking to seal up all gaps in the joints of the coop. Even after pressure washing and disinfecting, when caulking up the joints, I still found a few of the blighters. 

[joyfull]

sorry to hear about your girlie, sending hugs xx 

[karlooben]

sorry to hear about your girl  . so far i think i am free of the red mites but i have had lice .

[dizzylizzie]

ahh...... im so sorry about your girlie x

[mad mark]

Four months as a newbie and two casualtys, you have done well.... are hybrids harder to care for than other breeds? Which is the hardiest breed? before I reinvest.....

[Dawnte]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

[mountainvicar]

Sorry to her about the hen

Mad Mark, hybrids are generly more hardy that pure breads and finding a good breader with strong stock is important too.

[Foxy]

Sorry to her about the hen

Mad Mark, hybrids are generly more hardy that pure breads and finding a good breader with strong stock is important too.

maybe 50 years ago, nowadays it all depends on the hatchery, more so now hybrids are bred for variety and colour. There are lots of extremely hardy pure breeds around. 

[mad mark]

Sorry to her about the hen

Mad Mark, hybrids are generly more hardy that pure breads and finding a good breader with strong stock is important too.

maybe 50 years ago, nowadays it all depends on the hatchery, more so now hybrids are bred for variety and colour. There are lots of extremely hardy pure breeds around. 

Which breed or type would you go for as easy to keep and produce a decent quantity of eggs, but least disease prone? Any suggestions.......

[Aunt Sally]

What happened to the hen that was attacked and very ill Mark.  Did you put her out of her misery ?

[too many girls]

before I reinvest.....

  please invest in vets and not chickens!

[mad mark]

The vets dont seem too interested in chickens, maybe seen round here as cheap and disposable, and as I am not a farmer then why am I keeping them, maybe have to try another vets.

[Roughlee Handled]

The vets dont seem too interested in chickens, maybe seen round here as cheap and disposable, and as I am not a farmer then why am I keeping them, maybe have to try another vets.

Most vets will rarely see avians ie budgie or parrot let alone a chicken.  At my practice there is only one vet that feels confident to treat chickens.  I would suggest you try as you say contacting a vet. If you do not have any other animals they may be even less inclined to see you but you must try or you will have to "do the deed". 

I can not see a chicken as an investment but if you want figures.
1 chicken will cost around 15 half dozen boxes of free range eggs.
That is 90 eggs. A hybrid can lay up to 300 eggs a year and pure breed 150 eggs.
A no brainer really.
I know I have not mentioned food, quality,(taste comes under quality),  piece of mind. Well that only comes if you treat them right.

[Aunt Sally]

cheap and disposable,

   They are animals !!!!! 

They deserve to be well looked after and not allowed to suffer !!!!!!!!

[too many girls]

All vet's have a code of practice (don't know what it is exactly) but it means ALL animals are important, doesn't matter if it's a pet stick insect, a chicken or a horse, they all deserve to be looked after and taken care of.