Weight

[Sharon Yorks]

I know the standard says 4.5lbs pullet, 5.5lbs hens, but what's the thoughts about heavier hens and/or lighter ones? Are most pretty much staying about where they should be? I weighed a few of mine today and was pleased to know that most are right on track...other than my two original best black hens. I knew they were tilting the scales, but I didn't expect Ruby to be 7.2lbs. and her sister Tonya was 6.4 and we weighed them 3 times to be sure. I just now went back through to see how Ruby has been laying. She's laid eggs on the 15-17-19–20–21–22–25-27-30-31-1-2-3-4-5 (none today), so I'm thinking production hasn't been affected, although I notice on occasion she doesn't jump up in the hen box and just lays them on the floor, but that's not too often, maybe once a week.

All of my birds are on self feeders. I do not give many treats...a handful of Cheerios once every week or two. Mine think they are getting treats when I throw they a handful of oats. They don't get any people food anymore. I stopped that a couple of months ago. Tonya doesn't feel flabby at all so I'm thinking that should be about their normal weight. Ruby does feel flabby, though. The dog has been trying to get her to cut back, but it doesn't seem to be working. They will be 3 years old in September.

What some thoughts on this? (The picture was taken last year when I was treating her for sour crop). And just for the record, garlic works good for sour crop.

[Mike Gilbert]

Those two heavier hens give you some options when it comes to breeding for chicks.   They might make ideal mates for that cockerel that has nice type and a great temperament, but may be undersized.  This is the same principle as when we say offset the defects on one side of a mating with a mate that is strong in that same area.

BTW, how did you administer the garlic, and how long did it take for the sour crop to clear up?

[Sharon Yorks]

Yes, the smaller cockerel was who I had been breeding them to. Most of the chick pictures I have posted, are from that combo...Rachel & Leah (The really nice blue laced ones) and Esther (The really nice black with all the green). Their chicks either come out really nice or too small. I have since then bred those two to a real nice "large" black male. I'm eager to see how the chicks turn out. I'm expecting a hatch with them on Saturday and again on the following Friday.

The garlic...I just chopped up about a half of a clove and mixed it in with a few drops of Apple cider vinegar, olive oil and some of their laying pellets and add a little grit. I massage it around after they eat this. I also think the grit helps break up any clumps. It's my understanding (not that it's correct) but that sour crop can also be a result of too much yeast, kind of like a yeast infection. The garlic helps to fight the yeast. Ruby had this problem a year ago and there was a long post regarding this. Here that is: http://ameraucana.org/forum/index.php?topic=1721.msg11692#msg11692

I personally think that Ruby's issue was my fault from not having enough free choice grit available. My birds always want to gobble up a lot of the straw when I put fresh down (Dang, you'd think they're starving around here) and I was letting her out on grass a lot. I believe her problem started with a blockage. Grit is a must in my coop and they eat a lot of it. I just went through this again several months ago when I was feeding them scraps and bread. My hen DeDe (my garbage hound) ended up with sour crop and I started making her throw up and treated her like I did Ruby, tubing her and such, but then I read an article about the garlic and tried it. Amazingly enough, the sour crop was gone within 24 hours...without making her throw up again. I can't say whether or not it would work on others as fast, but it will be the first thing I try if I ever have another bought with it. 

Okay, I wasn't going to mention this, but if my stupidity can help others, here it is. DON'T be too quick to tube anything into them. It can be done fairly easy, but one little mistake and it's fatal. I recently had my first attack with lice or mites (don't know which since I can't find any of them) But it affected two of my favorite birds. My best pullet, Esther, started acting quiet (not her personality at all, she was so playful and she'd actually play with me) so I looked her over, but couldn't find anything. I couldn't find any lice or mites so my second thought was to worm them and put her in a separate pen, so I did. A day or two later, Thor started acting quiet and Esther quit eating. I noticed Thor's back (near the tail) looked matted down and determined it was bug eggs of some kind. I still couldn't find any crawlies. I dusted everyone real good with Sevin Dust, but I was worried about Esther not eating so I tried to tube some Nutra-Cal and water into her while she recouped. I tried to do this by myself and the syringe stuck, then released real quick shooting too much, too fast. It came back up and into her lungs. That was the hardest I've been hit (mentally) ever losing a bird. She was such a class clown and made raising birds fun. Enough said.   

[Beth C]

I'm so sorry to hear about Esther...