I went to open the coop, and one of our Guinea Hens was dead on the floor of the coop. I picked her up and checked her out to make see if I could figure out why. Nothing around her head, checked and her wings were fine over and under, and my mom checked for a broken neck. No blood, no nothing. About 5 days ago she "may" have eaten some quick-set concrete, but I would think it would have killed her before then. When a member of the flock dies, what should I be checking for? My greatest fear is that my flock will drop off one little bit at a time.
Lost a Guinea This Morning
Sorry to hear about this. Sometimes birds eat just about anything. I am not sure about the concrete but I can imagine it might have been the reason - even maybe because it might have been too difficult to pass through the gut at the back end, meaning that she could not get rid of it? Sort of like kidney stones, I suppose.
Things I would check for include:
1. Lice or mite infestation (sometimes surprising numbers can seriously bring down a bird without us noticing)
2. messy back end? Might indicate some sort of infection
3. any previous symptoms - wheezing, eye problems, respiratory distress, weakness, stumbling etc.
4. Any sign of being egg bound?
If there were no previous symptoms of any kind and nobody else appears droopy or lethargic, I would say it's just a random event. Sometimes chickens die and I can find no reason whatsoever.
The concrete *might* have just got bound up in the crop over time until it formed an impassable mass, or it might have done the same thing inside her. Did any of the other birds eat some? You might want to feed some vegetable oil mixed in with some feed to ease passage if they did...
Sorry for your loss.
Too bad. I hate it when an animal dies and I never know the reason. I don't think the Quickcrete got her though. Some years ago a flock of wild pigeons (if pigeons are ever really wild), ate a lot of cement mix and the only result was concrete pigeon droppings on my windshield when I parked under "their" tree.
I should not laugh in the circumstances Porkpal, but concrete pigeon droppings made me giggle.
That is definitely an interesting and educational experience though, in view of the guinea. I wonder sometimes if they eat poisonous plants around here. I mean, just last week I found a hen, dead, on the rafters in the barn. She had been fine the day before. No symptoms, no blood, no nothing. Just dead. In her prime, really. No explanation. So I am not sure which plants that I have in my garden, or even which weeds, might be poisonous to them. Do chickens avoid those plants (sheep avoid plants that are poisonous to them). It's all a mystery...
I'm sorry also Porkpal, but I was laughing also and then I made the mistake of reading Claire's comment and found she made me laugh even more. Concrete droppings are just to funny. Can you imagine them dropping on the heads of people...LOL. I can...What a shock...
It was bad enough trying to clean them off the windshield!
You can use muriatic acid...I learned that on Car Talk.
Car Talk discussed the removal of concrete pigeon poop?
Close...concrete splattered on cars...muriatic acid will remove it without disolving the clear coat finish.
But I double dog dare you to call in and ask them about the concrete pigeon droppings....
Actually it sounds like their kind of topic.
Yep. I am pretty sure you would get on....
Poor Mevnmart, look what we did to your thread! I hope you haven't lost any more guineas.
LOL porkpal, that's okay. The rest all seem to be trucking on. They are doing a lot of head-shaking though, flapping those horrific waddles. (Man are they ugly!) I'm worried about that because our friend said that was a sign of the Buffalo gnats, but heck if I can find anything that indicates they have them aside from the head shaking.
She told my mom you can use Avon Skin So Soft on them to keep the bugs away. I know it works pretty well for humans, but I'm hesitant to spray anything on my birds without some assurance that it won't hurt them. I don't know if chickens and guineas are the same as parrots, but I know they have really sensitive respiratory systems. With my parrot, I couldn't use air fresheners, and had to watch carefully when cooking with Teflon. I just don't want to kill my birds in an effort to keep bugs from killing them. Any thoughts?
Eileen
Yes, you can use Avon SSS. I use the following recipe on ALL my animals.
(I just blogged the recipe the other day, so here is the link)
http://chooksiniowa.blogspot.com/2010/05/fly-relief-for-four-footed-friends.html
Wonderful, thanks for the recipe!