You know a normal leg when you see one, but it’s harder to notice when it’s not. Scaly leg in chickens often goes unrecognised in flocks until it either gets bad, or you end up at the vet for another reason.

Signs Of Scaly Leg

Scaly leg is caused by a microscopic mite that burrows in the outer layer of the skin. It causes rough, hard whitish crusts and spurs on the feet and legs. Darker areas are the result of the skin cracking and bleeding. The normal shiny scales are typically completely absent.

The Cnemidocoptes mite also affects Budgies, where it causes a crumbly honeycomb appearance to the bill, and canaries, causing long spurs on the legs.

How Chickens Catch Scaly Mite

Most chickens get scaly mite from new introductions to the flock. Therefore you should always check the legs of each new chicken carefully.

However, it’s also possible for wild birds to transmit the mite. This is yet another reason to do everything you can to exclude birds from your chickens’ feeding and roosting areas.

I am personally dubious about stories of the mite coming in on inanimate objects like bedding. My personal view is that cases where the mite suddenly appears in a closed flock are best explained by a subclinical infection of the mite, just like we see with Guinea Pigs.

Treatment Of Scaly Mite

There are many folk remedies you can read online for scaly mite. Most of these rely on the regular application of something that asphyxiates the mites such as petroleum jelly. Another alternative is dipping the feet and legs in surgical spirit weekly.

My view is that these treatments do not completely eradicate the infestation. The symptoms certainly improve, but there seem to always be a few mites that survive.

In my experience, scaly mite is best treated with ivermectin. However, this drug is not approved for chickens, and it is uncertain how long after treatment that eggs may be safely eaten.

In Australia Injectable ivermectin is only available in forms for cattle and sheep, and should only be administered by a vet. There are three reasons why:

• The strength of livestock medicines makes overdosage extremely likely
• Ivermectin is a drug with legal restrictions on its sale & storage
• Withholding periods need to be followed closely

The last point is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of using any systemic medications on chickens. Ivermectin is fat-soluble, and will accumulate in egg yolks, which take around 30 days to form. Therefore, to be safe, we routinely double this as the withholding period.

Eggs from chickens treated with ivermectin should not be eaten for two months. Therefore you may want to time the treatment to coincide with a broody period. However, most chickens can’t wait that long.

Treatment Protocol & Success

Ivermectin can be given either orally, on the skin, or as an injection. Personally, I only use it as an injection, and so will you!

Once you see how easy it is to give a chicken an injection, you’ll wonder why you did it any other way. Injections are quick, precise, accurate and effective. With a fine insulin needle, they’re also probably less stressful than other ways to medicate.

I suspect that my bias towards injections is why I have never experienced a treatment failure. A course of ivermectin injections will also treat lice, and worms other than tapeworm.

Every chicken must be treated simultaneously to eradicate the mites. Due to a legal requirement to only treat animals ‘under our care’, you will need to bring in all the chickens for the first visit. Only a single consultation fee is charged if there are no other problems.

We will show you how to give the first dose, and even get you to do one. Then we are happy to supply the following doses to be given at home. However most people prefer us to give each course, and that’s OK too.

Three doses of ivermectin are given at exactly 14 day intervals. The second and third doses are to kill newly hatched mite eggs before they lay eggs of their own.

Lastly, it’s a great idea to do a major spring clean of the coop, run and yard, paying special attention to roosting areas. In theory this isn’t necessary, but you have to do it sometime, so why not now. Muck out the old litter, and scrub or pressure hose roosts, walls and flooring.

Within a few weeks, the crusts and scabs start falling off. After a few months you’ll have those lovely shiny legs back again.

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

The reason for this is a lethal combination of inexperience and the falsely optimistic advice you get online. There nearly always comes a time when someone says to me, “no-one told us this before.”

It’s not that they always regret getting chickens. It’s just that I often see an entire first flock lost in the process of acquiring ‘chook wisdom’. Who wants to go through that?

So this isn’t a care guide. You can read one here. This is a realistic walk-through of the traps, pitfalls, oops moments, disasters and hurdles facing new chicken owners. So that you don’t have to experience them yourself.

Let’s start with the chickens themselves: you have two decisions to make: which breed and how old.

Choosing Commercial Breeds

If you get ISA Brown or HyLine from the local fodder store, you’re buying a commercial layer. They are cheap, easily available and give a rapid return on investment by laying an egg a day. They’re also usually vaccinated against Marek’s and the respiratory diseases.

They say chickens are good to teach kids about life and responsibility. But no-one sees the next thing coming.

Commercial breeds only usually lay for one or two seasons before developing egg peritonitis, a side-effect of their abnormal rate of lay. And by now, most people who thought they would be able to make a tough decision when the time came find that they have fallen in love with their quirky new pets. Yes, love.

So the ‘trap’ is having a flock of 2-3 year-old pets that the kids named, and knowing that one by one they are dying of a treatable illness. You either treat, euthanase or watch a slow and unpleasant death, but it’s a loaded choice. The best treatment is a combination of antibiotics and an expensive hormone implant every 6 to 12 months.

You end up making good friends with your vet so that they won’t lay! These were often the same chickens bought to make use of the leftovers and get some free* eggs. Those that go down this path appreciate the irony of the situation.

Choosing Heritage Breeds

Heritage breeds like Australorp aren’t free of problems either. They rarely get egg peritonitis, but might only lay every second day, and have long broody spells. They’re also harder to find. But their bigger problem is disease.

Vaccinations are sold in thousand-dose vials for commercial flocks, and are out of the reach of most small-scale breeders. Commercial breeders also keep their sheds under permanent quarantine.

Buying heritage breeds is a bit of lottery. Most of the time, things go well, but I’ve seen a whole flock go down with ILT, and many, many with chronic mycoplasma. You can read the signs and consequences here.

So the ‘pitfall’ is getting diseased chicks or pullets, and suffering the eternal consequences of high losses and poor health. The trick to reduce the risk is to buy all your chickens from the same place at the same time, and then keep a closed flock.

Do not succumb to the temptation of getting one from here, another from there, and a third from a friend. Each time it’s like spinning the chamber and pulling the trigger.

But we’re not finished with chickens yet.

Choosing Point Of Lay vs Chicks

The ‘oops moment’ is getting a flock of roosters. This mostly happens because someone optimistically told you they were good at sexing day-old chicks. Which, as it happens, is a whole profession of its own.

If you get chicks, you have a long time to wait before eggs, and you need someone to take back the roosters. Some sellers make this part of the deal.

Buying point-of-lay chickens avoids you having to get rid of the roosters. Yes, someone still did it, but it wasn’t you. You just can’t keep a rooster in urban areas for obvious reasons, like neighbours’ sleep.

Buying heritage breed chicks adds the substantial risk of Marek’s disease devastating the flock. You’ll be unlucky to see this nasty tumour-causing virus if you buy older pullets.

Predators

The ‘disaster’ is losing the entire flock to a fox. Which mostly happens due to a combination of disbelief and less-than-obsessional security.

While walking the dogs recently I stopped to tell a new home owner her chooks were in danger. It gave me no satisfaction in being right when they disappeared a week later. Around the same time some friends lost all their chickens when a fox worked out how to open the feeding chute.

A fox digs, climbs and can fit through any hole the size of its head. I advise to keep gaps under 10cm but it’s possible to have none at all if you buy or purpose-build a coop. In the city, foxes rarely come out at daytime, but by nightfall all chickens need to be securely locked away. Yes, foxes can work simple latches too.

No one ever said of an animal: “gee, they’re a lot dumber than I thought.”

Care & Management

The last ‘hurdle’ is hopefully the one you’re already aware of: the time and commitment needed to keep chickens properly. For the right person, this doesn’t seem like a hurdle at all, it’s part of the reason you got them.

I’ll say no more here other than to direct you to our page on keeping chickens that also covers things like the ideal coop and council regulations.

It’s easy to get romantic about chickens in the backyard and I don’t want to put you off. Anyone who has them will tell you how much value they bring to a family and a home. I admit that as a vet I’m more likely to see what can go wrong, but I’d rather have you too careful than full of regret.

If I haven’t managed to put you off then you’re probably ready to take the next step!

* You probably already know by now that you can’t feed chickens on kitchen scraps alone. More about that can be found in our guide to feeding chickens.

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Well the truth is that most flocks carry more than one disease, and yet many never seem to have a problem. You’re about to find out why. You’re also going to learn what to do when one breaks out.

Respiratory infections are the second most common reason backyard chooks come to the vet. They can be very frustrating to control, and even harder to make sense of via Google. Let’s start with what they look like.

Signs Of Respiratory Infections

You may see some or all of:

• Sneezing and coughing
• Runny eyes and nose
• Coughing
• Laboured or fast breathing
• Gasping & mouth breathing
• Lethargy and poor appetite
• Sinusitis

These all look similar to the symptoms of colds and flu in people, with one exception: sinusitis. To see it, go back to the picture above. On the left is a normal chicken and on the right is one with swollen sinuses (arrowed).

Common Respiratory Infections

There are many possible causes of cold or flu-like illnesses. Some are rare, others mainly affect the young. An Australian backyard chicken owner only has three common diseases to consider*.

1. Mycoplasma is a tiny bacteria that lives in the airways. On its own it usually produces mild signs known as chronic respiratory disease that slowly worsen over time. It’s impossible to eradicate and extremely common.
2. Infectious Bronchitis (IB) is a virus that causes a shorter period of more intense symptoms of cold or flu. A clue that it’s IB is that most birds appear to recover, and then start laying eggs with obvious shell abnormalities. These birds are carriers.
3. Infectious Laryngotrachetitis (ILT) is a herpesvirus that produces a more severe respiratory illness, sometimes causing death. Blood is often seen in the mouth or throat. Birds that recover tend to remain carriers.

The worst infections happen when several diseases occur together. Both IB and ILT are more severe in birds who carry mycoplasma. Additionally, all three infections are made much worse by secondary infections with bacteria such as E. coli.

It’s the birds with these mixed infections that end up at the vet most often. But that’s not all. Infection alone doesn’t explain everything.

Management & Care Factors

The way you look after your chickens has a major influence on whether a disease is a problem or not. These are the five important habits of successful chicken keepers:

1. Quarantine. Try very hard to keep a closed flock, with no new arrivals. ILT and IB can come in on a healthy-looking chicken and devastate a flock. Even mycoplasma can be introduced into naive birds.
2. Buying from quality breeders. Good breeders will vaccinate their flock and raise hens free of the common diseases. This is still unusual in the heritage breeds but very common with commercial breeds like HyLine or ISA Brown. However, click here to see why heritage breeds live longer.
3. Keeping litter clean & dry. Wet, soiled litter in the coop causes two problems. The first is the release of ammonia gas from urine, which is toxic to the respiratory tract and makes infections worse. The second is aspergillus air sac infection from fungus growing in moist litter.
4. Avoiding stress and overcrowding. Most people do this quite sensibly, but it still needs mentioning. Some of those silly little hutches on eBay can be worse than a battery farm.
5. Nutrition. Once again, not rocket science, but there’s still the persistent idea that chickens can get by on table scraps. Read more about good chicken nutrition here.

Treatment Of Respiratory Infections

The correct treatment relies on an accurate diagnosis. Realistically, this is almost never achieved in backyard poultry medicine. Therefore, it’s important that your vet chooses an antibiotic with the following features:

• Efficacy against both mycoplasma and E. coli
• Ease of use
• Affordability
• Safety to chickens
• Food safety

I can’t stress the last point enough. Certain antibiotics should never be used for routine treatment when there are better and safer choices.

Vets who treat chickens regularly are familiar with which drugs work and which can be used in egg-producing chickens. We will also be able to guide you on the correct time, called a withholding period, before eggs can be eaten again.

Related: The Number One Illness Of Chickens | Fox Danger In The City

* It’s important to mention that this regional list misses four diseases exotic to Australia: two (metapneumovirus & ornithobacterium) are probably mild but I am unfamiliar with them, another two (Avian Influenza & Newcastle Disease) are extremely important to detect quickly if they arrive. Yet another reason to take that sick chook to a vet!

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

It’s the classic case of sitting in an ivory tower making the rest of Australia feel guilty for doing what comes naturally. It also says some fairly silly things. So before I give you some simple tips for a proper home burial, let’s clear them up.

Q: Is the concentrated anaesthetic used for euthanasia dangerous to other animals?

A: Not if pets are buried according to our advice.

Q: Should their remains be enclosed in a container that prevents animals accessing the body?

A: No. This will inhibit the normal decomposition process.

Q: Could the diseases they died from spread to other animals or people?

A: If a pet dies of a contagious disease such as Parvo, home burial is not recommended. However, this is now exceedingly rare.

Q: Is your dog or cat’s body useful to science?

A: Rarely. I encourage donations for research and training (see below). However, universities are neither willing nor able to accept the sorts of numbers involved.

Q: Do local councils have restrictions on pet burial

A: Not to our knowledge. I rang my three local councils, and visited many other websites. I am not aware of any council in Australia that has rules against pet burial. Many even give sensible ‘how to’ guidelines.

Pros & Cons Of Home Burial

Reasons why home burial may be right for you include:

• Grieving- no two people respond to the loss of a pet the same way. For some, having them buried at home is a great comfort.
• Environment- done well, a pet burial will be carbon neutral and your animal goes back to the soil.
• Cost- we have to be realistic about what people can afford.

However, home burial is only an option, and these days less people do it. I suspect the reasons are:

• Difficulty- a good home burial is both physically and emotionally draining.
• Availability- many people don’t have access to suitable land, especially if they are renting or live in an apartment.
• Preference- the Animal Welfare League here provides a good cremation service that most owners find very comforting.

Another potential problem (as discussed in the comments below), is leaching of the pentobarbitone from the body into surrounding soil. Euthanasia drugs appear to persist for a long time in the environment. This is of particular concern if food crops are being harvested in the vicinity.

How To Bury A Pet Well

Follow these simple guidelines for a responsible pet burial.

• Choose an area set aside for ornamental plants, not food crops. Be aware of locations of utilities such as power and water, and future plans for the area.
• Put your other pets away until afterwards and do not let them see the burial.
• Dig a hole at least one metre or three feet deep
• Wrap your pet’s body in something biodegradable like a cotton pillowcase or woollen rug. Avoid synthetic fabrics, plastic bags or sealed containers.
• Lay them in the hole and cover with all the dirt, tamping it down periodically to make it hard to dig.
• Mark the location. To be extra sure, place a slab or stones over the top.

Just a warning: it’s very hard to do. Having done this several times, I now wish I had asked someone who wasn’t so emotionally attached.

Importantly, commercial species such as chickens and other poultry cannot be legally buried. Contact your council for advice on options other than cremation in your area.

Alternatives To Cremation & Burial

Pet cremation services are available which allow for a wide range of choice, from special urns and keepsakes all the way to plastic containers for scattering the ashes. We use our local Animal Welfare League; costs are usually around $300 and go towards supporting their animal shelters.

I have enquired with the Companion Animal Health Centre at the Adelaide Uni veterinary school. They are willing to accept donations, mainly for student teaching, but aren’t able to guarantee they could always say yes. The answer will depend on storage space and current student needs.

Another disadvantage of donation to a teaching school is the lack of availability for most Australians. Even here in Adelaide, it’s a long drive.

In saying all this I haven’t asked you how you’re going. I hope the loss of your pet hasn’t been unbearable,. If you’re having trouble, you’re not alone. I’ve written some advice here on bereavement after losing a pet that I hope you find useful.

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Pet disasters tend to go along recurring themes. If you know what they are, you have an excellent chance to avoid them. Some might be upsetting, but I hope you can see the benefit in thinking about them now.

Dog Attack

One of the biggest causes of sudden death in dogs is the person who lives in denial of how dangerous their dog is to other dogs. They keep using off leash environments even though the warning signs are there. Often, these dogs and people are repeat offenders.

We all know them. You hear them say things like:

• “He’s only playing” (if that’s true, why do you need to tell me?)
• “Now be nice” (why are you saying this?)
• “He’s never done that before” (unlikely to say the least)

This time of year we also see more dog attacks when relatives or friends get together with their dogs. It could be at a barbecue or Christmas lunch, or perhaps while a friend looks after your dog when you’re away. The mixture of unfamiliar dogs and inattention can be explosive.

If that’s not all, last week I saw a dog badly attacked by another dog while being boarded at their breeder. Yes, I know good dog boarding kennels can look like prisons, but bad things seldom happen there.

Rabbits and chickens kept outside are at great risk of fox attack anywhere in Adelaide. As anyone who tries to keep chickens without a coop learns.

Snake Bite

Snake bite is a threat to dogs mainly because their owners don’t see it coming. All of my favourite Adelaide dog walks have snakes in warm weather, yet I always see dogs a long way from their owners whenever I go. Anytime you let your dog off, even in a strange yard, you should always think, “could there be a snake?”

Cats in Australia are at highest risk of snakebite if they have outside access and live near open spaces like the river, parklands or vacant blocks. You can read a lot more about dogs, cats & snakes here.

Chocolate Poisoning

Look at our rates of dog poisonings and you’ll see that chocolate is the greatest problem. Here’s what we hear:

• “I didn’t think he went there”
• “I can’t believe he stole it”
• “I forgot it was in my handbag”
• “The cupboard was left open”
• “I didn’t know it was inside that Christmas present”

I’ve written a whole page on chocolate poisoning but here’s a quick summary: it’s most dangerous to smaller dogs and when it’s darker or better quality. Keep it in a secure place, just like you would any hazardous substance. Like medicines for example!

Human Medicines

Again this mainly concerns dogs, in two situations:

1. Dogs that watch you take a pill every day think it’s a treat and often pounce on any you drop
2. Some idiot thought it would be a good idea to put a sugary coating on ibuprofen tablets

Be careful by storing medicines securely and taking your own in private. And if any get eaten, come straight down so we can make them come straight up again.

Bin Raiding

Here’s a list of the things we’ve had to remove from pets:

• Cooked bones (dogs, cats, ferrets)
• Meat skewers and wrapping (dogs, cats)
• Corn cobs (dogs)
• Fruit stones (dogs)
• Underwear & hygiene products (some dogs)

Nearly all of these were either put in an insecure bin or left where pets could find them. If your bin’s getting raided, don’t wait. While not strictly a cause of sudden death, intestinal foreign bodies can kill within days.

Car Accidents

I know vets who think that good yard fencing has been the single greatest advance in dog health. These days a common story is a gate that gets left open. Sometimes it’s a tradesperson, sometimes it’s during home theft, but often it just needed maintenance.

As a vet who sees the consequences, I’m also very careful about when and where I let my dogs off leash. Once you do it, you’ve lost the most important level of protection you have. All your dog has to do is see another dog across the road.

Extendable leads are particularly dangerous. Anyone who’s used one knows how easily dogs can run onto roads. Other problematic areas are children walking dogs without adults and pets not restrained properly in cars.

A trap that even experienced dog owners fall into is the collar that’s too loose. If it can be pulled over the head then all a dog has to do is get a fright and they can back out of it. I have seen several dogs get hit this way after being startled by traffic noises.

To prevent car injuries and deaths in cats, they should be in after dark at very least. That’s when most car accidents occur. Of course, being an indoors cat or having an enclosed outdoor run is even better.

Drowning

Just the other day I got a fright when Loki fell in our pool. Luckily I was there because he can’t swim. Dogs not being able to swim are a lot more common than people think.

Even if a dog can swim, the pool cover often gets in the way, or they don’t swim to the steps. Very few dogs can get up and over the pool edge.

When Loki was a puppy I put extra fencing up. If he could have swum I also would have trained him where the steps were or submerged a ramp. He fell in recently because big pool toys had been left out that he couldn’t walk around, and the pool cover wasn’t on properly. However, I probably should never have taken that fencing down.

Pesticides

There’s no level of safety good enough for something that’s actually intended to kill. A poison made to be eaten by snails or rats is just as attractive to a dog. Cats even get poisoned by eating poisoned animals.

I believe the risks are too great to ever use animal poisons if we have pets.

Fertiliser Poisoning

It might come as a surprise to learn that dogs like fertiliser. Not so surprising when you learn that it’s often made from chook poo or animal products. The same goes for compost made from food waste.

Both are highly toxic and can cause serious illness or kill. Easy to prevent by storing them securely and always digging them well in. I also exclude the dogs for a day or two afterwards.

Heat Stroke

If people didn’t sweat, I don’t think dogs would ever get heat stroke. We wouldn’t stand there completely unaware that our dogs are getting hotter and hotter.

Anything over 26 degrees is too hot for a dog to run around for very long. Anything over 35 and they need a cool place to rest. Even less for flat-faced and long-haired dogs.

Most deaths occur when people keep throwing the ball just because the dog keeps chasing it. As I’ve said before, dogs don’t know when to stop.

Take water with you on warm days but also make sure the water supply at home can’t run out or be knocked over. And consider clipping dogs with thick coats.

Parvovirus

Canine parvovirus is present nearly everywhere as a contaminant of public spaces. Here in Adelaide we see sporadic disease year-round with a strong seasonal peak in December.

Parvo in Australia has been shown to be more common in disadvantaged communities (source) which are often the least able to afford the veterinary care needed for survival. Vaccines are an extremely effective protection.

Regional Hazards

Everything so far is relevant to Adelaide, but for the last I’ll go national. Here are some examples:

• Paralysis ticks in eastern Australia
• Poisonous toads in northern Australia
• Puffer fish and sea hares on beaches
• 1080 baits in farmland and national parks
• Grape ‘marc’ in wine producing areas
• Local disease outbreaks

How do you know what to look out for in your area? Simple! Ask your vet.

To finish, I want to share with you the state of mind of a vet when it comes to preventing dangers. I call it…

Keeping Two Degrees Of Separation

Allow for human error. Everything dangerous to your pet should be separated by two levels of protection. There should be a backup for everything that could cause serious harm.

Here are just a few bad examples:

• The chocolate that’s only protected by a cupboard door
• The water bowl that can be tipped over
• The gate that’s easy to leave open

Solutions are usually simple, cheap, and a whole lot better than the alternative. They just take someone to ask, “what could go wrong here?”

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Walkerville Vet is open 8am to 7:00pm weekdays and 9am to 1pm Saturdays. Vets start consulting at 9am.

About The Map Of 24/7 Vets

Each of these vets advertise 24/7 service but there is no guarantee they will always be open, as occasionally vet staffing is low. Therefore, please call them either before leaving or while you are on your way. This will also make sure they are ready to help you if your problem is very urgent.

Now enlarge the map to check the quickest late night, Sunday or public holiday vet to your home!

* “Emergency Veterinary Hospitals” included if continuously staffed through the night and over weekends and public holidays.

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

Then there are the prey species, like rabbits, guinea pigs and birds. They deliberately hide signs of illness. They even pretend to eat! Most of the time what looks like ‘sudden death’ or a ‘heart attack’ is really the end of a long, slow illness we couldn’t see.

The good news is that you can tell. Here’s what to look for:

Body Condition

You can’t see if a chicken is thin, you have to feel for it. Here’s how:

How To Tell If A Chicken Is Thin

Feel for the ‘keel’. This is the part of the breastbone that forms a hard ridge running straight down the middle.

1. Healthy, non-laying birds have a keel almost below the level of the breast muscle.
2. Chickens during lay have a keel that stands out and sunken breast muscle. However there is still a rounded surface to the remaining muscle.
3. Thin chickens have a concave or sunken feel to the breast muscle.
4. Very thin chickens have a sharp feel to the keel and almost no breast muscle, and can die anytime.

Ask us to show you this next time you’re in or talk to your breeder.

Another way to tell if a chicken loses weight is to weigh everyone once a week and record the results. You can easily make a perch that sits on a set of scales.

General Behaviour

A healthy hen is bright & alert, inquisitive and active. They peck, scratch and explore continuously. You can’t see or hear them breathing unless you look closely.

A quiet, hunched bird who separates from the others is probably unwell.

Comb & Wattle

The comb is the red fleshy thing on top of the head. The wattle is the same, but under the chin.

These are excellent, quick telltales of health, especially if you have other hens for comparison. It’s good to know what’s the normal size and shape for your chicken’s breed.

However, all combs should be:

• Firm and upstanding (except the very big ones that are too heavy- mostly only roosters)
• A healthy pink or red colour: both a pale comb and a dark comb are signs of illness; beware a comb with dark, bluish edges.

Visit our gallery of chicken breeds to see normal combs and wattles.

Eyes & Ears

Should be fully open, clear, bright and free of discharge, with dark pupils. The third eyelid (nictitating membrane) should not be visible. Sick birds often look ‘sleepy’.

The ear lies just behind the eye. It should be clean, not like the picture here of an ear infection.

Sinuses

These are found above and below the eye. If you can see a semicircular swelling here, your hen has chronic sinusitis. There’s a picture of swollen sinuses on our guide to respiratory infections.

Beak & Nares

A hen who breathes with the beak open (except in hot conditions) is in serious trouble.

On the top at the base are the two nostrils (we call them nares -“nair-ees”). These should be clean, open and free of discharge or bubbles.

Choanal Slit

Unlike mammals, birds do not have a complete hard palate. The fissure in the top of the mouth with connects with the nasal passage is called the choanal slit (“ko-anal”). It’s easily seen by opening the beak and looking at the top of the mouth.

It should be clean and dry. While looking in the mouth, look down the throat quickly for anything out of place.

Plumage & Skin

Feathers in a healthy bird should sit flat and conform to the body shape. A bird sitting ‘fluffed up’ (except when sleeping) is usually quite unwell.

Lice are best found at the base of the feathers around the tail area and vent. They are surprisingly large and stay put.

Mites are small, and usually red. They often run onto your hands and cause nasty bites. Both lice and mites make the skin red and angry-looking

Hens during moult can look quite patchy but feather loss should be symmetrical and without other signs of illness.

Legs & Feet

Look for four things here:

1. Scaly mite produces rough legs with hard irregular growths that can look like spurs (see a picture of scaly leg here)
2. The skin should not have a bluish tone
3. There should be no limp when walking
4. Look under the feet for circular marks,sores or swelling where the weight sits between the toes. This is probably ‘bumblefoot’, and despite the silly name, it’s very serious.

Abdomen

The number one cause of death in backyard poultry is egg peritonitis – read more here. The only early clues are a loss of body condition, irregular egg production and a swollen abdomen.

A normal abdomen conforms to the shape of the bird. It shouldn’t bulge or have a hard or fluidy feel. You probably need to compare this to another hen.

Vent & Droppings

This is the single outlet for faeces, urine and eggs. Look for matting of faeces which may indicate diarrhoea.

Droppings also have a story to tell. They should have a formed, solid faecal component, usually light green. Urine in birds is passed together in the form of solid white urate with very little wetness.

Eggs

The shell can tell you about oviduct and uterine disease. If eggshells become thin or bumpy, something’s wrong.

Remember that any drugs used to treat your chickens may make the eggs unfit for human consumption. Vets take this responsibility seriously and choose treatments with the shortest withholding period.

Good luck! Your observations should allow you to get your hen to a chicken-friendly vet with enough time to get the right treatment underway.

For more about chicken care, visit our guide to keeping chickens healthy.

Euthanasia and Humane Killing Of Poultry

One last word needs to be said on a subject no-one wants to talk about. We all love our chickens but one day their end will come. In my opinion, far too few chickens are euthanased correctly, and many are just left to suffer when a humane death is available.

Commercial poultry are often euthanased via decapitation, neck dislocation or carbon dioxide gassing. I’m not going to argue with these methods, although there is no doubt some brief distress or pain will occur with each. As long as it’s quick and efficient, it’s still OK.

‘Euthanasia’ doesn’t just mean killing. It means providing a ‘good death’. Even if you never see us in the life of your chicken, we hope we can help at the end.

The problem backyard chicken owners face is that it’s often the first time. All authorities on animal welfare agree that these methods are only humane if performed by skilled operators. Too often a chicken is only partially decapitated or sustains a non-fatal neck injury before escaping. None of us wants that.

A chicken vet should have a setup in place to humanely despatch sick chickens. We use a large chamber with anaesthetic ports which is connected to an inhaled anaesthetic machine. The chicken is placed inside, often with the owner nearby, and we pipe in isoflurane until the chicken is unconscious. We then administer a lethal overdose of barbiturate.

Birds are extremely sensitive to gases and the process is quick and relatively stress-free.

To encourage humane euthanasia, we would like to offer to charge no more than a normal consult fee for the euthanasia process. Please note that this is not normal charging so please let us know when you make the appointment if you have read this.

This offer also only applies if you take your chicken home afterwards. However, please remember that poultry are classified differently from pet animals and therefore home burial is usually not permitted in your state. Also, the use of barbiturates makes the carcase dangerous if eaten by another animal.

Chicken Post Mortem Examination

Necropsy of chickens is an extremely valuable way to make sure that the rest of your flock is healthy and not at risk. Vets can usually give an accurate cause of death and estimate the worm burden in the flock. Once again, we offer a chicken post mortem exam for the price of a consultation (plus disposal fees if required).

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.

How To Treat An Egg Bound Chicken

1. Your chicken is almost certainly not egg-bound- true egg binding is rare
2. When a chicken is egg bound, it is mostly due to poor nutrition such as attempting to feed chickens entirely on table scraps
3. Most cases suspected of egg binding are really egg peritonitis or internal lay

Now dive deeper.

What Is Egg Binding?

Egg binding is when an egg gets stuck and a chicken can’t pass it easily. Signs are of repeated efforts to lay, or prolapse of part of the uterus through the vent. It can be nasty and is most often associated with low calcium diets.

What if I said egg binding in chickens almost doesn’t happen? What if most of the internet advice and guide books on how to treat your egg bound chicken are not only wrong and a waste of time, but actually harmful to a sick chook with a completely different problem?

If you have chickens and want to know how to get them to live a long life, or want help choosing chicken breeds, then this is the blog for you. Because the disease that people wrongly think is egg binding is the number one killer of chickens.

Yolk Peritonitis vs Egg Binding

The REAL disease is egg peritonitis, also called internal lay, when one or many egg yolks are lost into the abdomen. Normally egg yolks are passed from the ovary to the oviduct. However, in egg peritonitis the yolk is either ruptured (we all know how fragile they are) or misses its target. Then it gets infected with E. coli bacteria.

Why does it happen? No one can say for sure, but it may be when birds are spooked, or handled roughly, or laying one egg at the same time as ovulating another. What is important is that it happens mainly to the high-producing breeds.

HyLine or ISA Browns are the commonest point-of-lay pullets sold in Adelaide (one is shown below). They are beautiful animals with unique personalities and become loved like any pets. However, despite the fact that a chicken can live 8 or 9 years (the record is 16!) most HyLine or ISA Browns die of egg peritonitis between two and three years of age.

Treatment Of Egg Peritonitis

Egg peritonitis looks like any sick chook: quiet, fluffed up, not laying. Any chicken like this should see a vet quickly. Many chicken diseases can be treated, and although success isn’t guaranteed, it’s also true here. However, the longer they go on laying internally, the harder it gets.

Just such a chicken is Cocoa. When she first presented to us with egg peritonitis, we helped her owner nurse her back to health. It took a long course of antibiotics to treat the infection. We also inserted a Suprelorin implant to stop her laying more internal yolks.

There’s a tremendous irony in spending good money to stop a chicken laying eggs. It just goes to show how valued they become as individuals, not just egg producers.

Prevention Of Egg Peritonitis

How can you prevent egg peritonitis and give your chickens a chance to live a long life? Easy. Choose a heritage breed and the odds go way down. Check out their ‘advantages’:

• They aren’t as cheap
• They’re harder to find
• They only give 3 or 4 eggs a week even when in lay
• They go into regular non-laying moults
• They get broody easily.

However, these really aren’t major problems. Heritage breeds are very fine looking birds that look great in any garden. With care they should become family favourites for years to come and you’ll almost certainly still get too many eggs!

Related: Heritage chicken breeds available in Adelaide | Caring for chickens

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here. The information provided here is not intended to be used as a substitute for going to the vet. If your pet is unwell, please seek veterinary attention.

Why? Foxes! Some readers will be nodding in agreement, and others will be shaking their heads in disbelief. Believe it or not, we have a large and thriving urban fox population in Adelaide. During the day they are denned up somewhere, but at night they roam through our backyards easily climbing fences on the prowl for anything edible.

Cats are seemingly not at risk. Foxes and cats seem to regard each other as worthy adversaries and tend to ignore each other, but I would worry about a kitten out at night. But we need to remember that with cats, night also brings danger. Most cats hit by cars happen at night, probably misjudging the speed and distance of car headlights. Severe cat fights also tend to occur at night when the strays are on the move.

Small pets can live happily in yards for years without problems, then suddenly one nightmarish morning they are all found dead. Foxes will kill as many as they can catch, usually the whole group, and bury the bodies they cannot carry. A fox is a wily and cunning predator, and will attempt to break into animal enclosures if there are any weak points. The pets inside will sometimes die of neck fractures from their panic even if the attempt is unsuccessful.

Nature may be ‘red in tooth and claw’ but we like to imagine our pets don’t have to contend with such horrors. So here are our recommendations:

1. Keep small pets inside at night, at least in the laundry or an enclosed patio area. 
2. Chickens and ducks must be locked in a secure coop with an enclosed roof every night
3. House train your rabbit! It’s fun and easy for a patient person and then they can live with us at all times (if electical cords are protected and you don’t mind furniture legs being chewed)
4. Screen rabbits from biting insects to help prevent myxomatosis. 

But all of these animals will need time out of their enclosure to roam and explore. Rabbits particularly suffer from being kept permanently in hutches which do not protect them from extremes in temperature.

Now read an example of what can happen at Case Study: From The Jaws Of Death. We have lots of pages about caring for rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens at Pet Care Advice.

Have something to add? Comments (if open) will appear within 24 hours.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.