My Reply : It is normal for chickens to preen their feathers, and also dustbathe which is their natural way to help minimise parasites, but it is always worth checking them regularly to make sure they are clear as parasites (particularly lice and mites) are very common. A lot of manure build up can cause problems such as amonia build up in the coop, smells, attracting flies and generally making things a bit unsanitary so should be regularly removed/cleaned but even in a sparkling clean coop it is still possible to have parasites. With regards to collecting droppings where they roost you could perhaps clean the wire with a stiff brush and hot water or chip away the worst of it with an old spatula or something like that. Placing a removeable tray with sand in on top of the wire to catch the droppings might make it easier to clean out in future.

Michelle : Gina - thank you sharing and caring for us chicken lovers every month on your newsletter. It is so informative. In the May 2013 Vol. 2, Deborah Cash, Atascadero, CA, wrote that she wondered what might have happened to her little chickie girl Patsy.

Deborah, I am so sorry to hear about you losing Patsy, it's devastating. Patsy's story sounds so much like my hens stories who passed away from ovarian cancer. Their necropsies confirmed ovarian cancer and not egg bound. These 5 hens all came from the same breeder but different breeds. All were good layers and ranged in age from 3-4 years old. One by one they suddenly stopped laying, started waddling, not eating, not getting out of the coop and needing more and more help to get around. They were emaciated, and force liquids with a syringe. Had one put down by a vet who thought she had kidney failure, then sent the rest who passed to our local state agriculture center where necropsies were performed. Those came back diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I have written about this in previous newsletters. I hope this helps some. Michelle Roth