Tosca diagnosis at last!!!

It was RICKETS - common in chooks in the winter.

I have been told of the product to feed them to prevent it. A chook lover from Tassie diagnosed it and as soon as I read the descriptions, it was clear that was correct.

I will go to that Gardening Forum and find out the name of the product to buy.

Wow, rickets. I had no idea chooks are prone to rickets! I looked in my chook books - Backyard Poultry by Alanna Moore and Jackie French's Chook Book but they had no mention of rickets at all. I did discover lists of plants that are good for chooks to forage on which reminded me to replant the area of goodie plants that i carefully nurtured for months before allowing them access to it - they demolished it all in ten seconds flat! And then there was the section in the book on preventative measures for worms, lice,etc etc - another reminder that i haven't done any preventative measures for a while so i had better get onto that too. Always something to do. A few weeks ago we had to catch the Peacock as just as I was letting him out for the day I noticed a very fat tick on his neck. No wonder he had been so grumpy - chasing and picking on the younger peacock. Once we had removed the tick he was back to his companionable self again and busily displaying to his three ladies. while his apprentice proudly displayed his very little feathers. I should have had the camera as it was quite comical to watch.

I wish I could have a peacock but sadly I cannot. Poor fellow with that tick he must have felt quite ill. I took a large tick off my horse today and her neck was so swollen.