Maine - Page 279

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckabucka 


Hi mckenney,
This seems to be common with Easter Eggers. My cross-beak EE is 2 years old now, and while she doesn't lay as much as the others, she still lays eggs. How you deal with this will depend a lot on your philosophy.
I am very busy and pretty much go with a sink-or-swim approach. I did provide moistened food for a while. The others would go out free-ranging and she would stand right in the dish and eat. Now, she just eats dry food like the others.
I only trimmed her beak once, just a tiny bit, but she managed to eat anyway. We were thinking about trimming again this spring, as the upper beak got very long, but she somehow managed to break it off on her own. She does spend a lot of time at the feeder.
Not all cross-beaks will make it if left to their own devices. I had a dark Cornish that made it 10 weeks, hardly grew much, and died. My EE cross-beak rooster did fine, but we got rid of him. You should not breed your cross-beak, as the trait is passed on.
Some people tube feed theirs, but that is not for me. Good luck with her! Ours is a real hoot, and we're glad to have her.

 I have a cross beak EE too that's about 9 weeks old. She can't pick up anything off the ground and hasn't discovered the feeder yet. She just went outside with the other biddies on Friday so she's still getting hazed a bit. I took her inside last night and gave her mash which she ate with gusto, and subsequently decorated my walls with it in her messy eating fashion.

I don't plan to tube feed her, that's insane in my mind, but I will give her a bit of TLC every evening or so for a bit until she discovers the feeder. If she can't eat from the feeder, I'm probably going to cull her unless I can work out a better situation for her. I do put out mash every morning for the big birds, but this one's not high enough on the pecking order to get in it, yet. And I don't really have time to be pulling her out of the coop nightly for her own dinner every single night.

I did clip her beak a bit, but the quick is pretty far down and I was only able to get off 2 mm at the most. I kinda wish I could de-beak her like the hatcheries and factories do because I think that'll help her eat but that's cruel too. I'm just trying to figure out which option is the least cruel.

put the DE in a dust bath, the chickens will take care of it themselves.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckabucka 

Good luck with your hatching, everyone!
Thanks for the tomato plant offer SCG, but I have a ton of seed and it's not too late.
Today we dusted all 26 hens. Some were clean, some had mites, and some were just crawling with lice! We just tried to catch the rooster this evening, but failed. He is totally freaked out. We'll go back when it is darker. It seems crazy to have to do this dusting on a regular basis, but DH is still adamant about not using chemicals. I supposed there is no harm in trying, as we can resort to chemicals later, if necessary. We did buy a spray for the coop, at least.
Our sick hen isn't dead yet. We fed her some yogurt with a syringe, but she really has lost interest in food.
I am dreading going back out after that rooster.

I have a turtle sandbox that I got for free off craigslist or freecycle. I put about 200 lbs of sand in it and then some DE. I also had put some pyrethrin powder in it but that was a year ago and it's not in there anymore, I'm sure. I have to replace about 50 lbs of sand every 3 months or so due to them shaking it out. But they love to dustbathe in it for the most part, some hens don't use it though.

You could try that.

hi guys what should I do! my chicks were due to hatch on wednesday, but i think my timing was off, I had one hatch last night, and I went in right now and I saw a crack in one of the eggs not a pip but a crack! I picked up the egg to see if it was moving or peeping and nothing, I think that it tried to pip but couldnt breathe because it didn't make a hole, So I made a small pip hole and all I didn't see a beak, but then I found the beak and made a little hole so it could breathe and peep! It is now peeping, but there was some blood and stuff, I have incubated before but nothing like this has happened, what should I do, it is peeping and breathing, but I dont know what I should do!

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckabucka 

I have a DE/ sand mix dusting tray, - I think it is a cement mixing tray. They use it occasionally, but it was obviously not enough for prevention. Now that we let them outside (in a larger area, but fenced in), they prefer to dig their own dusting holes. I've put DE is some of those, too. Maybe I need to use greater quantities? I'm going to look for pyrethrum powder online. The stores only seem to carry spray.
I'm also thinking a bigger tray (like a sandbox) might be helpful. Only one at a time can use the cement tray, and they tend to enjoy dust bathing in a group. I remember searching for a plastic kiddie pool as a brooder a long time ago, and they don't seem to make them anymore. Hopefully, they still make sandboxes (although I realize we could also built one). So many other projects going, though.
My sick hen must be suffering from a disease ( as opposed to just mites). She won't really eat anymore. The other hens are active and laying like crazy, despite the lice and mite problem.

I have a big cat litter box filled with DE in my coop of 24 hens, and it seems to be doing a good job.  They all take turns dust bathing in there, and they do their own thing when I let them outside. I have also heard that some people add woodstove ashes (minus the little chunks of burnt wood) to sand and let their chickens use that.  I've never tried that, but it's an idea.  I hope something helps.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckabucka 

I have a DE/ sand mix dusting tray, - I think it is a cement mixing tray. They use it occasionally, but it was obviously not enough for prevention. Now that we let them outside (in a larger area, but fenced in), they prefer to dig their own dusting holes. I've put DE is some of those, too. Maybe I need to use greater quantities? I'm going to look for pyrethrum powder online. The stores only seem to carry spray.
I'm also thinking a bigger tray (like a sandbox) might be helpful. Only one at a time can use the cement tray, and they tend to enjoy dust bathing in a group. I remember searching for a plastic kiddie pool as a brooder a long time ago, and they don't seem to make them anymore. Hopefully, they still make sandboxes (although I realize we could also built one). So many other projects going, though.
My sick hen must be suffering from a disease ( as opposed to just mites). She won't really eat anymore. The other hens are active and laying like crazy, despite the lice and mite problem.

I got a kiddie pool from KMart (couldn't find it anywhere else) last summer for my ducks. I now have bigger ducks and a rubbermaid tub. Want the kiddie pool? It's taking up space in my basement. I bought the bigger one, not the smaller one. You'll probably need a plywood cover for it for rainy or snowy days (which is why I like the turtle). Could always post a want on Craigslist of Freecycle. It took 2-3 posts for me to finally get my turtle.

One of my 12 week old EE's is suddenly lethargic.  She seemed fine a few hours ago, but when I went out to shut the coop doors, I found her all huddled up next to a wall.  She didn't scurry away like the other ones did.  I have her in a brooder with some water, food, and some scrambled eggs.  I don't know what this could be.  Has anyone had anything like this happen ?  What else should I do for her ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TayFray! 

hi guys what should I do! my chicks were due to hatch on wednesday, but i think my timing was off, I had one hatch last night, and I went in right now and I saw a crack in one of the eggs not a pip but a crack! I picked up the egg to see if it was moving or peeping and nothing, I think that it tried to pip but couldnt breathe because it didn't make a hole, So I made a small pip hole and all I didn't see a beak, but then I found the beak and made a little hole so it could breathe and peep! It is now peeping, but there was some blood and stuff, I have incubated before but nothing like this has happened, what should I do, it is peeping and breathing, but I dont know what I should do!

If you're sure Wednesday was the hatch date, you can try to de-shell it or you can wait and see if it hatches in 12 hours on its own. If you're not sure Wednesday was the hatch date, I'd leave it alone.

If you're going to de-shell it get into an area that's warm and high humidity (I use the bathroom and put the shower on for a few minutes so it's hot and steamy. Run warm water and start de-shelling. Leave the membrane on. Once you have all the shell off rip the membrane around the chicks head. It should be able to slide right out then. There will be a small amount of blood. Leave everything attached if it's still attached. Wrap it in a damp towel loosely and put back in incubator.

ok, tomorrow morning, if it is not making any progress I will try de-shelling! Thanks for the help!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by superchemicalgirl 

If you're sure Wednesday was the hatch date, you can try to de-shell it or you can wait and see if it hatches in 12 hours on its own. If you're not sure Wednesday was the hatch date, I'd leave it alone.

If you're going to de-shell it get into an area that's warm and high humidity (I use the bathroom and put the shower on for a few minutes so it's hot and steamy. Run warm water and start de-shelling. Leave the membrane on. Once you have all the shell off rip the membrane around the chicks head. It should be able to slide right out then. There will be a small amount of blood. Leave everything attached if it's still attached. Wrap it in a damp towel loosely and put back in incubator.