Consolidated Kansas

[lizzyGSR]

Hmmmm. I hear you on wanting to get it cleared up. I would recommend trying a sulfa antibiotic either from your vet or mail order the liquid. Your vet should be able to write you a rx that you could pick up for something like trimethoprim sulfa that you could pick up at a pharmacy and it shouldn't be too pricey. Baytril would probably work really well but is super pricey. The amoxi is probably not strong enough to get it cleared up. I know it is a total pain but I would strongly encourage you to bring them both into dog kennels or something of the like and keep them on deep, clean shavings that will have to be changed often to keep dry because we all know how waterfowl are with water. I would wrap both their feet with heavy gauze under the swelling and vet wrap to keep it dry and really cushioned. I would do this for a minimum of 2 weeks. Don't put them back outside until their feet show no signs of swelling. If there is any scap or open looking area I would open it up and try to clean out the plug which is a birds version of pus. Hope this helps, sorry it is going to be a lot more work but it should be worth it to get it cleared up. I will look at the goose forum I am a member of too and see if they have any suggestions. Can you soak in epsom salts? That might help dry and draw out the swelling too...

Are the sulfa drugs injectable? How do I know how much to give and for how long? Also, can I get a list (or a few examples) of sulfa drugs that my vet might have? Are any of them labeled specifically for waterfowl? I'm sorry for all of the questions, but my vet knows VERY little about birds...

I can soak in epsom salts. I actually bought some a while back specifically for that purpose. Any suggestions on how long and how often to soak?

 

[chicken danz]

My DH is so smart sometimes. I was looking at all it was going to require to install the electronic gate latch. Not so bad other than having to run a wire across the drive which I am sure we'd want to trench and bury in conduit. He said we will simply chain and padlock both gates. Of course I suspect that this person reads BYC since I haven't talked to him in 2 years and he knew I was trying to raise rare breeds. Maybe if he shows up my dogs will rip him open!!!

Chicken my nearest neighbor is over a half mile away so that isn't practical. We can't actually see each other's driveways well. DH will be here at least part of the day.
Josie I am sure I pulled the strings out anyway because they would get tangled in the laundry. The strings were encased in the hem and not loose tie strings but I am sure somehow they were able to get pulled out enough to endanger a baby. I got to thinking. I think my newer ones had a flap that either folded up on one side or came around the bottom and flapped back over the other side to create an envelope. You gotta remember my youngest child is 28 so it's a ways back!!! LOL
So back to building cages!!!

 

[22qZoo]

Well I know I have seen web sites that would like to make you think that coconut oil is the miracle cure for everything , they are most likely also selling it. But, what I like to use it for is, added to my sinus rinse, skin moisturizer , hair moisturizer, add it to smoothies, as the oil in the pan when I make popcorn (yum!) in my oatmeal , I keep some in my fridge so it gets hard then I can scrape it or chop it to give to the chickens and dogs. They all seem to love it . Costco has big jugs of it 54 oz. for like $15.00 and it lasts quite a while. I like to cook with it , anything that would be kind of Asian/pacific that's what I use.

 

[ChickieWickies]

OK, this is TOTALLY random....but does anyone know a good English Pointer bird dog trainer? The guy we used with our last dog isn't training until next year, and he won't share any names.

 

[OkieQueenBee]

I just seem to get so far behind on everyone's posts. By the time I get them read I think I need to get up and get something done.
Too long ago since my kids were babies so I don't remember the nesting. I am a horrible procrastinator but i do think I had a place for them to sleep. I remember using the gowns with strings and loved them because they were so easy, tried to find some a few years back for someone and they were made differently now (no string). I tried cloth diapers and gave my son a horrible case of diaper rash, probably because I didn't know anything about doing laundry either. Children were a big learning curve for me.... LizzyGSR sounds like you have things figured out and some great support. If you ever need to know what not to do just ask me.
Coconut oil - years ago when I first started making soap I remember reading that you needed coconut oil to make lather but not too much because it was drying to the skin. Not what they say nowadays, once again something that was bad is now good. So I have actually started cooking with it. It gets real foamy when I fry okra. Seems to give things a good flavor.
Grapefruit Extract - hmm, I have a really nasty, weeping sore on my leg, won't heal, would it clear it up? I kinda like the "ole hippie" thinking ways.
Trish44 those are some good looking birds, excited to be on the list to get some next spring.
ChickenDanz we do sell our honey, could bring you some Saturday. I will PM you. Good idea about the chains and padlock. I had people stealing stuff from my place in OK and the sheriff suggested that I get a game camera. Hope you are getting your cages done, don't frazzle yourself out too badly.
DH and I do a beginners beekeeping class sorta thing, sure wish one of you would do a beginners chicken keeping class. I have so many questions and always more after I read the things you experts do.
Well, it's been drizzly, overcast, somewhat cool all day and I haven't gotten anything done.
Back to lurking....

 

[Trish44]

Danz I wish you had that gate secured so someone couldn't get in there. I actually have a neighbor that is the watchdog for our neighborhood. He seems to know everything about who came to where around here. I'm glad he watches actually. He's the one that came over & closed up my coop run & opened it the other day for me, he's a pretty good guy.

It's been cloudy here all day, but has only sprinkled a little bit. We could use a little rain, the ground is starting to really crack bad now. Well I better get back out there & get some things done while it's cooler.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Following up after my earlier post about the rain. Here's a FB post from the National Weather Service in Goodland, which is our local office. I don't think we ourselves have received quite this much, but it is still really nice to see some actual decent totals! I went out to finish chores this evening and got kind of wet! It's been a REALLY long time (over a year) since we've had enough of a rain to soak a person, unless they happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time and caught a short downpour. It's been raining off and on for 2 days now, and it has been wonderful! Believe it or not, it's been dry enough out here that even with this much rainfall, we still don't really have puddles forming. Everything has been soaking in really well. Much to their dismay, my birds are locked in the duck house for the night, as is the usual custom. I think they'd rather stay out and play in the water.

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[Trish44]

Following up after my earlier post about the rain. Here's a FB post from the National Weather Service in Goodland, which is our local office. I don't think we ourselves have received quite this much, but it is still really nice to see some actual decent totals! I went out to finish chores this evening and got kind of wet! It's been a REALLY long time (over a year) since we've had enough of a rain to soak a person, unless they happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time and caught a short downpour. It's been raining off and on for 2 days now, and it has been wonderful! Believe it or not, it's been dry enough out here that even with this much rainfall, we still don't really have puddles forming. Everything has been soaking in really well. Much to their dismay, my birds are locked in the duck house for the night, as is the usual custom. I think they'd rather stay out and play in the water.

Congrats on the rain, yay! We only got sprinkles today very briefly, not enough to even wet anything.

 

[Aliaslucyvp]

Out of the Brooder - I just started using lots of coconut oil and it may be my second favorite!

When we put chickens in tonight we had quite a bit of aggression from our Egyptian Fayoumi cockerel. He is small but all the others from his peer group run from him now. He may have to have a new home, but my husband thinks he is wonderful, so we shall see. We have one scrawny Aracauna and she is nervous around everybody, but she seems really afraid of him. She has always been shy and aloof and small for her size. Probably needs chicken anti anxiety meds.

But we love her, silly little girl.

We had the tiniest sprinkle of rain - hope it knocks the pollen out of the air! I haven't had much of a voice for two days! Some might say that was a blessing....

 

[22qZoo]

This is the stuff I use, I think I got it at natural grocers .
Okiqueenbee- I don't know what it would do for your leg ,might be worth a try. You being a honey person I'm guessing you've heard of Manuka honey ? If I remember right I think they use it in Australia for MRSA and it does better than the pharma antibiotics. Scary expensive tho.
I hope nobody minds the alternative medicine jag , but I find it fascinating . We didn't have health ins. When I was a kid , and the world had to be coming to an end for us to call a vet,and I think it's great to hear what other people have done.
My parents got on a kick when I was about 10 where ether Comfry or Jerusalem artichokes were going to fix everything . Ha ha. Those weeds spread everywhere !
Oh , NuStock is another one of my faves .