Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[lpyrbby]

I had a respiratory illness go through all my chicks this year. Mortality was very low, around 2%. There were a few I didn't think would make it, but they made a full recovery.

Because most avian respiratory illnesses are viral it's best to just provide supportive care. I don't use AB's in my flock and in situations like these they would only treat or prevent secondary bacterial infections that might crop up with a weakened immune system.

Nutritious food, clean water with ACV and vitamins, warmth, and isolation. Basically remove all stressors you can so the birds can recuperate.

One of the one's I didn't think would make it:

Thank you. I don't want to use the tylan if I can help it. I'm honestly putting a lot of blind trust in the silver but based on what info I was able to find relating to use in animals, it seemed like the right thing to try.

I'm also now second guessing moving them out to the larger pen. It'll be an additional stress AND I do have my NYD hatch chicks in there as well. It's an open air style though. Just gonna hafta sit on it a bit and think. One of the cockerels should be going to a new home by this weekend and I **** sure don't need to possibly put him at risk to take back to her birds.

Anywho. I really appreciate you sharing your experience. Your chick looks lovely

 

[DesertChic]

I just want to vent a little here while I try to learn some patience and hope that what I'm trying is actually helping.

I brought three brabanter chicks home on Saturday to add to my 15 turken chicks of similar age and cleaned out the brooder the same day. By yesterday (Tuesday) morning, my turkens were sneezing occasionally. I THINK I heard the brabs sneeze a few times on Saturday, but I might have just imagined it. I saw some were looking hunched a bit on Monday night so started Corid since they are in too small a pen at the moment. They have some room to move, but not enough, especially when compared to how much room I have afforded to the larger birds in my yard. After coming home last night and noticing more sneezing, I asked a group on FB and tried doing some other research on what I could do for chicks with respiratory problems. I stopped the Corid and switched to some VetRX in their water this AM and then bought some colloidal silver today. I've heard really good things about it and want to give it a try. I gave it to them tonight in a fresh batch of water.

We almost got the in-coop brooder done today (door needs to be installed) but nothing is square with that coop (carport coop) so the door needed to be shaved. It *should* get installed tomorrow and I plan on moving them out to that tomorrow with the MHP and hoping an airier location will help them. The chicks are still eating and drinking from what I can tell with 18 of them in the pen. They have wild moments of activity, so it's not like they've gotten to the point of just laying down and giving up, but I am honestly TERRIFIED of losing them all. I just learned I have a rumpless NN in the mix and just - they're ALL important to me. I don't want to lose any of them and I'm scared. I'm trying not to freak out over it and just keep a watchful eye and hope for the best. I grabbed one of the brabs that was walking around chirping and I saw a bit of liquid around one nostril. No smell and I couldn't hear any wheezing. I'd dab some VetRX on some nostrils if I knew for certain I wouldn't treat some twice. Many look SO similar that I'm not confident of that.

Those little birds, they're letting me pet them from outside the brooder and rub their little naked necks and puffy heads. And I have at least 3 that LOVE when I put my arm in the pen with them so they can roost on me. It's not uncommon to have 5 of them on my arm either. I want to at least try one thing for a day or two to see if there's any improvement before I freak out too much. I do have Tylan 50, but there's not much out there at all for dosing little chicks and I definitely don't want to overdo it for them.

*sigh* I just needed to get that out of my system. I realize things I've done wrong and hate that the chicks are at risk because of me and my decisions. I just have to hope that moving them outside doesn't make it worse. I have to hope that the silver is going to help them. I have to hope that they're strong enough. And somewhere in there, I have to find the trust in myself to know when I need to change trajectory before it causes death. Wooooosahhhhhhhhhhh....

I've been lucky in that only one of my chicks ever caught a cold and she recovered completely in two weeks with nothing more than extra vitamins and probiotics in the food and water. The reality is that chickens get colds. Yes, it's so much scarier when it happens to little chicks, just like it's more troubling when our children get sick than when the adults in our lives do, but they usually recover and not every sneeze and sniffle is indicative of a major illness.

Keep them warm; keep them clean, give them extra nutrition and let their little bodies do their thing. I totally empathize with your fear, but NNs are VERY hardy birds and I've seen them recover from things that kill most other breeds. And ironically, moving them to the larger are may actually help them heal rather than hurt them. Trust your judgement.

 

[lpyrbby]

I've been lucky in that only one of my chicks ever caught a cold and she recovered completely in two weeks with nothing more than extra vitamins and probiotics in the food and water. The reality is that chickens get colds. Yes, it's so much scarier when it happens to little chicks, just like it's more troubling when our children get sick than when the adults in our lives do, but they usually recover and not every sneeze and sniffle is indicative of a major illness. 

Keep them warm; keep them clean, give them extra nutrition and let their little bodies do their thing. I totally empathize with your fear, but  NNs are VERY hardy birds and I've seen them recover from things that kill most other breeds. And ironically, moving them to the larger are may actually help them heal rather than hurt them. Trust your judgement. 

So it could take two weeks to run its course? That's gonna suck. If that's the case, they're definitely moving to the coop. I wanted them in there this weekend but after being sick a couple of weekends ago, it set me back enough that I got off track. That and it was incredibly hard to want to work in the coop when I took the babies out for a day trip. I digress. Now I need to figure out if adding some nutridrench or probiotics with the silver water is possible. There's not enough room in their pen for another water dish.

Thanks for throwing another voice in the mix.

 

[bramblefir]

So it could take two weeks to run its course? That's gonna suck. If that's the case, they're definitely moving to the coop. I wanted them in there this weekend but after being sick a couple of weekends ago, it set me back enough that I got off track. That and it was incredibly hard to want to work in the coop when I took the babies out for a day trip. I digress. Now I need to figure out if adding some nutridrench or probiotics with the silver water is possible. There's not enough room in their pen for another water dish.

Thanks for throwing another voice in the mix.

The amount of time it takes to run its course will depend on the strain. Most of mine were recovered in about 5 days with the ones that were hit the worst taking around 2 weeks for all symptoms to fade.

 

[lpyrbby]

The amount of time it takes to run its course will depend on the strain. Most of mine were recovered in about 5 days with the ones that were hit the worst taking around 2 weeks for all symptoms to fade.

Thank you! If nothing else, this helps set my expectations. Oye, gonna be a stressful ride.

I promise, once they're all better, I'll take a bunch of pics to "pay my dues" for venting!

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Posting this here (also posted on the Breeding for Production thread). VERY impressed with data from today...

OK, I got weights on my German New Hampshire-Naked neck crosses today. It's week 13. I almost didn't do it (it's tiring and time consuming), but I'm glad I did.

Remember that their father, Tank, is a Naked Neck who is remarkable for being very large as a chick and had early fast growth - he slowed down after about 10-12 weeks and is a respectable 7-8 pounds now. (He also has very "New Hampshire" like coloring). Their mothers were two German New Hampshire hens, nearly identical, from a good breeder. Tank is on the chart as the blue line for comparison (I'm using him as my comparison for all chicks I'm growing for size this year). A late bloomer that surpassed Tank (Snape) is green for comparison and a different shape of growth curve - Snape is about 9-10 pounds (I think), but bigger than Tank as an adult certainly. Boys are orange, girls are purple, showing the clear size difference I usually see with NN females and males.

These chicks showed early fast growth, larger that their father, but roughy a similar trajectory. But in week 13, they have now tipped upward in weight, and I am wondering if that's the slower GNH influence now kicking in. Note that I gave these juveniles some cat food (one cup for 14 chickens) yesterday. I think this is too soon to attribute it to that, but I suppose it's possible? It only happened with the boys, maybe hormones? That's when the GNH boys started getting big. (I should also note that Tank and Snape were raised in the fall, and 12-13 weeks was when it started to get a little chillier here.) Theories, theories, theories...

Anyhow, here's the data. They are HUGE - biggest boy (Kirk) is almost 6 pounds at 13 weeks - and body shape is excellent on the best boys (there are some narrower bodies among the smaller non-keeper boys). They are also extremely sweet tempered (similar to their father). Between these and the S&Gs, things are going well for dual purpose NNs here.





- Ant Farm

 

[lpyrbby]

They let me play mom

I've had more than just the two on bottom and two on top. I think prior to this pic, I had 6 below and at least 3 on my arm. This is what makes me just love these darn chicks so much. Also, it looks like SOME are starting to get pink in the comb. They'll be 3 weeks old this weekend.

 

[chickengr]

So it could take two weeks to run its course? That's gonna suck. If that's the case, they're definitely moving to the coop. I wanted them in there this weekend but after being sick a couple of weekends ago, it set me back enough that I got off track. That and it was incredibly hard to want to work in the coop when I took the babies out for a day trip. I digress. Now I need to figure out if adding some nutridrench or probiotics with the silver water is possible. There's not enough room in their pen for another water dish.

Thanks for throwing another voice in the mix.

you can always put some vitamins or probiotics in little water and mix it with their feed.

chickens heal in 35-40 days but symptoms usually are gone within 1-2 weeks. they should be away from the other chickens for at least a month if possible. bigger space will help them a bit. if you can provide pine shavings it will keep them warm and dry. good luck.

 

[lpyrbby]

you can always put some vitamins or probiotics in little water and mix it with their feed.

chickens heal in 35-40 days but symptoms usually are gone within 1-2 weeks. they should be away from the other chickens for at least a month if possible. bigger space will help them a bit. if you can provide pine shavings it will keep them warm and dry. good luck.

Yeah, I realized last night that I'll be putting my other birds at risk. I'm going to wait until Saturday at least, before moving them since I have someone coming by to pick up a cockerel from me on Friday. I'll do some more thinking on it.

 

[Flaisure]

Don't have a name for this little one yet. 5 weeks old. Bantam