North Carolina

[rbaker0345]

I only deworm when I see a need for it. If they seem underweight or if I see adult ascarids in their poo. If I suspect that they have worms, I run a fecal exam. Chickens are meant to carry a certain parasite load. My chickens free range, though, so I'm sure they self-medicate. I used to deworm my horses every 3 months, but now I only deworm them if they have a positive fecal exam. Overuse of anthelmintics and insecticides can create resistant strains of these parasites just like the overuse of antibiotics can create super-bacteria. I have a friend who puts DE in her food and coop, I think it makes things really dusty. She takes care of my horses and she feeds her own horses DE, but not mine and neither of our horses has had a positive fecal in about a year, so I'm not sure that DE is really necessary. Besides, I have a feeling that DE could be harmful to beneficial insects and worms as well as the harmful ones.

I would just feed them, make sure they have fairly clean living spaces and fresh water. The best advice I can give you is to know your birds, know their behavior and if there is something off, ask someone about it. Keep a first aid/medicine kit with terramycin, sulmet or corrid, wound powder and triple antibiotic ointment, vetwrap, and betadine or chlorhexidine. Don't overthink chickens. But, when its nasty out like it has been for weeks on end, I would go with medicated starter and definitely, preemptively purchase a bottle of sulmet or corrid to keep on hand, just in case.

 

[nikosbaxe]

Keep the cats down Polk county...lol...Not sure what a BB gun will do for you...

 

[nikosbaxe]

Keep the cats down Polk county...lol...Not sure what a BB gun will do for you...

Sitting up late with a gun(pellet gun wish I had a real one) tonight, just got word that my neighbor about 2 Miles up the mountian, had her whole flock... 103 birds total: guineas, chickens, peafowl, geese and turkeys....killed by 4 juvi cougar males.

I don't think my pellet gun will deter a cougar, gonna go ask if I can borrow a friends guns. She told the cougars were caught on her game cam so she is gonna send me pics, she said by the size of them they aren't but 6 months to a year.

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

I would leave her with the eggs. When she's done sitting them ( she wont go back to the nest) or a week after hatch date you can take them

Thank you so much RF!! I was "certain" mama was done as she was off the nest and all, but....I went out today and found that sometime between yesterday and today she hatched another chick!! I am going to give her a few more days and then "force" DH to remove the possible rotten eggs (hahaha...that way if he breaks them....yeah) and dispose of them!! To think I could have missed out on this little one...

I'm pretty sure the one that hatched was a SFH based on what BHep has said to me, and if that's the case...I had a 100% hatch for my 4 SFH!! 50% on the Eng. Orps and 50% on the Super Blues...not too bad for a first time mama...who knows...maybe she'll surprise us all tonight as well and tomorrow we'll see MORE biddies!! Hmm...I hear an incubator calling my name...LOL Maybe I'll sneak a few silkies into my flock and see if DH notices - that would probably be cheaper than an incubator!! LOL

Okay, fellow NC'ers, I have a small 4*4 coop with 4 birds. I posted on another thread, about doing sort of deep litter method, 4-6inches of litter, and I stir it every few days, adding new shavings when it seems low. Smells clean, very dry, and birds seem healthy. Another person, basically said its.lazy, unsafe and unhealthy for my girls. Help me understand please?!

We do the deep litter method and haven't had a problem. This is going on our 3rd year of owning/raising chickens. We do a rake every Saturday, a daily inspection (our ducks like a particular area, so sometimes that needs additional TLC), and a total gut/sweep out 2x a year. We do one approximately every 6 months and take the used bedding to the compost pile where it gets made into fertilizer for our garden!! The only time I have noticed a smell is when I have a broody (boy is that poo stinky) in there or when we forget to open the windows in the summer and well...the poo has had a chance to "ferment" in the hot sun all day. Don't let others get you down!! Everyone has their own method and if it works for you and your chickens are healthy, go for it!!

Per someone's reccomendation I just ordered The Chicken Health Handbook, should be here Wednesday...

Hehe...just be careful!! Being relatively new to chickens myself, I ordered the Handbook and started diagnosing my chickens with everything I thought I was seeing in that book!! LOL...It's a GREAT tool, just be careful. It reminds me of searching the internet for your own personal "symptoms" and before long you have some fatal, incurable, you only have days to live disease. LOL...then again, maybe that's just me and my over active imagination!! LOL

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Hey guys would ya'll pop over here and vote for my pic, it the dust bathing chickens thank you https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/777775/poultry-in-action-pic-contest-poll

 

[busymadre]

Hudson (caldwell county)

welcome! I am in Hickory!

 

[Chasity]

Quote: Right, freezing can kill some as well, but do you have any sugestions for those? I keep moving birds, but that is not an option for everyone.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Okay, fellow NC'ers, I have a small 4*4 coop with 4 birds. I posted on another thread, about doing sort of deep litter method, 4-6inches of litter, and I stir it every few days, adding new shavings when it seems low. Smells clean, very dry, and birds seem healthy. Another person, basically said its.lazy, unsafe and unhealthy for my girls. Help me understand please?!

I agree with NH. In addition, most of the books and advice on poultry were written for more northerm climates, not our conditions. Deep litter in the enclosures needed in the north would cause a horrible ammonia build-up. Here, it breaks down much more rapidly. Cleaning my chicken houses down to the ground twice a year...well, I taking out compost. And I did say ground. In my opinion, having raised, floored chicken houses down here is an invitation to rats and 'possums, except for those coops that are raised several feet up. Need that floor up north, though! Looking at local climate, predators and other factors when you read those books is a must. Everything must be put into perspective!

And I'm coming back to add....DE in feed is a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. Yes, there's lots of "anecdotal evidence" about it, but not a single bit of research. It supposedly works by cutting the surface cuticle of internal parasites. However, when used externally, you are cautioned not to let it get wet. And, the real kicker...the exterior of a roundworm is far tougher than the microvilli of stomach and intestines. If one were going to be affected by the DE, I'd say it would be the chicken first! We're also finding that if inhaled it causes respiratory issues, so putting it in their dust bathing spots isn't the best idea, either. I find DE to be highly over rated.

 

[Chasity]

I only deworm when I see a need for it. If they seem underweight or if I see adult ascarids in their poo. If I suspect that they have worms, I run a fecal exam. Chickens are meant to carry a certain parasite load. My chickens free range, though, so I'm sure they self-medicate. I used to deworm my horses every 3 months, but now I only deworm them if they have a positive fecal exam. Overuse of anthelmintics and insecticides can create resistant strains of these parasites just like the overuse of antibiotics can create super-bacteria. I have a friend who puts DE in her food and coop, I think it makes things really dusty. She takes care of my horses and she feeds her own horses DE, but not mine and neither of our horses has had a positive fecal in about a year, so I'm not sure that DE is really necessary. Besides, I have a feeling that DE could be harmful to beneficial insects and worms as well as the harmful ones.

I would just feed them, make sure they have fairly clean living spaces and fresh water. The best advice I can give you is to know your birds, know their behavior and if there is something off, ask someone about it. Keep a first aid/medicine kit with terramycin, sulmet or corrid, wound powder and triple antibiotic ointment, vetwrap, and betadine or chlorhexidine. Don't overthink chickens. But, when its nasty out like it has been for weeks on end, I would go with medicated starter and definitely, preemptively purchase a bottle of sulmet or corrid to keep on hand, just in case.

DE can be bad for insects. We have had to quit putting it out for dust baths because we added bees this year. I still put some in food around the rainy times, but they just have to dust bath the old fashoined way, and they are doing well with it.

 

[my little peeps]

I only deworm when I see a need for it.  If they seem underweight or if I see adult ascarids in their poo.  If I suspect that they have worms, I run a fecal exam.   Chickens are meant to carry a certain parasite load.  My chickens free range, though, so I'm sure they self-medicate.  I used to deworm my horses every 3 months, but now I only deworm them if they have a positive fecal exam.  Overuse of anthelmintics and insecticides can create resistant strains of these parasites just like the overuse of antibiotics can create super-bacteria.  I have a friend who puts DE in her food and coop, I think it makes things really dusty.  She takes care of my horses and she feeds her own horses DE, but not mine and neither of our horses has had a positive fecal in about a year, so I'm not sure that DE is really necessary.  Besides, I have a feeling that DE could be harmful to beneficial insects and worms as well as the harmful ones.  

I would just feed them, make sure they have fairly clean living spaces and fresh water.  The best advice I can give you is to know your birds, know their behavior and if there is something off, ask someone about it.  Keep a first aid/medicine kit with terramycin, sulmet or corrid, wound powder and triple antibiotic ointment, vetwrap, and betadine or chlorhexidine.  Don't overthink chickens.  But, when its nasty out like it has been for weeks on end, I would go with medicated starter and definitely, preemptively purchase a bottle of sulmet or corrid to keep on hand, just in case.   

Thank you!! This by far is the best advice I've been given. I tend to over think everything