Recent content by Jrose

Stitching isn't mandatory, it'll just speed the healing up a ton with a rip that gigantic. That also means less spain and less time for bad bacterias to colonize. The body will still slowly but surely bring the skin back together and scar over and heal up, as long as her system is in...

I'd soften the scab in warm salt water, re-open the wound, and wash the open wound with straight ACV. I'd keep washing it with ACV until it healed up again. I'd also offer some good treats to support good immune response; meat, probiotics, animal fats, egg, etc. Some hot swelling doesn't mean...

If the skin has not crusted or hardened, I'd just stitch it shut. A good suturing and twice-daily washing with vinegar, assuming there's no other complications, would likely see her back to normal within a week. I've stitched many chickens (and other animals) up. Sewing needle and thread...

His eyes don't look swollen to me in the photos. It looks like he's in a ton of pain, and birds tend to shut their eyes when overwhelmed like that. That's a lot of blood around his mouth! Is it all his? Do you know the source of blood around his beak? Hopefully it's possum blood...

Hm... The roost factor is interesting. The roosters in the aviary have started roosting outside, versus in the coop. The outdoor roosts/perches are large, thick branches. I did actually think to myself that that S shape looks like it would fit perfectly over those branches. But then I...

I've recently butchered 4 roosters that had a deformed breastbone. The first one I thought "Oh wow, he came out funny! Just a fluke." Then the next 3 I butcher (over the span of 2 weeks) were each prograssively more deformed. The last bird's pectoral process, the big boney ridge that divides...

It doesn’t look like I can edit my OP again. Even though we’ve lost 16 of the 18 bantams, Cackle has been supportive and helpful. Customer service was friendly and informative. The 30 large fowl (if you count fayoumis) are doing great and are robust. We only lost 2 large fowl. I would not...

I was doing a vitamin boost but Cackle insisted to not and insisted I use only vinegar water and not combine it with anything else. But I’ve only got 2 bantams left, so... the large fowl are doing great but the bantams ate just so desperately frail and still weak. They’re in their own brooder...

Down to 2 bantams :s I’m not holding my breath that they’ll live. Everytime I think they’re done dying they prove me wrong. All the large fowl are still doin great. What a hard lesson in mail order bantams! I really had my hopes up for bantams this year... there’s no one in 100 miles breeding...

I will update my original post as well, but here’s the update! Cackle CS was very thorough and friendly. We spent quite some time reviewing my care and setup. With that up to their standards, they are giving me another day to see if there are any more losses. I will call back tomorrow with the...

I tried to look it up again to possibly find a diagnosis name but I couldn’t find many relative search results. I’ve seen it severe enough to where the neck is swollen thicker than the skull. These two weren’t that bad, but their skulls still looked 50% longer than they actually were because...

The brain swelling issue is like... fluid pooled up at the base of the neck? I’ve had a few chicks hatch with it over the years, a couple survived. I researched it years ago and though I forget the details of what I read, I have it in my head that it’s exacerbated by excess heat, and the...

In regards to the temp, it was around 35º today. I was not aware of the temp in MO. I would think if it were apocalyptically cold and not safe to ship the hatchery would stall shipments... But, I'm not prepared to blame weather or distance off-hand, just because it seems to be a problem with...

Just thought I'd share my experience since it's the chick-buying season and, like myself, I'm sure others are reading up on hatcheries. I chose Cackle because of good reviews; plus they had all the breeds I wanted. We ordered 45 chicks; 25 larger brown egg layers (5 each of 5 different breeds)...

Still looks like eggs to me. I'm curious to see what comes of this. There might be some kind of parasitic bug attacking the birds? Gosh, I don't know. Oh wait. Yes I do. I already said it. ALIENS. :pop