Recent content by MontanaChickDoc

  1. MontanaChickDoc

    New to BYC - *NEW* Chick owner

    I use a combination of pelleted horse bedding and fine flake shavings inside my coops. The pellets break up and become fine sawdust which is very absorbent - they are especially good for ducks. The shavings are easier on their feet though, and less treacherous for me to walk on, as the pellets...
  2. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I like the idea of spacing the water and food so they have to get a little exercise ;) I take food out twice a day (7am and 3 pm) but I put out quite a bit at a time so it lasts several hours. Their crops are always stuffed to full capacity whenever I handle them.
  3. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I processed my 14 remaining birds yesterday. They dressed out between 6 and 7 lbs, with only one at 5 lbs 5 oz. Three had hydropericardium and 1 had ascites. Of course I don't know if it's genetic or something infectious or how I fed them, but I don't think I will order from this hatchery again...
  4. MontanaChickDoc

    Keeping my meat birds warm during this cold snap

    Yes they are. They are coming on 8 weeks old. They are growing more slowly then ones I have raised in the summer and fall, so I don't think I will butcher for another 2 weeks. I like to get 5-6 lbs dressed weight as long as the birds are still walking and moving comfortably.
  5. MontanaChickDoc

    Keeping my meat birds warm during this cold snap

    So I have 15 meat birds outside in a 8x10 dog kennel on a concrete pad, with a fenced yard around the outside. The run is tarped, and there are 2 large dog kennels for sleeping time inside. We just got 5 inches of snow so they are hanging out in their kennel area which I bedded with pine straw...
  6. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I admit, it's a weakness, I like to mix and match and try out different things to see what makes a difference, what the hens like or don't like etc. I agree about the 24% meat bird food being too high in protein. Sometimes it's hard to find an 18 or 20% feed that's pelleted. I hate mash because...
  7. MontanaChickDoc

    They are eating their own eggs!

    I just caught a hen red handed (and yolky beaked) as she was eating eggs out of one of the nest boxes. I hope she's the last one. It makes me so mad!!!
  8. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I spoke with an avian pathologist last night at the University of KY Vet Diagnostic Lab (where I did my pathology residency) and she says a lot of times on the post mortem they don't really find anything, or maybe just some cardiac muscle degeneration. So apparently this is a "thing" in some...
  9. MontanaChickDoc

    What is this under my chicken's tongue?

    Are there crusted lesions on her comb as well? or any other crusted sores on her skin? If so, fowl pox is also a differential. It's hard to see in the photo whether the lesions on her comb are sores or frostbite, peck wounds, etc.
  10. MontanaChickDoc

    2024 Meyers Cornish cross issues

    I also like Cackle's CCX and all their birds in general. They just don't always have the availability I need. My CCX from a different hatchery are also not doing well this time around. I have lost 6 of 25 with sudden onset of weakness, inability to stand, and weight loss at 5-6 weeks old. I am...
  11. MontanaChickDoc

    Crap. I found the remains of an egg today.

    I was able to figure out a couple of egg eating hens by looking for dried yolk on their face feathers and nostril holes.
  12. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    The duck feed contains: Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Yeast Extract, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Proteinate, Folic Acid, Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Hydroxychloride, Manganese...
  13. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    ah - that's good to know. I just opened the bag of duck pellets yesterday, before that they were getting all flock 17%. It's a catch 22, save them from Coccidiosis but then the B vitamin deficiency causes them to have neurologic problems :/ I will have to see which B vitamins are supplemented in...
  14. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish cross birds get weak and die

    I do limited feed (twice a day after 4 weeks of age) so that they can grow more slowly and have fewer leg problems.
  15. MontanaChickDoc

    Cornish Cross Multiple Unexplained Deaths

    Unfortunately, chilling during extending shipping (or for any reason, keep reading) can really take a toll on little chicks. My (stupid) post office had chicks in an outer unheated holding room (I think the cheeping was annoying the newer employees, they had never been kept in that room before)...
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