Yes, in my short experience with roosters and cockerels, being overly friendly actually tends to be a bad idea. I will pick up hens to inspect them, but I only visually inspect boys while standing and at a distance. I only pick up the boys when I need to pull them off another chicken (rare) or...
The cockerel of this flock has turned out to be a favorite. I was suspect of his abilities as he was "coming of age" but he has happily proved me wrong. He protects his girls and only once did he show aggression towards me a few weeks ago as he was learning how to be the "man". I showed him who...
So I had 7 Black Australorps, with 5 boys and 2 girls. I took the boys to auction (that was before I found out one of my other flocks has Marek's so no more auctions in the future 😩) and the two girls had been all by themselves...until last night. They were out free ranging and I let my evening...
Once Marek's is in your flock, it's there to stay unless you abandon the site and build a new one 5 miles away. Or abandon the site, thoroughly clean, and try again in 3-4 years.
I did a search and found the dosage, now to figure out how to feed it to them. I gave a boy (yeah, why am I trying to save that guy?) a mixture of ~450g of the extract, greek yogurt and the mini pellet feed and he gulped it all down. The other two, no dice. The boy is in the worse shape, he's...
So one of the examiners was in the lobby when I dropped off my pullet. We talked for several moments about Marek's and she made some interesting comments.
1) you can vaccinate up to 10 days from hatch as long as they are in a clean (no Marek infested dander flying around) brooder inside. The 1...
Thanks. Since none of the others appears to showing any symptoms, I am going to wait and see if they find anything in the initial examination. Yes, this will be a state lab.
I got my delivery of Chinese Skullcap root extract yesterday. It says it is dissolvable in hot water but I have my doubts. Has anyone used this yet? What's some good ways to prepare?
Here is what I have:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NT6MFGJ
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
My first hatched chicken, and first egg layer. She was also the only one I ever allowed to perch on me (though I had to cover my ears!).
I've kept dogs and cats my whole life. Chickens are alot harder! They seem to have so much that can go wrong with them.
Why would you say "highly unlikely"? She had all of the symptoms of gapeworm except I could not see them. But then I really don't know how to look.
If it is gapeworm I think I should get the results pretty quick but for Marek's it will be longer (they send it to another lab for extensive...
She passed last night. I had been treating with VetRX and waiting for the vet to open today, hoping she would make it. I only have amoxycillin and I know it does nothing for respiratory illnesses, so did not try. Her comb was not turning blue so I thought she might make it one more day.
Last...
I just obtained some Chinese skullcap root extract.
Anyone have a clue how I would go about giving this to them? Says it is 100% dissolvable in hot water.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NT6MFGJ
I found an old dog crate my son used to have, probably one of the biggest you can find (his dog weighs 100 lbs). I put it back together and in the corner of her run because I know she didn't like being left alone in a bathroom in a collapsible pet playpen! She is breathing OK and she is drinking...
So overnight after she calmed down and slept her breathing this morning, while still not the best, is much better.
Here's something to add: when I turned the light on in the room she is in, she was breathing through an open beak, but no where near as bad as last night. Then she sneezed and she...
I believe one of my flocks has Marek's because of many signs and a necroscopy of one dead pullet (no PCR though).
Here is that thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rookie-backyard-chicken-keeper-with-mareks.1674902/post-28789530
Now I have another chicken from another flock that...