A Journey Through a Different Way - Funny Story Pg. 69

[RIVERA69R]

Once again ruth your thread is a great place to get lost in while at work on saturdays ( very slow day ) but i am now caught up with it all great stories. Me and my 8yr old son are half way through with our chicken coop and are expecting four chicks by next month, cant wait. I grew up in the country with chickens, duck, horses, and cant forget the pigs. I have great memories of me and my dads time together working with the animals so i hope my son will look back on these days to come with fond memories like I have of my time with my dad. Now the wife is finally getting excited about the new arrivals she started picking out names. We only have a backyard so only getting 4 but it will be fun. Thanks for sharing.

 

[speckledhen]

Sounds like Prissy is defending her great new home. Good for her!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Hi and welcome to BYC - glad you enjoyed my journey thread. I'm sure your journey and that of your kids will be much more memorable and fun for you all. Be careful, it's addictive. I too started out with four little chicks and living in a subdivision.

 

[wishin4chicken]

Ha ha ha, Ruth, our Standard Poodle does the same thing...

"It's funny, one of Rex's favorite moves is to come up from behind someone and shove his head between their legs, with his ball or stick in his mouth. You should see the look on some of the delivery/repair people/strangers - it's priceless."

We have wealthy neighbors that live up the road from us. The wife was here for a visit one afternoon and you should have seen the look on her face

when our dog shoved his head between her legs.

Priceless!!

 

[ruth]

Well today was a lesson learned day. A lesson that I should go back to practicing what I preach. Today the babies hatched Oct. 31 (see post from that day) started dropping dead. For the four weeks since they've hatched it's gotten down to 30s some nights and chilly every day so I had them in a pen in the coop which I cleaned regularly and had heat lamps in. They have never been allowed to free range or allowed out of pen. I just thought it was too cold and too many chicks to try and round up. Anyway, for the past two days I've noticed them becoming lethargic and huddled up under the lights. When the first few turned up dead in the mornings, I thought they got smothered under the huddle, even though I had two lights. This morning they just stared dropping dead. When I started pulling out some of the sickest looking ones, I discoverd they were skin and bones (lots of feathers hiding it since they were Cochins). I brought some of the sickest inside and they are having bloody droppings or watery diarreah. All of the chicks have patchy looking feathers and bare spots. They just look terrible.

By comparison the five babies that the mama hatched and has been raising look beautiful and they are the same age. They have been free ranging with the mama and the rest of the flock since they hatched. Have never had a light. The mama stayed with them at night for the first three weeks but went back to sleeping on roost last week so they hang out and sleep on floor of coop, with no light, or roost where they want to.

I'm fully convinced that the others have gotten a disease or worms because they have been raised inside, with heat lamps, and no fresh air or sunshine. Though the pen has been cleaned regularly, they are still in their own droppings without sunshine and fresh air or the room to really run around and fly and dirt bathe.

I don't know how many will die at this point and now they have been exposed to all the others but other than the 5 with the mama, everyone else is older so I'm hoping if it's Cocci no one else comes down with it.

I will never raise baby chicks in a pen again. Two years of doing it the more natural way and never a loss and now I've taken all these "by the book" precautions because these chicks were more "rare" and now I may lose them all. Never again.

I dumped them all out, removed the pen and am praying for the best at this point. I'll know more in the morning as to how it's all going to turn out. I left two lights in the coop, set low to the ground as well as a heater and when I last checked on them they were spread out and have been running around eating and scratching so maybe getting out of the pen will save some of the healthier ones. I have everyone on Wazine and Terramycin just in case.

Like I said, I'm going to go back to practicing what I preach. I've watched the mama hen and she took her babies outside from day one. She did sleep with them under her wings for the first three weeks but is now weening them. She hangs out with them during the day while free ranging but goes back to the roost at night. I figure mama knows best.

 

[hcammack]

Oh I am sorry this happened ! I know that if its really cold its better for the chicks to be able to move around allot and it keep them warm my chicks are out in the shed in a huge brooder ! and only 6 or them they have also been able to go out in the tractor a few times in the afternoon on weekends. they are all feathered and healthy now. Hope they make it good luck !

 

[ruth]

Thanks Henry - though their pen was really large, they just didn't run around like all the others that I've raised without a pen. They seemed to always be huddled under the light even on warm sunny days when the sun was coming through the door of the coop onto the pen. The only time they would leave the huddle was to run over and eat and run back.

I'm really surprised at the differences I'm seeing in the free range ones I've raised for the past two years and the brooder raised ones that are now dropping dead.

 

[hcammack]

That is really interesting I wonder why they were so lathargic even in the brooder mine are always jumping out and running around and being crazy.

Henry

 

[miss_jayne]

good plan! go on with yourself, Monique!

blessings for a better result going forward!

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Don't be too hard on yourself. Pick yourself up and go on. Sorry this happened but now we all know better hey.

How is the bobcat doing haven't heard yet about that.