ADDITIONAL INFO: Ugh. My Margo. Again.

[micstrachan]

I knew about you and treats. Biosecurity is good, too. I was wearing shoe covers at the feed store for awhile and stopped. I need to tighten back down.

 

[Kiki]

I knew about you and treats. Biosecurity is good, too. I was wearing shoe covers at the feed store for awhile and stopped. I need to tighten back down.

I am a firm believer in a strict diet.
It really is the best thing for them.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Texas Kiki - By no treats, you mean, ... no kitchen scraps, at all? No frozen watermelon on hot days, nothing at all but their commercial food? I don't mean to hijack this thread, but may I ask what you feed?

 

[Kiki]

@Texas Kiki - By no treats, you mean, ... no kitchen scraps, at all? No frozen watermelon on hot days, nothing at all but their commercial food? I don't mean to hijack this thread, but may I ask what you feed?

My girls get complete layer feed in the form of crumbles.
Once in a blue moon they will share an egg or two or a little left over chicken.
Not daily and not even weekly.
During the summer they get fresh ice water a few times a day.
I have never bought scratch and never will.

eta: I also give them Rooster Booster Poultry Cell once a week.

 

[micstrachan]

I would still like to see studies on commercial feed and longevity. I thought commercial feed was developed for the poultry food industry where egg layers are only meant to live a couple years. Don’t get me wrong, my flock is on the best commercial feed I can get. But they do get occasional treats and free range at least a little bit almost daily.

@Texas Kiki do you feed them layer during molt, too? Is everyone still laying?

 

[Kiki]

I would still like to see studies on commercial feed and longevity. I thought commercial feed was developed for the poultry food industry where egg layers are only meant to live a couple years. Don’t get me wrong, my flock is on the best commercial feed I can get. But they do get occasional treats and free range at least a little bit almost daily.

@Texas Kiki do you feed them layer during molt, too? Is everyone still laying?

I switch to one bag of grower type feed during molt...one bag of feed usually lasts me about a month.
After the one bag they go right back to layer.


Yes...all of my girls are still laying good.

 

[Kiki]

I would still like to see studies on commercial feed and longevity. I thought commercial feed was developed for the poultry food industry where egg layers are only meant to live a couple years. Don’t get me wrong, my flock is on the best commercial feed I can get. But they do get occasional treats and free range at least a little bit almost daily.

@Texas Kiki do you feed them layer during molt, too? Is everyone still laying?

This is the way I look at it.
Commercially made feed is a complete diet.
Think of all treats as chips and candy.
The more treats you feed the more you are taking away from their balanced diet.
More treats could mean more weight put on...
fat/fatter chickens are more likely to have problems.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My girls get complete layer feed in the form of crumbles.
Once in a blue moon they will share an egg or two or a little left over chicken.
Not daily and not even weekly.
During the summer they get fresh ice water a few times a day.
I have never bought scratch and never will.

eta: I also give them Rooster Booster Poultry Cell once a week.

Thanks. And now back to the original topic. Sorry to interrupt.

 

[micstrachan]

Well, there won’t be any more info until next week. I keep obsessing over the “red tinged lungs” and the respiratory issue that has been in my flock for months. 100% biosecurity is impossible if I want to let my flock free range, which I think is important for physical and mental health. My coop and run are out front and our yard is not fenced in. So my flock’s free range area is shared with the wildlife, in addition to the mail truck, UPS truck, propane truck, and all the beach goers who get lost on their way home.

Margo’s decline was crazy fast. It started with a droopy tail and stumbling. It rapidly (36 hours?) progressed to Margo being limp and unresponsive. There was nothing noteworthy in the prelim except the red tinged lungs. Interestingly, Margo never appeared to be in respiratory distress until the end. She was putting her beak in the air and open mouth breathing until she seemed somewhat unconscious.

 

[Kiki]

Well, there won’t be any more info until next week. I keep obsessing over the “red tinged lungs” and the respiratory issue that has been in my flock for months. 100% biosecurity is impossible if I want to let my flock free range, which I think is important for physical and mental health. My coop and run are out front and our yard is not fenced in. So my flock’s free range area is shared with the wildlife, in addition to the mail truck, UPS truck, propane truck, and all the beach goers who get list on their way home.

Margo’s decline was crazy fast. It started with a droopy tail and stumbling. It rapidly (36 hours?) progressed to Margo being limp and unresponsive. There was nothing noteworthy in the prelim except the red tinged lungs. Interestingly, Margo never appeared to be in respiratory distress until the end. She was putting her beak in the air and open mouth breathing until she seemed somewhat unconscious.

Aspergillosis comes to mind.