Ailing wee Pea

[casportpony]

I find that getting hold of their legs tends to keep them from struggling as much. Maybe you could tape the legs together? Another important note... best to do dusting in their aviary, so if they get away, it's no big deal.

I did a bunch of mine on the front porch awhile ago and was quite worried about what would happen if I lost my grip, cause these were all wild! Got 'em all done, weighed, too.

-Kathy

 

[Garden Peas]

I find that getting hold of their legs tends to keep them from struggling as much. Maybe you could tape the legs together? Another important note... best to do dusting in their aviary, so if they get away, it's no big deal.

I did a bunch of mine on the front porch awhile ago and was quite worried about what would happen if I lost my grip, cause these were all wild! Got 'em all done, weighed, too.

-Kathy

Interesting... I've been keeping the wings pinned to the bird, and keeping the legs free and away from anything -- and holding the hen around the body/wings. That has seemed to keep her the calmest, especially when she's somewhat inverted. When her legs don't touch anything, she can't use them to push or for leverage, so she quits using them to fight. But that's why I'm asking... kinda having to figure it out by trial and error, and that's always dangerous.

 

[casportpony]

I have found that holding the legs together and back can help.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

http://parasitipedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2540&Itemid=2816
"So far there are no feed additives or whatever products for oral delivery that adequately control red poultry mites.

Macrocyclic lactones (e.g. ivermectin, moxidectin), whether for oral delivery or as injectables do not control northern fowl mites: the effective dose would be very close to the dose that is toxic for the birds. Moreover, in most countries macrocyclic lactones are no approved for use on poultry."

-Kathy

Edited to add: Have no idea how true it is, just wanted to share.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I'm not saying it's easy, lol. Deworming, weighing and dusting that bunch wore me out, even got some bruises and rips in my shirt and sweat pants. The big 6kg boys can be really hard to do!

-Kathy

 

[Garden Peas]

I'm not saying it's easy, lol. Deworming, weighing and dusting that bunch wore me out, even got some bruises and rips in my shirt and sweat pants. The big 6kg boys can be really hard to do!

-Kathy

Alright, this might sound stupid, but how on earth did you WEIGH them? Surely they did not stand quietly on the scale?

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I weighed my lard arse on the human scale, then weighed myself again holding the bird. Of course this meant that I had to transport each bird to the house, which was lots of work and a little scary, lol. What's interesting is that after I did a few I could pretty much guess within a couple hundred grams with the rest.

What I want to do is figure out how to set up a portable scale to weigh them in their aviaries. The human scale really isn't very accurate unless it's on flat concrete of wood floors.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

FYI, my kitchen scale only goes to 5kg, so it can't weigh the big boys, but I did use it for my wild hens, just did it in the dark bathroom and they stood perfectly still.

-Kathy

 

[KsKingBee]

I weighed my lard arse on the human scale, then weighed myself again holding the bird. Of course this meant that I had to transport each bird to the house, which was lots of work and a little scary, lol. What's interesting is that after I did a few I could pretty much guess within a couple hundred grams with the rest.

What I want to do is figure out how to set up a portable scale to weigh them in their aviaries. The human scale really isn't very accurate unless it's on flat concrete of wood floors.

-Kathy

I like those scales at the vet office. Large flat area to put the cage on and a led readout on the wall. Take the pet out and subtract the cage.

 

[Garden Peas]

I like those scales at the vet office. Large flat area to put the cage on and a led readout on the wall. Take the pet out and subtract the cage.

Yeah, me too. And I was just discussing with the vet yesterday how interesting it would be to try to fetch the big TT boy down there in full train, as we stared at the "large" carrying case full of half-grown peahen. (Cuz I asked if she knew any way to fix TT, and she said I should bring him in... till she thought about it.) I don't have a crate big enough to easily get the big boys to the vet (and I have the biggest dog crate made, I think....)

So unless I am gonna buy one of those and install it in the pea pen, I'm kinda outta luck. But those are AWESOME.

In my wildest imagination, I dream of a roost with a built-in scale