ALABAMA!!

[Orps]

try again...I just put 10 Silver Sebright, 4 Golden Sebright. and 2 Old English Silverduckwing Bantam eggs in the incubator....keep yer fingers crossed.

Did you ever figure out why the last batch didn't hatch? Was it because of the cold?

 

[Orps]

Adding a goose to the family! Pen will be built tomorrow! And goose will be here tomorrow as well!

Why type did you get? Send pics when you get him/her?

 

[troy1]

Did you ever figure out why the last batch didn't hatch? Was it because of the cold?

I "think" they got too cold before I got them out, and some of them were 10 days old(in the house) before incubating.

I'm new at incubating and my learning curve is near straight up......

 

[Tomtommom]

Chickens got wet in the rain yesterday, and this morning a whole bunch are coughing and sneezing. *sigh* pretty sure we're looking at CRD/MG. It's my own fault... with the chicks in the coop, the adults didn't have their shelter they normally use in rain. I have plenty of other spots they COULD stay dry, but that's their prefered area. They got drenched a week ago as well...

This is why the babies aren't coughing/sneezing, they didn't get wet.

I ordered VetRx yesterday, which is kind of like fighting a fire with a watergun... but there's little point to treating it with antibiotics anyway. They'll be carriers for life either way... the weak perish, the strong survive and hopefully build a resistance. They can still live good lives, I will just have to close my flock.. or doom whatever bird I add to it. In time, once all of them are gone, we can sanitize and start anew.

 

[bamadude]

That sux tom. Sorry to hear it

 

[Dragonfly216]

Oh no, Tomtommom! I'm so sorry to hear that! Good luck with them all! Much love coming your way!

 

[Tomtommom]

I may still decide to process them all, later on.

I am in no shape to do so right now. Heck, I got dishes stacked miles high as it is... Swollen feet and out of breath when I so much think of doing something make it hard to get anything done. Culling a flock of birds is not on the agenda right now. Either way it's going to have to wait.

I put the sick bird back with the others, since I have birds that sound just as bad now.... kind of pointless to isolate her. The flock order has been disrupted though, she got into a chest bump fight with another bird. They were grabbing eachother by the neckfeathers and cheeks/wattles. She seems to have a few bruised areas on her face now

They've settled down since.

As time progresses I am more willing to accept that I may have to start over.. fix some weak spots in my approach and my coop.. make sure they have more shelter from rain.. build that grow out coop I had planned on (which likely would have avoided all this mess... although it's hard not to wonder if they weren't carriers from day one). It's good I have to wait a while either way... weigh my options. It's very possible they were carriers to begin with.

 

[Crickett]

Why type did you get?  Send pics when you get him/her?

She's a girl! Wasn't here more than an hour and already laid an egg! She has a black beak with a knob on it, dark grey back and wings, with a dark stripe down the back of her neck. She also has a dewlap under her chin. I think it's called a Chinese something or other, but I forget.

 

[bamadude]

Is it safe to process and eat sick chickens?

 

[Tomtommom]

Is it safe to process and eat sick chickens?

Kind of depends. Some things yeah, some things no. By the time I get around to culling them all, they should be healthy again, just carriers. And I may still change my mind, seeing as I don't sell eggs or chicks anyway. After reading that about 80 to 90% of flocks out there has MG carriers in it, it makes you wonder what the freaking point of wiping them all out would be.