another question...maybe a dumb mistake.

[chicknmania]

so Sweetpea has been broody all spring and summer, since May anyway. Her old nest failed and she ate the eggs or who knows what. Then she got off it for a couple of days, then right back on it she went. I just didn't want to take the nest away, they are different from chickens. And I was hoping she'd break her own broody cycle and I wouldn't have to confine her. But then Snap (who's only about a year old) started sitting in there too. The two hens were setting in the box for two days and I started getting worried as I didn't think Snap should be going broody already, she's too young, isn't she? In light of everything that's been happening with our flock being sick I started worrying that the two peahens were getting sick. So we decided to take them off the nest and confine them for a few days, just to see. We each grabbed one, and of course this did not work at all. Stupidly, we didn't use nets, didn't think we'd need them since they were just sitting there. They both got away, and neither one looked particularly ill that I could tell, though Snap had feathers stuck to her beak. We took the nest box away and dumped the contents, and they did have fresh eggs in them, so maybe they were broody? Sweetpea took out her frustrations on the poor chickens, but now both peahens are roosting and don't seem too bothered, though I'm sure they will remember this.

Should we have left them alone? I want Sweetpea to go dust....I sprayed her with lice spray the other day but I am sure she needs more than that. Snap has been dusting regularly except for the past two days. Did we do the right thing or should we have done something different?

Signed

a still too new pea mom.......sighhhh.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hmmm...Not sure why you didn't just leave them alone?

Just my experience, but peas know when they need to dust bathe and they do it on their own.
When our girls are on their nests, they don't hesitate to take dust bath breaks as needed.

 

[chicknmania]

They don't eat as much, drink as much, or dust bathe as much when they are setting, which is not healthy over a period of months, and Snap is really a little young to go broody. I just said that because our flock had some problems with parasites in the past few weeks, I was concerned that the two of them might be sick, and not broody. I'm not familiar enough with peas yet to know really what exactly their habits are. But I DO know there's no point in them setting on infertile eggs til kingdom come or on an empty nest, either.. If they were chickens and were broody that long, we would not hesitate them to confine them for a few days to break the broody cycle. Two & months being broody is a few weeks too long, imo. .

 

[casportpony]

Another good reason to have a baseline weight on birds. If one is worried, you just weigh them and if they're more than a couple hundred grams lighter, you might be looking at the start of an illness. FWIW, all of my yearling hens are over 3kg and my 2 and 3 year olds are 3.5-4.5kg.

-Kathy

 

[chicknmania]

At this point I'm pretty sure they were both just broody. Maybe Snap was bored and just imitating her friend. Normally those two can't live without each other, or so it seems. Anyway, by this morning I was more worried about upsetting them and/ or traumatizing them. I feel bad about making them move, but by the same token, maybe at least they'll get to enjoy a little bit of summer.

 

[zazouse]

When was the last time you wormed them and and if you did what did you worm them with and for how long did you give it to them?

 

[chicknmania]

I dewormed them with Levamisole on July 1. And again on July 7. This is because the flock was having a problem with worms, especially Capillary worms. \
And I think she might be having a bad reaction to the dewormer or, the toxicity given off by worms. Either that or she is eggbound. This morning she was running
around obviously in distress, making a strange noise like a moaning noise I have never heard her make before. Her wings were away from her body. She did this before with the wings,
several months ago. At the time we thought she was eggbound but she apparently resolved the problem herself. But she was not like she is today. I am extremely worried
about her but there's no way I can even begin to try to catch her until she comes back in to the barn. And in fact, right now I can't even find her. I did get the nest box she was using,
put fresh bedding in it and put it back where it was. Snap is there above the nest box, so I am hoping she will come back to be with Snap.

to make matters worse I do have to work today,
so I can't spend the day looking for her either.

 

[zazouse]

I never heard of this as a wormer and how many days in a row were you suppose to use it?
Safeguard will kill most all worms, i would highly recommend it cause it is possible this med you used did not do this for you and your birds can die very easily from worms, i read about it here pretty often


This is what i found when i looked up your product,
Levamisole, marketed as the hydrochloride salt under the trade name Ergamisol (R12564), is an antihelminthic and immunomodulator belonging to a class of synthetic imidazothiazole derivatives. It was discovered in 1966 at Belgium's Janssen Pharmaceutica, where it was prepared initially in the form of its racemate called tetramisole.[1] The two stereoisomers of tetramisole were subsequently synthesized, and the levorotatory isomer was given the name levamisole.[2] Levamisole was originally marketed in humans to treat parasitic worm infections. However, Levamisole was withdrawn from the U.S. and Canadian markets in 1999 and 2003, respectively, due to the risk of serious side effects and the availability of more effective replacement medications.[3][4] The most serious side effect of levamisole isagranulocytosis, a severe depletion of white blood cells that leaves patients vulnerable to infection. More recently, Levamisole has been studied in combination with other forms of chemotherapy for the treatment of colon cancer, melanoma, and head and neck cancer. Currently, Levamisole remains in veterinary use as a dewormer for livestock.
The medication has also been increasingly used as an adulterant in cocaine sold in the United States and Canada, resulting in serious side effects.[5][6] It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, a list of the most important medication needed in a basic health system.[7]

Does your hen look like this? can you post photos of them, it wold be easer than trying to guess what condition they may be in, sometimes a photo will let us pick up on some clue that may not be noticed by the owner.

 

[casportpony]

I believe it's a one day dose, but don't quote me on that.

-kathy

 

[chicknmania]

I believe it's a one day dose, but don't quote me on that.

-kathy

If you're talking about the Levamisole, yes, it's a one day dose, but you are supposed to dose a second time ten days later. In our case, we were instructed to dose a second time a week later. This is because we were trying to get a quick control on the worm problem. Levamisole has been around awhile, as you can see. It was recommended as being one of the best in this situation. I researched it and learned that it is considered to be pretty safe. My concern was possible toxicity from the worms themselves, if they are killed in large numbers by the dewormer. We have had a bad experience with these worms, we have lost seven birds since the beginning of the year, we had necropsy done on one, and feel that the worms (based on symptoms) were the cause of death in at least five of the others. And really, probably all of them. So yeah, we know all about death from worms.

We intend to deworm again,next month, because the Capillary worms bury themselves in the digestive tract linings...crop, throat, intestines....of the birds. Making it hard to kill the worms.

My question is, why did you ask about deworming? Would her symptoms (continual broodiness) lead you to believe that she might be sick?

Yes, she did look like the pictures above. I did not have a camera with me when I went out to feed, and she was running around, as I said. She was also ..moaning? It was distressing.