Arizona Chickens

[pdx2phx]

Quote:
And cannon balls!

No - just kidding

Roos it is!

We'll tell them video games made us to it and sue the Angry Birds corporation

I have a WHOLE BUNCH of chicken poo I can contribute to any trebuchet activities!!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
We went CHristmas shopping this afternoon. Fry's Electronics had a TON of Angry Birds stuff--everything from IPod speakers to little stuffed animals. And everything in between.

Ya know...

The funny thing is there was a crash the castle game that has been around for years!

Someone used the pre-existing code, swapped graphics to the birds & made a fortune!

Just kidding about chuck'n Meg's chickies though - Chickens are our friends!



*** Yup - did it again! ***

I've never played the game, or even watched it for more than a couple of seconds; just hear enough from people that have to be aware it exists and is very popular, lol.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

pastrymama, I just got back from a trip to Santa Fe and I'm completely sickened by the tragedy you had to endure.

I am so sorry, it must have been horrible. The symptoms certainly sounded like infectious coryza, but I wonder that maybe something else might be the cause considering the measures you've taken with bringing in new chickens. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that infectious coryza is only carried by chickens (but maybe turkeys and pheasants? I can't remember)--but not wild birds. It could be possible that one of the chickens you got had it, but was otherwise healthy enough to keep any symptoms hidden. So, if it was IC, then it had to come in on one of the other chickens. There is another possibility, and that is Trichomonas gallinae. This is a protozoan parasite of wild birds that causes symptoms that read remarkably like infectious coryza. Here's the rub--it seems that most doves (at least those inside Tucson) carry this parasite. It's suspected that city living contributes to the huge frequency of doves carrying this parasite. Doves outside the city limits rarely have it (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9706569). Tucson has the greatest density of Cooper's hawks in the world (I suspect Phoenix is a close second) precisely because of the huge density of doves that we have. But the costs are high, nestling Cooper's hawks suffer greatly because of this parasite, which they get when the parents feed them infected doves. At least 85% of all Cooper's hawk nestlings in the city have this parasite, but only 9% of those outside the city have it. Chickens, turkeys and pheasants can also get Trichomonas gallinae. Here is a good, short and readable discussion of Trichomonas: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex4444.

Here's an excerpt from that link:

Avian trichomoniasis is principally a disease of young birds. The severity of the disease depends on the susceptibility of the bird and on the pathogenic potential of the strain of the parasite. Adult birds that recover from the infection may still carry the parasite, but are resistant to reinfection. These birds do not show obvious signs of infection.

In young birds, the early lesions appear as small white to yellowish areas in the mouth cavity, especially the soft palate (Figure 1). The lesions consist of inflammation and ulceration of the mucosal surface. The lesions increase in size and number and extend to the esophagus, crop and proventriculus (Figure 2). The lesions may develop into large, firm necrotic masses that may block the lumen. Occasionally, the disease may spread by penetrating the underlying tissues to involve the liver and other organs.

My guess is that a chicken with this infection would smell pretty bad too.

Here is what the Merck Vet. Manual (http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/201400.htm) says about it (and when they say caseous, think "cheesy"):

The bird may be riddled with caseous, necrotic foci. The mouth and esophagus contain a mass of necrotic material that may extend into the skull and sometimes through the surrounding tissues of the neck to involve the skin. In the esophagus and crop, the lesions may be yellow, rounded, raised areas, with a central conical caseous spur, often referred to as “yellow buttons.” The crop may be covered by a yellowish, diphtheritic membrane that may extend to the proventriculus. The gizzard and intestine are not involved. Lesions of internal organs are most frequent in the liver; they vary from a few small, yellow areas of necrosis to almost complete replacement of liver tissue by caseous necrotic debris. Adhesions and involvement of other internal organs appear to be contact extensions of the liver lesions.

I don't have any experience with either of these diseases, only with what I've read. But, it sounds like one distinguishing feature is the age at which the birds are likely to exhibit the diseases; Trichomonas gallinae is more likely to be seen in younger birds and infectious coryza is more likely to be seen in older birds. Also, it sounds like it would be good to have a look at the liver. That might be the best distinguishing feature a BYC'er could use.

Given our urban environment, the large numbers of doves and sparrows (which also carry it) and the extremely high frequency of infection in the wild birds, I would have to wonder if they might be the culprits. Also, Trichomonas gallinae is typically transmitted to poultry from wild birds after sharing a water source. The parasite doesn't live long at all in a dry environment (I think it's measured in minutes), but can live quite well in a watering dish. Do you use poultry nipples? That might help limit transmission.

I don't know if any of this will help and I certainly hope I didn't muddle things for you. And please, if anyone else has something to correct or add here, please do. I'm not an expert by any means, just a guy that likes to read obscure crap and worry himself.​

 

[Arizonachicken]

Gallo, thank you for sharing all that information. I have been considering nipple waterers, and I think I'll go with them now. Those little sparrows squeeze through the tiniest of places in the run and coop.

Mikey, do you have any extra watering nipples? How did your home-made waterer work out?

Anyone have any suggestions on a nipple waterer? thanks!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

The easiest nipple waterer is just a five gallon bucket with two nipples in the bottom. Super cheap (less than $10 if you have to buy everything) and can be made in less than five minutes. Yeah, those sparrows can squeeze into the smallest spaces! When I built my coop I naively thought my 1" X 2" welded wire would keep them out, but I wonder if they could even slip through 1" X 1" spaces.

 

[mclevinson]

Jerry said I can brood chickens in the garage office. Guess I'd better go talk to the neighbor. And if that goes well, order some wire. And make a brooder.

 

[Arizonachicken]

Quote:

 

[Mikey D]

Quote:
Some where around here there are some. The waterer works great! I've got it plumbed into the house water with a swamp cooler float. I had some issues with the float but I bent the arm down so it puts more pressure on the needle & seat & it is fine now.

I think the nipples weep a tiny bit. I am pretty confident that taking them apart & cleaning the calcium out will fix it but I've been too lazy to do it.

The only thing I'd change is to have bought a higher quality float. I bought the cheapest one Homer had.

 

[pastrymama]

Gallo
holy smokes on the info! thankyou!!!!!! i read thru the links and i was right about culling the obviously infected birds. they were 5 months, 6 months and 7 or 8 months. but i do have a few that are younger that seem to be ok. i do have an abundance of sparrows and doves all over, so anything is possible. i would think if it came in on an infected hen, this should have happened much sooner. the last ones were in august that were brought in, 3 of meg's ameraucanas. interrestingly enough, 2 of those were affected in this. but 3 of meg's birds also went to laree's and she has had no problem, that i know of. the 3 silkie chicks are away from the others, never touched the ground and i have not even handled them very much at all. they have no symtoms and wild birds cannot get into their pen. i do have regular waterers but also the little tiny cups that are attached to pvc to a 5 gallon bucket. i have not seen wild birds on the waterers, just the feeders. perhaps a treadle is in order.

whatever is was, i don't lke it. the outcome is the same and the last thing you want is to have carriers in the flock. is was a very hard decision, but i knew in my heart i needed to do it, as much as i hated it. thankyou for the research. it is very much appreciated.

SS
the chicks are getting puffier by the day. i hope there is a girl in there, they are awfully cute

 

[Arizonachicken]

Quote:
Some where around here there are some. The waterer works great! I've got it plumbed into the house water with a swamp cooler float. I had some issues with the float but I bent the arm down so it puts more pressure on the needle & seat & it is fine now.

I think the nipples weep a tiny bit. I am pretty confident that taking them apart & cleaning the calcium out will fix it but I've been too lazy to do it.

The only thing I'd change is to have bought a higher quality float. I bought the cheapest one Homer had.

I was thinking of just keeping it hand watered. I like the idea of a float, but I don't want to lay more on DH...at least not yet..

Thanks for the info, if you find some extra nipples around, let me know, or point me in the right direction, if you don't' mind! Thanks!