Arizona Chickens

[ejcrist]

It's always a challenge to garden here is summer! Wood chips and other types of mulch are the way to go. Got to cover that soil.

Wow, that's a lot of garlic! How do you store until you need it?


Ducks are great! Their eggs are fantastic!

We have geckos that hang out by our porch light. Free food!

That was just part of the garlic harvest. We sold most of it but kept just what we needed. My wife braids it and hangs in the pantry and it keeps just fine for a long while. Soft necks will keep longer but I found most hard necks will keep for up to 9 months here.

 

[twinsmom6]

paynemom- I would put a fan in there if possible some air circulation is really important especially in Arizona. if you are not specific about your breed I think the hardware store chicks are Ok. That is were I got mine and they are very beautiful and no roos.... just like they said.. Hatcheries are an option too.. but I do not have experience with them. I am sorry about the loss of your peep..

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

sorry for the lost chick.

I use frozen 2 litres filled with water placed in a coop & even around where they hang out to help cool the area. My 2 buns spend the afternoon laying next to 1 most days. I've had some chicks stand/roost on them too. Down side is have to give up freezer space for 2-3 times as many as you think you'll use a day. I say that amount as they last longer when they're frozen solid. I can put them out on the patio around noon & they ice might be melted, but the bottle is till cool come dark. Our hotter days I'll put more out or swap them. Most days it's 2 for the day then the hotter nights another 2.

 

[Banaynaychicken]

Dory Botulism Update -

Dory is doing much better. She is very energetic, which is unfortunate because she now fights me when I attempt to feed her. Though I do manages to get her to drink/eat with some coaxing and towel wrapping (She gets turned into a cozy chicken burrito)

She tends to sleep all day, and I feed/water her every 2 hours with a Baby food (apple and oats mix) and Yogurt mix, feed her solids, medicated crumble by medicated crumble, and wash her down with 9 cc of Sav-A-Chick electrolyte/probiotic water.

She is in a moving bin, (covered with a towel at night and uncovered during the day) lined with wood shavings, and surrounded by a nice clean towel to support her neck, which has been "wry neck" for the past 2 days.

She loves the constant attention, but her friend, Winnie the SL Wyandotte, misses her.

I give Winnie a pal to sleep with at night, Yukon, who is great with babies. (Shes my silkie)

Unfortunately, Dory, if she recovers from the moldy lung infection, she may not fully recover from the muscle damage done by the disease. My dad said that if her recovery process and improvement over the next week is not a remarkable, that we will have to consider putting her down. He doesn't want her to live with a disability, and knows that we will not always have the time to spoon feed her. But I am hoping for the best for my dear Polish baby.



Is there anything more I could be doing?

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

I don't know if there is or not. Her energetic improvement is awesome. Might just take her a bit of time. Nothing wrong having a disability, but I do understand the concern about possibly spoon feeding her for life. Have you thought of bringing Winnie (that's the name of my chicken, sl wyandotte i think, that's at my dad's--too funny!) inside to spend time with Dory? Maybe a visit from her friend will help.

 

[Sill]

Dory Botulism Update -

Dory is doing much better. She is very energetic, which is unfortunate because she now fights me when I attempt to feed her. Though I do manages to get her to drink/eat with some coaxing and towel wrapping (She gets turned into a cozy chicken burrito)

She tends to sleep all day, and I feed/water her every 2 hours with a Baby food (apple and oats mix) and Yogurt mix, feed her solids, medicated crumble by medicated crumble, and wash her down with 9 cc of Sav-A-Chick electrolyte/probiotic water.

She is in a moving bin, (covered with a towel at night and uncovered during the day) lined with wood shavings, and surrounded by a nice clean towel to support her neck, which has been "wry neck" for the past 2 days.

She loves the constant attention, but her friend, Winnie the SL Wyandotte, misses her.

I give Winnie a pal to sleep with at night, Yukon, who is great with babies. (Shes my silkie)

Unfortunately, Dory, if she recovers from the moldy lung infection, she may not fully recover from the muscle damage done by the disease. My dad said that if her recovery process and improvement over the next week is not a remarkable, that we will have to consider putting her down. He doesn't want her to live with a disability, and knows that we will not always have the time to spoon feed her. But I am hoping for the best for my dear Polish baby.



Is there anything more I could be doing?

Remember that antibiotics don't work on molds, only specific bacteria. If she truly has mold in her lungs she would need an antifungal. Chickens and birds in general can and do recover from some horrific illnesses and injuries so don't give up on her yet. I give them a couple of weeks and if there is not enough improvement to give the bird good quality of life I put them down.

 

[cactusrota]

I thought botulism was a bacteria... was i wrong?

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Can anyone confirm for me if this is a pea comb? I've never seen one in person & haven't been able to find a good pic of one on a week old. If it is...then the 3 I'd thought were gold laced cochin are actually buff brahma. Wings are coming in & they aren't laced...more mille fleur pattern for each side being a different color. However, there's no sign of a fuzzy face & ideal doesn't carry mille fleur cochin. If so, I'm totally stoked!

And 1 of them will definitely be staying....just have to do the best guess as to a girl.

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Another question...I swear I should be done for the night...I found an egg in the yard. I know it doesn't belong to my 3 older girls. Has to be one from the 2month olds. I think 1 of my americauna/easter eggers. They were a bit older when I got them....I thought maybe a few weeks, but now I'm wondering if they might be closer to 4months.

The egg is a bit bigger than a bantam & a tinted beige color. Reminds of the size when my sex-link first laid. In the pic left to right are the eggs from: red sex-link, sultan bantam, mystery, cochin bantam. Sorry about the shadow...I have horrible lighting in my kitchen. Could I have one laying? I mean, someone is....only other choices are 2 polish, crevecoeur, gold sex-link,or a production red (some dark red one). The rest are the 5 boys & a sultan.

I know the sultan, polish, & crevecoeur all lay white eggs. The other 2 should be brown. Plus, everyone else I know is the 2month age. Just seems early, but maybe not.

They are all eating flock raiser now...with layer pullets out for the big girls. Had to switch to the flock stuff cause everyone was eating the chick food & my red sex-link needs the calcium & extra protein cause of her molt & laying those soft-shelled eggs every so often. I think the other girls have done at least 1 of those this week too. Found 1 bantam size & the other was broken open so hard to tell.

Any rate...the food wouldn't cause them to lay too soon would it? Do you think it's the americauna/easter egger? In person I think the egg has a sort of green wash over beige coloring...least that's how I'd paint it. If wanted/needed I can try for a pic in daylight.

Thank you all so much!!! I'm learning lots. It's so appreciated.

Off to watch a movie & wait for the meds to kick in rest of the way.

 

[DesertChic]

Another question...I swear I should be done for the night...I found an egg in the yard. I know it doesn't belong to my 3 older girls. Has to be one from the 2month olds. I think 1 of my americauna/easter eggers. They were a bit older when I got them....I thought maybe a few weeks, but now I'm wondering if they might be closer to 4months.

The egg is a bit bigger than a bantam & a tinted beige color. Reminds of the size when my sex-link first laid. In the pic left to right are the eggs from: red sex-link, sultan bantam, mystery, cochin bantam. Sorry about the shadow...I have horrible lighting in my kitchen. Could I have one laying? I mean, someone is....only other choices are 2 polish, crevecoeur, gold sex-link,or a production red (some dark red one). The rest are the 5 boys & a sultan.

I know the sultan, polish, & crevecoeur all lay white eggs. The other 2 should be brown. Plus, everyone else I know is the 2month age. Just seems early, but maybe not.

They are all eating flock raiser now...with layer pullets out for the big girls. Had to switch to the flock stuff cause everyone was eating the chick food & my red sex-link needs the calcium & extra protein cause of her molt & laying those soft-shelled eggs every so often. I think the other girls have done at least 1 of those this week too. Found 1 bantam size & the other was broken open so hard to tell.

Any rate...the food wouldn't cause them to lay too soon would it? Do you think it's the americauna/easter egger? In person I think the egg has a sort of green wash over beige coloring...least that's how I'd paint it. If wanted/needed I can try for a pic in daylight.

Thank you all so much!!! I'm learning lots. It's so appreciated.

Off to watch a movie & wait for the meds to kick in rest of the way.

2 months old is way too young for them to start laying. If they are in fact older than you think, then maybe, but not at 2 months. Another possibility is that one of your laying birds has laid a "correction egg". I see this the most often during periods of stress, such as during a heavy molt, stressful weather conditions, dietary deficiencies, etc. One of my layers may lay a smaller or otherwise strange egg, take a day or two off, and then resume normal laying. Sometimes there's blood in the "correction egg", or the shell is too thin, etc. And they often don't lay these eggs in a nesting box, seemingly sensing that there's something abnormal about it. I also see this happen in my birds that lay the most eggs. All four of my Australorps have laid "correction eggs" at one point in time and then continued to lay normally for months.