Arizona Chickens

[ejcrist]

I would use plywood rather than OSB if I had the choice. OSB is hard to clean and it doesn't hold up well to chicken pecking.

Excellent point - thanks. I'll be painting the interior to keep the wood from getting poop ingrained in it and I forgot that OSB is more porous and falls apart easier - you got a good point there; definitely right about that. I think I'll go with 1/2" plywood.

 

[countrygirl74]

Hey Arizona Friends!
I have not been on here in a really loooong time! But, I am hoping you guys can help me out as I have not received any feedback as of yet in the "emergency/disease" forum. Here is the link to the story of my beautiful blue cochin roo "Monsoon", along with a video.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1134409/help-favorite-rooster-sick-mareks-botulism

After reading that and the update below it, I thought I would also add the following...

Today he is not interested in his regular food but ate a little bit of scrambled egg, a little bit of cooked hamburger, and some zucchini. I was also in the process of making lactic acid bacteria and gave him about a tablespoon of the "cheese" off the top. He also ate a couple bites of plain yogurt with some activated charcoal spinkled on it. I have him on electrolyte water with poly-vi-sol in it right now, but he's been turning his face away when I try to put the water up to him. I think we are still making some improvement - while he still flops and does some somersaults, he can right himself and do a little bit of "low crawling" keeping himself up and he uses his beak to help as well. Definitely better than the original video. He seems alerts and preens a little bit.
Problem is that I have to go out of town tomorrow morning and won't be back until Saturday evening. I'm seriously thinking of sneaking him in where I'm staying - lol. Do you think he might be ok in an isolation pen outside? I'm just concerned that he would flop himself into his water or food - not sure if he would get himself to it ok or not. And he would be in cool temps at night by himself as it will be about 45. He is a big giant fluffball but he feels underweight. My sister might be able to watch him but she's got dogs (friendly to chickens) and lots of little ones in the house and not sure if just being there would be bad and stressful?? That maybe he would fare better outdoors sharing the fence with the rest of the flock? He's been indoors since Tuesday.

 

[BlueBaby]

I just bought 3 more nice 4 month old Australorp pullets today (1 black, and 2 blues) from the Hupps Farm line from Chase to go with my other Australorps from Kurt of Rattlesnake Ridge. I haven't taken any pictures today of the new ones, because it keeps trying to rain. I am slowly building up that pen now!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hey Arizona Friends!
I have not been on here in a really loooong time! But, I am hoping you guys can help me out as I have not received any feedback as of yet in the "emergency/disease" forum. Here is the link to the story of my beautiful blue cochin roo "Monsoon", along with a video.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1134409/help-favorite-rooster-sick-mareks-botulism

After reading that and the update below it, I thought I would also add the following...

Today he is not interested in his regular food but ate a little bit of scrambled egg, a little bit of cooked hamburger, and some zucchini. I was also in the process of making lactic acid bacteria and gave him about a tablespoon of the "cheese" off the top. He also ate a couple bites of plain yogurt with some activated charcoal spinkled on it. I have him on electrolyte water with poly-vi-sol in it right now, but he's been turning his face away when I try to put the water up to him. I think we are still making some improvement - while he still flops and does some somersaults, he can right himself and do a little bit of "low crawling" keeping himself up and he uses his beak to help as well. Definitely better than the original video. He seems alerts and preens a little bit.
Problem is that I have to go out of town tomorrow morning and won't be back until Saturday evening. I'm seriously thinking of sneaking him in where I'm staying - lol. Do you think he might be ok in an isolation pen outside? I'm just concerned that he would flop himself into his water or food - not sure if he would get himself to it ok or not. And he would be in cool temps at night by himself as it will be about 45. He is a big giant fluffball but he feels underweight. My sister might be able to watch him but she's got dogs (friendly to chickens) and lots of little ones in the house and not sure if just being there would be bad and stressful?? That maybe he would fare better outdoors sharing the fence with the rest of the flock? He's been indoors since Tuesday.

Do you think that a spider might have bitten him or something?

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Ok, thanks - good to know. I like the feed bag idea. I also have a bunch of those cheap tarps from Walmart I could probably zip tie to the chicken wire in the runs since there'll be more real estate there but I might go ahead and install the plywood in the building walls. Or I could probably use the cheaper strand board (http://www.homedepot.com/p/7-16-in-x-48-in-x-8ft-Oriented-Strand-Board-386081/202106230) which should work just as good since it'll all be indoors and not exposed to the elements. I think that's what I'll probably do. Personally I wouldn't care too much if they went at it as long as they didn't hurt themselves but I want to keep the ambiance right so I end up with a lot of fertile eggs; too much of the wrong kind of action will leave me chick-less.

I'm figuring the birds will be under a little stress when I first put them in the new setup since it'll be a change of environment, so to correct that I'll wait about two weeks before collecting any eggs to hatch. Hopefully if I keep the visual contact between sections to a minimum everything should work out pretty good. Maybe I can put a couple of bottles of wine, some candles, and some cigarettes for afterwards in there to maintain the proper atmosphere.    

Lol. Don't forget for tarps harbor freight has them as their buy something & get this free gift item at times. Plus the coupons. They just had a coupon for a free small blue tarp.

Be great if the wine, etc work. Don't forget the music!

 

[DesertChic]

Lol. Don't forget for tarps harbor freight has them as their buy something & get this free gift item at times. Plus the coupons. They just had a coupon for a free small blue tarp.

Be great if the wine, etc work. Don't forget the music!

Yeah... a little Barry White...maybe some mood lighting and incense....

 

[ejcrist]

Yeah... a little Barry White...maybe some mood lighting and incense....

Lol. Don't forget for tarps harbor freight has them as their buy something & get this free gift item at times. Plus the coupons. They just had a coupon for a free small blue tarp.

Be great if the wine, etc work. Don't forget the music!

Great ideas! Also don't forget some disco and white zinfandel. Did you ever see Techno Chicken (

).

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Great ideas! Also don't forget some disco and white zinfandel. Did you ever see Techno Chicken (

). 

Now I have.... Awesome, but annoying. Lol think I'm getting old or its hitting the headache triggers. I like the dancing chicken.

 

[countrygirl74]

Do you think that a spider might have bitten him or something?

I guess that is always possible...

Here's the good news update!!!

I had to leave town from Friday morning to Saturday night and debated on either leaving him in the house or leaving him outside in our "grow out" pen. I was hesitant on outside because the temps were going to dip but finally decided that he would be better off outdoors so he could see the rest of the flock through the fence. He could have lots of room to "flop" around and still work himself out and I put multiple shallow dishes of water and food around so he wouldn't fall into something deep. When I left, he could do a slight "crawl" but was still somersaulting. I left him with electrolyte water, one dish with poly-vi-sol and the other with colloidal silver. When I got home tonight, I wasn't sure what I would find but to my surprise he was standing and walking around!!!! He is still a little wobbly so I will wait a little longer to put him back in the coop but between all those treatments, he is pretty much better!! I may never know what it was... toxin/botulism, Marek's, or what but it appears he is recovering!

 

[BlueBaby]

I guess that is always possible...

Here's the good news update!!!

I had to leave town from Friday morning to Saturday night and debated on either leaving him in the house or leaving him outside in our "grow out" pen. I was hesitant on outside because the temps were going to dip but finally decided that he would be better off outdoors so he could see the rest of the flock through the fence. He could have lots of room to "flop" around and still work himself out and I put multiple shallow dishes of water and food around so he wouldn't fall into something deep. When I left, he could do a slight "crawl" but was still somersaulting. I left him with electrolyte water, one dish with poly-vi-sol and the other with colloidal silver. When I got home tonight, I wasn't sure what I would find but to my surprise he was standing and walking around!!!! He is still a little wobbly so I will wait a little longer to put him back in the coop but between all those treatments, he is pretty much better!! I may never know what it was... toxin/botulism, Marek's, or what but it appears he is recovering!

Well, I am glad that he is doing better now.

Good idea on waiting a bit longer before putting him back in with the flock.