Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Fancychooklady]

Fancy  How’s the Apster doing, has he settled down after the move? I'm wishing for a quiet weekend.

satay  I hope miss frizz stays out of the water now.

Teila  I’m hope Lulu  is on the mend.  Good luck on the night watch.

Fizzybelle Agnes and Mabel look lovely.

MyHaven If you’re like me you won’t have peace of mind if you don’t find out, and like you say how you can get more birds if the problem is not in the birds.  Who could cull such beautiful birds?

The Apster is already over being locked up while his ' partners in crime ' graze on grass.
He is such a sook that he doesn't want to walk in the puddle to get to the water trough, so I have been bucketing water to him.
Scarlett seems to have escaped unharmed , but the same can't be said for the fence.
Buddy my BLRW roo is still a little unbalanced , but by geez did he put up a fight when I caught him and put him in sick bay. He certainly hasn't lost any condition , heavy little bugger.
Everyone got solvita in their water today and I will continue it for 3-4 days.

 

[sjturner79]

Diamond and her new bub.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Absolutely good thought. One girl who had bite marks from the fox could have got desease as well (although not respiratory I'd say)

Finding out what it is will go a long way to finding out where its origins lay. It looks like it's going to cost a lot but I need to know. Someone pointed out that I could replace my flock for what it is costing me, but I wouldn't know if it was in the ground or if the risk is still there and new birds were likely to get infected.

I couldn't cull my One eyed Liz Taylor.

Or Nelly, Fraidy, the Dorathy's, Cagney and Lacey .......

Or the bubs

Without changing me. They are in my care.

I wouldn't even contemplate culling my entire flock , but if I knew there was a infectious disease in my flock I would have a ' closed flock '.
How did Liz lose her eye ?

 

[Fancychooklady]

Diamond and her new bub.

 

[LuckysMum]

Diamond and her new bub.

It never gets old does it. So beautiful.

 

[MyHaven]

I use our hay and have only had an issue with mold once. The rain was running down the back wall of the nest boxes , but a bit of flashing put an end to that.
Hay is very scarce this year and is up to $26 a bale arlready. So I have just purchased 6 bales of ' bedding straw '. I have tried the sugar cane and found it to be very dusty. There are certain things that can trigger CRD , rising ammonia from droppings under the perch, mold spores, dusty food and bedding, even DE is thought to be a trigger.

That hay price is highway robbery.

It has occurred to me that the mulch certainly isn't helping if not hurting. I was going to clean out the nest boxes - not that any sick ones are using them. And also shovel out the coop. The last weekend it rained so would have made a mess of it, the weekend before that I fell victim to bad headaches, the one before that I couldn't find masks. And I'm not disturbing anything in there to breath it.

So, do not only question you Doctor, question the Chemist also.

Yes, we need to question and do our own research as well. As tiering as it may get we have to be well informed and seek second opinions if our gut tells us do. Lucky you were there for your son - and lucky he's a bean stalk.

No one moved me or repositioned me so I ended up with a very nasty bedsore.
.

They forgot to move all of me while I was in ICU. I already had bed sores as a started out at under 40kg and the Dysart hospital was still tying sheets on the bed. That causes bed sores. Any way later I had a dead spot under my heal. 6 months later or longer timeframes are a blur, it peeled off. The skin was unbelievably thick. I eventually got feeling back in it.

I'm glad you are still here with us.

Change of subject: I do hope your horse comes good with no long term damage.

Thanks MyHaven ... for the info.    It's the purchased hay from heaven knows where it has been cut, that I was referring to.  Your own you know, you dry, and roll ( or pack ), so you know it to be good stuff.   Have to wonder about sugar cane mulch, organic or not.  Queensland has the cane toad, poisonous little blighters, running around brushing against the sugar cane stalks, which most likely is used to produce the mulch.   So have to query whether some of that poison is carried in sugar cane mulch, causing it to be suspect.
Just a random thought there.    

Interesting about the colour spray.   Unusual situation in my chook 'ouse.   Mandy Welsummer has definitely stopped moulting, retains a less than red comb, but I believe has laid the last 3 eggs I have had - maybe others before hand ??    .... Yesterdays egg was sprayed - in 2 large blotches with a delightful terra cotta brown 'paint'.   I freaked out at first, thinking it was blood ... but it wouldn't wash off....  .   The eggs she is producing are smallish for her.   But I am not surprised at that, as I seem to remember that when they come back into lay, they start small.    The problem with blue ( or green / olive ) eggs, is that those I give them away to when I have plenty, always request 'some of those blue ones'. !!   They are very popular.  

As satay suggested, I may just be fortunate to have an ara that came from an all blue-egg-laying hen.  When she is back in lay, I will take a photograph ( outside in normal daylight ) of the range of colours she produces, including the blue, from the spray she manages to deliver.  

I am so pleased to know that you are cancer free, even though it has understandably taken its' toll.   I would imagine that exercise and fitness regimes would be exhausting

Cane toads run mad across my yard. We're stuck with them here I'm afraid. They go into the run and coop at night if there is any food left. That's one reason why I do not leave food out or feed scraps later in the day. If it can't be consumed by nightfall they don't get it.

You do have some egg mysteries. She is a lovely looking bird and I look forward to seeing the egg photos.

Thanks - yes, it is hard to exercise. When I was first recovering I lied about how well I was. I wanted to get back to normality. I have no flexibility or endurance.

 

[MyHaven]

I wouldn't even contemplate culling my entire flock , but if I knew there was a infectious disease in my flock I would have a ' closed flock '.
How did Liz lose her eye ?

I have too many birds and some I have hatched for other people so sadly I can't have a closed flock with all the current inhabitants. I just hope beyond hope they won't be carriers and they can be rehomed. Yes, my keepers will become a closed flock if need be.

Lizzy staked her eye I think. I just found it sore, it may have had something in it. I took her to the vet and started treatment. Unfortunately it ruptured and I had to get it removed. I brought her home from the vet and she gobbled down her tucker and was noticeably more comfortable once the pain was gone.

 

[MyHaven]

that makes me feel much better - NOT.   Now I'll be following Flossie around all day tomorrow as well. LOL

I know your post was a day ago so hopefully you know the answer and I will eventually catch up - but if not by two bobs worth is -
Watch her but I wouldn't worry yet. It does sound like she could be going clucky. I have had one of my Australorp hens start acting clucky while they are still laying their clutch. They go dull in the comb and make clucky noises and lay for a few more days. Then they are on the nest full time. Also I 9 chooks and got 10 eggs in a day - once. It was fine.

 

[MyHaven]

Yes Annie, he certainly did a good job of it. When we found him he was sitting and we could see the star picket had penetrated but weren't really sure how far in it was. He simply laid his head on the ground and waited for us to cut him out. Rather strange how calm he was, while I was in a flat panic . The vet said that he had been a very lucky boy and no doubt his lack of ' thrashing around ' worked in his favor. Fingers crossed that we can keep infection at bay and that the wires wrapped around his fetlock didn't cut the circulation off for too long. Only time will tell. :/

He sounds smart and he obviously trusts you.

 

[Anniebee]

Fancy I hope your horse is behaving and looking like its going to heal quickly.

Our chemist gives me print out on any new drugs I take and I only go to one chemist, he knows us and knows what we are taking (on the computer). We have been going there for 17 years so he does know us well. He has on occasion rung the doctor if he thinks he needs more info.

I found this on the dept of agriculture site. It explains why we don't get sugar cane mulch in WA.
The import of sugarcane mulch, used by many home gardeners in Western Australia, will be restricted from 31 May this year, because of its potential to carry seeds that could threaten the State’s biosecurity and agriculture.
After this date, a permit will be required to import sugarcane mulch, and permits will only be issued if a system or treatment is in place to ensure its freedom from risk seeds.
We began to receive reports from the public about unusual plants germinating from sugarcane mulch in 2011,” Mr Read said.
“The most serious of these identified by the department is Mimosa pudica, a prohibited pest plant in Western Australia reported in late January this year. Since then, careful consideration had been given to dealing with the sugarcane mulch problem.”
Mimosa pudica, often known as common sensitive plant, has sharp prickles that can inhibit grazing and cause painful wounds.
It poses significant potential to become a serious weed in the north of Western Australia.
Import requirements for sugarcane mulch had to be strengthened due to the biosecurity risks posed by this pathway, and an inability to successfully screen for contaminants,” he said.
At this time only irradiation is recognised as an appropriate treatment against seed contaminants.

So it looks like it was seed contaminants that was the problem. But I agree its very dusty.

potatochip good luck with flossie I'm sure she will be fine now. Hopefully it was just a one of.

I ended up getting 12 eggs they are a mix of australorp, light Sussex and leghorn. I was hoping to get Araucana but she didn't have any eggs. Maybe next time. I will see what chicks turn out to be hens out the this lot before I get anymore. It looks like my last hatch 4 out of 6 are roos possibly even 5 not sure on that one yet. I'm only going on the size of their crops so I could be way off
.

LuckysMum ..... that is a lot of good info. in the red part here. And now we know why W.A. don't want sugar mulch in the State.

The mention of Mimosa made me sit up and take notice ( and then do the google bit ), as my grandmother used to grow it - it was one of her many special delights in the garden. We children, were not allowed to touch it, presumably because the leaves fold up when touched, and she didn't want us to use it as a play thing ( as kids would do ). And to think it has become a weed !!

Nana loved the little coloured balls of fluff that were the flowers, and the fern like leaves. ( also called the 'sensitive plant' ).

That is sad, as it is an interesting plant. Does not say specifically that it is poisonous to chickens or animals, but it does contain some toxic components, along with some rare and unusual chemical type elements ( found mainly in the roots ).

Wishing you success with the next lot of hatching eggs you have ( and way many more pullets ).

Cheers .........