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

[Teila]

Thank you all for your kind comments regarding the picture .. I might just enter it next year

RodneyRooster I am sorry to hear that you lost a couple of eggs and while we can all say “it happens and do not beat yourself up”, I know you probably will.

If it was here, I would say Crow for sure!

Anyways, we have probably all felt like bad chicken parents at one time or another .. while I have never forgotten to lock them in; probably because I am paranoid and annoy myself by having to check 3 or 4 times that I have locked the doors

I did lock Cilla out of the coop one day because I was 100% positive she was broody … I eventually caved because her insistence was getting to the point of frantic and she jumped in the nest box and laid an egg!

I still feel bad about that to this day but it did teach me to ensure they definitely are broody before trying to break them.

Wooo hooo .. hatch day! So waiting for some good news!

 

[RodneyRooster]

Thanks @Teila. I know that it happens sometimes its just horrible that the one time i did something bad happens. Should have been more responsible. Our routine was totally out of wack yesterday.

Yep im heading over and listening and watching for movement every hour or more cant wait!

 

[Teila]

Thanks @Teila . I know that it happens sometimes its just horrible that the one time i did something bad happens. Should have been more responsible. Our routine was totally out of wack yesterday.

Yep im heading over and listening and watching for movement every hour or more cant wait!

I find with my gals, even though they chatter to the eggs, they definitely become more fussy and increase the chatter when they know something is going to happen soon .. so, rather than being 'in the zone', they are more fidgety, lots of moving of straw, more alert and nattering etc.

 

[RodneyRooster]

I find with my gals, even though they chatter to the eggs, they definitely become more fussy and increase the chatter when they know something is going to happen soon .. so, rather than being 'in the zone', they are more fidgety, lots of moving of straw, more alert and nattering etc.

Thanks! Havent heard any chattering as yet but shes definitely been more alert this weekend. Normally she would only fluff up if i go to touch her or get under her for a look but this weekend whenever i go to my peep area to sneak a look (outside of the pen, about a metre and a half away from her) she has been fluffing up and gave me a little warning chirp once or twice. As soon as she sees me she knows theyre close!

 

[Bethan]

Teila are you blaming the crows for RodneyRooster's lost eggs because they woke you too early this morning? HeHe. I think i am also super careful with the coop door RR & have still come home from work to chooks who have had an awesome day out unsupervised. Yep, we feel bad! that we're not perfect. Great news though that its only a little disaster & looking forward to your BIG event!

 

[Teila]

Tee hee Bethan, you came on the scene after the commencement of my ongoing battle with the Crows but if you get bored one day, you can read all about it here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/906780/my-home-has-become-crow-central-why

Maybe I am blaming the Crows because I hate them

.. but I need to get some form of revenge and the law does not allow me to extract the revenge I would like

Anything goes wrong .. blame Crows!! lol

 

[Bethan]

Just read your crow rant history Teila . That is alot of crows, a "murder" indeed! Very Hitchcock! Would freak me out too

 

[Anniebee]

So just to clarify, so your saying if you have had chicken pox shingles isn't contagious? It just pops up from being run down?

Being run down around chicken pox won't or will increase your chances of shingles if you previously had chicken pox ?

I know someone who I'll be telling about this immunisation.

Hi appps ....

The following link explains a bit http://www.webmd.com/vaccines/features/shingles-vaccine-for-adults .... but not a lot.

I read several sites and all were a little inconclusive. From my own understanding of it though - it's this : If you have had chicken pox, it will remain within you for life - and
when you are run down might pop it's nasty head up and create a painful spotty oozy rash around the middle ( tummy ) ... which is shingles.

I had shingles years ago - they began mid back on the right side, and came around to between my side and stomach. Did not reach the belly button area. Disappeared over a couple of weeks, but the nerve pain remained for a while - more annoying than anything. Cannot for the life of me remember how it was treated ( calamine lotion ?? - pain killers ? ) .... AND it was not long after my divorce through a magistrates' court - before Family Law courts were in existence.

Now ..... if - at the time I had shingles, and was near to or touched someone who had NOT had chicken pox ( usually in childhood ) which creates a form of immunity .... then it would have been contagious for them. They could either get a nice dose of chicken pox, or shingles - from me. Both viruses are of the same family - herpes zoster ( varicella-zoster). There are other types of herpes - one of which can be associated with cold sores. https://www.zocdoc.com/answers/10512/are-cold-sores-the-same-thing-as-herpes .... this link gives some reasonable explanations.

At the time I had shingles, it was not known then, what is known now ( well at least my doctor didn't tell me not to go near a pregnant woman - and didn't mention it being contagious, from memory ). I was actually surprised to find out about it here - and on med. sites.

To answer a couple of your queries .... " being run down around chicken pox, won't or will increase your chances of shingles if you previously had chicken pox " .... if you have had chicken pox, then you already have it in your system. From my understanding, if you are run down or stressed ( and the 2nd link mentions stress - but in a minor sense ) ... then your own chicken pox could reactivate itself in the form of shingles. I think that once having had chicken pox, you cannot catch chicken pox ( all over the body ) again. From another search :

Once you have had chickenpox, you usually develop antibodies
to the infection and become immune to catching it again.
However, the virus that causes chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus,
remains inactive (dormant)in your body's nerve tissues
and can return later in life as an illness called shingles.
​

So from all the above - shingles is only contagious to those who have never had chicken pox. ... At least that's my understanding of it.

If - as in Fancys' case, there has been an outbreak of shingles in her area, it is likely that the people who have caught it - never had chicken pox. As a common childhood disease, it is highly contagious. A child who 'catches' chicken pox, from some other child - then plays in a play group with other kids - will no doubt infect most of the play group. I remember my own mother telling me that it was 'best to have chicken pox as a kid' ... cos then you are immune from it forever. Well she was only half right.

I hope this horridly long explanation answers your questions.

Cheers ---

 

[swirler]

To be rather clearer (I hope): the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) appears in two forms.

A person's initial infection with VZV is called chickenpox, and it causes lesions all over the body (from tens to many hundreds). It may or may not stay dormant in spinal nerve roots and reactivate later in life (usually at a period when a person is run down, but not always), at which point it will appear as shingles. Shingles lesions occur in just one dermatome, which is the section of skin supplied by one spinal nerve - either as a belt-like distribution on the torso (hence the name, from cingulum), or as a stripe or patch on a limb or on the head/face. Shingles in a certain part of the face can affect the eye which can be very serious. Multi-dermatomal shingles can happen, but only in people who have an immune system disorder.

Early treatment of shingles with antivirals is helpful, particularly in reducing post-shingles nerve pain. Later treatment is not helpful, so the earlier the better.

The fluid from shingles blisters contains VZV and is infectious, and can cause chickenpox in those who are susceptible. However people don't really "catch shingles" from another person with shingles - if they're going to get anything from it, it's chickenpox.

And immunisation can help prevent both conditions.

 

[Anniebee]

If you had chicken pox as a child and come in contact with the virus you will get shingles. However if you come in contact with a person carrying shingles and you've never had either , you will be susceptible to chicken pox. The vaccine my doctor friend was referring to is new.

Fancychooklady .... I am not at all certain that having chicken pox as a child - which gives immunity to that particular herpes virus ( varicella-zoster, also known as herpes-zoster ) ... will automatically lead to getting shingles if a person comes in contact with another person with shingles. I mean, I have had both - chicken pox and shingles, but I hear you saying that if I come in contact with someone with shingles now, I could ' catch ' the shingles ? .... I don't think it quite works that way.

I will ask my doctor next time I see him, about that --- it is an interesting discussion.

From what I have read, the vaccine is indeed new, and it's a good thing too - it wasn't available in 'my day'. !! We went with all the childhood disease, measles, mumps, chicken pox and german measles ( rubella ) - we weathered it, and produced immunity to them. Good for boys to get a dose of the mumps, as if they contract it later on in life, having never had it as a child, then they can be in all kinds of trouble - especially as it will swell and cause pain in ( usually ) one testicle. It can also lead to a drop in fertility in the adult male. I think it's extremely rare that it causes outright sterility.

We were a lot tougher in the old days !!

Cheers ---