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

[Anniebee]

I just meant so she can't eat anything while its emptying. I let them in to some grass the other day for a change but it wasn't long or anything. It's the only thing I can think of though as they are pretty much locked up in their run now days with the Hawks. I have just been up to check on her and found a plastic ziplock lunch bag in their run. Half of it was gone but I'm not sure if it's been eaten or just degraded in sunlight. Can't imagine how it got in there, maybe from the walkway behind them but I'd have thought the netting would have stopped that.

Mind you she does love the sunflower seeds. I'm really thinking that handful of scratch mix I throw each morning may be more trouble than it's worth. Oh and yeah she was drinking when I checked again.

appps ....I am several days behind in reading all on here. I would suggest never to let them near hay --- and in Victoria at the moment - grass is seeding well and truly. I hand pick grass for my girls at the moment without the seeding grass tops. I wouldn't think they would be too digestible or dealt with too well by a crop. They are rough and tough. Just my thought.

As for the zip-lock lunch bag - that would worry me a lot ---- they love to peck at plastic ( I have noticed ), because they are natural gormandisers and like to turn things over and inside out, to find ...food. !! ... I have to raise above my head, any plastic bag of goodies I might have, because they will leap up and open it in the twinkling of an eye. So, I wouldn't put it past my girls to gobble down plastic whatsoever. And plastic doesn't degrade quickly in sunlight - from my experience.

Which is why hawk-eye Annie looks at everything that is in their run, before they are allowed out. They free range ok - but I keep the grass down now as it is sprouting seeds - so they are bereft of too many green goodies from the garden, they just find bugs and things, and dig holes to China with their dust baths. .

Green goodies they get from kitchen scraps - as long as they are good scraps - occasionally.

I do hope your little girls' impacted crop empties by itself.

Best of good luck to you ...........

 

[Fancychooklady]

Fancychooklady, I'm not sure if it's mycoplasma, or what exactly, then again we didn't send off anything to be analysed. Checking the symptoms of myco, she had no ocular discharge, she was eating fine, no leg problems, no coughing, just sneezing. Symptoms hit suddenly, but yes it could have been incubating for a while. I'm legally at my limit for fowl for my property size anyway, and these six are more than enough work for me, particularly at the moment. Annabelle had another check up today, improving even more which is great. She's just a little sad at being isolated and away from her best friend Ada. She tried really hard to get to her, snuck under the house, but it was blocked off. I put up extra barriers.

Lol, must add though, my d'uccle Beatrice just chased off her first pigeon. Iris picked it up seeing me clap/run/yell at them, and now Bea's picked it up. Smart chickies My cat meanwhile is sleeping the day away. The chooks do far more work than her.

There are several symptoms of mycoplasma but the breathing difficulty you describe is a dead give away. If the vet you are consulting with is not an avian vet , then it could take a while longer for them to diagnose .

 

[Anniebee]

I have a phone, but no clue how to get photos off it.... If I don't uncover my camera, I'll get a new one. I really want to record these physical changes.
Maybe it wasn't that obvious on your chickens. My little girl is white, so the colour change stands out on her. The avatar photo isn't very good, but she doesn't have any "chook" things on her face. She's got a little pale comb, but no dangly bits or fleshy bits. Her face is smooth and flat. She's not araucana, she's araucana/light sussex so she could be growing the comb and wattle like a light sussex. I've never raised young chickens, I've only adopted adults, so I've no idea how it usually happens.

EDIT See this chicken in this photo?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/714104/what-is-this-chicken-thinking/43620#post_16469225
It looks as if she's growing that "red stuff" around the eyes, on her cheeks and on her jaw.

Thanks potato chip .... I guess I just didn't notice, or as you said - perhaps it wasn't so obvious on mine. I have an Araucana too, who has a "rose comb" which is a tiny little thing - like a crinkled up ordinary comb, and is only just visible. She has so many fluffy sort of feathers around her face, her wattles are not visible, nor are her ears and on most occasions even her eyes disappear. After her last moult, I very carefully trimmed some feathers around her eyes, so she could at least see !!! If she gets very wet on the head, then you can see everything a bit more.

I would be interested to know how your araucana / light sussex cross turns out - in facial features.

Cheers ..........

 

[appps]

Well, no change again :-(. we are off to the vet today. Crop is just as full, she ignored even the watermelon with the poly-aid plus on it this morning. Looking at the ground where I've had her there hasn't been a poop for at least two days, only thing there might be is some watery discharge. Felt her breastbone yesterday too and she is very skinny again.

I'm thinking now maybe she ate some long stuff that really hot day I let them out under the tree to keep cool, that was probably three weeks ago. Longer I put off the vet now I think the weaker she will be when they try and remove whatever is in there. Just hope she is up to it again :-(

 

[satay]

Well, no change again :-(. we are off to the vet today. Crop is just as full, she ignored even the watermelon with the poly-aid plus on it this morning. Looking at the ground where I've had her there hasn't been a poop for at least two days, only thing there might be is some watery discharge. Felt her breastbone yesterday too and she is very skinny again.

I'm thinking now maybe she ate some long stuff that really hot day I let them out under the tree to keep cool, that was probably three weeks ago. Longer I put off the vet now I think the weaker she will be when they try and remove whatever is in there. Just hope she is up to it again :-(

Oh poor carl I hope the vet is able to help her.

 

[Teila]

Howdy folks … TGIF and more importantly, thank gawd the weather has cooled down; not sure how much more I could take. It was so nice to just in the garden with the gals after work yesterday, enjoying their antics and not feeling like I was going to melt.

appps I have been following Carl’s progress the last couple of days and had everything crossed that the news was going to be good. I am sorry to hear that she has to go back to the Vet and hope so very much that you can get her right again. I note that sweetbeak has mentioned sardines in oil; at Fancy’s recommendation, in the past I have had great success with these when treating crop issues.

cwrite the other benefit I have found with pots is that you can move them. My neighbour was doing some digging, trenching etc on the fence line as he was raising the fence to meet pool regulations. If I have not been able to move my plants out of the way, some would have been destroyed or severely damaged. Also, after placing a pot and the plant growing significantly, I have found that it is either in the wrong spot or ends up too close to it’s neighbour; easy fix with no transplant trauma

Fancy beautiful pics of the Yukon! Your daughter definitely has talent; that photograph of the tenders is stunning!!

Tee hee at the secret stash potato chip.

Fizzybelle I am sorry to read of your dramas and sympathise. Yep, sometimes they do drive you crazy and I, for one, am ensuring I enjoy those drama free times. Luckily for me, no dramas at the moment and I hope that is the case for you very soon.

Anniebee I have to say it .. you and I are so very much alike

 

[Fancychooklady]

Well, no change again :-(. we are off to the vet today. Crop is just as full, she ignored even the watermelon with the poly-aid plus on it this morning. Looking at the ground where I've had her there hasn't been a poop for at least two days, only thing there might be is some watery discharge. Felt her breastbone yesterday too and she is very skinny again.

I'm thinking now maybe she ate some long stuff that really hot day I let them out under the tree to keep cool, that was probably three weeks ago. Longer I put off the vet now I think the weaker she will be when they try and remove whatever is in there. Just hope she is up to it again :-(

OH poor Carl, let's hope that the vet can sort her out.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Howdy folks  … TGIF and more importantly, thank gawd the weather has cooled down; not sure how much more I could take.  It was so nice to just in the garden with the gals after work yesterday, enjoying their antics and not feeling like I was going to melt.

appps I have been following Carl’s progress the last couple of days and had everything crossed that the news was going to be good.  I am sorry to hear that she has to go back to the Vet and hope so very much that you can get her right again.  I note that sweetbeak has mentioned sardines in oil; at Fancy’s recommendation,  in the past I have had great success with these when treating crop issues.

cwrite the other benefit I have found with pots is that you can move them.  My neighbour was doing some digging, trenching etc on the fence line as he was raising the fence to meet pool regulations.  If I have not been able to move my plants out of the way, some would have been destroyed or severely damaged.  Also, after placing a pot and the plant growing significantly, I have found that it is either in the wrong spot or ends up too close to it’s neighbour; easy fix with no transplant trauma 

Fancy beautiful pics of the Yukon! Your daughter definitely has talent; that photograph of the tenders is stunning!!

Tee hee at the secret stash potato chip.

Fizzybelle I am sorry to read of your dramas and sympathise.  Yep, sometimes they do drive you crazy and I, for one, am ensuring I enjoy those drama free times.  Luckily for me, no dramas at the moment and I hope that is the case for you very soon.

Anniebee I have to say it .. you and I are so very much alike 

Thanks Teila , we have decided to do a 'girls ' weekend away next month and go down to port Arthur, should be some great photo ops there.
I love her pics of the tenders too.

 

[User395221]

Thanks potato chip .... I guess I just didn't notice, or as you said - perhaps it wasn't so obvious on mine.

It isn't really very obvious. It was only when I picked her up and looked at her that I noticed the "rash". The photos of her make it look more red and obvious than it does when she's just walking around, when she still looks just pale. It's hardly obvious on my black little girl, but I still saw some redness on her as well. Up close, not from a distance. If you aren't in the habit of examining your chooks "up close and personal", I don't think it would be noticeable.

Quote:
Both my new chooks have that araucana "hawk-like" faces, Grace (black one) has those little sticky out face whiskers, but Marcy doesn't. They both only have tiny little combs. I'm also interested to see how much "red stuff" they grow. Not much, I expect.

 

[Fizzybelle]

There are several symptoms of mycoplasma but the breathing difficulty you describe is a dead give away. If the vet you are consulting with is not an avian vet , then it could take a while longer for them to diagnose .

I'll discuss this with my vet, if it could be a possible cause of her getting sick. It could be something else entirely, but yes, it might be worth eliminating/confirming it as a cause. I'm not getting anymore chickens for now, the only time I'd consider adding now would be as age claims them in the years ahead. I'd never consider euthanasia if that is the case, as they are beloved pets. If the result is a closed flock, then that's ok. Once they'd passed on, I'd move and start again. But for the purposes of adding to the flock in time due to the effects of age, then it might do well to have Annabelle tested. Whatever she caught, I'm certain it was passed from those **** skyrats hanging around, despite my efforts to remove them.