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

[CorrieW]

Welcome CorrieW I'm from Sydney and relatively new to BYC and to chickens. Lots of good advise and helpful hits for the asking. I have 2 chickens would love more but can't make up my mind what breeds to get and if they would all get along. I have a Australop and a leghorn.. they are best mates.

Hi Tillicans
I'm not sure of all our breeds, I think Isa Browns, some black and white ones too. The chooks are hubby's domain. They pretty much have th run of the yard haha. We have one with a bad wing and she thinks she's a dog. She sleeps with my Labrador, Luna which is funny because she barks at the other girls if they get too close.

 

[Fizzybelle]

Had a giggle - re chookie-happy after being carried around like handbag. !! ....

My at-times-waddly Mandy absolutely loves a cuddle, and I do it as often as possible - and when I think is necessary. I don't like to disturb her when she is resting. However, after the cuddle - she struts around like a normal chookie would, and then sits down again. She certainly is a "Mum's girl" ... and has now learned to come when I call her name. True. Molly knows her name - when free ranging - only because she thinks there might be some tucker with the call - and Mindy doesn't know her name at all. ... Feisty little pet she is ....

But by heck, they all know the word "BED" .... !! and obey so well. Very easy to get them into the coops for the night.

Cheers -

I wish I knew your secret, my bantams are a PAIN to get to bed, it's like dealing with actual kids. You put them in, and they hop out again and yell. Repeat until dark. Sigh.

Teila, glad you got a diagnosis, and hope the pain improves. Make sure to wave that stick at every young whippersnapper that crosses your path

Well it looks like my Mabel might have bumblefoot, I will get a photo tomorrow for opinions as when I came back with my phone to get a photo she was already in bed and I wasn't about to go stirring things up. If it is, the vets gonna have fun with this one - Mabel's a wriggler with very strong legs and sharp claws.

 

[LuckysMum]

Lots of great advice given here from Tillicans and satay .... Glucosomine with chondroitin will work - but would take days > couple of weeks to realise the reduction in pain - at the proper dosage.

For inflammation, Manuka honey - brilliant. Eat a spoonful AND spread a little of this very thick sticky honey onto the knee area - which then needs to be covered with kleenex' and a light bandage to hold it all on. If that honey gets on anything - it then gets on to everything. It is different to the normal honey. The expensive stuff ( $49 a bottle ) from New Zealand and $26 a bottle from Tasmania, I don't use. Capilano have recently raised groves of leptospermum ( manuka ) for specific hives, and that is cheaper, but still does the job. Manuka has a coded grading - from 5+ to 15+. The higher the grading the better quality it is, and presumably more cost. ? Hubby removed the entire wrapped id and info when he opened the jar himself. Will have a look at what grade I've got, next time I am in the store it was purchased from.

I swear it fixed my inflammed arthritic toe after the gout. Took about 3 days for all inflammation to disappear from that area. After all, we happily rub in deep heat ointments etc., and anything that goes onto the skin, is absorbed by the skin. Well, that's what I believe, and while it is possible that it was purely coincidental and the inflammation might have gone anyway, it was way too evident at the time for me to ignore it. That inflammation has not returned, and I can walk normally again. Have arthritis several places elsewhere, but put up with it. Only bothers me here and there - changes in weather cause it to flair up.

Subsequently tho, more inflammation in thumb joint - same Manuka application - pain gone, however that one has returned to a degree. If it gets really bad the Manuka jar will come out again. Meantime I take one Glucosomine / Chondroitin tablet per day, until I see my doctor when she returns, and get her ok to take that up to 2 or 3 a day. That is a recent thing, as I waited for the two ingredients to appear together. I am not sure about the Glucosomine sulphate, by itself.

Good luck - and I so hope that pain you have, does a very quick disappearing act.

Cheers ........

Jarrah honey has a TA+20 rating, its supposed to be just as good as Manuka but cheaper. I have a ointment made from honey. I think it was a wound healing ointment.

I hope the pain is getting better Teila

CorrieW I know you will get heaps of good advice and friendship here.

 

[Susan Hampshire]

Oh my lord....that's a large snake!!! How sad you lost your chickens

 

[satay]

I wish I knew your secret, my bantams are a PAIN to get to bed, it's like dealing with actual kids. You put them in, and they hop out again and yell. Repeat until dark. Sigh. 

Teila, glad you got a diagnosis, and hope the pain improves. Make sure to wave that stick at every young whippersnapper that crosses your path

Well it looks like my Mabel might have bumblefoot, I will get a photo tomorrow for opinions as when I came back with my phone to get a photo she was already in bed and I wasn't about to go stirring things up. If it is, the vets gonna have fun with this one - Mabel's a wriggler with very strong legs and sharp claws.

Yes my Belgians are the worst for not wanting to go to bed at night. They go up a tree an i have to get them down nearly every night. Bidda was the only Belgian i have ever had that would actually take herself to bed.

 

[satay]

I was just thinking I haven't seen any posts from Fancy for ages. I hope everything is ok.

Hopefully she is just busy on the farm.

 

[Tillicans]

Manuka honey is the best I agree.

 

[Fancychooklady]

I was just thinking I haven't seen any posts from Fancy for ages. I hope everything is ok.

I'm still here. Just busy with the horses and competitions. Been neglecting the chickens a little lately so I'm off to clean out the coops today. Unfortunately lost one of my baby orps to strangulation by hens tail feather.

Nice to know I was missed.

 

[Fizzybelle]

Yes my Belgians are the worst for not wanting to go to bed at night. They go up a tree an i have to get them down nearly every night. Bidda was the only Belgian i have ever had that would actually take herself to bed.

Lol, oh dear. I don't know how I'd deal with more of the little smart alecs. Actually Esmé my Pekin is the worst, as I have to put the others to bed whilst she is perched on the back of my neck. Not the shoulders, no she likes the back of my neck so I'm scuffling around like a hunchback. It's both cute and frustrating.

Ok I have pics of Mabel's feet. She cooperated, but still protested. I was able to get some clear shots of each foot thankfully. Love the camera on my phone! I've emailed these to my vet as well, see if she needs a consultation. And I added a nice photo I got of her yesterday. Grass is growing like mad after all the rain.

 

[MiddleWoods]

The darker bits on her worse foot look like bumblefoot Some of mine have it, I think because of how I had their ramp to the coop setup temporarily. Its a lot better now but still a couple of them insist on jumping from the top instead of walking down a bit like the sensible ones... I've just got some vetrap and will try the sugardine method.

We have added our new two chickens to the others yesterday after quarantine. I added an extra water and food station but obviously the extra water wasn't in the right place because when we shifted it this morning closer to the end the new chickens were hanging out, the new ones had a lot to drink Wish they weren't so mean, no blood so far though, so we just have to wait it out. The new araucana rather unwisely ran into the middle of the entire condensed pack of older chickens this morning which it learnt was a mistake.... (the older ones were clustered in a group as close as they could get to us. Its funny, I extend the run even further, and they decide to all hang in one particular square meter as close as they can get to the kitchen window