Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[armorfirelady]

. For the bumbles, you might try what someone on another thread did, mix sugar and ... oh rats, I'll have to go look and come back, think it was iodine? Anyway, she mixed into a paste, put on the bumble, and wrapped with vetwrap or duct tape, and never had to do surgery. WAY simpler. I'll look it up and post later. Just my random thoughts on how you might deal with this.

You are correct it was iodine & sugar wrapped with vet wrap & duct tape over it to hold it on.

 

[Pozees]

Thanks Amorfirelady

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote: Duct tape. I love it! Now I've gotta figure out how to work some baling wire into that treatment, heh heh...

 

[cbnovick]

Duct tape. I love it! Now I've gotta figure out how to work some baling wire into that treatment, heh heh...

 

[capayvalleychick]

Another thing I did and will do this year is go to a horse stable and get horse manure and put about four inches on the big floors. For some reason with the shaving and the horse turds they love this stuff and they do fantastic. Old cocker trick I learned from a friend. So if you got a staple near by its free and the fresher the better.

If you have white birds or birds you want to stay clean, don't use too fresh of manure. My daughter's show horse was gray and she got some nasty green stains from fresh manure. You want it fresh enough that it will break apart, but dry enough that it won't stain.

Does it make a difference what they feed the horses you get the manure from?

Alfalfa = the worst green stains. Grass = lighter green stains. Oat hay = brown stains. Make sure that they have not been wormed or medicated recently, in case there is residue in the manure.

 

[thedragonlady]

MagicChicken, until you have time to do all you want, for the moment if you have some Oxine I would spray everything with it (1/8 tsp per quart in a spray bottle is what I use), turn the ladders sideways so they can perch on the wide side of the 2x4s if at all possible, add fresh shavings, or sand if you have access to some (maybe they won't kick it all to the sides) or find some straw, and actually, if you can find bales of straw, you could even leave them in bale form and place them where the birds would be jumping off their roosts so they have an interim landing pad. I'm in the desert too, it is rare for anything to stay wet longer than a few hours even after a good rain. For the bumbles, you might try what someone on another thread did, mix sugar and ... oh rats, I'll have to go look and come back, think it was iodine? Anyway, she mixed into a paste, put on the bumble, and wrapped with vetwrap or duct tape, and never had to do surgery. WAY simpler. I'll look it up and post later. Just my random thoughts on how you might deal with this.

Oxine is wonderful stuff. However it will not overcome a heavy organic matter load. Useless in manure caked runs, My State vet preaches this. It is day to day sanitation that prevents disease. Runs need to be picked up, especially if you have large fowl layers. Poop boards need to be scraped, and cleaned. There are no short cuts. If you smell one whiff of ammonia, you are too late with your sanitation.

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: Honestly, Walt, I don't know. That's just what the lady said. From seeing the condition of the hen's feet, I believe it.
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Quote:

 

[3riverschick]

Quote: This is unusual. I was just reading today in a book on...actually it was an old book I just bought from England ,"The Burn-Murdoch Poultry Course", circa 1919. Anyway, there is a section on illnesses and how to deal with them. I noticed the bumblefoot section since we were discussing it here. On Page 218, the author writes: Causes: Sometimes constitutional, and often caused by bird jumping from a height on to a hard, rough floor.
Treatment: If not too advanced, paint with iodine and bandage tightly, repeat this treatment daily. Not worth mentioning the instructions on lancing and treating the severe cases. I am sure we have better medicine now. I just thought it was interesting they used iodine even way back then.
Best,
Karen

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
Iodine is great stuff. My grandmother swore by it. I can't figure out the logic of mixing it with sugar though. That just seems weird.

Most of these birds will only need the clean-swab-and-bandage treatment. My largest birds have more advanced cases and will probably require surgery, if I decide to keep them. They aren't perfect - there are other reasons they are on the potential cull list. I have a friend coming over on Sunday to help me treat chicken feet. Thursday I have another friend coming over to go over the birds and help me decide which cockerels to cull. (He lives about 30 miles away, has the same breed, has similar husbandry methods, has much higher perches than mine, and has never had a bumblefoot case. Arrgh...) Today I sifted the existing compost pile and spread it on the garden, then mucked out four wheelbarrows full of litter from the cockerels' coop and re-built the compost pile with it. It didn't seem all that poopy, but it seemed prudent to change it out. After scrubbing all the roosts I took Pozee's suggestion and turned the ladder roosts on their sides. Checked the cockerels after it got dark. Half were on the now-sideways-and-much-lower ladder roosts, looking not very happy about it. The other half (the heavier birds - go figure) were on the 2x4's on edge that are fixed to the wall, still 3' up.

Tomorrow I tackle the pullets' coop, after I get more pine shavings. When I get some help I can start bandaging chicken feet. Oh joy!

Sarah