California - Northern

[sewandgrow]

I have found the best way to revive a chilled chick and bring them back from the brink of death is warming them slowly with a blow dryer. This video is long but you can skip through it.

Thanks for the video

 

[chickee]

You are such a tease Chickee!
Seeing yours this morning gave me the excuse to candle again. No change on the d'Anvers eggs, 9 of the 12 still going strong. There were 3 clears at the first candling on the 18th.
Looks like 1 of the 6 phoenix has quit, 6 for 6 would have been strange.
The biggest change is with my partridge rocks. 3 were clear on the 18th but 2 more seem to have quit. That takes me to 7 of the 12 still developing. The aircells are saddlebags and they are loosing moisture so much faster than the Boggy Bottom eggs. BB packed the eggs laying on their side if the box was label up, the rock eggs were packed large end up in the box. Both sets were a little giggly upon arrival but air cell shape is sure different.

That is so good on BBBs eggs! I hope mine do as well! They are due to arrive tomorrow or Friday. There are so many things that can affect shipped eggs that it is hard to say why the rock eggs aren't doing as well, but still 7 out of 12 shipped eggs is really good for shipped eggs!

 

[CackleJoy]

what do you mean "it finally sunk in what it's medicated with" ?
I dont recall, but isn't it amprolium in the feed?
Or is it something more harsh?

just curious

Yes, I just learned that Corrid and Amporlium (SP) is the same thing! What I was referring to with my comment is that I didn't know what the medication was or what for. I've never used medicated feed because it goes against my standards. Saying that sounds like I'm a bit snobbish. The opposite is true. I'm idealistic and it's been a long hard road learning that chickens don't always cooperate with my ideals. Idealistically I would build a flock (organically) that had really strong immune systems and the weak ones would die out while young. While that might sound good, letting a chick die is harder than it sounds. Then once an investment of time and money has been added, protecting their health becomes about more than the chicken itself.

Since we've had such a hard run with me not being the primary chicken care giver, we've had to deal with more illness in the flock.

I've learned a lot.

A. Chickens have to have probiotics ALL the time.
B. Same as above
C. Keep Oxine on hand and learn to use it in the right situations. It's okay for an organic operation and has a lot of uses.
D. It's okay to occasionally make NON-organic decisions based on the greater good.
E. Avoid buying adult birds. If at ALL possible don't buy chicks either. Start with eggs so that the chick begins life with our method instead of being switched as an adult. (This doesn't always work because sometimes an adult bird is needed).
F. Keep antibiotics on hand for emergencies but pre-empt as many illnesses as possible with -
a. Uber clean living. Spray regularly for mites and don't use straw which harbors mold.
b. same as above (it's so much work!)
c. Don't assume using DE will stop mites. Check even the beautiful, shiny chickens.
d. Regular vitamins, minerals and probiotics in the water.
e. during the winter when egg laying is low anyway, treat for worms and do all the other non-organic stuff.
f. Increase their protein sources from plants - for example - grow wheat grass and feed them chunks of fodder. Also, sprout the bird seed before feeding it as treats.

Keeping a healthy flock using organic methods requires constant vigilance. Just feeding, watering, and cleaning bedding won't do the trick. I don't know why that is exactly. My theory is that antibiotics have been so heavily used that the average breeding stock doesn't start with a strong immune system. It's just my opinion but I really think that it will take a lot of time and effort to build a flock that has a greater immune system - more time and effort than it should, due to decades of prevalent antibiotic use.

That said, we are leaning towards more of the ancient land breeds and I think they should respond really well to our type of system.

 

[casportpony]

 
Oh, I don't USE medicated feed.  It just finally sunk in what the feed was medicated with!

what do you mean "it finally sunk in what it's medicated with" ? 
I dont recall, but isn't it amprolium in the feed?
Or is it something  more harsh?

just curious

Most have just amprolium, but some also have bacitracin, which is supposed to help prevent necrotic enteritis, I think. Swanson chick starter has both, but their turkey starters have no medications...

-Kathy

 

[chickee]

Ohh awesome! Watch her sitting. Nutmeg was a terrible mother and all her chicks would get chilled. And of course a chilled serema is not good. If I ever let her have chicks again she is getting a brooder with a heat lamp.
Guinea people can't hear themselves over the guineas. Pea people are afraid they will set the peas off!
I feed pheasant to start with. Someone recently recomended corn meal or oatmeal in the brooder to prevent pasty butt. Im wondering about it.

I have 4 Wyandotte that hatched running around in the brooder! Mario thinks they have big schnazzes (even spell check can not fix that)

I buy a 9 grain cereal (9 grain doesn't have soy) from the health food store to add to the feed for my new chicks. They go nuts over it! I don't cook it, just feed it dry. It is just finely ground grains. I have found that it helps keep them from having pasty butt.

This is what it looks like~ but don't buy the 10 grain because it has soy.

 

[liz9910]

Quote:
Thank you for the heads up, I will keep an eye on them. They were fluffy and warm this morning.

 

[ronott1]

I didn't try that but will keep it in mind. I thought the eco glow was going to be the answer, but added by old standby light bulb when that happened.

A treasured breeder friend of mine uses turkey starter so I will try that & an old timer on another board recommended sand for pasty butt so I use that.

.

Some breeds figure out the eco glow faster than others. The Spanish breeds are quick to figure stuff like that out. I have a Crele Penedesenca x UofA Blue in with a Splash UofA blue and a Cross Beak Delaware. I moved them to a different brooder and they were:

Del jumped up onto my hand
UofA blue move quickly away but was easy to catch
The Crele PxUofA was speedy Gonzales fast! That chick can turn too!

It was nice and calm when caught though.

Sand or chick grit helps with pasty butt.

I almost never have it with hatched chicks unless they were packed poorly for shipping.

 

[ronott1]

Yes, I just learned that Corrid and Amporlium (SP) is the same thing! What I was referring to with my comment is that I didn't know what the medication was or what for. I've never used medicated feed because it goes against my standards. Saying that sounds like I'm a bit snobbish. The opposite is true. I'm idealistic and it's been a long hard road learning that chickens don't always cooperate with my ideals. Idealistically I would build a flock (organically) that had really strong immune systems and the weak ones would die out while young. While that might sound good, letting a chick die is harder than it sounds. Then once an investment of time and money has been added, protecting their health becomes about more than the chicken itself.

Since we've had such a hard run with me not being the primary chicken care giver, we've had to deal with more illness in the flock.

I've learned a lot.

A. Chickens have to have probiotics ALL the time.
B. Same as above
C. Keep Oxine on hand and learn to use it in the right situations. It's okay for an organic operation and has a lot of uses.
D. It's okay to occasionally make NON-organic decisions based on the greater good.
E. Avoid buying adult birds. If at ALL possible don't buy chicks either. Start with eggs so that the chick begins life with our method instead of being switched as an adult. (This doesn't always work because sometimes an adult bird is needed).
F. Keep antibiotics on hand for emergencies but pre-empt as many illnesses as possible with -
a. Uber clean living. Spray regularly for mites and don't use straw which harbors mold.
b. same as above (it's so much work!)
c. Don't assume using DE will stop mites. Check even the beautiful, shiny chickens.
d. Regular vitamins, minerals and probiotics in the water.
e. during the winter when egg laying is low anyway, treat for worms and do all the other non-organic stuff.
f. Increase their protein sources from plants - for example - grow wheat grass and feed them chunks of fodder. Also, sprout the bird seed before feeding it as treats.

Keeping a healthy flock using organic methods requires constant vigilance. Just feeding, watering, and cleaning bedding won't do the trick. I don't know why that is exactly. My theory is that antibiotics have been so heavily used that the average breeding stock doesn't start with a strong immune system. It's just my opinion but I really think that it will take a lot of time and effort to build a flock that has a greater immune system - more time and effort than it should, due to decades of prevalent antibiotic use.

That said, we are leaning towards more of the ancient land breeds and I think they should respond really well to our type of system.

That is great information!

Finding Heritage Breeds helps since they do have resistance usually. I might not buy hatching eggs this year!

I have plenty of my own to hatch now.

 

[Nikon]

I don't want to scare you, but I would watch her carefully as that egg *might* be a sign of internal laying.

-Kathy

Oh oh, can you tell me more about that?

 

[Audio51]

Quote:
Now see...I am the opposite. I intercede as little as possible and fortunately it seems to be working for me. I have never given probiotics. I do not keep the coop/pen immaculate, I had never wormed until this past fall (and that was not because of any problems...just a "routine" worming). I may occasionally give vitamins, but not routinely. My girls go out to forage as often as weather permits. I am feeding Fermented Feed, but just started that last fall. I have been feeding plain old Layena (this is what I ferment) but, now that I know Costco has organic, I will be switching to that. My chicks have been getting Start & Grow, but I also bought a bag of organic starter and am feeding it to the meat birds already. My girls have been healthy and my only losses have been to predators and 1 to the heat last summer.

I am the same with my finches. They get a good quality finch mix, fresh water daily and eggfood when breeding/molting. I do a twice a year air sac mite treatment and offer heat when needed. I lose some a few occasionally, but assume those were the weaker ones that would not have improved my stock anyway. Fortunately, this practice has worked very well for me. I'm not sure I could convince my husband the chickens (or the finches) were something we could afford otherwise. I hope they continue to do well for me this way.