Colorado

[ShysCreations]

I am going to throw it out there that I am no expert and have never even owned chicks (getting our first ones next week!!!). But, I talked to a farmer for awhile yesterday about medicated feed when I was deciding what to do. He told me not to. He said the best analogy he had was giving a newborn penicillin everyday. Sure, they won't get sick. But they also won't be able to build up their immune system. Once you are done with the medicated feed, they are more susceptible to sickness. Not sure if this is accurate, but he sure seemed to know what he was talking about. We are not going to do medicated feed, but will medicate a chick if needed, not the whole bunch.

I agree about not using medicated feed in dryland Colorado. Coccidiosis is more prevalent in wet areas with more moisture than seen inCO. Though if your ground has harbored the disease then yes use medicated. But theres definitely value in letting animals build immunity. I had read that if a person always helped chicks during hatching, the birds develop inability to hatch on their own.

 

[Adam7]

You must have controll "grasshopper"     Only waiting, does the bringer of life deliver good things too.    It just doesnt sound right without the accent, does it.  Just think about the pasty butt chicken picture,  Breath,  breathe, young grasshopper.

***huummmm**** pasty butt chicken picture ***huummmmm*** pasty butt chicken picture *** huummmm***


It's not working.

 

[Ataylor]

are these mutts?  they are absolutely gorgeous and so much better looking than what mine look.  mine are all fuzzy.  these guys are gorgeous.  

i believe they are 100 percent silkie although i dont know much about the breeder they came from. I think they just need a good cleaning and better picture. It's been super cold here too and I wonder if that hasn't effected their feathers some making them a bit harder and less fluff? Thank you for the reply.

 

[Momoflilgs]

How is your chick doing now? I had a chick yesterday with the swollen bottom (due to cleaning the pastyness off) but today she is fine. I hope yours is much better, too!

per adams request: warning!! gross, bald chick bum picture










has anyone seen this before? Its the bum of my 2 wk old ancona chick. She's one of the 2 that seems to be stuck with pasty butt. I clean her daily, and it didn't look like this yesterday. I haven't seen any pecking in the brooder....there is a little acv and molasses in the water, clean shavings, unmedicated feed...they had greek yogurt once a few days ago...
Its shiny due to some neosporin.

 

[kmatt87]

How is your chick doing now? I had a chick yesterday with the swollen bottom (due to cleaning the pastyness off) but today she is fine. I hope yours is much better, too!

mine is actually more swollen the pasty butt isn't there today at least

 

[WendyGeisler]

I am on day 19 and my incubator is on lock down of my one fertile egg.
I swear I stop to check on the egg every hour to see if anything happened... the waiting is
soo long! How loud is the peeping? Will I be able to hear it from another room?

 

[suncatcher]

Got about 2 hours of good work done. Got all four gates framed, and one has the wire installed and is hung, complete with the latch. The other three are ready for wire and hinges. Also got the numbers on the pens.

Looking good! Remind me again, which way do these pens face?

 

[jgurshtein]

WOW! Thanks for all the opinions on medicated feed! I think I saw the comment on chick thiamine absorption affected and that's what was making me nervous. Then I remembered that many people have tried both types of feed and been successful. Then I saw the comment where the study about thiamine absorption increased the 'medication' given to the chicks to get their results... Long story short, I'm just gonna go ahead and use what I have now but will do further research in the future with new chicks. And I'll be fermenting as soon as possible!

Does anyone know what age the chicks can have fermented foods? What about supplementary foods... meaning table scraps?

 

[Pozees]

WOW! Thanks for all the opinions on medicated feed! I think I saw the comment on chick thiamine absorption affected and that's what was making me nervous. Then I remembered that many people have tried both types of feed and been successful. Then I saw the comment where the study about thiamine absorption increased the 'medication' given to the chicks to get their results... Long story short, I'm just gonna go ahead and use what I have now but will do further research in the future with new chicks. And I'll be fermenting as soon as possible!

Does anyone know what age the chicks can have fermented foods? What about supplementary foods... meaning table scraps?

Several folks have used fermented feed from the start. Some have sprinkled dry crumble or millet seed on top to get the chicks started on it but there is no reason I know of not to start them on it.

 

[wsmith]

Looking good! Remind me again, which way do these pens face?

The doors face NW. That's just the way it worked out. The maiin hen house door faces SE.