Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Sorry to hear you've been sick too Cherwill - hope you feel stronger every day. Wow - a couple of inches of rain? I'm envious!

 

[Trish44]

cherwill, I'm sorry to hear you've been sick too, I hope you feel better soon.

We actually did get a nice rain shower with lightening & thunder & all, we didn't quite know what to think of that sound, we hadn't heard it for so long. It's gearing up for another shower now so I probably will have to turn my computer off again soon. My DH said he was worried about our wood sitting out there by the new coop, but there isn't a whole lot we can do about it. I told him we need this rain so so bad & I'm glad to see it. I hope it doesn't ruin our wood though.

We got the two big 16 ft walls, front & back hooked onto the floor & braced before my DH had to come in & eat lunch & then go to work, so we actually have a partial frame up on the coop. Progress, yay! He has to build the end walls next, but they should go a lot faster. He's doing a pretty good job for a non-builder & someone who says he doesn't know what he's doing. He's made some mistakes, but it's OK, we all have to learn some time.

Danz, yeah I'm kind of nervous about my expensive birds being sick, I sure hope this antiobiotic kicks in & helps them get better. I went out after I took another jug of the water out & took some of the little SF Hen chicks over to the water & made them drink some.

Thunder & lightening is back so I have to shut down again. I hope you're all getting some much needed rain!

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, as long as the wood is able to dry out thoroughly, it will be fine!

Sorry about the illnesses in your birds - I know how special these little ones are to you.

Chickies-Duckies - thanks for the info on muscovies and soay sheep.

 

[sharol]

Here between Emporia and Admire we have gotten just shy of 1" since it started yesterday. It is thundering in the distance right now, but I'm not holding my breath. At least we have gotten SOME rain.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I'm 147 posts behind. I know I've missed way too much to catch up.

I got some kind of virus this last week that knocked me for a loop. It started coming on last Saturday night. I had a couple of days with 104 fever and my throat was sore, then the fever was much less but really hung on. Yesterday the sore throat finally went away and today I don't have any fever so far. It may have been West Nile but the only way to know for sure is with a blood test. Doc sees no real reason for that since treatment is the same as for any other flu ... nothing! DH never got it and he had to do all the mowing himself as well as try to make me eat and drink. I feel pretty good today, though I get tired more easily than usual.

We got a couple of inches of rain out of this, so yippee!

oh yikes, you were pretty darned ill last week! I'm glad you're feeling better now. I hope it wasn't West Nile and is something else. Our neighbor got west nile about 3 or 4 years ago. He was in the hospital for nearly a week! He was sooooo sick with it. And a few years later, he said he now get weird joint pain and some other odd things that are west nile "left overs". Yes, I am loving this rain too!

We got the two big 16 ft walls, front & back hooked onto the floor & braced before my DH had to come in & eat lunch & then go to work, so we actually have a partial frame up on the coop. Progress, yay! He has to build the end walls next, but they should go a lot faster. He's doing a pretty good job for a non-builder & someone who says he doesn't know what he's doing. He's made some mistakes, but it's OK, we all have to learn some time.

YAY!! That is big progress!! So excited for you!! I hope the wood will be okay. I never luck out, mine tends to warp and bend. I hope yours doesn't.

Here between Emporia and Admire we have gotten just shy of 1" since it started yesterday. It is thundering in the distance right now, but I'm not holding my breath. At least we have gotten SOME rain.

YAY!!! I hope you get more!




OH!!! and I sold my little boy today. This super nice lady came out and just wanted him for a pet! She said her grandkids loved fluffy birds and she doesn't have any other silkies. So I think she will like him. He is a nice snuggler, too. She picked him up and he talked to her and went all limp. She was pretty happy.

 

[medawinks]

Help!!!! My little Bloom is struggling to breathe! She was fine this morning. Laid her egg and sang away! My housemate put new wood chips in the run and something called Dri Stall to help it dry up. I am guessing that she breathed some of that??? I don't know what to do......

 

[sapphireblu76]

Oh no! I wish I knew what to do. I think Dry Stall contains Diatomaceous Earth, and that can be pretty drying if it is inhaled.

 

[chicken danz]

Just talked to Madawinks and I hope her hen pulls through. I think she breathed in some of the dry stall. Let's all say a prayer for little Bloom to recover. It would really break some kids hearts to loose her.
Great progress on the coop Trish. You have more energy than I do.
Well I found my first case of bumble foot and it was an awful one. I am surprised I never saw it before. This is one of my old Marans hens who's crop is always impacted and hangs down to the ground. I've made multiple attempts to treat it but it doesn't get better and she doesn't seem worse for the wear. I noticed a bump on her foot so I caught her. She had a bumble that had grown all the way through her foot and had started to penetrate in another spot. She had two other huge bumbles on the other foot. Surprising I was able to just pop the core right out of the two big ones without even soaking her feet. I brought her in and soaked her in epsom salts for a while and went to work with the exacto knife. The new spot I got a lot of stuff out of but I'm not sure I got the core if there even was one yet. On the other foot I cut about half way around the spot and simply pulled the core out. It bled but otherwise didn't seem to bother her. I put antibiotic ointment on both feet and gauze and vet wrap. She's back out running with the other birds. I don't dare cage her. The last time I did to treat her crop she quit eating and drinking altogether. She just won't accept a cage.
I hope her foot heals cause I know it will get wet. I'll just watch her for a few days. She spends most of her time near the porches on the house so she's easy to find. I don't know if she even lays anymore but she's always been a sweet hen so I don't care.

 

[medawinks]

Trying a nebulizer with saline and a bit of albuterol.... Have in a dark room to decrease stress... Used Vicks on her comb. She has no mucus- it just looks like asthma.....

 

[chicken danz]

Trish I went out and took a couple pictures cause the chickens are still running around and not ready to be caught just yet.
Here is two styles of gates made by using 1 X 3s. The mostly painted white one is one I built as a summer door for my hen house. (I have a solid wood door to close in winter.) But it is the simplest type to build. The other one is the style we have on almost all of the pens now. The white one sits flush, but the other ones either sit inside the framework or on the outside like this one does.




Cherwill I'm glad you are feeling better. DH went to the doctor last week with something very similar. He gave him some antibiotics and he was over it in no time.