Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

I've just noticed a large hawk flying/hanging around the chicken coop today and yesterday, (i knew this day would come) and this morning he was quietly watching them in their coop from the telephone phone pole next to it i didn't let them out until about 5 pm since i didn't see him. I don't want to have to order a hawk deterent of the internet, do any of you have any homemade hawk deterents that work for you? please help

Netting. A covered run is the only way to protect against a hawk. I just lost a duck that was in a pen that wasn't covered so it is covered now but not much else will stop them. I play a radio, hung c/ds shiny side up toward the sky, and brightly colored string. Those things will help but the only way to keep them truly safe is to have a run with a cover.

 

[JosieChick]

Karen.... Drat! I was eager to see your new chicks in a pic. My lavender ameracauna is laying a pretty turquoise egg but the blue intrigues me maybe someday ...
Trish, I bought Duramycin in a bag, powdered form, from Orschelens. It makes up something like 40 gallons. I don't think I will ever run out.
Danz, 12 hours??? Where are you going? Wow..... I am impressed!!! Sorry Feather went on a laying strike :-( when she starts up again you should get one every other day, if she does like she did here. One of our Marans is laying now and the kids are so excited to go egg hunting every day.
I was looking at the second largest splash Marans chick and noticed that her toes are all curled up weird..... Is there something I can do to fix that? Andy swears they have been that way all along, but I sure don't remember noticing it....
Also, if anyone is into neat kitchen gadgets....
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000I5NXBU/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=pe_175190_21431760_M3C_ST1_dp_i1
I bought this one at the local kitchen gallery. My kids LOVE it! They can doctor up an egg with cheese and ketchup, or add mayo and pickles after it cooks, stir it all up and spread it in a sandwich lickety split! All kinds of possibilities, but sure made cooking an egg for a sandwich fun for them

I actually like using two sticky parts of band aids better than the cardboard. It also lets you see through so you know the toe is straight. It depends on age but it can be pretty hard to correct in chick that is a couple weeks or older. It is a lot easier in a young chick that is just a few days old but it is worth trying. You will want to remove anything that is slippery like that paper and cardboard box so the chick can get good traction with the shoes on. Also, I would contact who ever you got that chick from because curly toes are either due to genetics, incubation temperature error or bad feed. They need to know that happened so they can fix whatever the problem is. Good luck and hope you can get it fixed. I had one silkie that had bad toes and I couldn't ever get them fixed but she did just fine with her curly fries!

 

[medawinks]

Thanks for the quick ideas to help me get them straight. I bought vet wrap and we tried to straighten them on triangles of cardboard. She now has purple shoes.... She is a TWCharger for sure! I had put the paper there to make the picture clearer, to show the curl a bit better. She isn't having to walk on that She is my oldest daughter's favorite. I am not sure who Verna got them from, since she was terribly kind and served as the middle man when I could not find any splash chicks. I am sure she will pass it along. There are 3 more Marans chicks and their toes are all normal looking.. Who da thunk a year ago that I would be making little braces for chicken toes, when I was totally against having any kind of bird...

Yes, Josie, I am seriously hoping this one is a girl. As long as she can function, curly toed, or not, she is a keeper! So sweet! My kids got a kick out of her "curly fries". Somehow, I think she has a new name, Curly Sue.

 

[mommahen10]

HEChicken~ I'm trying to understand what it is that the ACV does and how. Does it kill the worms or just prevent them? Thinking back to my school days, yeast convert sugar to alcohol and bacteria convert the alcohol to acetic acid(I think). So is it the acid or the bacteria that are doing the work? It must be the bacteria, otherwise you wouldn't need unfiltered. Thinking to bread making, the mother is the starter. You use the starter which contains the yeast and lactic acid producing bacteria to make the bread. So essentially, I'm innoculating each batch of bread with the same strain of yeast and bacteria to make my bread rise. I'm going to guess that this is the same, right? The mother must be a certain strain/strains of bacteria to convert the alcohol to acetic acid. I don't think the organic part matters as much as the filtered part. I wonder if I can make my own. There are no whole food stores here, it's unlikely I will find it at the local stores but I will look to be sure.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Your coop sounds adorable, we want to see pics!
Yeah, I hope the thing gets here soon because I want to start working with Jasmine & the guineas. I want to be able to let them out to range & eat ticks like I got them for in the first place. I was watching her this morning, she was laying several feet from the peacock/guinea pen & they were making some noise over food I had put in. I looked at her & she looked at me with really sad eyes like she was remembering getting in so much trouble. She is like that, so I'm hopeful that the shock collar will teach her even if they're making a racket to leave them alone. I still credit my Big Red RIR rooster that I had for teaching these dogs to leave the chickens alone because Jasmine still will make a wide path around the roos even with him gone, she did that this morning too. Sunflowerparrot, it what you're saying about Jasper continues & he's really protective of his hens then he will probably correct Fern too if she gets too close. I just let mine do his job & it sure did teach these dogs not to mess with the chickens at all. They can range around them all day long & they won't go after them. They do still pay attention to any unusual noises they make like an alarm for some reason, they go to investigate.

Well we didn't quite get the job done on getting the windows for the coop as of yet. We went & got some, but when we got back last night & started checking them out to see if they opened well & all & noticed one of them is missing the mechanism to open the window & some other bars, so I called the guy back & he's supposed to be looking for another window for me. Darn, now we have to wait again to get that end framed & put the siding on, grrrr. I was so happy to have found those windows, I sure hope he can find me another one to use on there.

Danz, I'm sorry you're not feeling well, I hope you feel better soon. This weather going back & forth isn't going to help anybody either, it was so cool this weekend & now today & tomorrow are supposed to be in the 90s again, blah.

HEChicken, is the turkey sneezing or anything, do you think it's a respiratory thing? I would use the Denagard if it's respiratory. I wouldn't wait either, I would go ahead & put some in their water & head it off.

KarenS, sorry about your CL chicks, you might check with Elaine & see if her folks have any, but you may be better off right now. I'm not having a great time with these imported birds lately, they're not acclimated to our bacteria & environment & they're not faring that well. I've been fighting this illness with them for weeks.

Sorry you didn't get windows that worked out for you. It's so frustrating when you're trying to make progress and Murphy's Law rears its ugly mug! Yeah, I really wanted those CL chicks but maybe you're right. You really have had quite a time keeping those birds going. Hope this antibiotic helps them turn the corner.

Hechicken- I had to start my whole flock on sulfa antibiotics in their water because of my brahma hen that I lost. It came back as a bacterial infection that causes fowl cholera and may be from migratory birds. I think that is why we have so many sniffles right now is because there are a lot of wild birds flying over us to go south for the winter. The Denagard works on a very limited spectrum of bacterial strains so you may not get what you have with it. I might try a sulfa which is more broad spectrum or see what the duramycin covers.
I deworm at least twice a year with wazine and oral ivermectin. Wazine does most everything except round or tape worms, I can never remember which. I use horse dewormer for the oral dosing and the cattle pour on for topical ivermectin for external bugs. Let me know if you want dosing. Someone mentioned safeguard and I think they make that for goats. That might be a lot easier than the horse dewormer because I think you can put it in their water. I withdraw eggs/meat for two weeks after just to be safe. I also sell eggs so I want to be sure I don't mislead people about the quality of my eggs by selling them when the birds are on a chemical dewormer.

Deworming is very important to your birds health. I have a friend who lost a rooster and upon necropsy it was discovered that he died of a worm impaction in his lower intestinal tract. They can cause birds serious trouble. Especially when we keep birds in confined areas and they walk through each others poop and eat off the same ground every day. There is no way to know what your birds have for parasites without taking a fecal sample to a vet.
Wow! 12 hour trip for feed, where are you going?? Hey, can you get bagged mixed feed at the coop? I was thinking about checking in Ottawa to see if they could mix me homemade scratch for cheaper than I buy it at the store.
Oh how fun! A New England cape! You must post some pictures when it is done. This is right up my alley, I moved here from southern Maine several years ago!
Do you get safeguard in a liquid and is it mixed in the drinking water? It sound like it might be a great time saver for me if that is the case.
Bummer! I don't blame you on buying chicks, at least they are on the ground running. With eggs you just never know.

The migratory bird thing never occurred to me but that makes so much sense. How did you find out what had made your bird sick?

You can put ACV in the water - about 2 Tablespoons per gallon. The only thing is, the ACV you have may not work, as it has to be the organic, unfiltered ACV that has "The Mother" in it (it will say that on the bottle). If it is filtered ACV, it won't hurt but won't help either.

That is an awesome deal - wish I were closer! Day-olds are four times that at the feed store and they don't weigh a half-pound!

Amazing! I really don't think I'd want them living indoors for the smell. When I had my silkies, I got them at 10 weeks old and they lived in a cage in my basement for the first few weeks. I carried them outside during the day because even just two of them, and cleaning out the cage regularly, the smell was pretty overpowering.

Whenever I get home from going anywhere, my DH asks "Do you need help carrying in chicks?"

I guess too many times I've gone out for awhile and come home with more birds so now he just asks the question routinely.

We ate our eggs too, mainly because I totally forgot about withdrawal. By the time I thought about it days later, it was too late and we'd eaten a bunch of eggs. We never did have any ill-effects.

Awww...sorry it didn't work out.

Thanks Josie. Next question: where do you pick up sulfa antibiotics? I feel like maybe that came up recently and I apologize I can't recall the answer and as fast as this thread moves, I'd probably have to back 500 pages to find it!

Wow Danz - that is a LONG drive for feed. I guess the price must be worth 12 hours of gas - I'll be curious to hear more about it.

Well, Madge is definitely more congested today so I'll start her on Duramycin as soon as I get done here. I feel better at the thought that it might be wild birds - at least its not something I did wrong.....

Where do you get your ACV? Poor Madge. (I love that name -- too cute, I may have to swipe that one.) Hope she's feeling better soon.

I ordered a gallon from valley vet supply but it turned out the family center had it in stock. TSC might have it too. It is often used for cattle or pigs. This is what I bought http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e078e5-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5&gas=sulfa

But I would imagine you might be able to find something similar at the feed store. It might not be the exact same but anything in the sulfa class will work. Or you can also try tetracycline which covers several common bugs.

Thanks for the link and the info.

Glad he's on board! Makes it much easier to sneak in more chicks!


Oh no! that is so sad that all of those babies died! WOW. I would be completely heart broken if that were me. I now watch my incubator like a hawk when I incubate, but if it happened while he was gone at work or something, there is nothing he could have done. Will he be hatching again soon?

Isn't it though? Thankfully, it wasn't MY incubator of death! I still think about that and smile. I know you were having a very hard time so being that funny when you're stressing is very impressive.

Karen.... Drat! I was eager to see your new chicks in a pic. My lavender ameracauna is laying a pretty turquoise egg but the blue intrigues me maybe someday ...

Thanks, medawinks. Yeah, someday. In the meantime, I'll have to take a pic of something else. We can't get too many pics, can we?

Guys, I had to do a bumblefoot surgery tonight on Glory, my chocolate colored EE. It is such a hard thing to do and I wanted to give up many times, but I did my best and got it packed and wrapped. I hope she does okay, she's such a sweet girl. I was sweatin' it out, for sure. Literally. Not fun.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Netting. A covered run is the only way to protect against a hawk. I just lost a duck that was in a pen that wasn't covered so it is covered now but not much else will stop them. I play a radio, hung c/ds shiny side up toward the sky, and brightly colored string. Those things will help but the only way to keep them truly safe is to have a run with a cover.

X2 -- a covered run is the best. I had a hawk literally sitting on the fence of my run to my layers. I ran out there and yelled at him. He was not willing to fly off too quickly. He definitely gave me the "eye" before he finally took off.

Thanks for the quick ideas to help me get them straight. I bought vet wrap and we tried to straighten them on triangles of cardboard. She now has purple shoes.... She is a TWCharger for sure! I had put the paper there to make the picture clearer, to show the curl a bit better. She isn't having to walk on that She is my oldest daughter's favorite. I am not sure who Verna got them from, since she was terribly kind and served as the middle man when I could not find any splash chicks. I am sure she will pass it along. There are 3 more Marans chicks and their toes are all normal looking.. Who da thunk a year ago that I would be making little braces for chicken toes, when I was totally against having any kind of bird...
Yes, Josie, I am seriously hoping this one is a girl. As long as she can function, curly toed, or not, she is a keeper! So sweet! My kids got a kick out of her "curly fries". Somehow, I think she has a new name, Curly Sue.

Cute! I LOVE that movie-- Curly Sue! I hope that works to get her toes straight.

I wonder if I can make my own. There are no whole food stores here, it's unlikely I will find it at the local stores but I will look to be sure.

Yes!!! You can make your own ACV with the Mother!! Here are a couple of links to different ways of doing it. I bet it would be really fun to do. I want to make my own too! I have apples falling off the trees that aren't good anymore and I want to use them up! The second link is a blog that I follow and she has pictures.
http://thehealthyeatingsite.com/apple-cider-vinegar-recipe/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search?q=apple+cider+vinegar

Isn't it though? Thankfully, it wasn't MY incubator of death! I still think about that and smile. I know you were having a very hard time so being that funny when you're stressing is very impressive.

OMGosh!! I almost totally forgot that I had "The Incubator of Death"!

How quickly we forget the BAD times... and wow, those were stressful, awful weeks of me trying to figure out what the heck was wrong and why everyone was dying over an over again. SOoooooo glad I learned that lesson-- that is one I will never repeat again. I now keep 3 therms in my incubator along with my hygro. Whew! I hear you on just wanting the chicks and not having to hatch eggs that may or may not make it in the mail. But it is cheaper to buy eggs than buy chicks. I think I'm going to have nice enough birds myself to be able to do most of my own breedings this coming year. I'm hoping to buy a super nice cockerel at eastern Nationals when I go up there. I have some very nice pullets and I need some nicer boys, I think. My boys are super nice, but I'm worried about their wings. They aren't split-- the ones I'm down to, but they don't quite look perfect either. I've posted them to a Silkie discussion board and even they aren't sure-- they could be immature (haven't fully grown in-- they are 4.5 months old) or just not "quite" there, and never will be. Sigh. I don't know if I can count on them growing out of it or not. I hate to buy yet another boy, but if these don't pan out, I have to have something! Regardless, I am having so much fun doing this!

 

[Trish44]

Wow am I pooped out tonight! I went out after my DH left for work & took apart the shelter house from the little temporary pen I had sitting across from the woodshed. My DH keeps telling me that I have to get that moved before he needs to put wood in there for the winter. So I had that on my to do list today. It wasn't easy moving that pen even in two parts, but I finally managed to get it moved out of the way. I'm thinking of putting a partial front on the shelter & using it in my grow-out pen. It would be better than the dog house I have in there. But I need to clean it out first & put some paint on it so it won't rot over the winter. I have used that pen for guineas, peachicks, pullets, just about everything for when they were small, it's been a handy little pen to have. I probably will use it again in the spring for when I get some meat chicks.

Then after I got that pen out of the way I could get to the side of the coop so I could work on installing one of the smaller tilt out windows I got. I already had cut a hole there & had put hardware cloth over it for the summer, but I had intended all along to put a window in there before winter. I had to cut the hole a bit bigger to get the window in there & that turned out not to be as easy as I thought. I should have gone out & gotten the sawzall, but I thought it was a fairly small amount, so I thought I could use the hand saw, boy it was harder than I thought & took longer. By the time I got the hole big enough & got the window in there it was starting to get a little dark. I had to hurry & go inside & get the hardware cloth put on so I could open the window tonight since it's warmer. I was running out of light in there & if the screwdriver hadn't had a light I wouldn't of been able to finish it. The chickens were starting to come in to roost & they didn't like the sound of my screwdriver. One of my young Speckled Sussex pullets ran out the door & I had to mess with getting her back in & at that point I wasn't much in the mood for chasing chickens. They have this game they play, it's called let's run all the way around the coop so she has to chase us & then we'll run in the door before she gets there. It must be fun for them, but not so much for me. I also took the old roost out of there tonight to be able to get to the window to work on it & I plan to take it apart & make one like the other one of 2x4s instead of 2x2s. None of the chickens use the old one since I made the better one anyway.

I've got a to do list to get done before really cold weather, so these two things today were the first two on that list, there are quite a few more things on there. Then I will have to start doing things to get ready for our vacation. By the time we get back from that it will be into the holidays & the year will be over, gosh time goes way too fast any more.

 

[HEChicken]

Yes, Josie, I am seriously hoping this one is a girl.

I hate to say this but that one is looking sort of boyish to me. How old is he/she?

Where do you get your ACV? Poor Madge. (I love that name -- too cute, I may have to swipe that one.) Hope she's feeling better soon.

I used to have to go to Whole Foods to get it. Their Twin Lakes location was fairly convenient to my old house but then they moved out to New Market Square where I never go, and I was kind of bummed until I found it at.....Dillons! It was in their health food section, not the vinegar section. The brand name is Bragg's. I couldn't believe I had really found it there and had to look at the label over and over but sure enough, it had The Mother in it so I've been getting it there ever since.

Wow am I pooped out tonight! ...

I've got a to do list to get done before really cold weather, so these two things today were the first two on that list, there are quite a few more things on there. Then I will have to start doing things to get ready for our vacation. By the time we get back from that it will be into the holidays & the year will be over, gosh time goes way too fast any more.

That's great you got so much done - my list is really long too - its a bit overwhelming at times.

I didn't see your earlier question until it was quoted by someone else. Madge isn't sneezing but sounds crackly when she breathes. I put VetRx on her last night, which wasn't easy because she wanted none of it, so I was holding her under one arm and chasing her beak with the other trying to get some on. This morning she seemed worse than yesterday so it didn't seem like it did any good anyway.

I started her on Duramycin today, as it seems like it is broader spectrum than the Denagard. If I don't see improvement in a few days, I'll try the Denagard and also try to pick up some of that Sulfa drug (thanks Josie for the link!).

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Quote: I totally agree there. I am glad the treatment worked well for you.


Quote: I use the liquid safeguard goat wormer, but I dont not mix it with water in fear of diluting it too much plus not knowing if everyone got the correct amount of medicine. I dose everyone seperately, yes time consuming but it is worth it to know that everyone got the amount they need.


Quote: Haha nice, mine has started asking me if I plan on picking any up this weekend so he can plan the trip around the other errands lol


Quote: Oh absolutely, and much easier knowing I will have enough space

 

[cherwill]

12 pages of posts I missed. I confess I skimmed a lot while trying to catch up. We've been busy scraping paint and sanding at the house we're working on. Fortunately, no one actually lives there so we aren't disturbing anyone with the length of time it's taking us. I'm doing what I can while trying not to make my foot worse. I'm actually almost done with the primer phase of what I can reach, but DH is still scraping and sanding. By the time we get home, we just want to eat and vegetate in recliners until we get enough energy to go upstairs to bed! Today we mowed instead of working on the painting project, so I decided to check in here and I was 111 posts behind.

Unfortunately, this job has just about convinced DH we have no business thinking about a hobby farm. I'd like to think my foot is going to get better; there's certainly no reason to think it would be permanent. I think he's thinking we're just getting too old for so much physical work and I have to confess I've had the same doubts in the past. We're never both thinking the same thing at the same time.

It's been a bad week at McPherson College, with two deaths this week and another student who recently was determined to be pretty much brain dead. DH is on vacation this week while we work on the painting and his shift got the call about a 19 yo on a bicycle being hit by a car. His shift is all fairly young guys, a rookie and a couple who'd not yet experienced anything so ... gruesome. He feels bad that he wasn't there, but also knows they're going to have to deal with those kinds of things now and then. My nephew knew the boy on the bicycle; not well, but they'd done a few projects together in classes. He's generally freaked about all the deaths in such a small school, and doesn't know what he feels about the boy he knew. I'm horrified, and sad for the family of the boy on the bicycle. But I'm also dwelling (to an unhealthy extent) on the 17 yo who hit him; his life is forever changed by a second's distraction. Sometimes I have nightmares about things like this; something you never think will happen to you, something so permanent and you can't ever go back and make it right.

Not a very good day on the backyard farm. Came home to find that 6 of might 8 chickens had been killed by 2 stray pit bulls that jumped the fence. One bird is pretty banged up, but still alive. Not expecting her to make it thru the night, but so far so good. Another bird was missing altogether (not in the yard). She showed back up about an hour after I got home trying to find her way back to the coop. She's missing a lot of feathers & has a few bites & scratches, but is holding up really well. Better than I am. Not really sure how I'm handling it honestly. I've raised these birds since they were 3 days old. A lot of time, energy, effort, money & care have gone into this hobby. Not sure what I'm going to do at this point. If my one bird doesn't make it that will leave me with just one. She knows something is up & has been looking for the other birds for hours. Not sure I'm going to even try & get any more birds this late in the year especially with winter just around the corner. I may have to re-home her just so she's not alone. Then I can decide in the spring if I want to try again or just let it all go. Still pretty emotional about the whole ordeal & have decided not to make any final decisions right now. I'm just glad I wasn't home to see it happen. Fortunately, my neighbor witnessed the whole thing & was able to identify the dogs for animal control & they picked up the dogs & took them away.

On a side note, the one thing the animal control officer did point out to me was that I did not have the proper permit for the number of birds I had. I've known that for some time & the form is sitting on the desk. Just never took the time to fill it out & send it in. She did not write me a citation, but said that an officer may be back by to write me one if they deemed it necessary. The officer knew I was pretty upset so I think she cut me some slack. So I guess what I'm saying if you need a permit & don't have one yet take the time to get it done.

I'm so very sorry; I can't imagine going out and finding that. I would be devastated, too. I hope you don't give up on having chickens, though. I go through something like this when one of my dogs dies. But then I remember the joy of having them, even though they don't live nearly long enough. The thought of living without experiencing that love and joy again always ends up outweighing the pain I know will come. I hope one day you'll find yourself ready to take that risk again with chickens; I know it takes time.

Quote:

David I'm sorry about your chickens.
I have had a really awful day. I lost my sweet Tyggy today. It is hard to explain how you can love a cat that much, cause she was so different and special. I've had her since she was a couple weeks old and her mother got killed. I hand fed her cause she was too young to eat. I was her Mom and we shared a very special bond. I feel so broken.

Oh, I'm sorry about Tyggy. I know how you can love an animal like that, and how you miss them forever. There does come a time when you can remember all the good things and smile and laugh about them again, but you always miss them.

We call those a heart cat or a heart dog.

I like that. My heart dog died a couple of years ago. I've always had dogs and I've loved them all like they were my children, but Bronson was my heart dog; still is. I miss him so, so much.

Of the 3 Rhode Island Reds I purchased as pullets... well, I am positive 1 is a roo and pretty sure another is too. Of the 7 EEs I purchased, I believe all 7 of them are hens

So - if anyone on here wants one (or both) of my little RIR roos (about 4 weeks old), you are more than welcomed to HAVE them... let me know. Trish already gave me an awesome rooster that I'm in love with

Anyone...? *batting eyes sweetly*

I wish I could have roos. Stupid town ordinances. My first roo was a RIR and he was beautiful. I've ended up with a couple since him, but he was by far the most beautiful.

HEChicken~ I'm trying to understand what it is that the ACV does and how. Does it kill the worms or just prevent them? Thinking back to my school days, yeast convert sugar to alcohol and bacteria convert the alcohol to acetic acid(I think). So is it the acid or the bacteria that are doing the work? It must be the bacteria, otherwise you wouldn't need unfiltered. Thinking to bread making, the mother is the starter. You use the starter which contains the yeast and lactic acid producing bacteria to make the bread. So essentially, I'm innoculating each batch of bread with the same strain of yeast and bacteria to make my bread rise. I'm going to guess that this is the same, right? The mother must be a certain strain/strains of bacteria to convert the alcohol to acetic acid. I don't think the organic part matters as much as the filtered part. I wonder if I can make my own. There are no whole food stores here, it's unlikely I will find it at the local stores but I will look to be sure.

If there's a health food store nearby, they may carry it. Also, some of the mainstream grocery stores sometimes have a small section of health foods and natural foods, so maybe you'll be able to find it there.

We've had our older chickens for almost 2 1/2 years and have never dewormed them. I've never seen signs of any kinds of worms and, except for poor fat Old Sophia, all my birds seem quite healthy. I think I'll try the ACV though; it's cheap enough and won't hurt anything. I'm going to have to check out pumpkin seeds, too, because I think we've used it in the past to deworm a dog. That wouldn't have been preventive. Or maybe it didn't work? I'll have to check with DH on that one and see if he remembers what that was all about.


I hope the week ahead is better for everyone. I probably won't able to check in again for several days. Too old, you know ....