Consolidated Kansas

[michelleml]

Hawkeye hope your hen gets better.

 

[HEChicken]

Hawkeye, sorry about your sick silkie and glad the VetRx worked for you. I wonder why I never have any luck with it. I spread it all over beaks, get it into nostrils (if I can), rub it into wattles etc., but I've just never had it do much for them. Sigh. I still try it with any bird that sneezes or has the sniffles but so far have not had it have much effect on them. I probably won't buy another bottle when this one is empty.

The good news is - spring is really right around the corner this time! I looked at the weather forecast for the next 7 days and today is supposed to be cold and windy but after this there is a warming trend and the forecast is for temps in the 60's & 70's by the weekend - yay! I have so many projects I need to get done that I'm waiting on the warmer weather. I want to build my second hoop coop, clean out the deep litter in my main coop, get the vegie garden going and on and on. I'll be a busy bee but can't wait to get started on all these things.

Chooks, congrats on the articles - that is awesome! I can probably make about any day/time as long as I have a little advance notice.

Oh, Hawkeye, I meant to tell you about the mean hunting skills of Miss Silkie. When I was working on my hoop coop on Friday, she was, as usual, hanging right with me and chattering away to me, and then she went quiet and when I looked over at her she had found a huge earthworm. She thunked it on the ground a couple of times, then down the hatch it went in one swallow. She was so excited, she really went on the prowl after that, hoping to find another one, but no luck.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chris0110 [/FONT] I agree with Hawkeye about the Wichita limits. I lived there for several years with chickens before moving out to the country last summer. When I first got them, I looked up the laws and it said you could have 5 hens, so that is the number I got. I did later see somewhere else where it mentioned a limit of 3. Ultimately I got the permit ($25/year) to allow me to have 12 chickens, but my neighbor reported me after that, and Animal Control came out to visit. It wasn't any big deal because I was able to show the permit and he wrote off the complaint because I was legal. After that we had a really nice chat because he was very interested in the chickens and I told him about the discrepancy in the ordinances and asked him if it is for sure 3 or 5. He told me he thought 5 is the legal number and said there had been a change and they must not have updated the ordinances uniformly. However even he did not seem to be 100% sure? So if I were you, I would check into it more - perhaps even call down there - because the more you have, the better. First, 3 may not always supply enough eggs - since they don't lay every single day and take times off to molt, the more you have, the greater the odds you'll get enough eggs to supply your needs. Second, in winter, the more birds you have in the coop, the warmer they will all be. Third, losses are inevitable but if you start with 3 and lose a couple, you're down to one lonely hen, and its not always that easy to find a companion, depending on time of year. If you start with more and lose a couple, you have a little flexibility on finding replacement birds to take their place, since the remaining hens still have one another for company. I could go on but I'll exercise self-restraint here [smile], although I will add that Chicken Math is a very real affliction. Almost all of us started out thinking we would just have a few for eggs and wound up with multiple coops and pens and many more birds than we originally planned. My "five" hens multipled to 12 very quickly and from there the next step was to move out to the country where I have no restrictions.

 

[checoukan]

Hawkeye~~ Do you think the Baytril has made any difference yet? I had a hen come back from Pryor, and 3 days later she had swollen eyes! Nobody else did, but she what cooped next too a hen that did not look all that clean. I gave her 1/2 cc of agrimyicin for 2 days and she cleared up.
I think I am going to do what a breeder told me to do. I am going to go to office max, or somewhere that handles the clear sheets, like you use on an over head projector. I am going to buy those to but up a barrier between my pens next to other birds. I wont put them between my birds, but, just on the backs and sides. I think it will help keep transmissions down.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh, I forgot to say, Hawkeye, if the Baytril doesn't work, I had good luck with Denagard for similar symptoms earlier this year. I had a silchin, not with bubbly eyes per se, but she had a respiratory infection severe enough to cause discharge from her eyes. They were getting really gunked up, to the point her eyes kept sealing shut. I used Vetericyn on a clean cloth multiple times each day to clear the gunk so she could open her eyes but hours later they'd be sealed shut again. After a couple of days of hoping it would resolve on its own, I mixed up some Denagard and put her in a hospital pen with it. I noticed a difference almost immediately and even the very next morning, while there was still a little discharge, it wasn't enough to seal her eyes. By about day 2 there wasn't any noticeable discharge at all. I kept her on it for a full 7 days because I didn't want to take her off it too soon and have it return, and she has never looked back since.

Trish, my sister gave me a bunch of kitchen scraps for the birds this weekend so I paid particular attention to what Madge was most interested in. She first picked up a piece of orange (sis forgot I told her no citrus) and pecked at it several times before deciding to move onto something else. Next she grabbed a carrot and tried it but found it a little hard. Then she spied a pepper "core" with tons of seeds still on it. It was in the possession of another bird but was worth chasing that hen down and stealing. She ate it with gusto and then returned to pick through the rest. So I would try peppers (this was a bell pepper) and apple cores as those are the two things she seems to love the most, although she does try about everything. I wonder if the difference is that she is with the chickens and sees how excited they get when I throw out scraps, so has "learned" to get in there and get her share?

Josie, I observed a pleasing interaction with my Welsummer roo yesterday. A silchin rooster and a Sultan X Cockerel were duking it out - and I mean really going to town. The Wellie roo observed for a minute, I guess to see if they would work it out, but as they continued to spar, he moved towards them. I expected him to chastise one of them but instead he just calmly walked in between them, blocking their view of one another, which worked. They each ran off in different directions and that was the end of it. Funnily enough, Ned was headed over as well - I guess these big, calm guys just don't like conflict in the chicken yard.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Hawkeye,

I feel so badly for you that your silkie is doing so poorly. Put the Vet Rx in her eyes also, It will flush out the foam and also help drain it. I had a bird with a puffy eye and the Vet Rx was really helpful. I believe JosieChick was the one to recommend it to help clear the eye. It seemed very soothing for the bird. Mine seemingly had a blocked tear duct. I'm praying for your bird to get well. That's just sad.

checoukan, where did you get the agrimyicin? Just like to know, in case I ever need it. The kids are getting into 4H and you never know. I like the idea of the transparencies on the top and sides of the kennel. That should help.

 

[WichitaKidd]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Chris0110 [/FONT] I agree with Hawkeye about the Wichita limits. I lived there for several years with chickens before moving out to the country last summer. When I first got them, I looked up the laws and it said you could have 5 hens, so that is the number I got. I did later see somewhere else where it mentioned a limit of 3. Ultimately I got the permit ($25/year) to allow me to have 12 chickens, but my neighbor reported me after that, and Animal Control came out to visit. It wasn't any big deal because I was able to show the permit and he wrote off the complaint because I was legal. After that we had a really nice chat because he was very interested in the chickens and I told him about the discrepancy in the ordinances and asked him if it is for sure 3 or 5. He told me he thought 5 is the legal number and said there had been a change and they must not have updated the ordinances uniformly. However even he did not seem to be 100% sure? So if I were you, I would check into it more - perhaps even call down there - because the more you have, the better. First, 3 may not always supply enough eggs - since they don't lay every single day and take times off to molt, the more you have, the greater the odds you'll get enough eggs to supply your needs. Second, in winter, the more birds you have in the coop, the warmer they will all be. Third, losses are inevitable but if you start with 3 and lose a couple, you're down to one lonely hen, and its not always that easy to find a companion, depending on time of year. If you start with more and lose a couple, you have a little flexibility on finding replacement birds to take their place, since the remaining hens still have one another for company. I could go on but I'll exercise self-restraint here [smile], although I will add that Chicken Math is a very real affliction. Almost all of us started out thinking we would just have a few for eggs and wound up with multiple coops and pens and many more birds than we originally planned. My "five" hens multipled to 12 very quickly and from there the next step was to move out to the country where I have no restrictions.

Having been thru all the Wichita city code & permit discussions fairly recently (September 2012) I can tell you that what the municipal code states is that you can have 3 chickens without needing an AMP (Animal Maintenance Permit). By code, you are allowed up to 12 birds with an AMP with the exceptions being: no roosters, no guineas & no peacocks. Essentially, anything known for making excessive noise. One other thing of interest is that the code lumps different types of birds into a single category called "fowl". This would include chickens, geese, ducks & pigeons. I know that some of the confusion as to how many birds you can have without a permit actually came from the AMP application form itself. The "old" form actually said you only needed a permit if you had 6-12. The form was revised last year (2012) to be consistent with the municipal code. Cost for an AMP is $25 annually. The city is currently re-vamping their entire website & they've temporarily taken down the link to download the AMP application forms, but if you need one PM me & I'll email you a copy. Once it's back online it should be here: http://www.wichita.gov/Government/Departments/WPD/Pages/Administrative.aspx. At least this is where it was at before. And yes, it is part of the WPD as they are responsible for animal control.

Here is a link to the Wichita municipal code. It does make for some interesting reading. Title 6 is the section that covers everything you'll need to know.
http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=14166

Some advice I would give you would be to let your immediate neighbors know about your chickens & make sure they are OK with it. A fresh supply of eggs was all it took for my neighbors to buy into my project. I've been lucky that I don't have this problem to worry about. I would however, start paying attention to things like stray dogs, possums, skunks, etc that you may see on occassion in your neighborhood. I had an entire flock wiped out last year due to pit bulls who had gotten lose, jumped my fence & had a hay day with my birds. At the time, I didn't have an AMP which is the only reason I didn't press charges against the dog owners. Needless to say I have one now. I think of it as more of an insurance policy than a permit. It does give you more legal rights than you might think.

Best of luck with your birds. If you're like most of us, you won't stay at just 3 birds for very long.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Hawkeye- sorry about the silkie I hope she does ok. It is scary.


Ok guys I have several OEGB for sale, they are 7 weeks and I need to thin down...

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

A quick update on the banty hen/yarn. Before I fed her, her crop was down to a very small amount and that could have been feed. She is looking and acting fine. I don't know how long it will take for anything to work through her. We will see.

HEChicken, you may already know, a way to bring worms to a spot is to put something flat, a rock, board, cardboard weighted down, etc, where you want the worms and keep it wet. Close to where you use water on a regular basis so you can spray some water on it is handy. Then when you pick up the object you will find them collected under it. Grab quick, they dive for cover fast. Your silky will really love you for that.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye hope your hen gets better.

Thank you Michelle!

Hawkeye, sorry about your sick silkie and glad the VetRx worked for you. I wonder why I never have any luck with it. I spread it all over beaks, get it into nostrils (if I can), rub it into wattles etc., but I've just never had it do much for them. Sigh. I still try it with any bird that sneezes or has the sniffles but so far have not had it have much effect on them. I probably won't buy another bottle when this one is empty.

The good news is - spring is really right around the corner this time! I looked at the weather forecast for the next 7 days and today is supposed to be cold and windy but after this there is a warming trend and the forecast is for temps in the 60's & 70's by the weekend - yay! I have so many projects I need to get done that I'm waiting on the warmer weather. I want to build my second hoop coop, clean out the deep litter in my main coop, get the vegie garden going and on and on. I'll be a busy bee but can't wait to get started on all these things.

Oh, Hawkeye, I meant to tell you about the mean hunting skills of Miss Silkie. When I was working on my hoop coop on Friday, she was, as usual, hanging right with me and chattering away to me, and then she went quiet and when I looked over at her she had found a huge earthworm. She thunked it on the ground a couple of times, then down the hatch it went in one swallow. She was so excited, she really went on the prowl after that, hoping to find another one, but no luck.

The VetRX cleared up her runny nose very quickly. She was sneezing and shaking her head. I put the drops down and she had been sitting down all fluffed up and looking miserable. She suddenly stood up and took some deep breaths and immediately starting eating! So don't under estimate that VetRX on a very congested bird! I'm looking forward to Spring, I can hardly stand it! I just want to scream I am so sick of cold weather! I think that is such a cute story about Miss Silkie! So sweet! They are such funny birds, I love watching them! She sure thought she was going to find another worm!

Hawkeye~~ Do you think the Baytril has made any difference yet? I had a hen come back from Pryor, and 3 days later she had swollen eyes! Nobody else did, but she what cooped next too a hen that did not look all that clean. I gave her 1/2 cc of agrimyicin for 2 days and she cleared up.
I think I am going to do what a breeder told me to do. I am going to go to office max, or somewhere that handles the clear sheets, like you use on an over head projector. I am going to buy those to but up a barrier between my pens next to other birds. I wont put them between my birds, but, just on the backs and sides. I think it will help keep transmissions down.

Yeah, the Baytril cleared up the eyes by the next day. She is still congested and sneezing, but the eye foam is gone. I didn't give her another shot this morning, I decided to switch her to Denagard instead this morning. Hopefully that will clear up the rest since that is what it's made for. They were selling those plastic sheets at the Kansas Classic in Fall! I didn't bring money to buy them, I totally forgot. But I'll be attending the Spring Classic and I'll be buying several sheets then! They were only a dollar a sheet, so you can't beat that! But I agree on the barrier between the "other" birds. So long as yours are together, fine, but it would be nice to protect your run of cages in between the idiots who like to bring dirty birds or birds that don't look like they are feeling that great. I've never been put up next to one, but I sure have seen them. I bring TetraOxy to the shows with me-- it's in my show bag now. Just in case!

Oh, I forgot to say, Hawkeye, if the Baytril doesn't work, I had good luck with Denagard for similar symptoms earlier this year. I had a silchin, not with bubbly eyes per se, but she had a respiratory infection severe enough to cause discharge from her eyes. They were getting really gunked up, to the point her eyes kept sealing shut. I used Vetericyn on a clean cloth multiple times each day to clear the gunk so she could open her eyes but hours later they'd be sealed shut again. After a couple of days of hoping it would resolve on its own, I mixed up some Denagard and put her in a hospital pen with it. I noticed a difference almost immediately and even the very next morning, while there was still a little discharge, it wasn't enough to seal her eyes. By about day 2 there wasn't any noticeable discharge at all. I kept her on it for a full 7 days because I didn't want to take her off it too soon and have it return, and she has never looked back since.

Josie, I observed a pleasing interaction with my Welsummer roo yesterday. A silchin rooster and a Sultan X Cockerel were duking it out - and I mean really going to town. The Wellie roo observed for a minute, I guess to see if they would work it out, but as they continued to spar, he moved towards them. I expected him to chastise one of them but instead he just calmly walked in between them, blocking their view of one another, which worked. They each ran off in different directions and that was the end of it. Funnily enough, Ned was headed over as well - I guess these big, calm guys just don't like conflict in the chicken yard.

Duh! I switched her to Denagard and I totally forgot I had it. I was so panicked, I went right for the Baytril since I know it's one of the best drugs. But the Baytril did clear up her eyes. She still has a sneeze. She is obviously still sick... but she's looking a LOT better. She's in the "hospital" in my garage. Very interesting about your cock fight! Even more so that Ned was going to help sort it out?? Isnt' that crazy? I'm glad that your Wellie got it worked out before Ned came over-- a knock on the head from a turkey might have really hurt them. ha!

Hawkeye,

I feel so badly for you that your silkie is doing so poorly. Put the Vet Rx in her eyes also, It will flush out the foam and also help drain it. I had a bird with a puffy eye and the Vet Rx was really helpful. I believe JosieChick was the one to recommend it to help clear the eye. It seemed very soothing for the bird. Mine seemingly had a blocked tear duct. I'm praying for your bird to get well. That's just sad.

checoukan, where did you get the agrimyicin? Just like to know, in case I ever need it. The kids are getting into 4H and you never know. I like the idea of the transparencies on the top and sides of the kennel. That should help.

Thank you! I think she's doing better today, but she's not out of the woods yet. I didn't know you could use VetRX in the eyes! That seems crazy to me. Her eyes have cleared up now, so I don't need to do that, but I'll remember that tip!

I think of it as more of an insurance policy than a permit. It does give you more legal rights than you might think.

Best of luck with your birds. If you're like most of us, you won't stay at just 3 birds for very long.

all of it is GREAT advice!!!! So glad that you are in the know! It sounds really simple to get a permit.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye- sorry about the silkie I hope she does ok. It is scary.


Ok guys I have several OEGB for sale, they are 7 weeks and I need to thin down...

Thank you MaidenWolf! I hope you find homes for your OEGB! They are adorable!

A quick update on the banty hen/yarn. Before I fed her, her crop was down to a very small amount and that could have been feed. She is looking and acting fine. I don't know how long it will take for anything to work through her. We will see.

HEChicken, you may already know, a way to bring worms to a spot is to put something flat, a rock, board, cardboard weighted down, etc, where you want the worms and keep it wet. Close to where you use water on a regular basis so you can spray some water on it is handy. Then when you pick up the object you will find them collected under it. Grab quick, they dive for cover fast. Your silky will really love you for that.

Glad your hen is doing fine! What a relief!!! I have been thinking about it and wondering how she's been doing!



Here's the latest pic of my poor pathetic girl who isn't feeling well. All droopy. But she is eating and drinking well. There is food on her beak.

(click to enlarge)