Consolidated Kansas

[Dani4Hedgies]

With eye infections or eye injuries I have had great luck with adding organo and Honey to their water as well as using warm water(about 1/4 cup) with a drop of Apple Vinegar in and using a syringe flush the eye then apply the Triple ointment.

 

[Trish44]

@sharol The Campine hen I had was small too & I got her at a sale a few years ago so I had no information about her. She was small & the flightiest bird imaginable, even worse than my Leghorns. Maybe she was a bantam as well, I learned something too because I didn't know they were large fowl & yours seem totally different than what I've seen. They are pretty birds, the one I had was the gold variety.

@Dani4Hedgies if you need more bantam Mille Fleur Cochins I will be hatching those in the spring. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with the Japanese Ohiki's yet. I put them out in the pen right now with the BLRW chicks because the little rooster was crowing in the house at the crack of dawn.

@chicken danz that's the pits about your roosters, ugh the darned testosterone. I have had roosters that will stand outside of another pen & just start a fight through the wire. I had one Black Copper Marans that would taunt the little Cochin rooster all the time. I had to run him away from there daily. I don't have him any more, he died quite awhile back. I have a Welsummer & a BLRW rooster for flock roosters in my main flock now.

While I was feeding yesterday I saw that several of the pens had just knocked their water bowls over & didn't have any water so I had to do some of the water then. I have to go out & change out the rest today while it's warmer & I can take my hose out. I may have to do with some of them like I had to with Zander & cable tie the cord to the fence. He was throwing his around till I got it where he can't move it too far. I'm glad the cord has wire on it or he would chew it up. I give him big bones to chew because he is a major chewer right now. He can eat a big bone in no time. I had to give him the tough rubber toy that you put treats in because everything else I gave him he shredded.

 

[sharol]

@sharol The Campine hen I had was small too & I got her at a sale a few years ago so I had no information about her. She was small & the flightiest bird imaginable, even worse than my Leghorns. Maybe she was a bantam as well, I learned something too because I didn't know they were large fowl & yours seem totally different than what I've seen. They are pretty birds, the one I had was the gold variety.

They do fly (literally). As far a flighty, maybe if they were broody raised. These were in a brooder and handled a fair amount. I moved them in and out to a portable run daily for a couple of weeks before it was warm enough for them to be outside all the time, so they were used to being touched. They are friendly and chatty and hysterically funny sometimes. They are small but they don't know it. In some ways they are like my chihuahua -- they think they are big birds and act like big birds. They are just fun to have around and watch.

Temps have dropped 15 degrees in the last hour and the sun is under a cloud. Darn. I was hoping for some free solar heat through our big southern windows before the weather got nasty. Sigh. I CHOOSE to live in Kansas. I choose to live in KS I choose to live in KS.

 

[Trish44]

I know what you mean sharol, our weather radio just went off announcing a thunderstorm watch, it's on it's way here, oh joy. I hope it gets through so I can go out & feed later.

The little Isbar rooster I have that is the oldest one is quite the character, I hope he doesn't grow up to be aggressive, right now he is just funny.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

[Trish44]

Wow, we had a pretty decent day yesterday weather-wise other than windy, that is until that storm rolled in. We were just finished with chores & working with Zander some on commands when we saw the clouds rolling in. About that time my tarp on the north side blew loose & it was flapping something awful in the wind & I said to my DH that I didn't want the thing coming loose completely off of the run. So we hurried over & started putting the rocks back on it to hold the bottom down when it just let loose with the rain & it was blowing sideways & it was so cold it stung. We both were completely soaked by the time we got in, brrrr.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

 

[chicken danz]

Haven't been on line in days. I've just been too busy to sit down here for long. I just finished one more present late last night. Maybe by the time we get a date set to celebrate Christmas with my kids I'll have every thing ready. It's going to be another busy week. I have so much to do before the next cold snap hits this weekend. I have noticed that the animals are sporting a lot more furr than normal which worries me a lot. I think we are going to have a lot more severe weather and a late winter.

 

[Trish44]

I hate it when we have a late spring, it sure delays hatching season a lot for one thing & another is I hate winter anyway. By March I'm ready for spring & we have had some nasty storms in that month in the past, especially ice storms.

I've got Mille Fleur Cochin chicks hatching today, I have 3 hatched so far & another pipping with 4 more eggs after that to go. They sure are cute little things, fluffy little balls with feathered feet.

 

[sharol]

My rooster's eye is almost normal today. Just FYI the medicine i used was Neo-Polymyxn-Dex by Bausch and Lomb. The vet checked and it is the med of choice for chickens' eye problems. The 3.5 gram tube was about $20, so I had her refill the prescription (for the cat) for future need. I can't believe how well it worked. I'm going to use it for 2 or 3 more days (a week total) to make sure we got it all.

https://www.drugs.com/mtm/neomycin-polymyxin-b-and-dexamethasone-ophthalmic.html this stuff.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I seem to have one problem after another with my birds recently. I've got a 5ish week old broody raised chick that I've been treating as best I can for a pretty severe case of frostbite. I've been dosing my rooster for congestion, which he has had for a while now. Today, my hubby noticed one of my ducks limping. It looks like it is probably bumblefoot. I'll have to inspect it a little closer tomorrow when there's more light. I guess I was due for a case of bumblefoot. I haven't had one in a couple of years.

I greatly dislike having sick animals! I find it very stressful!

 

[chicken danz]

I've had my share of sneezing since we had that major cold spell. It's only the birds that are outside, not the breeders, but they seem to be getting over it without intervention. I imagine that extreme cold stressed them and weakened their immune systems for a while. Unfortunately looks like we are getting hit again next week with more of the same.
The rooster that had the severe infected frost bite and was doing so poorly, not eating or drinking or standing is doing remarkably well. I am sure he is going to loose his comb and wattles but the infection appears to have cleared and he is being noisy and outgoing these days. It's very sad that it's going to be so hard to treat birds after the first of the year with antibiotics because he is a case that would have been lost without them. I wonder sometimes why the government feels the need to interfere in such things. Most people are responsible enough not to use antibiotics without reason. And I do know vets that simply overuse them rather than use other treatment methods. So I don't see that we are going to gain anything.
Other than for cocci, (medicated feed) I tend to use meds sparingly and concentrate more on probiotics. I have also started culling more birds rather than treating them because I want to build a flock with more disease resistance. But it sure helps to have antibiotics on hand for those that are necessary.