Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Danz I understood that the injectable meds will still be available, it's the water soluble ones like the Tylan that won't be. I don't know what we're going to do because there sure aren't Vets who treat chickens many places. There are none around here that I know of & who is going to take a bunch of chickens to the Vet anyway. I only give antibiotics as a last resort but when they're really sick that's the only way to save them. I have stocked up on some powdered Tylan to have it on hand but after that's gone it's gone. I use the injectable anyway if I only have one or two birds sick, but it's too hard to treat a group of them with that. I try to isolate the sick ones as soon as I find them in the garage so they won't spread it. I usually have a problem at the time the wild birds migrate through because they bring diseases with them. There is no way with free ranging birds to avoid that. I have culled a few chickens that just didn't get better over time.

lizzy I'm sorry you're having problems with sick birds, I hate that too. It just seems to go with having birds at times.

I ended up with 4 Mille Fleur bantam Cochin chicks. I had to help the last one hatch, it got glued in it's shell. That seems to happen to the later hatching ones more. The early ones never seem to have that issue. This one had pipped the night before & I waited all day for it to finish hatching but it had opened the shell just enough to let it all dry out. It seems fine today, walking around in the brooder with the other 3.

 

[Plinky]

Hello Folks,
I just saw our blind Brahma stretching her neck and opening her mouth as I've heard about when describing gapeworms. Is there anything else it could be? How difficult is it to check for gapeworms? I've read about doing using a cotton swab but between reading about it and doing it...Do gapeworms show up in a fecal test? I think I'm going to get a microscope and do fecal checks myself!
Just read various treatments on the Chicken Chick website. Most were not approved for use in poultry, however. Appreciate any thoughts on that. Also, trying to be as chemical free/organic as possible though not opposed to using meds when needed.
Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather.
Thanks!

 

[rlh1]

My black silkie, basil, has decided to go broody. We are letting her sit on 4 eggs. A buff, 2 EE and a maran egg. All firtalized by my maran roo. This is the first time I have had a broody hen! I'm so excited. I used to have an incubator and have hatched that way but I think this way is awesome. Now I just need a flash light strong enough to candle them.

 

[chicken danz]

My black silkie, basil, has decided to go broody. We are letting her sit on 4 eggs. A buff, 2 EE and a maran egg. All firtalized by my maran roo. This is the first time I have had a broody hen! I'm so excited. I used to have an incubator and have hatched that way but I think this way is awesome. Now I just need a flash light strong enough to candle them.

Good luck with your hen.

Hello Folks,
I just saw our blind Brahma stretching her neck and opening her mouth as I've heard about when describing gapeworms. Is there anything else it could be? How difficult is it to check for gapeworms? I've read about doing using a cotton swab but between reading about it and doing it...Do gapeworms show up in a fecal test? I think I'm going to get a microscope and do fecal checks myself!
Just read various treatments on the Chicken Chick website. Most were not approved for use in poultry, however. Appreciate any thoughts on that. Also, trying to be as chemical free/organic as possible though not opposed to using meds when needed.
Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather.
Thanks!

I doubt very seriously it is gape worm. It has almost been eliminated in chickens and I've never seen a case or heard of one anywhere near here. Most of what you read are people who confuse gape worm with a respiratory infection. It also tends to infect young chicks, not adults. I've seen many birds do that same action you are describing. That usually means that they have something stuck in their esophogus that they need to move down. And it will move on it's one usually. Gape worm would result in them gasping for air full time. Most gape worms are detected in a necropsy, but can also be detected in fecal exams. If you want to be sure, you can simply worm your birds with safeguard goat drench. (Fenbendazole) It will kill gape worms as well as about any others they can get.
Obviously Tylan hasn't been available for the past year without a script in Kansas anyway.

@Trish there is quite a long list of those drugs that are in the VFD ruling. The problem is that even though a veterinarian can prescribe those drugs, he now has to justify their use. So it's not as simple as simply writing a script for them. He has to fill out papers with the feds to justify why he prescribed them. In other words, most will not prescribe them due to the restrictions. I hate this because in my case, I prefer to use water soluble meds to treat an entire group of birds if they have been exposed. If you have one sick bird most likely the others in that pen will get the same thing unless you identify the ailing bird and separate it before it has a chance to leave exudes for others to get infected. Treating each bird individually with a shot is highly impractical when you have as many birds as we do. Also water soluble meds have a much longer shelf life than liquid suspended ones. Most can be prolonged even longer by keeping them frozen. I'm far enough from any major farm stores it's not practical to drive a couple hours to pick up a medication and it's also expensive to buy ahead of time in case you need it.
In time I've learned how to prevent most disease, but in case of a major outbreak it's sure nice to have medications on hand. I've become a great advocate of probiotics and as much fresh produce as I can supply.
The other problem is the mentality of the 5 cent chick. Many vets see no value in the price of a chicken in these rural areas because they were raised back when the local hatcheries sold chicks for 5 cents each. And many younger vets don't understand the need for bird medicine and prefer to go more into the study of livestock and/or house pets. So their not likely to prescribe a med that requires a lot of time and paper work.

 

[Trish44]

Danz yeah I know what you mean about treating a whole group. I normally try to watch & catch any sick ones & isolate them if I can. It doesn't always work out that way, but it's nice if it does because then I don't have to treat so many birds. It is the pits about all of that paperwork & you're right they're not going to do that if they don't have to so even the few Vets who have treated chickens probably will stop because of that. I wish the government would know what they're doing before they make rulings like that. They were obviously targeting large operations but they didn't think of the small farmer just trying to keep his flock alive. I agree that antibiotics should not be used for fast growth of animals & as a preventative, but they should let us use small amounts just to treat an illness if needed. I guess we all will be culling more birds than we have been at times, it's a waste of good birds.

Sometimes birds will do that neck stretch when they have a respiratory illness but you would hear congestion or something then. I have seen them do it when they're eating & just get something stuck.

 

[Plinky]

Thanks Danz. I agree. The hen that was 'gaping' yesterday seems fine today. But, speaking of the wormer you mentioned...I read a lot of conflicting info on dosages. Do you have the proper dosage for a specific product? Also egg withdrawl times? Thanks!

 

[chicken danz]

Since febendazole is off label you aren't going to get accurate withdrawal information. Normally the dose will be small enough that you wouldn't notice the effects from it. But a good rule of thumb is to withdraw from eating their eggs for a couple of weeks. I have never stopped eating eggs and I worm my flock at least once a season. I haven't died yet!!! I think the danger when it comes to things like this is the long term effect of creating "super bugs" when humans get a large degree of medication from animals and animal by-products. If I had little kids i would be more cautious.
There are two ways to worm with Safeguard Goat Drench 10% suspension. First way is a flock wormer that you mix 4cc or 4ml per gallon of water and make sure they have no access to any other water. This needs to be done on three consecutive days. I always add sugar to the water when I use Safeguard cause they don't like it. It also settles to the bottom so it is imperative you give them a fresh dose each day. The least amount of water you can get by with for a day is the most likely that they all get a good dose.
The second way to worm with Safeguard is to do it by weight. Worming with more than prescribed won't hurt them. The rate is about .2 ml per each 5 pounds of body weight. Just squirt it down their throat. Most vets will give substantially more by weight than what the manufacturer prescribes. Repeat worming in 10 days.

 

[Trish44]

I just use the wormer you mix in the feed, it's by Rooster Booster & it's the triple wormer. I use it twice a year, spring & fall & it seems to work fine. The cannister tells you to mix the whole thing in 50 lbs of feed, but if you know how much you feed you can divide it out. I do that with my fermented feed since I know how much I mix in a batch. I have to order it online because I have not found it in the local stores.

I moved my oldest 4 Isbars out to a hoop coop the other day hoping to get them acclimated before it gets colder again. The other group will not be ready for awhile yet & that worries me to move them in the middle of winter. That's what I get for hatching chicks this time of year.

 

[Plinky]

does anyone have a good reason not to buy cracked corn and/or black sunflower seeds intended as wild bird food? I just saw some at HyVee that was quite inexpensive - less than feed store I think. There was also an interesting hanging black sunflower seed treat.
(I read somewhere NOT to give chickens stuff for wild birds, but...)
Thanks and Happy New Year everyone.

 

[chicken danz]

I've given my birds plenty of black oil sunflower seeds intended for wild birds. I've not given them other grain for wild birds however. If you have a co-op nearby you can probably get bagged cracked corn way cheaper there than at any store. The only reason you might not give chickens feed intended for wild birds is that it has not been studied for nutrition content and purity. I see no reason why they couldn't have it. I wouldn't give it to young chicks but adult birds are smart enough to avoid toxic foods. Most wild bird seed has a lot of red milo in it and most chickens don't care for that.