Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

My ground is also taxed as agricultural. But that may be a point. IF these "buildings" are used for agriculture is it taxed at a different rate. My birds are 100% agriculture.

 

[rittert3]

Ugg, the crap season is here I woke up with the body aches, ect. this morning, it hit 90 something here yesterday after a couple weeks of cool weather so I'm thinking thats why. Spring and fall are so mean to me, lol and to think they are my favorite times of year.
Loralee I'm so gald your chicks came in, that drive to the PO is so exciting. I used to get quite a few of those soft bellies and most times they pull out of it in a day or 2. I hope you have lots of fun with them, try not to worry to much over them.
Danz I hope you get all this figured out with you land appraisels, it sounds like a real pain.

 

[Hawkeye95]

oh wow- so you guys know what I'm talking about then!! That's great! She is still alive... but I don't know for how much longer. She will snap out of it right when I think she's giving up and take off and go drink and then find another spot to lay down. She is getting run over a bit, and she gets up and goes and finds a diff spot. Her little round squishy belly is still about the same. I hope she can pull out of it- she is one of the better looking ones. Figures. I think her crest is one of the more poufy and bigger ones. Sometimes she opens her mouth and looks like she's going to die. (not panting) Freaks me out. But she hasn't done that in a little while now. I'm prepared for which ever way she goes. But I do hope she will be okay. Is she deformed?? What is the squishy belly about??? She feels like one of those newborn baby birds you see in birds nests where their back end is shaped like a pear. I let the silkies out. Boy do they think they are tiny hot stuff! But they are behaving much better now. The Monster chicks are keeping them in order. The two Wynadottes are ready to roll. But the barred rocks (my other Monster chicks) are just really laid back and taking it easy. The Polish are gunning around the brooder like their tails are on fire. hehe!!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Okay, here is a up close and very personal shot of my chicks hiney.

This is her backside you are looking at and I just got thru soaking her bottom thinking that if I rubbed her, soaked her, maybe it would make her feel better. Not sure if it helped, but she did succeed in having one of the LARGEST poos ever! It shot straight out and got on my shirt! Okay, towards the top of her tail-- right under the black fluff is her vent. There is another dark "point" down further in her white fluff-- what is that? Is it umbellical part? Okay, well what I really wanted to show was the large round masses in the left of the picture-- left of her vent. There is a large swollen squishy area and another smaller one above it. I hope you can see it. Ignore all the wet fluff from her massage and soak. At least I know her bowels are moving!

Does this swollen area look like what you were talking about?

ETA-- just wanted to say that the swollen mass actually starts left of the 'point' in the white fluff with the smaller mass up left of the vent. The large mass is nearly half of her bottom. I hope that makes better sense.

 

[chicken danz]

Sounds to me like she was beginning to get a little pasty butt from shipping stress. I've gotten pretty good at squeezing their backends to make sure they are cleaned out. It doesn't hurt them. IF she isn't eating grind up some chicken starter in a coffee grinder or such and sprinkle it on the bottom of the bin. If she is eating and drinking she should come out of it.
I'm not having a good day. Trying to lay rock and it is looking like crap. Makes me want to cry.

 

[rittert3]

your chick will probably be ok alot of mine that looked like that started out with prolapses which gave them a worse begining and they either absorbed it or I culled them after a day or 2. I wouldn't worry about her to much.
Danz I hope your rock project turns around I know how much you were looking forward to it.

 

[chicken danz]

Well, spent the whole day working with the rock and I think I lifted the entire ton and half at least twice. Problem was my ideas vs DHs ideas. Finally we agreed on a compromise between the two. It ended up taking at least twice as much rock but I guess it is going to be ok. It's just not as awesome as I hoped. I wanted to remove all the pavers and concrete and just lay the rock but he wanted to leave them. Then he wanted to stack the rock in the back and I wanted a gradual build up. I had to end up doubling and tripling the rock to make it look decent. I am just saying these ducks better bring me lots and lots of enjoyment cause they are costing me a fortune.
I think once I get the filter built and get the pond cleaned out and refilled I will be much happier. I am ready to get some planting done and get this aviary finished. But he is still trying to plan things out. I had it in my mind what I wanted and now I have to let him rethink it all. This is normal around here though.
I can't complain cause he usually has good ideas and does help me a lot.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Thanks Ritter and Danz! I think her bottom seems less swollen now. I've been massaging her and wiping her bottom down with a wet rag. She is eating now and walking around. Still slower and clumsier than the others-- but alert. We went to a family get together tonight and when I got back-- 5 of my Polish had poo on their bottoms! Stuck! I'm guessing that is pasty butt?! Why all of a sudden now? I wiped all 5 down with a wet rag and massaged their rear ends too. Sigh. They are active and gunning around the brooder. They seemed fine otherwise. I guess I'll have to be sure they are still clean in the morning. The silkies have been put in their place. I have a dominant Wyandotte that goes after them whenever they pick on someone. I think it's funny. But the Wyandotte doesn't seem to pick on anyone else. They are too busy with their own triangle. And this is my largest chick, too. She is sooo fluffy and like a giant among her tiny peers. hehe!!

Danz, I think you'll get it figured out, but I sure hope it's something that you're going to be happy with too. I'm sorry for all the frustration today. Maybe you will think of something brillant and it will all work out great. I'm guessing anything you do is going to look great no matter what! You can come build a pond for me! ha!!

 

[rittert3]

I wouldn't worry to much about the pasty butt if it's not very bad, wiping them to much might stress them out and cause more problems. You can check and wipe the worse of them every 2 or 3 days for the first couple weeks after that they shouldn't do it. I think your polish should be just fine if she is showing signs of improvement. She could have just been a little slower absorbing her yolk in combination with some stress from shipping. Whatever it was it sounds like shes pulling out of it now.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Yes, I agree with this. Just keep an eye on her. If needed, clean her bottom without getting her too wet or chilled. It does stress them to take care of these problems. Also, be sure the larger, more dominant chicks don't run over her. With the silkies being bantams, I would think she would pass them up fairly quickly.

I got my stacking cages painted today. I ended up with quite a bit of paint in my hair that was the devil to get out! Hopefully today I will be able to get some more doors built. DH and I both work, so there won't be much time to do it. If I don't get any done today, I'm sure I will get some done tomorrow. Friday night is the only night we have off together, so hopefully we can get a lot done.

I'll try to post some pics later after I get a few hours sleep. G'night all!