Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

I feel I am doing something wrong - but maybe something right too since I've not lost any birds. I don't heat my coop or do anything special - I don't have heated water nor do I even put water in the coop for the birds. They get up in the morning and come out and drink out of fresh water that everyone else (dogs, cats) drink from... I'm confused as to how the cold temps can kill the birds? I always read they do better in cold than heat. I've really done nothing any different than I do any other time of the year... (except fill the dog bowl outside every 2-3 hours with fresh water due to freezing.)

??? Why am I not having problems?

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I'm so sorry. It sure has been a couple of bad days for the birds. I almost hate to go outside and see what else has happened out there. It's so hard to understand when all of our work and care and of course expense goes down the tubes due to weather, or colds, whatever else afflicts us. It is hard not to get depressed.
Maidenwolf I am sure there will be other special birds because they tend to love you. Your children are very sweet. I wish I could tell which eggs Duke has fertilized so I would know what to hatch. I guess I can't do that unless I separated him with a hen. I just don't have the space to do it unfortunately

There will be other special birds but this one was extra special because he was a gift from a friend and that made it extra special. I do have some coming from mommahen hopefully in a week, that she hatched out of my hens which is exciting because it will be th every first babies out of my girls. My birds mean alot to me and if they are meant to be pets they get spoiled and loved. I spend alot of time with them and they give me so much happiness. I am hoping I can get my incubator going well so that I can hatch. If all goes well this test hatch will yield a baby
Thank you danz for everything you have done. That chick was very special and I will never be able to repay you for that.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I feel I am doing something wrong - but maybe something right too since I've not lost any birds. I don't heat my coop or do anything special - I don't have heated water nor do I even put water in the coop for the birds. They get up in the morning and come out and drink out of fresh water that everyone else (dogs, cats) drink from... I'm confused as to how the cold temps can kill the birds? I always read they do better in cold than heat. I've really done nothing any different than I do any other time of the year... (except fill the dog bowl outside every 2-3 hours with fresh water due to freezing.)

??? Why am I not having problems?

My little one was tiny, It was the size of a 4 week old chick but was 2 months old. She got kicked out of the very warm dog house and stuck in a place on the ground and couldnt get back to the warmth. That is the only reason she died. All the other birds do extremely well in cold. I do not heat, do not use heated bowls they free range all day. My coop is recycled privacy fence, the really thin type so it is pretty cold in there at night but they snuggle up and do great.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

My little one was tiny, It was the size of a 4 week old chick but was 2 months old. She got kicked out of the very warm dog house and stuck in a place on the ground and couldnt get back to the warmth. That is the only reason she died. All the other birds do extremely well in cold. I do not heat, do not use heated bowls they free range all day. My coop is recycled privacy fence, the really thin type so it is pretty cold in there at night but they snuggle up and do great.

Mine free range all day too - I usually have to wait till dark to lock them up in the coop because the guineas take forever to get into the coop at night - the guineas go in, come out, go in, come out, scream on the roof, go back in, come out and run in the fields, go in, come out... etc. They drive me nuts. I just want to lock up the coop and be done for the night with everyone!

 

[Hawkeye95]

MaidenWOlf-- so sorry about your little bird!

Belated Merry Christmas to everyone!!! Stay warm!

Thank you for the advice!!

I second all of what Josie said. I do have some input though which might give you some sense of comfort so you can stop blaming yourself. First in order to kill a hen I would think it would take over 2 months to grow enough worms to do that. After you worm there is a chance of eggs being left in the intestine and reinfecting. But if all the live worms were killed a couple months ago I seriously doubt that enough worms would grow to kill her this soon.
I've had a couple birds that died for no obvious reasons. You couldn't tell they were thin because of their feathering. If her crop was empty she had probably quit eating which is a sign of disease normally. In the birds that I had that were thin that I have disected myself I have found two different things. One would be an abnormal colored liver indicating a liver disease. The other would be an enlarged heart. Both of those things indicate a problem or disease I doubt I could have treated in any way. I have never found worms in their intestine. And you can't dispute the cold and changing weather. Especially on a small bird that isn't known to be real resistent to the cold. That would have nothing to do with her loosing weight unless she got ill when the weather changes first began. If she was just sitting quietly on a nest or something you probably wouldn't notice. I'm very sorry but you have to quit beating yourself up.
I am doing the same thing over my olandsk hen. I knew she wasn't feeling good Christmas eve cause she is usually running around and she was just sitting. I keep thinking if I had brought her in and given her a shot or something she might be okay.


I have no idea how I am going to get every one fed and watered again today. This weather is the total pits. Thank heavens for heated water bowls but just the same that doesn't help me get it out there to them. I tried watching that Alaska show last night to make me feel better about our weather. It didn't help. I just kept wondering how anyone could be so dumb to live in the Alaskan frontier in the first place. I HATE cold weather!
I really really need to spend the day in here cleaning up and wrapping the presents for the kids for our Christmas celebration in a few weeks. Cloud keeps running through the house with her muddy feet when she comes back in so the house is worse than normal.

Thank you Danz. Very smart of you to check your own birds and see the liver and heart like that. Hang in there, winter can't last forever. Bleah. I HATE winter!! I HATE it! Oh and yeah, Zelda (my hen that died) her crop was empty. She was very thin.

I feel I am doing something wrong - but maybe something right too since I've not lost any birds. I don't heat my coop or do anything special - I don't have heated water nor do I even put water in the coop for the birds. They get up in the morning and come out and drink out of fresh water that everyone else (dogs, cats) drink from... I'm confused as to how the cold temps can kill the birds? I always read they do better in cold than heat. I've really done nothing any different than I do any other time of the year... (except fill the dog bowl outside every 2-3 hours with fresh water due to freezing.)

??? Why am I not having problems?

My guess is that you do not have any fancy breeds that are cold intolerant. If you bought all layers or dual purpose birds, you're likely fine. I have that coop of layers out back and they are all FINE. Not a problem with them. But they are built for the cold and are not tempermental. In *MY* case... the silkies are notorious for being sensitive to the cold. They can NOT handle cold weather, they will die if left out or treated like a "normal" bird. Food for thought, when/if you get silkies. You can't treat them like your others. You'll need heat lamps and heaters for them. They have fluff-- not feathers that cover them up and block the cold wind on them. I know that Danz and some of the others that are losing birds are also dealing with Imports or birds that are more sensitive-- they are NOT classified as "layers" and thus, are not as hardy. They require special treatment or they die easily. That is just the nature of the fancier breeds. Which is why I have 3 heat lamps on my silkies and they have heated water. If I did not do that-- they would likely all be dead by now.


HEChicken!!!! I bit the bullet and ran to the farm store this morning and bought that $40 Ivermectin Injectible! Tell me how to use it in water please!!!

I posted my heartache on my silkie club site asking for ideas and this is the response I got: (thinking this could go for ANY chicken, not just silkies)

"S" says:
Yes, old birds can get coccidiosis. They are not immune; their systems are somewhat resistant, but at times of stress (extreme cold could cause stress, especially if the change is rather sudden) the resistance weakens.

Chickens are relatively low on the predator and high on the prey list, and as such mask their symptoms to prevent being singled out as prey. This is instinct. Thus, when they are exhibiting signs of illness they are usually already VERY ill. The ruffled feathers and huddled in a corner is symptomatic of feeling too miserable to mask it. Coccidiosis, worms and mites/lice are some of the most common causes of illness, thus are usually the place to start when there are no other symptoms such as raspy breathing, sneezing, swollen face, etc.

"C" says:
We do lose mature birds.....sometimes cocci somrtimes other things but I am beginning to think that these poor little hens suffer from egg pertonitis...things go wrong inside and over time they lose weight from the inner infection and by the time we notice anything it is too far gone....and it can take them suddenly too...its a lot more common than we know....we just lost one of our little 18 month old buffs she was fine and then huddled...dropped weight and was drinking water non stp till it poured out of her beak....i tried treating her with some penicillin to fight infection...they get eprinexed regularly but she just finally expired....its a sad reality of hens they just can get pertonitis so easily

 

[Hawkeye95]

HEChicken-- I hunted down the dosage online for the 1% Ivermectin Injection. It read as "low dose"= 4cc per gallon of water. "high dose"= 8cc per gallon of water. I wonder which one I should start out with? Would the 4cc be too diluted, you think???


I'll post the recipe for the gingerbread, etc later after I get everyone wormed!

 

[Hawkeye95]

Okay, going to go with the Low Dose-- 4cc per gallon of water. They are already stressed with the cold, I don't want to kill them. Here we go!

 

[sunflowerparrot]

My guess is that you do not have any fancy breeds that are cold intolerant. If you bought all layers or dual purpose birds, you're likely fine. I have that coop of layers out back and they are all FINE. Not a problem with them. But they are built for the cold and are not tempermental. In *MY* case... the silkies are notorious for being sensitive to the cold. They can NOT handle cold weather, they will die if left out or treated like a "normal" bird. Food for thought, when/if you get silkies. You can't treat them like your others. You'll need heat lamps and heaters for them. They have fluff-- not feathers that cover them up and block the cold wind on them. I know that Danz and some of the others that are losing birds are also dealing with Imports or birds that are more sensitive-- they are NOT classified as "layers" and thus, are not as hardy. They require special treatment or they die easily. That is just the nature of the fancier breeds. Which is why I have 3 heat lamps on my silkies and they have heated water. If I did not do that-- they would likely all be dead by now.

That is what it is then - I have Atwood specials None of my chickens are anything fancy or pricey - just regular ole barnyard chickens.... I have thought about all the problems that could arise if R got silkies - maybe we need to redirect her to something else that is pretty, but not so delicate. I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Hawkeye95]

That is what it is then - I have Atwood specials None of my chickens are anything fancy or pricey - just regular ole barnyard chickens.... I have thought about all the problems that could arise if R got silkies - maybe we need to redirect her to something else that is pretty, but not so delicate. I'm open to suggestions.

Polish are pretty hardy! I love mine and they have the really cool crests (fluff balls) on their heads! But they don't require all the heat and special treatment! That would be my vote for a less intensive "fancy" breed. I know silkies can be integrated into flocks and do fine without all the stuff I'm doing. It just seems mine are pretty needy. They have been shivering each night and lifting legs and standing on one leg during the day-- so I had to add another heat lamp. I didn't start out with the heat lamps and figured I needed them. Only went with them when they looked like they weren't doing well with the cold. If you have areas that block the wind during the day-- silkies do just fine out and about in the winter with the other birds. The special care comes in at night. I'm wondering how well the girls are doing that HeChicken got. Hopefully they have someone to snuggle up with and have deep litter to lay in. I'm guessing she's got it all covered. For no more silkies than you are wanting, they sleep on the floor and it would be easy to just set up a heat lamp in a corner for them to sleep under in the winter! You'd probably be okay!

 

[mommahen10]

Hi everyone! Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I just laid down to take a rest but I started reading and you all know how that goes. I'm soooooo sorry for all of the losses. I'm thankful that my dh has been home this week because he hasn't let me go outside to take care of the chickens, but I sure would like to see for myself that they are all well. I've never had my own winter gear before but I've been scrounging through things that the kids are no longer using, I found a pair of coveralls and a pair of boot, neither fit me right but I won't have to wear them for long periods of time. I bought a pair of gloves and I'm sure I can find some knit hats. My 15 yo ds has 2 chore coats so I'm sure he'll share with me. I'm ready to go out when I need to. I ordered those nipple waterers weeks ago, I sure wish we had our system built by now Hawkeye, I sure enjoyed your cookie tin heater pics, I still haven't found tins that will work. The pics are motivating, it makes it seem easier to be able to picture it. The gingerbread houses are so cute, I was curious if you used cutters too.

I lost a chick on Christmas Eve, it's was about a week old and died in about a half of an inch of water. It looked like it just fell asleep like that. I've never had that happen before. I have more chicks in the incubator now, I think I'm done for a couple of months. Danz, I like your idea about using an egg, I can definitely do that, and I could do both and compare the difference too. Did you get the tree out for your mom?

The talk about the worms, I was able to see hookworms under my microscope in a stool sample of my dog. What kind of worms are we looking for in chickens? I should check ours.

Tweety, I'm sorry to hear that you are still having a hard time.

Christmas is always a great time, but a tiring time. It seems to mark buckling down the hatches and settling in for winter. We aren't going to be doing much at all. The heater went out in the van, it seems it needs a new thermostat and it's going to be a costly repair. I think we're just going to stay in, we only drive it a couple of times per month anyway. I have a huge bag of blanket in there, I think I'll upgrade them to sleeping bags. I thought about sewing big buttonholes into the sleeping bags for the seat belts to go through so they can zip up to stay warmer. That would probably make me feel safer if we did have something come up and we had to get out. I'm going to work on getting the house in order, it's been so neglected over the summer/fall months as outside work was priority. Now it's time to do some other things inside.

I hope all is well and there are no more losses.