Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Ivyrash how old is this hen? Could she have gotten over heated? Too bad you didn't have more time to access the situation. If she is laying age she could be egg bound.
I haven't tried the kickin chicken. I just figured it was vitamins. I've seen it advertised several places.
I am to the point I need a separate building just for bird meds. But I have or do use every one of them. Maybe I should open a chicken pharmacy.

 

[RoosterLew]

Trish

http://www.walmart.com/ip/23894742?...1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

Easiest way to fill those holes, it is a 2 part putty. There are different brands, but machinist call them "steel stick" , they all work the same way.
You just cut or tear a little off the end, knead it together and it makes a little dough ball you put over the hole.
Make sure the metal is clean. I would sand the area a bit to get good metal, then press it on..12-24 hours later it is good to go. Bondo would work too, but it is alot more work to use.

Another option is JB Weld, it is a 2 part epoxy. If you get "JB Kwik" it sets really fast, but it is pretty expensive.

As well There are many types of epoxys that would do what you need, they come in a double tube-single plunger applicator that would easily fill those holes.

 

[ivyrash]

Ivyrash how old is this hen? Could she have gotten over heated? Too bad you didn't have more time to access the situation. If she is laying age she could be egg bound.
I haven't tried the kickin chicken. I just figured it was vitamins. I've seen it advertised several places.
I am to the point I need a separate building just for bird meds. But I have or do use every one of them. Maybe I should open a chicken pharmacy.

I keep thinking I need a quaranteen building just for sick birds but then I would use it for other birds and would need to build another one for sick birds and on and on and on.

Then hen is two to three years old. She doesn't lay very often, how can you tell if they are egg bound? I kind of felt her over but have never had one that was egg bound to compare it too. I guess she could have gotten overheated yesterday but that's not my first guess. I am northwest of Topeka and we had a nice cool rainy morning yesterday. It did heat up in the afternoon but all the birds were out in the shade by then.

I have had a hard time with the birds being sick this year. Got rid of 4 hens and a rooster yesterday and another mean banty rooster last week and moved all the chicks out to the big pen yesterday.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Wow today was busy & hot, the worst thing is that Weds. it's supposed to get even hotter. I got sick after doing that garage sale in the heat for two days. I came down with sinus drainage & a fever & have been coughing some due to the drainage. I went out anyway today while my DH was around to help & we worked on the goat shelter. We got the floor put in & put up the supports for the roof, but we have to get the right nails for the tin to put it on & a blade to cut it with. Danz, this is used tin & it was some that the wind tore off of a friend's horse shed, so there are holes in it. Is there a good way to patch the holes besides just some silicone? I mean you can't complain when the stuff is free, even if it does have some holes. We haven't had to buy too many materials for this goat shed, most of it has been free, except for the OSB we bought for the floor & we will have to buy siding of some sort for the outside & paint, but the bones of the thing was all free. We had enough free 2x4s for the roof supports & building up the front so the roof slants back to the back for drainage, so that was awesome. My DH thought I was nuts when he saw all of this stuff sitting out behind my breeder coop, but now he appreciates it.

Well for those who know about my Wheaten Ameraucana who was broody & now she has been raising the chicks, she just has two of three left. The third died today, so that was kind of sad after they made it for so long. That momma has been trying to hard to take good care of them.

There is a product sold in Dollar Generals and some Walmarts in the "As seen on TV" sections, that comes in a spray can. Originally it was only black but now there is silver color. It is $14.00 for a large can and would fill a lot of nail holes. I have used it on some chicken water-pans that had several holes and it worked great. The black reminds me of some undercoating I once used on a car. Undercoating spray-cans would be a few dollars cheaper, but I thing it only in black.

 

[HEChicken]

So how is the valbazen dosed. Is it by weight or what? That is always a concern with me. I certainly can't weigh every bird. Is there general dosing amounts for a chicken or a turkey or do you have to guess their weight?

You don't have to weigh the birds. What I was told is 1/2cc per LF and 1/4cc for bantams. For Ned the turkey I did a full 1cc, even though that was never mentioned on the threads I read, just because he has to weigh at least twice what a LF does. I think for Madge I might have only done 3/4cc since she is smaller but still larger than the chickens. I only have a few bantams and I didn't do any of them since they are almost all raising chicks right now and I knew it would be extra stressful for them to be handled. Also, since they are separated in a nursery pen, it is easy to see that they are not pooping poops with tapeworm oocytes in them, so I wasn't as concerned about them.

 

[chicken danz]

Well it looks like you have lots of options,Trish. I suggested Bondo cause it is so easy to use. Just mix it up and put it in the hole with a putty knife. I wasn't talking about making something beautiful. Looks like most of the recommendations are along the same line. They all mix two parts to make a hard filler. My preference for repairing metal is Belzona. You can't tell it from steel when it is done but it's like $250 a kit. I was thinking the bondo was something cheap she could use elsewhere in the future.
I changed my routine today and did all my feeding and watering this morning instead of in the evening. I had been feeding in the evening so they wouldn't be digesting food during the heat of the day.
I liked the evening feeding because it encourages the birds to get out and scavenge for bugs and food. But I was getting very tired of getting in the house at 10 PM every night.
I need to go out and work in the garden now but it sure doesn't sound like fun in this heat.

 

[Trish44]

That was my concern too, but it went pretty smoothly. It wouldn't work if you have a bunch of the same breed you can hardly tell apart but almost all of mine are different. I have two Reese NH hens but since one of them is broody and the other in the hoop coop there was no way to get them mixed up. And, I have a no touch who I was afraid I absolutely would NEVER be able to grab but she is broody right now so I actually was able to get her off the nest. Hopefully chicks won't hatch before she needs the second dose so I can get her again then. I did end up with a couple of hens that I wondered if they got the dose - simply couldn't remember. So I erred on the side of caution and didn't dose them, as I thought that might be better than giving them a double dose. But overall I was able to keep track by thinking of them in groups. I.e., these 6 are all hatchmates, so I'll do them one-by-one and then move on to the next group, and so on. So, even though they are all in the one coop, by dividing them mentally into smaller groups like that, I was mostly able to keep track of who had been dosed already.

I was most nervous about doing Ned because he is so big and strong that if he fought me, I could have ended up wearing the Valbazen unsure of how much he got. But he was very good and allowed me to open his mouth, put the whole dose in, and didn't spray a single drop back out at me. The Valbazen is effective against every other type of worm as well, and he's been looking a little peaky lately, so I'm hoping this will perk him up.

Wow HEChicken you are really dedicated, I don't think there is any way I could dose all my chickens individually like that, I would be out there for a week. I have some like my leghorns for one that don't let me anywhere near them. I just have to use the ivermectin in their water, that's about the only way I can do it. I do use Safeguard for the peafowl & turkeys. I need to be doing that soon, but I was wondering if it's a good idea when it's so hot & they're stressed from that anyway. I usually try to do it when it's early spring & in the fall.

Trish

http://www.walmart.com/ip/23894742?...1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

Easiest way to fill those holes, it is a 2 part putty. There are different brands, but machinist call them "steel stick" , they all work the same way.
You just cut or tear a little off the end, knead it together and it makes a little dough ball you put over the hole.
Make sure the metal is clean. I would sand the area a bit to get good metal, then press it on..12-24 hours later it is good to go. Bondo would work too, but it is alot more work to use.

Another option is JB Weld, it is a 2 part epoxy. If you get "JB Kwik" it sets really fast, but it is pretty expensive.

As well There are many types of epoxys that would do what you need, they come in a double tube-single plunger applicator that would easily fill those holes.

There is a product sold in Dollar Generals and some Walmarts in the "As seen on TV" sections, that comes in a spray can. Originally it was only black but now there is silver color. It is $14.00 for a large can and would fill a lot of nail holes. I have used it on some chicken water-pans that had several holes and it worked great. The black reminds me of some undercoating I once used on a car. Undercoating spray-cans would be a few dollars cheaper, but I thing it only in black.

Trish the only thing I know of that would fix those holes would be to get a container of Bondo and mix some up and patch them with it.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I'll check into all of those things & see what I think would work best for me. This tin is not rusted at all, it's still shiny silver, so I don't think it will need much sanding or anything. I don't think my friend had this roof up that long before we had a storm & it all blew off. Her insurance company was paying for all new materials to put up, so she didn't need these, it was a good deal for me.

I had a rough night last night, I woke up choking from the drainage & it took awhile to get it cleared so I could get back to sleep, it was the pits. I am feeling somewhat better today though.

I went out to let the laying flock out this morning & walked into the run & found this tiny little white egg laying on the floor about a half inch in diameter. It was white so I have no idea where it came from. Could a chicken lay an egg like that?

The little goats are such characters, yesterday after we got the floor in their shelter the littlest one came in to "inspect" it. She walked in & looked around & then did her bucking broncho act in there, it was so funny. She did that like yipee a floor & then walked out & went about her browsing outside of the pen. They have been sleeping in the one corner where we had put a section of floor from a piece we had left over from the breeder coop. They know this is their house & they have been very curious about what we're doing when we go out to work on it. They don't however like the sound of the cordless drill, so they usually freak out when we're using that & leave the pen.

 

[sharol]

I spent 2 hours in the garden this morning. Pulled out and composted the first round of snap peas and tilled up their area for squash and cucumbers. It was only 80, but it felt like 90. Don't overheat.

Still nothing from the eggs.

***snip****

I need to go out and work in the garden now but it sure doesn't sound like fun in this heat.

 

[chicken danz]

I just got in from the garden. I ran out of gas in the little tiller I was trying to use in between rows after I pulled weeds. I takes a special mix and I have no idea where the container for it is.
Then I got the monster tiller over there and was working away and it just died. I have no idea why. It has plenty of gas. I was so irritated I decided to come in and cool off a little. DH has been napping for at least an hour and a half and I could use some help. He has never had anything to do with any gardens I've put in. He could care less about anything home grown.
Sharol I was just thinking about you. Are you on day 20 now? I'm sending positive vibes your way.

 

[sharol]

21. I have thermometer trauma. The one I've been using all along for the primary (nice readout and humidity) suddenly (out of no where) spiked to 102. The other one was showing 97 (been running 98 on it and 100 on the primary). I broke out the little aquarium thermometers I had retired and plunked them in there, and they are both showing right at 100. I don't know what to believe.

I took the primary out and sat it on the counter next to my room thermometer and it is pretty much the same as the room temp (1 degree higher (or part of a degree?).

I'm pulling out my hair. If it was truly a little high all along, that means my incubation temps were too low (98 or so) and might retard the development or kill the eggs. I tested it with two other thermometers when I got it, and it was spot on, so I'm not sure why it is flaky now.

Too late to worry about it I guess. The incubator has been rock solid for almost 3 weeks at 99, but whether the thermometer has gone south or not, I don't know.

New topic: (I gotta quit obsessing about this one)

MY DH doesn't do much with the garden, but he really enjoys some of the produce especially the hot peppers and snap peas. He does all the mowing and yard work, and I do all the laundry. We made that agreement 8 years ago when we got married, and it has worked out really well, but that doesn't include the garden.

***snip***

Sharol I was just thinking about you. Are you on day 20 now? I'm sending positive vibes your way.