Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Fortunately the clock on the computer changes automatically! My DH had come in while I was typing above and said "You know its only 7am, right?" and I couldn't at first figure out why he was pointing that out

Oh, Trish, I meant to ask how your egg laying has been since you used the Rooster Booster? I know you had a really good day the next day but I was wondering if that trend had continued. I got twice as many eggs yesterday as I've been getting and a lot more than I've had in the last month though I haven't changed anything lately. In my case, it may just be that some of the newer pullets are finally getting started laying, although most of the eggs were full sized so I dunno….

Josie, congrats on finding a good placement for the minis, though it sounds like it wasn't without its stress either.

Well so far so good on the laying, but today I didn't even have time to collect eggs. I was running from the time I got up until just a few minutes ago when I finally had the time to sit down. I had to do the watering of all the birds this morning on top of my usual routine & I also moved half of the rabbits before I ran out of time. We had arranged to go take the girls & their mom out to eat since we hadn't even seen them since we got back so I had to do chores & then hurry & get around so we could go over to their house. We took them their gifts from Italy & Greece & the we all went out to eat. By the time I got done with that I had to go pick up my new cat & get her home & get her all settled in the garage. For now she is living in a couple of wire crates pushed together, one half is her cushy bed, food & water & the other half has her litter box. I will keep her confined in there till she knows where home is & I'm also thinking of just keeping her in there till she has her kittens. I think it would just be in her best interest to have them in there than to be in a strange place & have to find somewhere to have them & with the weather getting cooler I would feel better too. I may have to do some adapting to the crate when she has her kittens so they can't escape out the sides. Here is a pic the previous owner had posted:



She is such a sweet thing, she meowed just a little bit coming home in the car but she's pretty quiet really. I just think she's gorgeous. I ordinarily wouldn't adopt a pregnant cat, but this one was going to be going to the humane society if I didn't take her, so I just couldn't let her go there. These people that had her live in town & I know they had more cats than they're allowed there, that may have been a factor in rehoming her. I think they get fined if they have too many cats & don't have them all licensed in Winfield. She will be much better off out here with us, we have lots of mice around even with all the cats we have. I saw one of the kittens eating a mouse two days in a row, good kitties. Anyway, after I got the cat settled in I had to move the other 3 rabbits I didn't have time to move into the garage earlier & get them all fed & watered & by that time I was starting to run out of daylight. Danz, I hate it when it gets dark that early too! I had to hurry like heck to get the birds & the rest of the animals fed before dark.

Danz, we did the flush with blood workups before and after. The numbers were way down after the flush, but 2 weeks later they were back higher than they were originally. One of the things I really like about my vet is that he doesn't give you false hope just to boost the clinic's income. He was really straighforward about the hopelessness of her condition. I just didn't want to steal what little time she had left going to the vet and staying half a day for 3 days if it would only buy her a week or two. It just didn't seem fair to add to her discomfort. No regrets on that one. She had a decent last 3 weeks and a good life in general. Maybe better than a "good" life. She was the sweetest dog on the planet though she sure wouldn't have broken any intelligence records. I'm going to miss her for a long time.

Sometimes you just have to do what's right for your pet, no matter how much it hurts you to let them go. I went through that with my Blue Heeler mix a few years ago. She was 15 & she got that hip displasia thing & she could barely stand any more. When she did she shook the whole time & was in pain & then when she managed to lay down she couldn't get up by herself. I cried all the way to the Vet & back when I had to take her to be put down. I had her since she was a tiny puppy & she had been a great dog, but it was just time. I could barely even talk to the Vet when I got there with her. I had a Golden Retriever too when I first moved here, she moved with me from Derby along with the Blue Heeler Mix & the Rat Terrier I had. They just are great dogs, so friendly & so much fun. She died from Cancer a couple years after we came here, she was only about 7 at the time.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

I'm trying to catch up after a very busy weekend. Of course Multis won't work for me today, go figure.

Sharol, so sorry you lost your dear pet. It is never easy no matter how many times you've gone through it.

Danz, i hate it when people don't keep their appt and inconvenience others.

Trish and Hechicken, I do have the 2 gallon jar. I love it. It's perfect to soaking the eggs.

Trish, your new cat is beautiful! It's so nice of you to take a pregnant cat in.

That's all I could remember after 4 or 5 pages of posts. Sorry if i miss yours.

************************************

The wind is gusting pretty bad out there. I put the tarp on the south wall of the open coop today. It will help prevent draft in the winter. I put the 2 black rubber bowls out for the ducks since I.put the duck pond away for the winter. Hopefully the sun will keep the water thawed enough for them. I also decided to try DLM this winter. I'm getting very busy so I hope this will help. I am using pine shavings.

Danz, I think 1of the peachicks is sneezing. I have been keeping them with the lavender orpingtons and BRs. Only the peachick is sneezing. I got the Tetroxy HCA 280 antibiotics for the entire flock since they live together. I used 1/2 tsp for 1 gallon of water. The package says it is for poultry. I've been using it for 5 days but she is still sneezing. I think I also see her opening her mouth gaping every once in a while. Any idea how I should treat him / her? I also have Vet Rx. If it is an antibiotics I need to order, please let me know.

http://www.jefferspet.com/tetroxy-hca/camid/LIV/cp/MOB-T1/cn/3502/

 

[Trish44]

I'm trying to catch up after a very busy weekend. Of course Multis won't work for me today, go figure.

Sharol, so sorry you lost your dear pet. It is never easy no matter how many times you've gone through it.

Danz, i hate it when people don't keep their appt and inconvenience others.

Trish and Hechicken, I do have the 2 gallon jar. I love it. It's perfect to soaking the eggs.

Trish, your new cat is beautiful! It's so nice of you to take a pregnant cat in.

That's all I could remember after 4 or 5 pages of posts. Sorry if i miss yours.

************************************

The wind is gusting pretty bad out there. I put the tarp on the south wall of the open coop today. It will help prevent draft in the winter. I put the 2 black rubber bowls out for the ducks since I.put the duck pond away for the winter. Hopefully the sun will keep the water thawed enough for them. I also decided to try DLM this winter. I'm getting very busy so I hope this will help. I am using pine shavings.

Danz, I think 1of the peachicks is sneezing. I have been keeping them with the lavender orpingtons and BRs. Only the peachick is sneezing. I got the Tetroxy HCA 280 antibiotics for the entire flock since they live together. I used 1/2 tsp for 1 gallon of water. The package says it is for poultry. I've been using it for 5 days but she is still sneezing. I think I also see her opening her mouth gaping every once in a while. Any idea how I should treat him / her? I also have Vet Rx. If it is an antibiotics I need to order, please let me know.

http://www.jefferspet.com/tetroxy-hca/camid/LIV/cp/MOB-T1/cn/3502/

tweety I looked at those jars at Walmart & probably will get the 2 gallon one next time I go, I just had way too big of a list for this time after not buying groceries since before vacation. They really are nice jars though. Thanks for the compliments on the cat, I honestly hated to take in a pregnant cat, but I hated more for her to go to the humane society so I will have to try to place kittens after they're weaned. I'm hoping she will have some that look like her, she is so pretty.

I'm not Danz, but if I were you I would get some Tylan & treat that peachick, you will have to order it because I have never found the powder that you mix in water anywhere local. It's not cheap, but it's the recommended antibiotic for respiratory illness. If the bird is gaping like that it is having congestion. Also, if you get the Tylan powder you have to first mix the dose in hot water & then mix it in cold because it won't mix otherwise.

 

[HEChicken]

Tweety, the Tylan advice is good but the other thing you might look into is gapeworm. The best thing to do is to go to YouTube and type in the word "gapeworm" and hopefully it will come up with several videos showing chickens with it. It is a distinctive type of "gaping" when they're trying to breathe. What happens is that earthworms are sometimes carriers of gapeworm, and if a bird happens to eat the infected worm, the eggs hatch and crawl up and lodge in the respiratory tract. As more and more of them lodge in there, it gets harder and harder for the bird to breathe and they develop a distinctive "gape" when breathing to try to open up the airway and get air past all of those worms.

I had one bird with it earlier this year and have never had another come down with it so it really is just one of those "luck of the draw" things and has nothing to do with poor husbandry. Wormers for other types of worms are ineffective so it doesn't matter whether you've wormed or not. And, unfortunately there is really no treatment. A few people have had limited success with treating but the treatments I read about almost sounded worse than the worms, to me.

I'm really hoping your bird's "gape" is just regular congestion and not gapeworm but its good to be informed and explore all options so you know the best path to follow.

 

[sharol]

Does anyone have any experience (positive or negative) with introducing an adult Lab, Golden Retriever, English Setter, or Wheaten Terrier to a yard with chickens in it? We are looking at medium-large adoptable prospects in the area. Of course I also have concerns about the cats and our two little dogs.

Steve's dog has been gone for a couple of months now, so he is ready to look for an adult or young adult dog. We both feel better about having a larger dog around the place. I don't want to get a dog that has to be confined all the time, so it needs to get along with our extended furry and feathered family as well as kids. Not asking much, right?

Has anyone had any experience adopting dogs from SCARS up by Auburn?

 

[milomac]

not much info here , the English setter is a highly active dog if not penned will probably kill chickens and run away. They are so hyper they make poor pets but they have other uses

 

[HEChicken]

Does anyone have any experience (positive or negative) with introducing an adult Lab, Golden Retriever, English Setter, or Wheaten Terrier to a yard with chickens in it? We are looking at medium-large adoptable prospects in the area. Of course I also have concerns about the cats and our two little dogs.

Steve's dog has been gone for a couple of months now, so he is ready to look for an adult or young adult dog. We both feel better about having a larger dog around the place. I don't want to get a dog that has to be confined all the time, so it needs to get along with our extended furry and feathered family as well as kids. Not asking much, right?

Has anyone had any experience adopting dogs from SCARS up by Auburn?

Sharol, I've never heard of SCARS but assuming they are a rescue type organization? We adopted both of our dogs from a rescue. Sammie, the black one, is half lab, half border collie. I have heard a LOT of negative experiences keeping labs with chickens but ours has been only positive. She was 8-9 months when we adopted her. Not truly an adult but full grown (she has only gained a pound or so since we've had her and she is now more than 3). Since we adopted her from a rescue, she was in a foster home and the foster parents brought her over to our house to see how she'd do with the birds. We immediately took her to the backyard and since it was a new place and we already had another dog, there were lots of interesting smells around the place. She ran along (on the leash), nose to ground, taking it all in, when from around the corner, a chicken wandered. She froze, staring at it for about 5 seconds with a kind of quizzical look on her face like "what the heck is that?", and then decided it wasn't interesting enough to take any more of her attention and ran off to explore another smell. That is the MOST interest she has ever shown in the birds. Since our fox attack, we've had her actually sleeping in a dog igloo in the chicken yard. The auto door opens in the morning and the birds start spilling out but I've never had to worry about losing any to the dogs, and in fact, I believe their presence in the yard has prevented losses to wild predators. So that is our experience. I would recommend adopting from an organization that will allow a home trial. Since Sammie had not shown interest in the birds, we had the foster parents leave her with us and we were able to take as much time as we wanted to, to decided whether or not to adopt. In her case, within days I called them and said "let's formalize this" and the foster parents returned to do the paperwork. Shortly afterward, we trialed another dog and were less certain about him. We kept him 10 days but after he had chewed up several shoes, pottied in the house and chased chickens twice, we called them and said he wasn't working out, and they came and picked him up that same day. So for us, the rescue organizations are a great option because you can try a dog and be certain it is a good fit before taking full responsibility. The rescues don't make you feel bad about not being a good fit to a particular dog because they know that not all situations are compatible and they want their dogs to be successful in their new home.

 

[cherwill]

She is such a sweet thing, she meowed just a little bit coming home in the car but she's pretty quiet really. I just think she's gorgeous. I ordinarily wouldn't adopt a pregnant cat, but this one was going to be going to the humane society if I didn't take her, so I just couldn't let her go there. These people that had her live in town & I know they had more cats than they're allowed there, that may have been a factor in rehoming her. I think they get fined if they have too many cats & don't have them all licensed in Winfield. She will be much better off out here with us, we have lots of mice around even with all the cats we have. I saw one of the kittens eating a mouse two days in a row, good kitties. Anyway, after I got the cat settled in I had to move the other 3 rabbits I didn't have time to move into the garage earlier & get them all fed & watered & by that time I was starting to run out of daylight. Danz, I hate it when it gets dark that early too! I had to hurry like heck to get the birds & the rest of the animals fed before dark.

She's beautiful. I'm glad you adopted her; pregnant cats probably don't get adopted very often.

 

[chicken danz]

Danz, I think 1of the peachicks is sneezing. I have been keeping them with the lavender orpingtons and BRs. Only the peachick is sneezing. I got the Tetroxy HCA 280 antibiotics for the entire flock since they live together. I used 1/2 tsp for 1 gallon of water. The package says it is for poultry. I've been using it for 5 days but she is still sneezing. I think I also see her opening her mouth gaping every once in a while. Any idea how I should treat him / her? I also have Vet Rx. If it is an antibiotics I need to order, please let me know.

http://www.jefferspet.com/tetroxy-hca/camid/LIV/cp/MOB-T1/cn/3502/

I've never had a peachick or adult peafowl with a cold or sneezing. I would by all means try VETRX first. I did have some pheasant with sniffles and sneezing earlier this year and they cleared up in time using just vetrx. I would certainly try that first unless her congestion is really bad. I have also tried putting just plain inactivated oxine in the water when I had birds with colds, which seems to help detoxify the system some for simple things. If the birds have been wormed, my guess is she has gotten some virus from a migratory bird.
Peafowl are a lot more susceptible to disease especially when they are young, than chickens or other birds. Be sure to give plenty of probiotics and higher protein right now to build ultimate health. It is very important to keep her warm when she isn't feeling good. If you can add a heat lamp for cool nights that would help as well.
Speaking of peafowl I may try to move the rest of my peachicks over to the big pen today. The first 4 of them seem to be doing okay in there. They are still a little jumpy but there hasn't been any bickering.
Speaking of that. Here are the pictures of the last peachick that was born pure white now. I included the first picture I took of it because I figured it would change colors like the other white one from my India blues did. First pic is the original. The others were taken yesterday.





Can you believe that is the same bird? Heaven knows what color it will be in the long run.
We got the rest of the screenings shoveled out into pens yesterday. I could use a bunch more but I have to let my back heal first. There has got to be a better way to do that. If I didn't have netting on pens I could just dump it with the tractor loader but it would break the netting. So wheel barrows and shovels are all we have right now.
I got my garlic planted yesterday. I got DH to cut some pieces of 2X4 fencing for me and I covered the row with straw and then looped the fencing over it to form a little tunnel. I had some landscape fabric pins so I fastened it down with that. Hopefully that will keep the wind and the critters from removing all the straw I was using for mulch. I got about a 20 foot row put in. I sure hope it does okay. It was pretty pricy. If it will just grow and produce I can keep it going for years though. I only planted the largest cloves and saved the small ones to use. That will allow me to judge flavors of the two kinds. One is more of a german garlic with huge cloves for roasting and the other is more of just a culinary type.
I emptied out my incubator from yesterday's hatch. I am down to maybe just a dozen eggs in there. That is some kind of record for me. I do have probably another dozen or so to set but it's been a minimum of 3 and a half years since I had that few eggs in the incubator. Woot! Now if I would sell a couple hundred chicks I'd be sitting okay for winter.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

tweety I looked at those jars at Walmart & probably will get the 2 gallon one next time I go, I just had way too big of a list for this time after not buying groceries since before vacation. They really are nice jars though. Thanks for the compliments on the cat, I honestly hated to take in a pregnant cat, but I hated more for her to go to the humane society so I will have to try to place kittens after they're weaned. I'm hoping she will have some that look like her, she is so pretty.

I'm not Danz, but if I were you I would get some Tylan & treat that peachick, you will have to order it because I have never found the powder that you mix in water anywhere local. It's not cheap, but it's the recommended antibiotic for respiratory illness. If the bird is gaping like that it is having congestion. Also, if you get the Tylan powder you have to first mix the dose in hot water & then mix it in cold because it won't mix otherwise.

Trish - I have the Tylan injectable at home. Do you think I could use it? The peachick looks so small... not much meat on the breast for injection. LOL . Just saw Danz's peachick picture... mine looks similar in size to the last picture's peachicks except mine seem to have longer tails/feathers.

Tweety, the Tylan advice is good but the other thing you might look into is gapeworm. The best thing to do is to go to YouTube and type in the word "gapeworm" and hopefully it will come up with several videos showing chickens with it. It is a distinctive type of "gaping" when they're trying to breathe. What happens is that earthworms are sometimes carriers of gapeworm, and if a bird happens to eat the infected worm, the eggs hatch and crawl up and lodge in the respiratory tract. As more and more of them lodge in there, it gets harder and harder for the bird to breathe and they develop a distinctive "gape" when breathing to try to open up the airway and get air past all of those worms.

I had one bird with it earlier this year and have never had another come down with it so it really is just one of those "luck of the draw" things and has nothing to do with poor husbandry. Wormers for other types of worms are ineffective so it doesn't matter whether you've wormed or not. And, unfortunately there is really no treatment. A few people have had limited success with treating but the treatments I read about almost sounded worse than the worms, to me.

I'm really hoping your bird's "gape" is just regular congestion and not gapeworm but its good to be informed and explore all options so you know the best path to follow.

Hmmm... It did cross my mind that she may have gapeworm yesterday when I saw the gaping. I got this peachick from Danz in Sept... it has never gone outside. I moved them from inside the house to the barn storage room. They have been in the room for about 2 weeks with a Brinsea heater. Do they need to have contact with the dirt to get gapeworm? I took some video but I can't get it to download for me from my phone... Wish I have time today to do some research on it but I'm just swamped at work. Argh...

I've never had a peachick or adult peafowl with a cold or sneezing. I would by all means try VETRX first. I did have some pheasant with sniffles and sneezing earlier this year and they cleared up in time using just vetrx. I would certainly try that first unless her congestion is really bad. I have also tried putting just plain inactivated oxine in the water when I had birds with colds, which seems to help detoxify the system some for simple things. If the birds have been wormed, my guess is she has gotten some virus from a migratory bird.
Peafowl are a lot more susceptible to disease especially when they are young, than chickens or other birds. Be sure to give plenty of probiotics and higher protein right now to build ultimate health. It is very important to keep her warm when she isn't feeling good. If you can add a heat lamp for cool nights that would help as well.
Speaking of peafowl I may try to move the rest of my peachicks over to the big pen today. The first 4 of them seem to be doing okay in there. They are still a little jumpy but there hasn't been any bickering.
Speaking of that. Here are the pictures of the last peachick that was born pure white now. I included the first picture I took of it because I figured it would change colors like the other white one from my India blues did. First pic is the original. The others were taken yesterday.





Can you believe that is the same bird? Heaven knows what color it will be in the long run.
We got the rest of the screenings shoveled out into pens yesterday. I could use a bunch more but I have to let my back heal first. There has got to be a better way to do that. If I didn't have netting on pens I could just dump it with the tractor loader but it would break the netting. So wheel barrows and shovels are all we have right now.
I got my garlic planted yesterday. I got DH to cut some pieces of 2X4 fencing for me and I covered the row with straw and then looped the fencing over it to form a little tunnel. I had some landscape fabric pins so I fastened it down with that. Hopefully that will keep the wind and the critters from removing all the straw I was using for mulch. I got about a 20 foot row put in. I sure hope it does okay. It was pretty pricy. If it will just grow and produce I can keep it going for years though. I only planted the largest cloves and saved the small ones to use. That will allow me to judge flavors of the two kinds. One is more of a german garlic with huge cloves for roasting and the other is more of just a culinary type.
I emptied out my incubator from yesterday's hatch. I am down to maybe just a dozen eggs in there. That is some kind of record for me. I do have probably another dozen or so to set but it's been a minimum of 3 and a half years since I had that few eggs in the incubator. Woot! Now if I would sell a couple hundred chicks I'd be sitting okay for winter.

Danz... I certainly will try VetRx since I've it on hand. Do I just mix it with their water or just dab it on the nostrils? I'm now beginning to wonder if it is just the normal peachick behavior? He/she looks normal otherwise plus none of the chicks around them are sick... they love to go under the heater still so I keep it on. I do spray fine mist unactivated oxine in their living area twice a day. I'll add the oxine to their water since they will have their full course of antibiotic after today. I think the dosage is 1/8 tsp per gallon of water... please correct me if I'm wrong.

I also have a Vick's warm vaporizer so if necessary, I can add Oxine to it and steam them up for them to break in the vapor. I think I saw a few posts of this practice on BYC a long while back to treat respiratory issues on birds.

I asked Hechicken the same question ... since they have never been outside or have any contact with dirt, do they still get gapeworm or get sick from whatever virus?

I saw that you have planted garlic... We eat a lot of garlic here... may be I should go get some of them planted.

Your peachicks look beautiful!