Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

That is so cute Ash - she is looking lovely!

 

[chicken danz]

HEChicken that actually sounds like a great idea. However I never have gallon milk jugs. Since I have the milk allergy I only buy enough milk to cook with usually half gallons, and then half of that ends up getting fed to the dogs cause it goes bad. I do save things like oxine bottles, but I use those as feeders by cutting a hole in one side. Great waterproof idea for feeders by the way. Any family I have around here recycle all plastics so I am sure they don't have any left overs. I'll have to see what I have. Even if it is one jug at a time it might be necessary to do it that way. My parents used to save their milk jugs for me for feeders before they passed.
I went out while ago to get some grain for the chipmunks and it didn't feel so bad out there. There was no wind to speak of. But I see it is now starting to cloud up. Guess that is my cue to go out and get the birds cared for before the weather gets lousy.
HEChicken also get hold of OKQueenBee. She told me about treating her turkeys for sinus swelling by injecting directly into the sinuses. I don't want to give you false information but she said it cleared it up. It'd be worth a try. Turkeys tend to be more susceptible to getting sinus problems and such but I have no idea why the RPs wouldn't get it as well.
I feed my birds in three groups. Those that are near the house/garage and the ones across the driveway. Then the group to the South, then the group to the East. I do try to do all my watering at once which means a lot of hose pulling and dragging. I hate the watering. The feeding I can handle. I just fill the wheelbarrow a couple times and make the rounds. Ultimately the watering is what takes so long and uses so much of my energy. One of these days I'll have a better system some how.
My sickness here all started with buyers coming as well. It took forever to get it in check. I think whatever that particular thing was is finally under control... at the expense of loosing almost every bird I had in the brooder at the time. I hear a few sneezes now in then which are actually in some bird pens where they have never been sick. I attribute that more to the weather because they don't act sick. I just hear a sneeze now and then. I've become very particular about who comes here now. If I don't know them, most likely they aren't going to be allowed on the place. If I do know them they won't be in my pens unless I feel totally safe. I have asked a couple people to wear shoes and clothing that they have never worn around their birds. I have considered purchasing shoe covers as well but that additionally eats in to my profit.
The fact remains we can't screen out everything that wild birds bring in no matter what. All we can do is use our common sense. It seems every time I take a short cut I pay for it.

 

[Trish44]

After researching it, the recommendation I got was to use Injectable Tylan 50, 3cc for a turkey over 15lb, once a day subq for 4 days, then in the water after that. Putting it in the water is problematic for me in winter, but I decided to see if she responds to the 4 days of injections and go from there. I will keep you posted on how she does. I'm not that surprised that your others didn't get it even in the same pen, since I think this is an infection rather than a virus. After not having any issues with respiratory stuff - ever - about 10 birds developed respiratory infection symptoms after I had a buyer come in and buy a pair of turkeys and a trio of Exchequers. I can't say quantitatively that he brought it in, but the timing makes me really suspicious and I've decided since, that I won't be allowing buyers to visit in the future. Instead, I will meet them somewhere.

Treatment is not that easy for me this time of year. The warmest place to be is in the coop and I didn't want to take birds that were already sick out of the coop and put them in the hoop coop to treat them, not to mention that dosing in the water isn't possible in winter with it freezing every night. So, although I did order the soluble Tylan, I haven't yet opened it, and instead decided to take a "survival of the fittest" approach. The 10 or so birds who were sniffling and sneezing did so for weeks, not getting worse but not getting better either. Yet, they didn't seem to be infecting the others, which told me right there it was not an infectious issue. Who knows why some git it and not others? Anyway, in the past two weeks, I've noticed that most of the birds who were snuffly are now sounding quite normal again and I figure those are the genetics I want to pass along - the ability to fight and win against an infection without assistance. However these 3 turkeys, instead of getting better, developed the sinus infections. They are still eating, drinking, and otherwise behaving normally but I had a sinus infection once and I know how miserable it felt, so I decided to go ahead and treat, to try to get them back to feeling better.

I did give Bandaid an injection of the Tylan, but it was too late at that point. I had tried the stuff in the water, but either he didn't drink enough to help or something. The turkeys seem to walk in their water a lot more than they drink it. I have had sneezing birds in my main coop this winter, but it's not all of them either, only a few chosen ones. I did isolate one Ameraucana hen in the garage in an empty rabbit pen for a couple of days & gave her Tylan in the water. She immediately got better & I put her back out in the coop last night. She was one that had been sneezing really bad, loud sneezing. I agree with you, I don't know why some birds get that & some don't, but I have tried to also take the survival of the fittest approach with my laying flock for the most part. I do treat the more expensive breeder birds if they get sick, but I have a lot of money invested in those. I hope your turkey hens get better, do keep us up to date on how they do.

 

[ashncarson]

will you guys do vaseline on the combs in this upcoming cold weather? does that apply to hens, or mostly roosters?

Here is about what the 2 black ones have, plus honey as far as combs go

 

[HEChicken]

Danz, I wish we lived closer. We go through about a gallon a week so I have the empty containers coming out my ears! I use them for a lot of things - hauling water, but also as door stops (filled), and cutting pieces out to turn them into temporary feeders or scoops as well. We have a good recycling program here in town so the ones I don't need I load up periodically and take there to drop off, but it would be just as easy to save them up for you. Let me know next time you plan to be out this way, and I'll get a bunch ready for you. Or here's another idea: do you have a recycling center anywhere you usually go? You might be able to pull the containers out of the recycling bins. I've seen people scrounging through ours looking for specific items and the way I look at it is that they are being just as recycled if consumers take them to use them for something, as if they are churned up and turned into some other product. And of course, they don't have to be milk containers to use them for water. Any container would work as long as what was in it originally is not toxic.

Trish, I'm glad to hear you also have had success with the survival of the fittest method. If it had been any other time of year, I probably would have treated since medicating in water is pretty easy. But this time of year I can't use my galvanized gravity waterer, and instead have to use open bowls like the rubber bowls or heated waterers, and the ducks make such a mess of those, splashing the water out while bathing, so it would waste a lot of the antibiotic. So I decided to go with not treating and I'm pretty happy that for most of them it seemed to work out okay.

Danz, I do remember hearing about OQB injecting directly into the sinuses but that sound so painful! I've only had one sinus infection in my life but my memory of it is that the sinuses were incredibly painful and sensitive and I think a doctor would have had to strap me to a gurney to get me to submit to an injection directly into them. I will keep it in mind though so if the systemic injections don't make a difference, I may give that a try.

 

[HEChicken]

Ash, I don't do vaseline. For one I have way too many birds to even try, many of whom are "no touches" but second, frostbite is typically caused by poor ventilation. I.e., when humidity is able to build up, it condenses into droplets that land on the combs and freeze, causing frostbite. Humidity is increased by exhalations (warm, moist air). When there is good coop ventilation, the warm, moist air should be able to escape to be replaced by the drier air, fast enough that moisture droplets do not form. So if you are having issues with frostbite, the first place to start is to increase ventilation.

 

[tweetybaby2005]

Ash... very cute chickens you got there. I've never put vaseline on my birds' combs so hopefully someone will chime in soon.

Hechicken, hope your turkeys met better soon. Sinus infection is awful. I tend to have one quite often in this weather. I always have Tylan injectable on hand but now I think I should order the soluble one just in case.

My dogs are still eating what's left of the deer. I hope they don't get sick from eating it. I went to the store to get 2 straw bales and a bag of pine shaving. Cleaned the coop, put DE, Sevin, and PDZ in with the straw and also the nest boxes. I cleaned all the waterers and they all have clean water. The ducks were happy to take a quick bath in the rubber waterers. I then refill them with more fresh water. Also put 2 Suet cubes in there to give them some energy so hopefully help them withstand the cold better. I think I'll add some whole corns to their feeds in the next few days. The weather was really nice this morning so I could get things done much quicker. I need to get some errands done in town today before the arctic blast bestow upon us.

Hope everyone can get their stuff done and prepare the birds for this cold snap.

 

[ashncarson]

Ash, I don't do vaseline. For one I have way too many birds to even try, many of whom are "no touches" but second, frostbite is typically caused by poor ventilation. I.e., when humidity is able to build up, it condenses into droplets that land on the combs and freeze, causing frostbite. Humidity is increased by exhalations (warm, moist air). When there is good coop ventilation, the warm, moist air should be able to escape to be replaced by the drier air, fast enough that moisture droplets do not form. So if you are having issues with frostbite, the first place to start is to increase ventilation.

That makes sense, I just thought it was something that would happen! I have seen no signs of it yet, and I believe there is good ventilation in my coop!

 

[Trish44]

Ash... very cute chickens you got there. I've never put vaseline on my birds' combs so hopefully someone will chime in soon.

Hechicken, hope your turkeys met better soon. Sinus infection is awful. I tend to have one quite often in this weather. I always have Tylan injectable on hand but now I think I should order the soluble one just in case.

My dogs are still eating what's left of the deer. I hope they don't get sick from eating it. I went to the store to get 2 straw bales and a bag of pine shaving. Cleaned the coop, put DE, Sevin, and PDZ in with the straw and also the nest boxes. I cleaned all the waterers and they all have clean water. The ducks were happy to take a quick bath in the rubber waterers. I then refill them with more fresh water. Also put 2 Suet cubes in there to give them some energy so hopefully help them withstand the cold better. I think I'll add some whole corns to their feeds in the next few days. The weather was really nice this morning so I could get things done much quicker. I need to get some errands done in town today before the arctic blast bestow upon us.

Hope everyone can get their stuff done and prepare the birds for this cold snap.

tweety dogs eat all kinds of things & they can handle it. My two GPs have been sharing a leg bone they got from the deer someone skinned down the hill from us. They have brought parts of it at a time home to chew on, it makes them happy.

ash I don't have the manpower to put vaseline on all of my birds either. The only ones I have had a problem with getting frostbite on their combs for the most part are the ones out in the outdoor pens. They have air circulation too, so I don't know why they still get it. I have not had issues with it until this winter.

 

[KSChickieMomma]

~~I am fairly new to BYC. I live in South Central KS. This is my first post! I just wanted to introduce myself. I have 5 mixed hens, 1 sultan pullet, 1 leghorn pullet, 3 SLW pullets, 1 bantam cochin pullet that didn't frizzle and 1 black cochin frizzle cockerel, Valentino. (He had a heart on his beak as a chick!) I started my coop in July. It was the first thing we did when we bought our land! Best thing I have done! I lost several mixed pullets to snakes that first month. It was a shock for me because I thought I had fortified the coop. I think I have that problem fixed with "Snake Away" and a lot of "gap filler" from the hardware store. I then installed an automatic coop door so they could get out of the run to free range on their own and three days later (against my better judgment of not checking on them that night b/c they were all nestled in their coop the night before) I lost 5 more to what we think was a coyote or fox attack. I am assuming they didn't get back in the run that night or it happened first thing in the morning. Needless to say, I am not using the automatic door to the outside from the run anymore. Saving it for a future guinea coop. I do love my automatic door from coop to run though! It has been a wonderful addition to the coop! I just ordered 17 more day old chicks of different varieties that will be here at the end of March! I can't wait! Thanks for letting me introduce myself! I have learned so much on here already!