Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

I have a group of Jubilee chicks out in my growout pen because I want two more pullets to keep for myself. I sure hope there aren't too many roosters in there, ugh. I already have a whole pen of young roosters I'm trying to get rid of right now, they're all pure bred so I hate to have to eat them, 3 of them are Cream Legbars. I really don't want to keep feeding them forever though. I just have so much trouble now with my arthritic fingers that it's even hard for me to skin a chicken by myself. I need to have surgery later in the year on two fingers on my right hand that have spurs & are impairing my hand function.

It rained so hard last night it was like a monsoon here at one point. My DH worked late & he said when he left work at 1:30 he had to drive 45 down the highway because he couldn't hardly see where he was going. I don't know how much rain we got but I'll bet it was a bunch, our rain gauge broke & we haven't gotten another one. It has been raining off & on here for several days. I have to gauge when I can go out & care for birds & animals between the rain. Enough already for awhile, I would gladly send some somewhere else for a bit.

 

[chicklover56]

My Araucana chick which is about 2 months old is having trouble walking. Whenever he tries to walk, he has to catch himself with his wing to not fall over, and now he can't even walk at all. Yesterday he seemed kinda weird but I just thought he was tired. He can't walk without help now and I have him seperated from the other chicks. He is just sleeping.

 

[chicken danz]

My Araucana chick which is about 2 months old is having trouble walking. Whenever he tries to walk, he has to catch himself with his wing to not fall over, and now he can't even walk at all. Yesterday he seemed kinda weird but I just thought he was tired. He can't walk without help now and I have him seperated from the other chicks. He is just sleeping.

Could be a couple of different things. One could be Mereks disease. Lets hope not. It is everywhere but usually birds don't get it except at certain ages and if they get weak. Another thing it could be is a vitamin deficiency. Particularly B vitamins but also Vitamin E can be one that he needs. Also he could have injured some tendons by jumping down too far and the more he tries to use it the more he is injuring himself.
Here's some things you can try. Give him some St. John's Wort. Just open an capsule and mix it in his water. It will look greenish black but they really like it. It acts as a pain reliever for chickens so if it's Mereks sometimes it will help them recover but there is no permanent cure for it. Secondly get a vitamin B complex. I use an injectable Vitamin B complex that is made mostly for cattle. I just squirt some in their water. Vitamin E can be given by cutting open the capsule and squirting it in his mouth.
Look at the way he lays when he is laying down. If he lays with one leg out front and one leg out back he probably has Mereks. If that is the case it is best to cull him and make sure all your other birds have plenty of vitamins and probiotics to help them avoid getting sick. Fresh air and natural grass are the best things for them along with any fresh fruits or veggies or greens you can give them.
Whatever treatment you give could take from one day to a couple weeks to help. If he is still eating and drinking and showing a will to survive chances he will pull through and be just fine. Keep us posted and good luck.

I spent my day cleaning without getting a lot done ... because I was so far behind and cooking for a get together tomorrow. I didn't feed and water until late in the day. It's amazing how much they act like they appreciate me when they have to wait.
The wind blew my netting around so my trellis for the cucumbers wasn't covered night before last. It's amazing. I hadn't seen a single squash bug, but the netting was torn open from the wind and they showed up in groups. Grrr. So much for them being in the ground and swarming at certain times. I think they are opportunistic plant predators and show up the first chance they see a meal available.

 

[chicklover56]

Could be a couple of different things. One could be Mereks disease. Lets hope not. It is everywhere but usually birds don't get it except at certain ages and if they get weak. Another thing it could be is a vitamin deficiency. Particularly B vitamins but also Vitamin E can be one that he needs. Also he could have injured some tendons by jumping down too far and the more he tries to use it the more he is injuring himself.
Here's some things you can try. Give him some St. John's Wort. Just open an capsule and mix it in his water. It will look greenish black but they really like it. It acts as a pain reliever for chickens so if it's Mereks sometimes it will help them recover but there is no permanent cure for it. Secondly get a vitamin B complex. I use an injectable Vitamin B complex that is made mostly for cattle. I just squirt some in their water. Vitamin E can be given by cutting open the capsule and squirting it in his mouth.
Look at the way he lays when he is laying down. If he lays with one leg out front and one leg out back he probably has Mereks. If that is the case it is best to cull him and make sure all your other birds have plenty of vitamins and probiotics to help them avoid getting sick. Fresh air and natural grass are the best things for them along with any fresh fruits or veggies or greens you can give them.
Whatever treatment you give could take from one day to a couple weeks to help. If he is still eating and drinking and showing a will to survive chances he will pull through and be just fine. Keep us posted and good luck.

He is kind of laying like you said. He is not eating and drinking well, no interest to eat and I have to hold him and help him to drink. I have been giving him electrolytes. Also, it seems like hes having neck spasms or problems... We'll see if he makes it through the night, and if he's not acting any better then I don't want to let him suffer any longer. Thank you

 

[HEChicken]

Raccoons like wooded places & a water source, you don't have that many trees at your place other than the hedge row.

Ahhhh.....that makes sense. I used to see dead raccoons as close as half a mile from our place in the city but assumed our fencing and dogs kept them away from the chickens we kept in the backyard even then. However I fully expected to have issues with them when we moved to the country, and built Coop Knox in part to thwart them in particular. I did see one dead on the side of the road not far from here once but have never seen one on our property, nor had any issues with them. Of course we do also still have dogs. I would have thought they'd love to live in the hedgerow that borders our property and from there it is an easy climb over the fence into the chicken yard. The veggie garden is on the other side of the property with no trees around so it doesn't surprise me as much that we haven't had problems with them there.

It rained so hard last night it was like a monsoon here at one point. My DH worked late & he said when he left work at 1:30 he had to drive 45 down the highway because he couldn't hardly see where he was going. I don't know how much rain we got but I'll bet it was a bunch, our rain gauge broke & we haven't gotten another one. It has been raining off & on here for several days. I have to gauge when I can go out & care for birds & animals between the rain. Enough already for awhile, I would gladly send some somewhere else for a bit.

We got 6" which is the most we've had in a single rainfall in the time we've been here. My neighbor, who has been here 20 years said she can only recall one time we got more. There is general flooding around here and many of the fields around are now lakes.

Our pond is overflowing again but other than that we fared okay. At one point the whole property was under water and squelchy to walk on but it quickly drained off. I haven't been up to the veggie garden yet but all the mulch there will help to retain the moisture and the soil there drains well now due to all the organic material we've added over the past few years so it will only be good for it overall.

The forecast for later this week is for 100. Ugh. I can only imagine how muggy and uncomfortable that will be with all this moisture.

For today though it is a day off milking and a day off for my DH so it feels like another Saturday. Happy 4th of July everyone!

 

[chicklover56]

Happy 4th!!
When I went to check on my Aracaunas chick this morning, he had turned to where his head was in the food and he was eating it. He did keep falling asleep, but when I woke him up he ate it like crazy... He also was very thirsty so I made him drink water along with some more electrolytes.

 

[chicken danz]

@chicklover56 With Mereks they'll maintain an appetite, what usually kills them is their inability to get to food and even with help they can't get enough to survive. They get internal lesions on their organs as well.
Be sure to wash your hands well after dealing with him just in case, cause Mereks is spread by feather dander.
You have had such an awful time with your birds! If you can get your Dad to drive you down here I have several all but grown handsome young Araucana cockerels I would let you choose from. I don't know if any have tufts or not but they are still cute. And I would give you a couple of pullets that have some size. I want to gift them to you because I feel your whole chicken experience has been just awful.
You have experienced the worst of the worst but stuck with it so I want to help keep you feeling positive. And thank your Dad for being so supportive when things went so lousy.
We got rain but nothing major. Maybe a couple inches and it came down fairly slow most of the time. It's muddy out and of course in this clay it sits on top but hopefully some of it will sink in and do some good. So yeah we have mud but I'm not complaining at this point.
I did see where Kechi had terrible flooding.

 

[Trish44]

Ahhhh.....that makes sense. I used to see dead raccoons as close as half a mile from our place in the city but assumed our fencing and dogs kept them away from the chickens we kept in the backyard even then. However I fully expected to have issues with them when we moved to the country, and built Coop Knox in part to thwart them in particular. I did see one dead on the side of the road not far from here once but have never seen one on our property, nor had any issues with them. Of course we do also still have dogs. I would have thought they'd love to live in the hedgerow that borders our property and from there it is an easy climb over the fence into the chicken yard. The veggie garden is on the other side of the property with no trees around so it doesn't surprise me as much that we haven't had problems with them there.

We got 6" which is the most we've had in a single rainfall in the time we've been here. My neighbor, who has been here 20 years said she can only recall one time we got more. There is general flooding around here and many of the fields around are now lakes.

Our pond is overflowing again but other than that we fared okay. At one point the whole property was under water and squelchy to walk on but it quickly drained off. I haven't been up to the veggie garden yet but all the mulch there will help to retain the moisture and the soil there drains well now due to all the organic material we've added over the past few years so it will only be good for it overall.

The forecast for later this week is for 100. Ugh. I can only imagine how muggy and uncomfortable that will be with all this moisture.

For today though it is a day off milking and a day off for my DH so it feels like another Saturday. Happy 4th of July everyone!

We didn't get as much rain as you did, but got quite a bit at once, it sure rained hard I know that. The river is flooding here in Winfield & has been in Arkansas City as well. We're going to the fairgrounds tonight to watch fireworks & we'll see if we can even get into the place we normally park to watch. It may just be a bog in there so in that case I'm sure we won't be able to get in that spot. The river goes around to the west of the fairgrounds & then curves south & it spills over into the campground areas on two sides. I also saw someone's photo on FB showing the river flooding in Derby.

Yeah I sure am not looking forward to that heat coming back, it will be a sauna for sure. That's what gets to me so bad is the darned humidity with the heat. If it were dry heat it wouldn't be so bad, but with the humidity I just end up coming in soaking wet after doing chores.

Happy Independence Day!

 

[turboscooby07]

Hey all haven't been on in a while very very busy.....
Had a very scary close call Saturday night, coming home with the wife and daughter in the car when we hydroplaned over a guard rail into 6 feet of overflowing creek. We had to climb onto the roof of the truck and wait for fire rescue. Everyone came out unharmed. Our Toyota gave its life for us. Also graco car seats are worth every penny as our two year old slept through the crash and only woke up when we removed her from the seat. We had a life vest in the car and were very thankful for that. Wichita fire rescue was amazing and showed up within minutes.

On a side note we picked up a McCormick new big four horse drawn mower to make hay with, anybody have any experience with these?

Our new coop is sheeted and has a steel roof on it. Pictures coming soon. Currently looking for any type of siding materials

We lost a barred rock to an owl last night. She and a few others have decided our current coop is too small and were roosting on top of it. Totally my fault for not being home to put them to bed. That won't happen again.

Our pigs are getting fatter and fatter, they grow so fast.

Hope everybody has a fun and safe holiday

 

[Trish44]

Hey all haven't been on in a while very very busy.....
Had a very scary close call Saturday night, coming home with the wife and daughter in the car when we hydroplaned over a guard rail into 6 feet of overflowing creek. We had to climb onto the roof of the truck and wait for fire rescue. Everyone came out unharmed. Our Toyota gave its life for us. Also graco car seats are worth every penny as our two year old slept through the crash and only woke up when we removed her from the seat. We had a life vest in the car and were very thankful for that. Wichita fire rescue was amazing and showed up within minutes.

On a side note we picked up a McCormick new big four horse drawn mower to make hay with, anybody have any experience with these?

Our new coop is sheeted and has a steel roof on it. Pictures coming soon. Currently looking for any type of siding materials

We lost a barred rock to an owl last night. She and a few others have decided our current coop is too small and were roosting on top of it. Totally my fault for not being home to put them to bed. That won't happen again.

Our pigs are getting fatter and fatter, they grow so fast.

Hope everybody has a fun and safe holiday

Gosh I'm glad you're all OK, what a scary thing!