Consolidated Kansas

[ByN8ureHomstead]

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maybe this will help. the few of mine that have died were by below 0. I feel the mice in my barn have something to do with my problem. About every 5 weeks I hear bird/s that sound croppy, I give them meds it goes away. I can not get the thin birds to gain weight.
http://www.smallstock.info/tools/condscor/chickens.htm

 

[ChooksChick]

Hi, all- stopping in for a quick moment.

K-State will do a gross necropsy for just the $7 to dispose of the body. In this, they look at all of the tissues and organs for tumors, obvious infections, anomalies, etc. This can tell us a whole bunch about the way a bird died, however, if it was an infectious disease that needs further culture, etc., it will cost more.

I've never had that, so I'm not certain what the cost could be, but they will call you after the gross necropsy to find out if you want them to go further if you put that request on the paperwork. They are wonderful to deal with and I only had the one hen that died after healing from a broken pelvis- she was a BIG Barred Rock.

DON'T freeze the birds- just refrigerate. Send with dry ice in double or triple bagged packaging, and if you can, line the box with styrofoam. It is worth it if you'll be bothered by not knowing.

That said, heat is terrible on the birds, and I use hillbilly air conditioners all over to keep my flocks cool, as well as frozen melons, apples, anything I can find cheap- grapes, bruised cucumbers....they love it all.

 

[ChooksChick]

I should also point out that Drs. Rausch and Ermeling at Gentle Care Animal Hospital both treat chickens and LOVE them...you can always see them for a problem and be taken just as seriously as if it was your $4000 macaw.

A few years back, Dr. Rausch volunteered to put pins in a turkey poult's twisted leg at his own cost to try to straighten a twisted femur for a gal. These folks are great!

 

[OzawkieBantams]

Well I came home today from work today and Michelle (callducklover20) had done a a necropsy on these two birds She said they looked good so we are eating them. This saved me $14 PRICELESS !

Oh is this Buffoonery ?

 

[chicken danz]

You're such a clown! Man those chicken breasts look great though!

 

[Hawkeye95]

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WOW!! those look like fat chickens! When I was a kid, my dad used to have me de-feather chickens with him. I could never get them looking that good. And for some reason, our birds were always a lot smaller, too.

Chicken Danz, question for you- I saw you said you had Polish? I am wanting the white crested black polish and am wondering about their egg-size. Is it worth it to eat the eggs? I am reading conflicting stuff on the web. Some places say the eggs are tiny, others say small. One person even said theirs were Medium..?? I'm going to buy my Polish from Meyers- and they said that they have "standard" Polish rather than the smaller bantams. Is there much of a size diff there? I really want some Polish, but I'm really doing this for eggs. Is it worth it?? The WCPolish I had as a kid didn't seem like very small birds. They were smaller than our other chickens, but larger than our bantams. Maybe we had bantam Polish.. or a larger size- I don't know. And I don't remember what their eggs looked like. I was a kid and didn't pay attention!

Any info on them would be GREAT! thanks!

 

[chicken danz]

The bantam polish are super tiny and their eggs are equally as small. Standard polish have small eggs but as they age, the egg size seems to increase. You aren't going to get any giant eggs from them but you can still get some decent ones if you aren't picky. They seem to lay fairly well and they are not broody. They are smaller than heavy breeds but most polish are very good natured and also like to become "pet chickens". Get what you want and you will be thrilled with them. My favorite standards are silver laced or 'penciled' polish. They are gorgeous birds.

 

[Hawkeye95]

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Thank you! Okay, I think I will definitely go for it! They are so cute!

 

[callducklover20]

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yeah along with the squash and green beans we picked at Mikes, I fixed my man a great dinner

thanks Mike for all those great veggies!

 

[ChooksChick]

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I agree- Revolutionmama has bantams and they are tiny little things with teeny eggs. My SL Polish is about the same size as my Buttercup...smaller than my EEs. She lays a large egg, but never a jumbo. They were a medium for the first six months, but she picked it up. She lays 4-5 eggs a week, even at 3 years. She is one of my favorite birds, always wanting to be held. I have noticed that if the crest and muffs aren't trimmed they birds do get very wild because they're always being surprised by everything.