Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Too funny! I just got a call from one of the guys that bought one of my female GP pups. I had given them a couple of cayuga ducklings I had recently hatched when they stopped by here last week. I guess the ducks have imprinted on Topaz, the GP and visa versa. The ducks are following the dog around the house and cuddle up against her. The dog nudges them in close to her with with her nose and they all take a nap together. I think those ducks are going to have the best of both worlds. No predators will ever get them!

 

[Trish44]

Danz, that's good that the pup bonded with the ducks. I hope my pups get bonded to my chickens, but they can't get too close for the darned rooster. I don't feel like I can get rid of the rooster at this time since the pups are so young because he does watch over his hens very well. I really think Big Red would give his life if he had to in order to protect his little harem of hens, he's a good rooster.

It's raining here today & the pups are out in it & are just muddy & soaking wet, but they don't seem to mind a bit. They have a nice dry dog run & dog house they could get in, but they choose to be out in the rain instead. Most of my chickens have been out in the rain today too, they would rather go out in the rain than stay inside the run & coop. Some of my hens have finally decided to use my bucket nests, but there are still some laying on top of my stack of straw in the run. Maybe some day they'll get the idea.

 

[Ivywoods]

I just finished building another cookie tin water heater. Plugged it in. It works.

No sparks, either. I'm not a fan or working with electrical stuff. Plumbing stuff, either.

Trish, I've seen some of my free range ameraucana roosters sleeping with our GP, Runt. They huddle up close to him when it's cold and he keeps them warm.

It has just started to drizzle here. The chickens don't seem to mind at all. What they did mind, however, was our darned german wirehaired dachshund. He got out of his kennel again today. You wouldn't think a dachshund could tear through a chain link panel, but believe me, this one can. He tears and pulls at the wire at the bottom of the kennel until he gets it loose. I heard him barking and went out to check, and sure enough he was jumping and tearing at the wire on my chicken tractor where my lakenvelders are.

He would kill every chicken on the place, given the chance.

I brought him in the house and he is in a small kennel for now until we get the chain link panel fixed again. We put up some hog panels on part of the kennel where he got out before and he can't tear through those, but he must have made another hole.

We are getting new neighbors across the road.... a whole herd of cattle. The owners of the property just strung an electric wire around the cornfield and will pasture the cattle there for the winter. I hope some of the cows have calves. I enjoy watching them.

The owners don't know it, but they have an added benefit here. Our GP's will watch their herd as well and keep any bobcats or coyote packs away from the baby calves.

 

[chicken danz]

I have to go hunting for eggs from my pullets. They just choose their own spots. I hate to build nest boxes in the garage where they eat because I don't want them there permanently, but I'm about to that point. I'm tired of having to check all the hiding places especially in this weather.
I'm cooking a couple of birds I'd butchered cause they were taking up freezer space. I got the best meat and the broth separated, and now I am cooking the bones for more broth to put with the other meat, skin, fat etc. I'll pull the rest of the bones out then pour that mix on my dogs' food. They love chicken broth especially with all the scrap meat and stuff in it.
I'm not sure what I'm going to make out of the other part. Maybe some chicken soup or something unless I can find another recipe with cooked chicken in it.

 

[chicken danz]

Fluff, male GP sleeps with the chickens all the time. They sit all around him and sometimes even sit up on his side while he is napping. He usually lays with the ducks at night as well unless the weather is really cold. Marshmallow will protect all of them, but her bed is her bed and she doesn't like sharing.
By the way Ivy I checked her yesterday. No filling out has happened yet. I could have her tested but that is an expense I just don't think is necessary. I guess we'll just wait a couple more weeks before we know if she has little bundles of white furr growing in there.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:

 

[chicken danz]

I just brought in the other rooster that has a bad cold. I treated his nostrils with VetRXand I tried to clean up his face cause one eye was kind of stuck shut. All that black stuff washes off. It doesn't look like our blood. I think it must be from slinging their heads around with some mucus and maybe a tinge of blood in it. Poor roosters.
So tell me how many days you need to give an injection to a chicken to get them well. Hawkeye how many days did your vet say to give the baytril? Any of the others here how about the tylan. I was going to call my vet and see if I could get some from him but he won't give me chicken advice so I need to depend on your guys.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
I gave Baytril 7 days to my cockerel. When I injected the two little ones-- I only gave them 5 days worth. I thought they were too small to continue on for the extra two days. I have no clue about the Tylan. I've read 3 days, but don't know if that is indeed correct. I was reading a while back about a person who posted to the emergencies page, and she said that her chickens were shaking their heads and had blood come out. They ended up dying. She thought it was a cold- or upper respiratory infection. I don't remember what it ended up being, but it was very contagious. If I can find that link, I'll post it here. Worth a look to be sure your symptoms don't match up with hers. She said the blood vessels in the throat or sinus (or something like that) were breaking and causing them to shake their heads and fling out blood. Probably not what you have, but worth a read.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, they really have to have the Tylan in the water more than 3 days if they're really sick. I ended up giving it to mine for 7 days. I hope they all get better soon, this weather can't be helping.

IVY, well my rooster doesn't trust my pups yet to get too close to his hens, he chases them off if he feels they're too close. Maybe he'll get used to them after he figures out they won't hurt them, I don't know. I haven't done anything with my tins yet, I'm waiting to find some more lamp kits. I don't want to go anywhere today, it's just too wet & dreary, it just makes me want to go back to bed. It's so dark out I think I'll go out & see if the chickens got in yet & shut them up so I don't have to go back out later.

 

[Myabcs3]

BLUE EGGS!!! YAHOOO...only took 7 months for my blue wheatens! God bless those little girls!