Consolidated Kansas

[maidenwolfx80]

I am afraid it may be CRD does anyone have experience with this? The symptoms are,, swollen eyes with thick mucus and bubbles, swollen nasals with thick mucus, sneezing/coughing, weezing. There is no runny poo.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I'm a new to turkeys, what does lime do?

Lime makes the soil uninhabitable for the protozoa that causes blackhead.

Oh my. [Slaps forehead]. I should have thought of probiotics myself. I will for sure get him started on some tomorrow, first thing. He gets a lot of greens already. Their yard is big enough there is plenty of green stuff growing - the one thing that is missing there that is prolific elsewhere on my property is dandelion greens. I guess they like them so much they ate them first thing. So several times a day I pick huge bunches of dandelion greens and feed them to the birds.

When we moved here, DH and DD wanted the chickens contained because they were tired of the poop on the back deck at the old house. So I built them this large yard and then the other day DH said "I don't know why you don't just let them out to free-range like they used to".

I reminded him of the poop factor and he realized eventually they would make it to the back door again. However since he said that, I've been opening the gate to let them out for the last hour each day. This keeps them close enough to the vicinity of the coop that the poop doesn't end up where I don't want it, but allows them to eat fresh greens and fertilize more of the property for me. So NK does get plenty of greens, but it can't hurt to give him some probiotics - that way if he is fighting something, it will give him a boost.

My fingers are in my ears.... I can't hear you.....(seriously, I like my pair so much I would be very tempted by this. Fortunately, Topeka is far enough away that I think I can resist).

Oh come on, HEChicken, just a nice little Sunday drive away! Snicker, snicker. I would be tempted to go for those turkeys myself, except I just bought a bunch of ducks! This is a case of Danzizing for sure, but more of a classic case rather than a "finest"?

Denial, denial, denial. I've had people asking me to raise some ducks, so now I am but the beauty of it is that they have already been raised 2 weeks worth out of the 6! That, plus the buy one, get one free, was my rationalization. We'll see. Khaki Campbells are really good layers and Pekins are great meat ducks so it's a good mix. That is, if you really enjoy ducks and I really do. They are so easy to take care of compared to the chickens and so much healthier. They have been great at the pond because they eat those thousands of tiny snails and keep it mosquito larvae free. They truly eat far less than the chickens because they are foraging so much. I haven't had to Oxine the pond at all since the heat has left. It seems to have reached a healthy balance. The water is even clear in the shallow areas, which is awesome! Of course, we are still keeping it filled so it's getting lots of oxygenated water every few days.

Tookie is just not doing well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll make it overnight. Her symptoms are kind of all over the place. I first noticed she wasn't quite so active, day before yesterday but decided it was just my paranoia talking. But today, she was laying on the ground sleeping and sleeping. So that's what caught my attention. Then I noticed her coloring wasn't right. Her head was looking more gray and white. I had to go to her and she usually comes to me. Then when she did get up she seemed lethargic. I started her on antibiotics because her nose was running on one side. Then I noticed she had yellow diarrhea. That's when I tried the cayenne pepper in some egg for her. She perked right up and began eating her regular food and drinking her antibiotic water. The kids and I stayed with her and she learned quickly that all she had to do was point her beak in the direction of food or water and we would hold it up for her so she didn't have to bend over. We got her filled up for overnight and I'm hoping she'll be okay in the morning. I can get Fish Zole at the pet store, which is the same specific antibiotic used to treat Blackhead, but I'll continue with the other antibiotic also since she has a runny nose too. She seemed much weaker than normal which worries me terribly. I wish I had kept some of that fish zole on hand for just in case. I wish I had run to the pet store the minute I saw she wasn't feeling well but I didn't really know what to think at first. I don't know that's what's wrong with her but it may be and I don't want to leave any stones unturned. Of course, if she's feeling much better with just the other antibiotic, then maybe it has nothing to do with Blackhead. I'm still going to get some of that stuff so I'll have it here.

 

[mommahen10]

I wish I had input about the illnesses but I don't have any good info, I'm reading and learning. I hope they all get better.

 

[JosieChick]

I lost my Wheaten Ameraucana rooster today, he was going to be used for breeding next spring & the little blue wheaten pullet is not doing that well either. I'm just debating now about whether to look for another rooster in the spring or just let it go. I have the wheaten pullet yet & she is so far doing OK. My Cream Legbars aren't doing that well either, so I don't know if I will have those to breed next year either. It seems like the Swedish Flower Hens are much sturdier birds than the Cream Legbars, they seem to be doing pretty well. I know exactly how you feel Danz because I spent so much money on these Cream Legbars, first for eggs that none made it from & then the chicks that have been sick & aren't doing well. I feel very discouraged about all of it too.
So sorry about your roo! Such a bummer. It is just awful to lose a bird that is an important part of a planned breeding pen. I am now working on keeping two roos of all my birds so I have a back up because I just lost my one and only calico cochin roo to a hawk so I bought two boys so I have a back up just in case.
Do any of you use the heated dog bowls for your chickens? I used two last year & it worked fine. I may have to buy two more actually because the dogs & cats need one too. Orschelyn's puts them on sale a lot of the time & I try to pick one up when they do.
I use a lot of the heated dog water bowls. I really like them a lot and have had good luck with them. I did buy a heated bucket one year and it quit a few weeks into winter so I won't do that again.

I sold 6 more pullets today sticking to my price of $2 per month of age, the lady didn't even blink an eye at that. I don't have many more left to sell, just a few that would be getting close to laying. My dh is happy with how they are moving, I think it motivates him to help with this endeavor too. They came out to pick them out and she had her little children with her and they were not dressed for the weather. It was so windy and cold this morning my ears hurt in the wind. I had on a heavy jacket. One of the kids was in shorts and she was so cold and I felt so bad. I had the boys bring the swing around that has a big shade on it, we put the shade down to block the wind even more. Then I had my dd get some blankets for them. She said that she told them to dress warmer and they'll learn and I'm sure they will but I still felt badly that they were freezing. The kids were quite afraid of animals, even the baby chicks. We locked up the dog but even baby kittens were causing squeals. I tucked a tiny chick in my jacket and sat down in front of them on the swing and talked to them for a bit. Then I told them I had something I wanted to show them and got them curious. Then I showed them the tiny chick, just barely letting it peek out of my jacket. I asked if they wanted to touch it, 2 wouldn't touch it, 1 touched it and didn't want to hold it. The youngest boy finally held it but only for a second. I don't know what or how they will deal with the pullets.
Good job selling birds! Turning into a chicken sales lady!
My baby chicks that are supposedly Ameraucana but I suspect EE's are doing wonderfully. They are just precious. I'm so glad they adjusted to their abrupt move from inside to outside so well. The chick with the hurt eye, it's doing very well adjusting too. Tonight, I went out and gave them their sweet potatoes, I felt so badly they hadn't had their treat in 2 days. They were trying to peck my hands so I had to go get it for them, my dh laughed at me. I got to get a closer look at the hurt one though. She used to try to peck at her sweet potato and miss it and have to try again. Now she can get it right away, I don't think she's seeing better but adapting to having one eye. He other eye looks weird, it's completely white now. I do think that she had some type of abcess around/under her eye, it drained so much but the bulge went down and now she seems so much better. She may get along just fine like that.
I have ameraucanas and EEs and love them both. My EEs are so funny and cute. I just love cheek muffs!

I got some more eggs yesterday. Only about 10 brahma eggs and a dozen Breda fowl eggs from the same guy as before. I ended up spending another chunk of change on them. I did inspect the eggs and there are some shell problems. A little porous and one even had a hairline crack in it. I taped the crack hoping the egg hadn't become contaminated or dried out yet, but I normally just toss those porous shells. I have another dozen Breda eggs coming from California next week so hopefully between the two bunches and the one chick I hatched earlier I will have enough to start breeding some day. The brahma chicks I hatched earlier are doing quite well even if it was a poor hatch. I guess I will see what colors I have when they get older. It's kind of hard to tell at this point. Josie how are your little buff laced brahma chicks doing, anyway?
I sadly only have one left. I think they were weak either because they were pretty old eggs or because maybe the hen wasn't super healthy when she laid her last eggs because they didn't hang on for very long. I was so bummed out.
Mammahen I would think you could take the zipped egg out long enough to candle it and check it out. If the internal temps stay up in the eggs they will be fine. Just take the one egg out and close the incubator. If it is still viable then pop it back in there just as quickly. I open and close my incubators to add eggs or water. Yeah having a fairly constant outside temperature helps with an incubator. But I know people who keep them in an outside building or unheated garage and do fairly well. I'd be afraid to try it.
If I ever do get my enclosed deck added on though I intend to try my incubators out there. I figure I can set up a space heater on a thermostat to warm it a little at the coldest times. I am counting on the sun adding a lot of radiant heat to it.

So I made the Atwoods run and while there noticed they had 22 ducks priced at buy one, get one free. So I took all of them! They are already about 2 weeks old so all I have to do is feed them for 4 weeks and then sell the ones I don't keep. They look like Khaki Campbells and Pekins, about half and half. I have them all settled in a breeder pen. I don't think they are going to need any heat, unless the temps really take a dive, because there are so many of them. I put the tarp on the pen so it blocks the wind and they are happily messing around in the pen. Tonight I'll make them go in the house and they will be nice and cozy in there with lots of wood chips and each other to keep warm.
Whoa!!! That is a LOT of ducklings!!!

Tookie is looking a little under the weather today so I started her on antibiotics. Tom is fine and the other birds seem to all be just fine too, so we'll see. I need to lime up the yard so I don't have to worry about blackhead. It needs lime anyway because of all the wood chips.

I took out my partially zipped egg, got it out and went to look more closely and it peeped and startled me because I was really staring hard and thinking it was dead. Then I hurried to put it back in, I didn't even open the incubator all the way, just enough to reach inside, and as I put it down my thumb crushed the shell. I left it for a couple of hours but kept watching for bleeding. I can't keep opening the incubator, but the chick does seem weak. I can tell it tries to wriggle out but it's not getting anywhere. I'm heating up the brooder and moved the light really close and I will probably just take that one out soon and leave it in the brooder so we can work on this hatch slowly. Nothing else is going on in the incubator. If I only get this one chick it'll be okay it can go with the EEs. Oh, I flipped the tarp off the EEs pen outside today becuase it's so pretty out. They are sooooo precious, they just walked over to the wire and just stared outside. They're so adorable they're mesmerizing. We also moved all of the bigger boys to the one pen and it will officially be the grow out pen for the winter anyway. The general atmosphere in the big coop now seems more calm but the boys all in one pen seems a bit aggressive. I took one boy out, the one that was having a hard time in the big pen from the beginning, he just hid in the corner again. He's really chicken.
If this were my chick and it zipped part of the way and stopped I would help it the rest of the way. Use tweezers and a warm wash cloth and gentle chip the shell off and "uncap" it then stick it back in the bator to let it wiggle its way out. If they zip part way and stop and don't make any progress I intervene. I don't think assisting a chick to hatch is a bad thing because we are not mother hens and we are not perfect incubators. In a styrofoam bator it is easy to have minor changes that can affect the chicks ability to hatch so I would help it.

Trish, I'm sorry you are having illness too. I hope they get better quickly.

Ha Ha Danz! I was spelling it wrong too just because I was spelling it like you were. I noticed someone else spelled it chipmunks, now I have to retrain. Oh that turkey song was too funny.

I know many say you only want the chicks that can get out of the egg by themselves, I don't sell chicks or hatching eggs. I candle at 10 days and at 14 days. I put the incubator in lock down on day 18. I have taken zipped eggs that has been at it for several hours and carefully picked some egg shell away, and very carefully ran some warm water, without drowning the little thing, freed the chick from the shell, ran warm water over it, then gently dried it and got it into the brooder. They have already absorbed the yolk sack.The water temperature is very important, to cool or to warm is bad. I use my wrist to check the temperature. They need to have zipped for a while or they will sure bleed to death, but sometimes it's their only shot! BECAUSE I think these Styrofoam incubators blow and dry out and shrink rap the chicks, or cause part of the shell to stick on the chick and it can't move correctly, I wish we could shut the blower on the warmer off when they begin to pip... Ditto. I tried that once and my temp and humidity got all messed up and I lost several chicks. I hate styro bators!!!!!!!!

The chipmonks are so cute and funny. Very active. I said I would never have a rodent of any kind. I hate rodents. However these guys are just too cute. I imagine I will at some point decide to sell them and get something else. I like the fact that they don't require much care and that they aren't over prolific like mice,rats,gerbils and hampsters.
Heather, maybe you should give Ned Kelly some probiotics for a while just to make sure he has resistance to disease. Or if he likes veggies some extra green veggies will help.

Maidenwolf, as far as the sick turkeys go she really needs to get them on some antibiotics quickly or at least treat them with some vet RX. I really don't like antibiotics as I have said numerous times but rather than let something die from an infection resulting from a viral infection I will use them. Josie told me that sulfa drugs work best for bad colds just today. So you might suggest that.
Just want to clarify that when you are treating a bird for an illness that you don't know what the bacterial cause is the broader spectrum antibiotic you use the more likely you are to be using an antibiotic that is effective against that bug. Sulfa ABs are pretty broad spectrum, meaning they work well against several types of bacterial infections. Denagard is only effective against two kinds of bacteria in birds. SO without knowing what the cause is it is hard to treat appropriately. I like to look at the list of common chicken illnesses and try to figure out what I am dealing with. Then I look at what particular strains of bacteria cause those illnesses and what antibiotics work best. It is also super important to look up the length of treatment. For example when I treated my flock for Fowl Cholera the sulfa antibiotic is usually given for 3 days in the water but for cholera it is advised that they treatment be doubled to 6 days. If I had treated for only 3 days I probably would have had a bunch of birds still get sick after treatment and die. It is best to start an antibiotic and keep with it for several days. Switching around doesn't ever give the bird or the drug a chance to be effective. And if you lose a bird it never hurts to send it in for necropsy. That information has saved birds that I would have lost otherwise. Alright, off my antibiotic soapbox!
Trish we'll get you into ducks yet!!! They are also awesome bug eaters. I think you probably have more guineas than me now that I sold all the young ones today. I would really love to have a big pond closer to the house so my ducks and geese could play all the time. Maybe some day. I guess having a rainy year would help though.
I LOVE my call ducks. They are the cutest stinking little buggers ever.

Sorry I am so far behind on posts! We have been so busy the last few days. I bought a crib and changing table off craigslist! I love them. I also scored a really nice high chair at the lady's house who sold me the crib. We are working on figuring out how and when a move back down to Wichita would work and I found this house in Towanda that is absolutely darling!!! We also bought a new Chevy Equinox and it is my new mommy mobile! It is the nicest car I have ever driven. It is going back in Monday to be treated with some special stain prevention stuff that has a five year warranty so hopefully future children won't totally ruin it! Hope everyone is well.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

I would like to thank all of you for being kind and friendly to me and to each other on this thread.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Mommahen

Good luck with the furnace! They should be able pump the freon into the outside A/C compressor and close a valve. Then after the furnace is set and the line re-soldered they can put a vacuum on the lines and make sure they are clean, no signs of leaks and the system is sealed they can release the freon that was in the outside unit. If you have R-22 freon the price of that stuff by the pound is going up every month, every pound you can save is great!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Josie-- Thanks, I am not sure about what is the disease they are suffering from and am afraid of it being something that will spread or pop back up later. I am hoping someone helps I posted symptoms. If it is coryza or crd I need to suggest he cull them. Our properties join and we are close enough that our flock mingle thru the day so this is very concerning to me. He has asked for my help and if culling will be the only solution than I need to plan my attack because he paid money for these birds unfortunately.. For now I will treat with sulmet and give electrolytes and stress that everyone practice safe hygiene... Hope someone has some further info for me..

 

[Trish44]

maidenwolf, I would take the guinea, but I probably won't be over that way again until Thanksgiving. If you still have it by then maybe we can work something out to meet. My DH's family lives in Marshfield, less than an hour away from you. Darn, too bad those turkeys aren't closer for you, they look like really nice hens.

 

[HEChicken]

Do any of you use the heated dog bowls for your chickens?

Trish, I forgot to respond to this last night. I do use heated dog bowls, mainly because I was given about 4 for free when someone at our barn moved out and left them behind, and the manager wanted us all to take anything we could use. They work great as far as I am concerned. Of course, in past years I only had chickens drinking out of them. This year with the ducks it might get interesting.

Yes, I would have understood rotisserie, but they don't normally do that with bigger animals.

My dh has been working on the brooder room and I think it's coming out all messy looking and it doesn't make me happy. He looks like he just wants to get it done now and his work looks hurried and I keep biting my tongue and telling myself if it's functional and keeps the chicks safe and warm it will be fine. The big thing I keep insisting on is that I have to be able to reach to clean it and I would prefer to not have to climb inside. I'm only 5 feet tall and my reach is limited and he always forgets about that.

We had another electrical issue today that we still haven't figured out, I had to call my dad on this one. I was ironing, my 6 yo dd was doing a headstand against my bed and the outlet directly beside her went POP and smoked a little and I got her out of the way and it was where my laptop was plugged in and I about died for fear that my laptop was surely gone forever. The outlet was all black around it and my laptop seems unharmed, and it charges fine. What on earth was that about? We have been going around checking that all of the outlets are 120 and we haven't found anything out of line.

In other countries I think they do it more often with larger animals - kind of a whole village celebration type of thing.

Sorry the brooder room isn't coming out exactly as you'd like but if he gets it finished quickly, you can always tweak little things here and there to get it more how you want it, as time goes on. You might find that keeping a step stool out there will be a good idea to get into the top row of cages anyway. If you can't reach to clean easily, that will also be a place that chicks can evade capture.

I don't know enough about electricity to offer any advice but that does sound scary and like there is an electrical issue going on. How soon before your dad can come visit and check it out for you?

Tookie is just not doing well and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll make it overnight. Her symptoms are kind of all over the place. I first noticed she wasn't quite so active, day before yesterday but decided it was just my paranoia talking. But today, she was laying on the ground sleeping and sleeping. So that's what caught my attention. Then I noticed her coloring wasn't right. Her head was looking more gray and white. I had to go to her and she usually comes to me. Then when she did get up she seemed lethargic. I started her on antibiotics because her nose was running on one side. Then I noticed she had yellow diarrhea. That's when I tried the cayenne pepper in some egg for her. She perked right up and began eating her regular food and drinking her antibiotic water. The kids and I stayed with her and she learned quickly that all she had to do was point her beak in the direction of food or water and we would hold it up for her so she didn't have to bend over. We got her filled up for overnight and I'm hoping she'll be okay in the morning. I can get Fish Zole at the pet store, which is the same specific antibiotic used to treat Blackhead, but I'll continue with the other antibiotic also since she has a runny nose too. She seemed much weaker than normal which worries me terribly. I wish I had kept some of that fish zole on hand for just in case. I wish I had run to the pet store the minute I saw she wasn't feeling well but I didn't really know what to think at first. I don't know that's what's wrong with her but it may be and I don't want to leave any stones unturned. Of course, if she's feeling much better with just the other antibiotic, then maybe it has nothing to do with Blackhead. I'm still going to get some of that stuff so I'll have it here.

Oh dear, that does sound similar to how Ned has been acting the past couple of days, minus any runny nose. I don't know what the Fish Zole is - I guess I need to go and google that....

Josie, the above is how your whole post mulit-ed - who knows with this system sometimes! Anyway, what I was going to respond to was the location of your potential new house - we will be neighbors!!! I do hope that works out. It is an easy drive to Andover for your husband, and the school system there is wonderful - we've been really happy with it so far.

 

[HEChicken]

Okay, you remember me telling you the other day about my little month-old chick trying to crow? Well, every morning since then I've carried the video camera down to the coop but got there too late to catch him in the act. This morning I had to go down while it was still dark enough the auto door hadn't opened yet. (I needed to separate the turkeys into a coop so I can give them probiotics and put them back on gamebird feed since they've been eating the lower protein food with the rest of the flock for a past couple of weeks. In order to separate them since they still are not handleable, I had to grab them off the roost before the door opened). Anyway, luckily the camera was still in my jacket pocket. Cyrus started crowing when I entered the coop, and the little chick responded. It was a full-on one-for-one, so I flipped out the camera, hit the record button as soon as Cyrus got done with his latest crow and caught this. There is no picture because it was so dark the camera couldn't pick up anything. But listen anyway: