Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

I'm not sure what I am looking at because this bird is dark and the pics a little indistinct. On a meat chick, I'd say that it's just their crop distention sticking out...not sure I know what you mean by the swelling going over it's shoulder area. I can't see the swelling there but I can see it in the crop area in the side view.

Could it be that the chick died of unknown causes and it just happened to have a full crop at the time?

That squished look? All chicks and even chickens have that after rigor mortis sets in...I've made that mistake, thinking they were smashed but all chickens I've had that died unattended and I didn't find until later had that flattened appearance. Those that died in my presence didn't have it yet but as rigor set in they started to look compressed. I'm thinking this is caused by the tightening of the fascia and muscle tissue during the rigor process.

 

[foreverlearning]

Thats the thing the crop doesn't feel full, it just feels like there is air stuck in there. I don't really know what killed the first one, it was at night and I found it this morning. At first I thought it just got squished at the bottom of the pile last night. I just noticed this was on it yesterday and kept an eye on it. It comes just above the wing as well. It doesn't even feel like fluid, just air bubble. I wasn't too worried about it until it happened to two others today. The ones affected are the smallest ones of the group and haven't kept the pace of growing as the rest of the group. The one I found this morning didn't have it anymore (deflated) but you could still see where the skin had stretched for it the day before. They are running around like normal and still scratching every time I let them outside. They don't seem sick except this.

 

[Beekissed]

It seems to be ascites~a collection of fluid in the abdomen~and this can be due to liver, heart or renal disease. In a chick so young, I'm thinking it is more a birth defect in those organs than in anything else. Here's a question..do you live at a very high altitude?

 

[foreverlearning]

No, I live in the southern part of Louisiana. If it's a birth defect than I can handle it, I just don't want to be doing anything wrong that may be harming them.

 

[Beekissed]

Some meat breeds have a genetic defect of pulmonary hypertension that causes them to have that ascites and it usually results in death as their lungs fill up with fluid and they go into respiratory distress. Nothing you can do.

Maybe look up that breed of meat bird and see if their genetics are known for this defect? I don't think it's anything you are doing if you are doing regular chick care.

 

[foreverlearning]

Thank you soo much!!! Yes I check on them regularly, they go outside when it is nice enough for their age, I keep their feed to twice a day (plus whatever they pick up outside), I time the feedings to make sure that if they got full crops outside they wouldn't have them by time they got dinner. Everyone gets handled and checked for problems several times each day. Yes this breed does suffer from it, I thought I read somewhere that it usually happens after 2 weeks and can be controlled losses by controlling their feed intake. Thank you again.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Interesting. Do you think that as a dog matured in age this would help them with stiffness and mobility?

I think the stiffness and mobility that comes with old age is arthritis. I've read that alfalfa is good for arthritis. You could just mix some in with your dog's food... find a way that they like it, the pellets are small enough that they could eat them whole or you could soak alfalfa cubes to a softer rendition of themselves. My dogs come begging for bits of alfalfa when I am breaking up the cubes.

Vitamin C could help. You can try it. As long as you don't overdo it for an extended amount of time, it won't hurt them and you can find out if it will help them.

I need help please!!! I have 3 meat birds that have shown this and one died last night. I am not sure if this killed it or not (looked squished) but last night the only one that showed this is the one that died. It feels and looks like an air pocket and the discoloration is FF on it. It goes from their crop area to the top of their shoulder.

This may seem like a crazy and unimagineable thing to do, but I think I might be weird that way...

If its just air, you could clean a spot on the skin with a cotton swab and alcohol. Do it in good strong light as the alcohol tends to make the veins show up better (strange hu?) anyway, use a clean needled syringe and just withdraw the air. That kind of wound, a puncture, will close up very quickly and as long as the needle is clean, it won't cause any problems.

Like I said, sounds weird, but in my opinion it would only be a measure to protect my investment. If it will save their lives by releasing that pressure, maybe they won't die from respiratory distress?

 

[RoseMarie1]

Agreed! With Timba, we made sure from the get go that he knew who was in charge. My DH is the alpha, no question about it. But I made certain - knowing how large he would grow to be - that I am a very close second. I wasn't about to have a dog as large or larger than me thinking he's the boss. Timba can be extremely hard-headed, and as I've said, his prey drive is higher than I would like and so we've had to fight those natural instincts, but at least he knows his place in the line up.
Very interesting info! Thankfully, he hasn't had any major issues like hip displaysia, but has had a couple fluid sacs develop on his front leg joints that we've had to fight. So, I am definitely going to look into this some more. Thank you!!!

if he gets an upset stomach from the vit. C then it's too much. Back off one pill at a time until the upset tummy stops and then you have the right amount so I understand.

 

[phoenixrises]

So here's a question for you. I have about 35 birds, 22 of which are cockerels and destined for the pot. They are all 5 weeks old. They are free ranged, deep littered and so far we've tried one FF but will continue when I get a better system down. I'd say on a scale of 1-10 I take care of my birds at a 9 level. Today while looking over everyone one of the meat cockerels seems to have gleet, or something very similar. I washed up his but and combed out the stuff, but he's all red and swollen. I'm heading in to get Nu-stock once I pick up the kids from school, but then I got to thinking about whether I wanted to keep him around at all. He obviously isn't going to be a breeder no matter what so I don't need to worry about passing his week genes on, but could he make anyone else sick? Everyone else is doing soooo well, maybe he should just "leave". I can separate him and treat him, but opinions, should I bother?

 

[Triple Willow]

Completely off topic... How many of y'all are Duck Dynasty fans? I guess considering the ducks, that's not completely off topic. lol I think Mrs. Kay needs some chickens. She buys eggs off the farm from some man but she needs her own! Something about Daddy Phil is appealing to me but I sure do identify with Jace always getting in trouble. lol And you gotta love Uncle Si!