Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ValarieF]

Thank you!

Pastel The Rooster said:
Ah... See, when I thought she was an Ameracauna, I read that they are not cuddly birds- Well my chonky girl Bolt loves cuddles. Are EE's and Buff Orp's known for loving cuddles?

It really depends on the chicken and how much time you spend with them as babies

 

[ValarieF]

Its 3:41 am I've been up since 2 am and had a headache but took meds and it's gone. Thinking about how and when to move the chicks to the coop. Have a large dog kennel so will keep them in there for a week and then let them mingle with the rest of the flock. Soon I'll have them all outside.

 

[GregnLety]

Smart young Roo! Is the beak from an injury so you think? Or born with it?

It was a injury

 

[ManueB]

Why Frostbite this time?

i need to figure out why Glynda got Frostbite and Daisy, the greatest hen ever, never did. What do i need to change to prevent this from happening again?



I have kind of hinted around at this today but I wanted to pull my thoughts all together in one post.

This is not nearly the coldest weather I have shepherded chickens through. Daisy, the greatest hen ever, survived temperatures at least a low as -10°F (-23°C) with no damage at all to her magnificent award winning comb.

View attachment 3362611

So why now when, while the temp was down into single digits but definitely not down below 0°?

I went to the photos of roosting and lined them up with the coldest temps.

On Friday night it went down to 6°F (-14°C). Friday night she roosted like this.

View attachment 3362671

On Saturday night it went down to 4°F (-15°C). Saturday night he roosted like this.
View attachment 3362672

On Sunday night it went down to 15°F (-9°C). She roosted like this.
View attachment 3362673

On Monday night it went down to 15°F and she was in the Cluckle Hut again.

That's 3 nights in the Cluckle Hut with 3 other hens on 2 of the nights. I have not had this many chickens overnight in the Cluckle Hut ever before. It could be that I have a ventilation issue in the Hut with that many hens in there at one time.

The wind chill is another potential issue. On Friday and Saturday wind chills were approaching -20°F (-29°C). That's cold enough to cause frostbite in a matter of minutes. Always before in such situations I have locked them in the Main Coop. This time I did not. This may have been my biggest mistake. If i had disabled the automated door they would only have been able to roost in the Main Coop and Glynda would not have been exposed to the wind.

I have plastic over most of the windward facing portions of the coop run complex but not on the potion directly under the house. If Glynda caught the wind that was where it happened. I could line that portion with shower curtains as well.

I do need to think on this further but this is where I find my thoughts today. If I am going to add ventilation to the Cluckle Hut I need to do it soon while it is warm out and before the next cold snap.

The easiest solution to all of this is to lock them down next time and not let any of them out of the big coop. No matter what I think that was my big error. Poor Glynda is paying for it right now.

I don't think you should feel guilty about this. I honestly don't see how you or anyone could have guessed it would happen, since you never were in that situation of having so many roosting in the Cluckle hut at the same time in such weather.
My personal feeling is that now Glynda has had frost bite she will be much more sensitive and prone to it in the next weeks. She needs to be more protected for a while. So I would just lock them in the big coop which has worked in worse temperatures , and aim to fix both drafts and ventilation in the Cluckle hut for next winter, or at least wait at least two months once you can see how her comb has evolved. Because if you try something in the Cluckle hut and it's not sufficient she will be more fragile just now.

 

[ManueB]

I have a specific question regarding vitamin supplement. I would really appreciate if you have some opinion on this, or just if you can correct any language mistakes so my post is understandable before I put it in the emergency/ disease forum. Thank you so much .

I've been wanting to give vitamin supplement for Blanche, my hen that has been attacked by a hawk. The one I usually get takes ten days to order online so I asked my partner to buy one at the pet shop. The supplement he brought back is meant for birds, not poultry, to be taken post anticoccidial treatment. It seems to me that the amounts of vitamins are incredibly higher that in my usual supplement, but recommended dosage is the same : a spoon in a liter of water.
Do you think I can give this, maybe with a more diluted dosage, or should I just order my usual stuff and wait ten days ?
Here are the labels (UI and IE =french and German initials for the same pharmacology international unit).
First label is my usual poultry vitamin.

Second label is what my partner bought.

Tax : Lea says reading labels gives her headaches.

 

[Marie2020]

Ok all I have had a migraine all day and can’t shake it off, we are under a heavy rainfall warning so getting the low pressure system migraine it seems…. Crazy weather!

Everyone have a good night View attachment 3362536

 

[Marie2020]

Its 3:41 am I've been up since 2 am and had a headache but took meds and it's gone. Thinking about how and when to move the chicks to the coop. Have a large dog kennel so will keep them in there for a week and then let them mingle with the rest of the flock. Soon I'll have them all outside.

How are you today? @Ponypoor had a headache yesterday to, as she said it might be all these weather changes.

I couldn't reply Kelly as my page closed for some reason

I hope that you have both recovered today ❤

 

[Marie2020]

I have a specific question regarding vitamin supplement. I would really appreciate if you have some opinion on this, or just if you can correct any language mistakes so my post is understandable before I put it in the emergency/ disease forum. Thank you so much .

I've been wanting to give vitamin supplement for Blanche, my hen that has been attacked by a hawk. The one I usually get takes ten days to order online so I asked my partner to buy one at the pet shop. The supplement he brought back is meant for birds, not poultry, to be taken post anticoccidial treatment. It seems to me that the amounts of vitamins are incredibly higher that in my usual supplement, but recommended dosage is the same : a spoon in a liter of water.
Do you think I can give this, maybe with a more diluted dosage, or should I just order my usual stuff and wait ten days ?
Here are the labels (UI and IE =french and German initials for the same pharmacology international unit).
First label is my usual poultry vitamin.
View attachment 3362759
Second label is what my partner bought.
View attachment 3362760
Tax : Lea says reading labels gives her headaches.
View attachment 3362761

I'm not qualified too guide you but for myself I would dilute a little more.

This are the measurements in my vitamin supplement

 

[RoyalChick]

I am with Lea - it is giving me a headache too!
It is odd indeed. Also a bit annoying that some are in UI/IE and some in mg!
There are quite a lot of scientific studies on vitamins in poultry and I had a quick look at a few.
First off vitamin basics - do not worry about the dosage of water soluble vitamins which includes all the B vitamins (including Biotin which is B7 I think). You can overdose safely with those because the excess is just flushed out.
The ones to worry about are the fat soluble ones because they accumulate in the fat in the body. But even those it is a long term effect not a short term thing. The fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K.
Of those the studies suggest the following in terms of dosing:
- A: 5-35 IU/Kg (studies were done feeding those doses daily for 20 weeks0
- D3: 3,000-9,000 IU/Kg over 6 weeks
- E: Described as having a 'wide safety margin'
- K3: I don't see it on the stuff your partner sourced
Marie's label shows how randomly variable these supplements are!
The one I use is the following:
A: 4,295 IU/liter
D3: 1,718 IU/liter
E; 3.4 IU/liter (1mg of E is roughly 2 IUs I believe)

So of the three - the new one seems to have more but I am not 100% sure I understand what the label means - surely that isn't the amount per liter?? And mine has the lowest amounts. So weird.

Anyway, I think what I would do is give a dilute version of the new one and then switch when the other one arrives.

Why is life so complicated?!

 

[ManueB]

I'm not qualified too guide you but for myself I would dilute a little more.

This are the measurements in my vitamin supplement

View attachment 3362768

I am with Lea - it is giving me a headache too!
It is odd indeed. Also a bit annoying that some are in UI/IE and some in mg!
There are quite a lot of scientific studies on vitamins in poultry and I had a quick look at a few.
First off vitamin basics - do not worry about the dosage of water soluble vitamins which includes all the B vitamins (including Biotin which is B7 I think). You can overdose safely with those because the excess is just flushed out.
The ones to worry about are the fat soluble ones because they accumulate in the fat in the body. But even those it is a long term effect not a short term thing. The fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K.
Of those the studies suggest the following in terms of dosing:
- A: 5-35 IU/Kg (studies were done feeding those doses daily for 20 weeks0
- D3: 3,000-9,000 IU/Kg over 6 weeks
- E: Described as having a 'wide safety margin'
- K3: I don't see it on the stuff your partner sourced
Marie's label shows how randomly variable these supplements are!
The one I use is the following:
A: 4,295 IU/liter
D3: 1,718 IU/liter
E; 3.4 IU/liter (1mg of E is roughly 2 IUs I believe)

So of the three - the new one seems to have more but I am not 100% sure I understand what the label means - surely that isn't the amount per liter?? And mine has the lowest amounts. So weird.

Anyway, I think what I would do is give a dilute version of the new one and then switch when the other one arrives.

Why is life so complicated?!

Thank you both so much for taking the trouble to check that for me. You are both very kind.
Yes, I think I will do just as you suggested. Besides the difference in dosages, the stuff my partner got doesn't have any amino acids which I think would help her with the molting (the methionin). I'll order my usual vitamins right away.
I've been unlucky lately with deliveries probably because they've overwhelmed at Christmas, 30 kg of my cats pellets are lost somewhere as well as the mite powder I ordered for Merle. Let's hope it goes better this time!