Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Today I hope for all of you the best day.
No sickness, no aches and pains, no spooks and no ghosts! ,
And healthy chooks

 

[featherhead007]

“Tic-Tacs”?

I need an emoji of a guy with his head down on his desk and slamming his fist !

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Oh those school chicks - a wish they wouldn’t roost on the door.

The other two are on the other door.

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Maybe hang a feed bag from the rafter above, something floppy so the door can swing, right there where the door is usually propped open to?

 

[Ponypoor]

And it's snowing here.
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Went and held all the chickens this morning. Morinth had a nearly empty crop at bedtime last night. She's so light compared to Samara even, hopefully everything is alright. She wouldn't eat from my hand but I scattered mealworm and feed in the leaves and she picked at them. She spends a lot of time in the coop too, I'm not sure if she's taking longer to settle in or if something is wrong.
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I would feed her separately from the others, you can make a warm mash with the regular feed and offer it to her, and in the afternoon give her scratch grain on her own so that she has something to ‘digest’ over night.

She could also be cold, my silkies are really sensitive to the cold, right now Marty is half bald so I keep an eye on her, make sure she eats, etc.

I do this with Red Hen, I put her in my feed room and giver her scratch grain and some of the Corn, Oat, Barley mix I give to my horses, I sprinkle a tablespoon of meal worms over top of that.

Every morning here I mix up a warm mash - it’s just the regular feed I have soaked in hot water, they go mad for that!

Sometimes they just need a little bit of TLC - the h and you keep that snow! The wind is all wrong here for snow squirrels - so far!

 

[Ponypoor]

Maybe hang a feed bag from the rafter above, something floppy so the door can swing, right there where the door is usually propped open to?

Yes - I did that on the window in the Hen House to try and stop them roosting and n the window well, I put some screening up there, didn’t take them long to figure out how to fly up under the screen! Smart little brats!

I’ll take the screen down this week and put the plastic up stop cold and drafts.

Soon I will have the HH-B ready for occupancy, then I will shut the doors to the Summer House at afternoon feeding (horses that is), that will stop them flying up there! But wonder where they will choose next!

 

[Ponypoor]

Today I hope for all of you the best day.
No sickness, no aches and pains, no spooks and no ghosts! ,
And healthy chooks

I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts!

 

[Ponypoor]

Yes - I did that on the window in the Hen House to try and stop them roosting and n the window well, I put some screening up there, didn’t take them long to figure out how to fly up under the screen! Smart little brats!
View attachment 3672451

I’ll take the screen down this week and put the plastic up stop cold and drafts.

Soon I will have the HH-B ready for occupancy, then I will shut the doors to the Summer House at afternoon feeding (horses that is), that will stop them flying up there! But wonder where they will choose next!

Hopefully no one tries to fly into the plastic! Very bouncy! Buttercup tried it last year - gosh I was equally horrified and laughing

 

[featherhead007]

I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts!

But things happen, damage is done and there’s something weird in the neighborhood, who you gonna call?

 

[BY Bob]

There was a Ruffed Grouse that flew in and went to the apple tree right near the run, and when it flew a brief alarm went out, so if it' had been hanging around earlier maybe that was it before. And the bucket got knocked over in the rush to get to safety.



Well - I am still concerned for the Spuds' health and watch them closely. I have been thinking about asking everyone's opinion: they appear to be acting well, eating a lot, not sleeping abnormally as far as I can tell, though they need more naps than the adults.



Anna's voice after the antibiotic treatment became more like it was before she got sick, clear and cheepy, but Tedi and Ida Diane both still have deep chesty peeps and boks, Ida Diane's in particular is very hoarse and rough sounding. Today Anna sneezed and Ida Diane did too. But other than how their voices sound they seem to be okay. Their nares are dirty, but no visible mucus or discharge, and no bubbles in the eyes.



I have been going by what I thought was the conventional wisdom in the case of respiratory illness, that they can live with it and have it the rest of their lives, it may wax and wane depending on stress and condition, but not to treat unless it interferes with them living their lives and they start behaving sickly.



I think it is also possible that the horrible exposure to mold in their first brooder shavings, which I think killed their two chick sisters, could have been the entrance for the bacterial infection Anna got, and maybe Ida Diane and Tedi are suffering from that mold exposure? But those two developed the chesty sounds and sneezes later, after Anna, so I'm not sure about this idea.



I hope that not treating unless sickly is the correct thing to do, and that their air sacs aren't all scarred and cause problems for them down the line. Or maybe all that is in the cards at this point anyway so I ought to look at it as battle scars and nothing to do about it now? If I were to give those two a course of antibiotics, what would be the goal? Would it help them, or maybe it is too late to treat now? If it is fungal- related, there would be no point (I think?). If I know they're okay as is, then when I note the way their voices sound I won't wonder, but since I'm unsure I keep thinking about it and doubting this path.

One must always be very cautious when using antibiotics.

First because of developing resistance. We all have a responsibility to preserve the antibiotics we do have and preserve their effectiveness. So the more often you use them the less effective they will be. It is also very important that you complete any dosing course which you start.

Second because they are hard to come by.

Because if this I will only give mine antibiotics when absolutely necessary. I need to know that I am treating an infection that is potentially life threatening. If I don't think they are at risk of passing away, I'm going to let their immune system have a chance to fight it off.

 

[featherhead007]

One must always be very cautious when using antibiotics.

First because of developing resistance. We all have a responsibility to preserve the antibiotics we do have and preserve their effectiveness. So the more often you use them the less effective they will be. It is also very important that you complete any dosing course which you start.

Second because they are hard to come by.

Because if this I will only give mine antibiotics when absolutely necessary. I need to know that I am treating an infection that is potentially life threatening. If I don't think they are at risk of passing away, I'm going to let their immune system have a chance to fight it off.

Very true point