Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

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That's a rooster.

 

[BY Bob]

The silkies are finally coming out of the ugly phase and are starting to look like mini adults. This cross between Branch and Poppet is going to produce some beautiful little birds. Branch, he had a mighty fine beard but to be honest his topknot left a lot to be desired. Poppet, no beard but you cannot deny she is rocking the topknot. I can now tell all 6 have inherited their momma's fuller topknot. 3 of the 6 have their daddy's beard to go with it. I actually have 3 pairs color wise. There are 2 blacks, 2 Black with brown leaking through all over and 2 partridges. Each of the pairs have a bearded and non-bearded version.
I believe that the bearded Partridge will be miss Patsy.
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Black and brown
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non bearded
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Now for the black chicks
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How lovely!

 

[BY Bob]

Julio, still no crow but really no denying he is a boy. The topknot has gone crazy.
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Now no one panic, this is not blood and he has not been pecked. I have already had a meltdown and checked. His head is full of pin feathers.
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I dare not let him out around the big girls right now. They would go after those pin feathers and I would have a Mr. P situation on my hands.

So handsome he is!

 

[SimpleJenn]

What is this fella going to look like as he grows? I never would have guessed he'd have white when he hatched!

Versus

Freshly hatched

Less than 24 hours old.

 

[Sally PB]

Yours is 5mg/ml. The dose is 0.04ml/kg (200 micrograms/kilo is standard for all livestock)

Do you know the amt in your drops?

Eh.... no. I don't have anything small enough to measure it. 1/10 of a ml (on a 6ml syringe) was barely 3 drops. Not scientific at all, I know.

@Sally PB Also, I just remembered that you started keeping bees. Just in case your hives are within bee fly's range to your coop : Ivermectin and bees don't mix well. While it certainly wouldn't cause issues with just one chicken, I would think twice about using it systematically on the flock.

The chickens' run is covered, and I have never seen a honey bee in there. Wasps, yes. Also, the bees are busy working the goldenrod, and there is none by the coop/run.

@Sally PB
To be honest, I wondered the same. I thought topical is only for mites?

https://bitchinchickens.com/2019/04/29/ivermectin-for-parasite-control/

This link talks about using it for both. (Thanks to whomever posted the link; sorry, I don't recall!)

 

[Ponypoor]

Eh.... no. I don't have anything small enough to measure it. 1/10 of a ml (on a 6ml syringe) was barely 3 drops. Not scientific at all, I know.

The chickens' run is covered, and I have never seen a honey bee in there. Wasps, yes. Also, the bees are busy working the goldenrod, and there is none by the coop/run.

https://bitchinchickens.com/2019/04/29/ivermectin-for-parasite-control/

This link talks about using it for both. (Thanks to whomever posted the link; sorry, I don't recall!)

You should have seen me trying to measure up the dose for oral Eqvalan that was at 10mg/ml - it was minuscule! I had a struggle to find a small enough insulin syringe that measure such small doses.

I will do the Eqvalan (ivermectin) again this November. Swap out the Panacur for that. I can get topical but it’s such a huge bottle and so expensive I’ll just go with the oral again.

Fun times….

 

[Ponypoor]

Thirstyday

View attachment 3937035View attachment 3937037Nellie said wild water is tasty.

And in other news, my youngest graduated from bootcamp today. Like my oldest, following in dad's footsteps into the Navy.

Congratulations to him! Well done!

 

[Sally PB]

Back when I was trying to get calcium into Pip, I tried -- desperately! -- to get pills into her beak. I tried the oft recommended "pull down gently on her wattles and she'll open her beak." Yes that works, but she thrashed SO hard, I could not get the pill in. I could not hold her still, I could not get the pill in. And then, understandably, she avoided me for several days.

So something I can drip on her neck is a HUGE improvement.

 

[Ponypoor]

I reworked the dosage myself. Here's the math.

5,000 micrograms / 1 ml = 50 micrograms / 0.01 ml

50 micrograms / 0.01 ml x 4 = 200 micrograms / 0.04 ml

You need a dose of 200 micrograms / kg to treat so you need 0.04 ml per kg

A standard eye dropper delivers 0.05 ml so it would be close to a drop per kg

It is important to be accurate when delivering any medicine. There are small syringes that can be used to measure doses this small.

Example syringe

When delivering any medicine you should weigh your chickens. Eyeballing she is about 3 lbs is a terrible method and a way to under or over dose a chicken. Feathers hide a lot and chickens can have significant weight fluctuations when I'll.

This scale, available at Amazon, works very well for weighing chickens and has a kg setting so no conversions are needed.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S6F6LHQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Obtaining supplies like these take time and they do not go bad. It is my suggestion that everyone have these on hand for the day you actually need them.

I love that scale, and would have bought one like it but didn’t know if I could keep the little monsters on it.

I opted for a luggage scale that I can hang a grocery bag on - shove the chicken in the bag, give it a shake (oh sorry not shake n bake), put the chicken in the bag and hang the bag on the hook on the luggage scale

Teeheehee

Works good. But I would still love a scale I can weigh eggs with.

 

[Ponypoor]

Back when I was trying to get calcium into Pip, I tried -- desperately! -- to get pills into her beak. I tried the oft recommended "pull down gently on her wattles and she'll open her beak." Yes that works, but she thrashed SO hard, I could not get the pill in. I could not hold her still, I could not get the pill in. And then, understandably, she avoided me for several days.

So something I can drip on her neck is a HUGE improvement.

Yes they fight worse than a cat!

I would much rather give a horse
Meds than a cat or chicken!

Now though, I am used to giving chickens meds. I find if I lay them on their side, on my lap, they don’t struggle as much. But I make sure to do it fast.

I also don’t take it personally if they try to avoid me after. Next day I just catch them up and dose them again. Eventually they give up and just put up with mean old Hooman Kelly.

And yep that’s why I gave Mr P the topical stuff when I first got him. He was so wild!

Ok have fun and good luck!