Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

It's tough because you want her to be happy. I'm sure they were curious of each other but hopefully nothing was exchanged. There has to be an infective dose. How long were they "together"?

Well I was too hasty about things. I'd say she was in there about an hour and a half. It was interesting though. Queenie wanted nothing but to join them. The Buckeyes were mainly afraid and hung back. I scattered some scratch near the divider - so that helped spread whatever could be spread no doubt. Butters, who is Defender of the Flock when it comes to the cat, got in front of everybody pecking and really kept an eye on Queenie, mirroring her moves.

 

[Kris5902]

Could they be dropping from nearby trees onto the Palace roof and running down the walls??

I was seeing this guy who lived in the office space above his garage, in a warehouse/industrial area. One night I woke up to the strange metallic noise of a mouse dropping from the ceiling into the pot he hadn’t washed out of macaroni and cheese for a little rodent midnight snack. It jumped from a hole in the ceiling into the pot on the stove! They are nimble little monsters.

 

[Kris5902]

I wonder if there is some way aquarium stores can diagnose and supply. Otherwise you have to get new fish, right?

Exactly... either the fish industry is booming with breeding replacement fishies, or I expect there may be a drop in keepers with an inability to medicate and get treatments. I don’t have any specialty aquarium stores nearby, and it’s been decades since I kept fish... it never really occurred to me. I wonder if the high end fish stores have some secret source? Hmmmm, maybe I will look some up. Some of those fish can be super expensive, and I can’t see people just throwing up their hands and saying “oh well, it’s just a fish” when some are in the $500 and higher price range.

 

[featherhead007]

Exactly... either the fish industry is booming with breeding replacement fishies, or I expect there may be a drop in keepers with an inability to medicate and get treatments. I don’t have any specialty aquarium stores nearby, and it’s been decades since I kept fish... it never really occurred to me. I wonder if the high end fish stores have some secret source? Hmmmm, maybe I will look some up. Some of those fish can be super expensive, and I can’t see people just throwing up their hands and saying “oh well, it’s just a fish” when some are in the $500 and higher price range.

Hope you can find some fishmox (it works well for me)

 

[Ribh]

@Kris5902 I thought of a few other items that might be easier to get.

A silver sulfadiazine gel. Usually sold in the first-aid aisle of the pharmacy. I use this myself. I prefer this to triple antibiotic ointment. I've had an abscess myself and I drained what I could, filled the wound with the gel and covered it for 3 days. When I took the dressing off the entire wound was almost healed!

Manuka Honey is another one I thought of. My friend had a young stallion barrel horse who punctured his leg right next to the tendon sheath. The vet didn't want to suture it so she recommended filling the wound with Manuka honey, placing a dressing over it, and changing it every other day. The horse never had an ounce of infection, no proud flesh, and is sound as ever. He's currently running 1D barrels and winning money.

Cannabis ointment. I know it's legal in Canada and in my state it has medical approval so I researched it and it is naturally anti-microbial and has excellent pain relief. Also topical use does not create a "head high" so he wouldn't be unable to do his rooster duties.

Another probably really bad idea... I got a tropical ulcer when we first moved here that refused to respond to treatment. I cracked an antibiotic capsule & poured it directly onto the wound. Yes it stung like crazy. Yes it ate away the infected flesh but it did the trick & I've never had another tropical ulcer.

 

[Shadrach]

Back chicken Taxes:View attachment 2453497
“Ummm, what are you doing in our trailer?”View attachment 2453495
A new use for a sink
View attachment 2453502View attachment 2453511
Little Red is showing his new lady friends how to Bathe (they are getting less stinky! Feet look clean, relatively) but I’m still going to be trimming up some of those nasty bum feathers!) You may have missed this @Shadrach but I took on another 8 rescues that came coated in the chicken version of Raw Sewage... I was literally gagging. I don’t want to bathe them as it’s still not warm here. This is their first day free ranging on the farm, they have been here for 3 days.View attachment 2453516View attachment 2453517
And ten stray sheep, they are stealing my chicken feed and knocked over our BBQ and propane tanks. Generally trashing what little the cows didn’t and being pests. One was chasing my chickens!

You know what I'm going to say don't you.....
Quarantine!
Honestly Kris, I know it's a complete pain in the arse, but you have the room to do it, even if it isn't 100%.
If it all goes wrong and the new ones import something it can be devastating.
I love you for rescuing them and I hope you get away with it but........

 

[Kris5902]

Hope you can find some fishmox (it works well for me)

Amazon.ca, Walmart Canada, were both completely devoid of anything vaguely antibiotic... other than polysporin and ozonol ointments. Amazon.com won’t ship any of that here. Walmart USA has it online for $10!!! Sheesh. I really blame those people who were trying to popularize the fish mox for human use stuff. I do understand limiting the use to prevent antibiotic resistant bugs from developing, but this level of restriction is just insane from a farming perspective.

 

[MaryJanet]

I really love what you are doing in caring for her. I have no advice but you seem like a really thoughtful and caring chicken-eer so trust your instincts!

X2

 

[Shadrach]

PS I hung out with her for some time, then went about 15 feet away and worked, she could see me still, I could see her, and sometimes I talked to her and went back to check. I am being a mother hen here! I do like having a chicken in the brooder. I missed that when the Buckeyes graduated to outside.

After a thorough inspection of her body I am going to see if I can put her in the 3x3 run bump-out, with chicken wire on the run side. Then she could be with other chickens at least. She would be exposed to the Buckeye poo a bit, though I will add more clean litter on top, but they would be safe from hers? I would clear away that litter before letting the Buckeyes back there if she ends up elsewhere. I need to shovel the snow away from around it first. Let me know if it's a bad idea please!

Also - I got a definite lead on which BBQ place to call, but they were closed yesterday when I called. Supposedly someone there knows who took part of Queenie's flock.

I'm going to do it again...
Quarantine!

 

[Kris5902]

You know what I'm going to say don't you.....
Quarantine!
Honestly Kris, I know it's a complete pain in the arse, but you have the room to do it, even if it isn't 100%.
If it all goes wrong and the new ones import something it can be devastating.
I love you for rescuing them and I hope you get away with it but........

Again the voice of reason... and you are correct. I know I am breaking all the sensible rules. I did do a visual inspection for parasites. They come from the same hatchery as I got my meat birds from, and despite the disgusting conditions at their previous farm, his flocks haven’t shown any signs of disease. We are fairly lucky here in that there haven’t been any big outbreaks since an avian flu back in 2014, and a worse one in 2004 before that. I know the risks, but they are reasonably small. I was planning a proper two week quarantine in a meat tractor, based mostly on the smell and filth, but we got a wind and rain warning. 70km winds with gusts over 100, and driving rain. They needed more shelter. The next day was just beautiful though, and today is back to high winds and rain. Winter...