Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[notabitail]

You know you're a tech geek when.....

You dig out your extra web cam and install it so you can spy on the baby chickies.

View attachment 3467766

Guess they have gone to sleep!

You like technology?

 

[Kris5902]

Goldie is home now. While we are confident that her leg will heal it will never be 100 percent. I thought it over and believe I will build a small chicken tractor for her and Itty-bitty. Probably 4 x 8 feet with about 30 inches closed in for a coop section. I'll put the top on hinges so in the evening we can help her get into the coop to be protected from the elements. Any ideas are appreciated. We know we can't put her with her flock but we want her to have a good quality of life.

This is very do-able, and depending on her recovery you might just be surprised. A 4x8’ sounds good, for two chickens you wouldn’t need to move it too often either, the “coop” section of my hospital tractor is only 1 2x4 higher than the ground. I would at least double that if I were to rebuild it as I’ve had issues pulling across uneven ground, with jutting up rocks, and even tall grasses. I would also make the “chicken door” which folds down to be the ramp much taller and wider. The taller the door is the more gentle the ramp slope. I would slope the coop roof from the chicken door to the back wall *instead* and hinge the roof on the front edge. That would make my two “coop” end walls the same size for a little easier cleaning (depending on where I park it) *they are both hinged on the sides and open up.

Idiot Rooster included for scale, it’s been through many cow assaults, was built from primarily scrap, and has had several repairs. The front hardware cloth door closes, and that section of run was covered, with the option to use step in temporary posts and plastic net fencing to expand the uncovered run area.

 

[Ponypoor]

@bgmathteach
So I looked into the article you linked on use of progestin and/or estrogen.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273612/#SD1

I was trying to find the dosage, but I did notice that the experiment was on 231 white leghorns, in 4 groups. I was surprised to find the mortality rate before the termination of the experiment:

• control (no treatment): 22%
• treated with progestin and estrogen: 34%
• treated with progestin only: 37%
• treated with estrogen only: 30%

The paper did say that the increased mortality rate could be due to too big of a dosage for which they did reduce later.

Therefore I am not convinced at all that treating production birds with hormones can provide them with a better balanced health. I am afraid that while it reduced reproductive risks, it increases others. So I have decided no hormones or implants at this point.

@Ponypoor

Thanks for the update, much appreciated.

I also couldn't.find a doseage...

 

[Ponypoor]

You like technology?

I worked in IT for a long time first at IBM, then at Sears, I was there when the internet was 'born' in the 1990s

I don't work in IT anymore though and have very little patients when fixing my devices

Tax
Good thing Lulu is quiet those darn chickens going in her stall.

 

[notabitail]

I worked in IT for a long time first at IBM, then at Sears, I was there when the internet was 'born' in the 1990s

I don't work in IT anymore though and have very little patients when fixing my devices

Tax
Good thing Lulu is quiet those darn chickens going in her stall.

View attachment 3468074

Did you have a ThinkPad? I wonder what BYC would've looked like if it existed back then.
I like fixing my own devices. And when people give me old electronics that they were going to throw out, I'm even happier.

 

[featherhead007]

I call these guys to fix my electronics:

 

[notabitail]

I call these guys to fix my electronics: View attachment 3468096

Good idea. How much do they cost?

 

[Lexicon]

Other babies...

So my plans have again changed, I will not put these chicks in with the current group until they are about a week old and thriving. Which means I need another brooder plate... Or heating pad. Has anyone ever used a heating pad??? I am very nervous about using one.

I used a heating pad with my chicks and it worked very well. Everyone was healthy and active, just using the cave for comfort and sleep. I raised them out in the unheated coop from day one and they used the heat cave for four weeks, then switched to sleeping in a pile on the floor until they were seven weeks old at which point that they started roosting.

I started with the heat turned to the highest level and turned it down one notch every week or so. I expect that our northern temperatures were cooler than what they would experience in your barn. I attached the heating pad to the inside of the top half of an old cat carrier, so that they could press their backs against the top. I raised it up as they got bigger. It worked very well and would use it again if I didn't have a broody.

 

[bgmathteach]

@bgmathteach
So I looked into the article you linked on use of progestin and/or estrogen.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273612/#SD1

I was trying to find the dosage, but I did notice that the experiment was on 231 white leghorns, in 4 groups. I was surprised to find the mortality rate before the termination of the experiment:

• control (no treatment): 22%
• treated with progestin and estrogen: 34%
• treated with progestin only: 37%
• treated with estrogen only: 30%

The paper did say that the increased mortality rate could be due to too big of a dosage for which they did reduce later.

Therefore I am not convinced at all that treating production birds with hormones can provide them with a better balanced health. I am afraid that while it reduced reproductive risks, it increases others. So I have decided no hormones or implants at this point.

@Ponypoor

If you notice, after the reduced rate, there were no deaths in 2 of the groups. Maybe someone can rustle up a more recent study...but, unfortunately, it isn't in their interest of huge commercial operations, as they want as much production as possible, so there probably are very few people/institutions willing to fund such studies.

something that does help some is to reduce the amount of light they get. Are you able to let them out later (and if there is a window in their coop, cover it?) so that they have less day light per day? I've read 14 hours is key, but my girls started increasing production/coming back online at around 12 hours - but I truly believe that part of it is that the daylight is going in the right direction AND their breeding - to lay eggs more continuously.

That said, you have to do what you think is correct, and with what limited info we have.

 

[Ponypoor]

Did you have a ThinkPad? I wonder what BYC would've looked like if it existed back then.
I like fixing my own devices. And when people give me old electronics that they were going to throw out, I'm even happier.
View attachment 3468093

Nope I have a cheaply old HP

I used to like tinkering but now I just would rather spend it playing with the horses and chickies.

But if I have to fix anything I will.

I call these guys to fix my electronics: View attachment 3468096

hahahaha never gets old