Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Marie2020]

Some sort of finch looks like.

It's little yellow flecks made me wonder

 

[rural mouse]

I was thinking the same but wasn’t confident. I love how you know this stuff. Never tire of learning from you!

Lots of birds have short, fat beaks. Finches for example, sparrows......and they eat seeds. The beak shape makes it easier to Crack the shells open.

Robins have longer narrowish type beaks (compared to the sparrows and finches). They go primarily for bugs.

 

[RoyalChick]

A night time visitor for Pony Sunday.

 

[Sylvester017]

The issue is clostridium botulinum spores which if they grow can release toxins that cause botulism which can be fatal.
For human babies you are supposed to wait until they have developed their own gut microbiome which prevents the C.botulinum from taking hold and creating the toxin.
The academic literature is a bit scant on the topic but does support that birds are susceptible and even wild birds have died.
Logic suggests (no articles I found) that this would be more of a risk to baby birds than adults for the same reason as with baby people. Also I would guess, adults whose microbiome has been compromised (e.g. from antibiotics).
That said, as with many of these things, the dose is the thing! A tiny bit of honey is unlikely to cause a problem.
I tried to find out how often honey has C.botulinum spores but got no further than they are commonly present in honey.

It's because of all these controversial researches that leads me to avoid feeding certain foods or administering any home remedies to our hens. We have a livestock rescue friend that has relied on their own experience of home remedies and surgery for their poultry out of necessity and are far more knowledgeable than I will ever be.

Over the years we have developed an arsenal of vet-recommended meds and supplies for emergencies but still rely on our vet for final consultations.

I would never have agreed to DH's choice of backyard chickens as pets if we didn't have such a terrific vet just 10-minutes away who sees all kinds of other animals too besides dogs & cats.

These are just a few of the sweeties our vet saved or treated in the past.

 

[rural mouse]

I have a 42" wire dog kennel/pen we put on bricks in the large fenced dog kennel, which is gravel. I use a twist tie to tie an icecream bucket of water to one end, and a smaller jar feeder next to it. There's a 2x4 on it's side on the other end so they can perch off the wires. That usually takes 3-4 days.

However, I learned sometimes there's a cause. I have a breeding pen with 4 hens and a roo. One was broody going over a week, then another was with her and neither were breaking. I got an idea and removed the rooster. Another rooster was standing right there. I opened the door and let him jump in. I put those two hens back in the pen. Magically, they were over being broody! Blueboy is tickled he gets to finally be in there, and the ladies are all out every morning for the first time in weeks!

A wire dog kennel is on my "to get" list, however, the lawnmower needs a new starter housing, and the weed wacker needs a new battery.

Came home yesterday to find DH and MS were working on clearing some of the mineral build up out of the water supply...and flooded my cold storage room. They were soaking it up with EVERY single one of my bath towels, so today's project has become LAUNDRY and finishing drying out the room. A shop vac is now on the "to get" list also...and above the kennel in priority.

My baby raising tote has broken, so replacing that is also on my list. The wire kennel could easily do double duty, but depends upon what/when I can find something with the budget.

 

[Ponypoor]

Humidity hit 100% here so no spray or bucket required. We are all soggy just from ‘being’. I am charging up the fan and will clip it to Sylvie’s cage.

Yes I hear you on the humidity, but we just had a front move through and the wind is pretty fierce - I can feel the humidity level dropping. But still the chooks aren’t moving too fast still very warm and close feeling.

The horses though are happier, the wind is keeping the bugs away.

Temp is 25c (77F) humidex is at 33c (91f) humidity 73%, wind gusts to 44km/hr.

Oh for crying out loud raining again

 

[RoyalChick]

A wire dog kennel is on my "to get" list, however, the lawnmower needs a new starter housing, and the weed wacker needs a new battery.

Came home yesterday to find DH and MS were working on clearing some of the mineral build up out of the water supply...and flooded my cold storage room. They were soaking it up with EVERY single one of my bath towels, so today's project has become LAUNDRY and finishing drying out the room. A shop vac is now on the "to get" list also...and above the kennel in priority.

My baby raising tote has broken, so replacing that is also on my list. The wire kennel could easily do double duty, but depends upon what/when I can find something with the budget.

Oh dear!
You might be able to borrow a shop vac. A friend of mine lent me his when my basement flooded along with an industrial size fan to dry stuff out.
Around here the wire dog kennels are often available second hand on Craig’s list. It is probably worth a look.

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm still battling to find food for it to eat

Many years ago we rescued a house sparrow chick, dug up earth worms & fed its open mouth w/ the smallest wet worms. The next morning we set out a small shoe box wedged in the yucca bush and the parents flew to the shoe box to feed their chick along w/ the other chicks located deep inside the sharp yucca leaves! The box was empty one day but I know it wasn't a cat that got it - not in a sharp yucca plant any way.

 

[Ponypoor]

It's because of all these controversial researches that leads me to avoid feeding certain foods or administering any home remedies to our hens. We have a livestock rescue friend that has relied on their own experience of home remedies and surgery for their poultry out of necessity and are far more knowledgeable than I will ever be.

Over the years we have developed an arsenal of vet-recommended meds and supplies for emergencies but still rely on our vet for final consultations.

I would never have agreed to DH's choice of backyard chickens as pets if we didn't have such a terrific vet just 10-minutes away who sees all kinds of other animals too besides dogs & cats.

These are just a few of the sweeties our vet saved or treated in the past.
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View attachment 3870563

I am so happy my horse vet is just 4km up the road, he has beeen my vet for about 40yrs, he is semi retired but still will treat my old gals. I am hoping he will be around when the time comes for them to be put down, he was there for their birth.

And he is really good about trying stuff with my chooks. I do have a small animal vet who will see my chooks but she is very expensive. I do have a ‘$700 chicken’ here who just looks pretty most of the time.

Oh well what can you do, you have the responsibility so you must follow through with whatever is required.

Just to euthanize my wee 1 week old spraddle leg chick was almost $200 - I cried for more than the chick that night. I cried because I need to get back to working in the oil patch we’re I can make better money. While I love my job here and love being home each night, I need more secure pay. Everything is so expensive and that one chick finally made me realize I needed to go back out west.

 

[RoyalChick]

I am so happy my horse vet is just 4km up the road, he has beeen my vet for about 40yrs, he is semi retired but still will treat my old gals. I am hoping he will be around when the time comes for them to be put down, he was there for their birth.

And he is really good about trying stuff with my chooks. I do have a small animal vet who will see my chooks but she is very expensive. I do have a ‘$700 chicken’ here who just looks pretty most of the time.

Oh well what can you do, you have the responsibility so you must follow through with whatever is required.

Just to euthanize my wee 1 week old spraddle leg chick was almost $200 - I cried for more than the chick that night. I cried because I need to get back to working in the oil patch we’re I can make better money. While I love my job here and love being home each night, I need more secure pay. Everything is so expensive and that one chick finally made me realize I needed to go back out west.