Hi everyone. I am once again several weeks behind in reading. I know several people have had losses lately, my deepest sympathies to all of you. And now I have also had a loss. Buffy, the last of my five ISA’s passed late Sunday or early Monday.
She was 3.5 years old, and has had reproductive issues for about a year. I had drained her abdomen a few times. The first was many months ago, the last a few days ago. When I drained it that time I could feel a hard lump in her abdomen. She had also started having crop issues that seemed to indicate that things weren’t able to pass through as well. When I did her abdomen I also used a catheter to drain her crop, because when I went to pick her up dark fluid gushed from her mouth. At least she seemed to be a little more comfortable her last few days.
Once she was gone I did a partial necropsy, mainly just opening her abdomen a little to examine the hard lump. It turned out to be similar to a lash egg, which I assume was from advanced infection in her abdomen.
She and Crystal, who I lost several weeks ago, will be laid to rest together. I kept having the feeling that as soon as I buried Crystal, Buffy would go too. So decided to just wait and bury them together when the time came.
Fly high my dearest ones. At least you will now be reunited with Goldie, Sassy, and Hazel.
My plan is to get two mille fleur D'uccles and one or two other bantams to keep the two Polish company. Hopefully this spring or early summer. They need some company.
Or.... just get a couple more Polish in case one of your two Polish is lost there are more of the same breed remaining to toodle together... just that IMO alike breeds seem to understand/friendship together best.
We found that getting at least 3-4 of the same breed whether bantams or standard size will allow for a loss & still have enough of the same breed left to toodle together while they gradually integrate into an established flock. Just my 2-¢ opinion.
Some say mixed breed chicks grown up together will get along too but we found getting all-alike breeds worked absolute best for us. No more experimenting for us just cuz we wanted one pretty bird that caught our interest. We never realized how different temperaments were among the different chicken breeds from bantams, to heritage, to landrace, to hybrids, to giants, to game breeds!
What helped us avoid many wrong choices was talking w/ actual breeders/owners to learn the pros/cons of a particular breed before purchasing. I thought Barred Rocks or Dominiques were boring breeds till I spoke w/owners/breeders to find BR/Dom temperaments were exactly what we were looking for ~ especially around the Silkies we already had.
My plan is to get two mille fleur D'uccles and one or two other bantams to keep the two Polish company. Hopefully this spring or early summer. They need some company.
She technically isn’t mine, she’s my friends, but this is “my” Millie Fleur d’Uccle. I kinda consider her one of my own, just as my friends considers mine to be hers.
She is amazing. Her name is GreenBean. She used to be kinda standoffish but now she’s sweet.
Oh, I don’t think I mentioned this yesterday, but she started honking recently. She didn’t do it today, but when I looked it up, it said that it could be respiratory issues. I’m going to bring VetRX to school tomorrow so that I can give her it. Also, she does well with the polish she was raised with.
I learned something rather interesting about feather colors recently. We've had the discussions about blue turning black to blue and about mottling hiding under black. We've talked about lavender functioning like mottling also where 2 copies are needed for it to show. Both ultimately affect black feathers and markings.
Dominate white ALSO affects black. (Recessive white requires 2 copies to show and doesn't affect black). Now, while I don't know how the Dom white affects blue as both hit the same color, I can say that the white marks in the ISA brown feathers ARE the laced/penciled marks. Ultimately they're BLACK, but Dominant White turns them white instead. Pippa has the same marks....without the Dom white.
FWIW, Silver (also looks white) affects reds and turns them white (buff brahma to light Brahma as an example).
@TOMTE Is the narrow height a new model? I haven’t seen that before. Cozy Products makes a taller one, 23”long x13” high, and it uses a bit more watts, 200. I have a few of those.
These school chickens are TICKING ME OFF.
My Polish hen has started pooping blood. I noticed it today. Tomorrow I am bringing coccidiosis medicine that the vet gave me when one of my guinea hens was sick a year and a half ago.
I’m just not sure if she’ll be okay with the medicine… she’s 3 months old. I have no clue what the medicine is. It’s yellow and tastes like banana (I have experience with the taste because the guinea was a pain and it got in my mouth almost every day.)
I have no clue how to censor pictures, so bear with me.
I learned something rather interesting about feather colors recently. We've had the discussions about blue turning black to blue and about mottling hiding under black. We've talked about lavender functioning like mottling also where 2 copies are needed for it to show. Both ultimately affect black feathers and markings.
Dominate white ALSO affects black. (Recessive white requires 2 copies to show and doesn't affect black). Now, while I don't know how the Dom white affects blue as both hit the same color, I can say that the white marks in the ISA brown feathers ARE the laced/penciled marks. Ultimately they're BLACK, but Dominant White turns them white instead. Pippa has the same marks....without the Dom white.View attachment 4260541
FWIW, Silver (also looks white) affects reds and turns them white (buff brahma to light Brahma as an example).
Sweet baby Sounds like the night we sat up w/ Mini wheezing badly when we thought she was dying. New pet chicken owners... what did we know? Vet gave a Baytril injection & a dose of Metcam & she had the zoomies by the time we returned home. We kept her in-house till we were sure she wasn't "dying"
Here’s my tax for yesterday.
This is Phillipos. He’s decided that he’s a wild rooster. I swear, people are going to think I abuse my chickens because he won’t go anywhere near me and runs away if I walk near him. He’s super sweet though and doesn’t cause issues.
These are the school chicks. They are so happy now that they aren’t in a tiny area. The have had the zoomies all day- probably the first time they’ve ever had them. Taffy is the Polish, Blueberry is the porcelain d’Uccle, and GreenBean is the Millie Fleur d’Uccle. Blueberry and Taffy are mine. GreenBean is my friends remaining chick.
This is Brisket. He’s BBQ’s (my old RIR hen who passed away) kid. I have another BBQ son, named Red. Red decided to attack me today, and I didn’t appreciate that.
I love Brisket’s comb so much though. He’s part Polish, BTW.
Sounds like the night we sat up w/ Mini wheezing badly when we thought she was dying. New pet chicken owners... what did we know? Vet gave a Baytril injection & a dose of Metcam & she had the zoomies by the time we returned home. We kept her in-house till we were sure she wasn't "dying"
