Hands on hatching and help

[RubyNala97]

@RubyNala97
 I have had 100% results with birds recovering from mild  cocci symptoms with vitamin treatment.  I've never understood denying a sick bird a vital nutrient to 'cure' it.  I strongly feel they need to fight it on their own and develop immunity to the local viuses/bacteria.  One bird took as long as 6 weeks to fully recover, but now it's HUGE and thriving.  He had the bloody diarrhea, extreme lethargy, the whole nine yards.  I didn't separate him either, and none of the other chicks with him got sick.
I caught it early though, because I am one of those nuts that sits and watches my birds for a long time.  I catch changes in behavior really early because I'm always looking.

ETA:  Sorry, I reread this post and it came across as a bit 'preachy'.  Not my intent!

That's ok! I'm still learning something new every day. I have 3 kids at home and they take a lot of my time. I realized a couple weeks ago that I needed to downsize my flock. I sold 3 trios last week. I'm happy because I agree with what you're saying and I can manage my flock better now that it's smaller. I feel bad because I noticed that one of my pullets that has the wry neck was not acting normal for a week or so and I feel bad because I choose just to keep an eye on her instead of starting supplements right away. Lesson learned. But I do think medications are ok, when used in moderation (also I don't eat my eggs, I use them as hatching eggs, so that kinda plays into it too).

Speaking of sick chickens, I will update on my 2 sick girls. The one that was worse is on the mend!! No more spoon feeding. She eats and drinks all day by herself. She's preening herself and clucking and acting like a chicken. But her neck is still tilted to the side. I wonder if that is going to be permanent??
The other one has to be put down. If I was not going away, I might give her more time (I've read it can take 2-3 weeks) but her head is totally curled down, up, and under. She can't eat or drink on her own at all. So I can not let it starve to death while I'm away. Wish I would have started treatment sooner!

 

[RubyNala97]

No definitely not cocci. The chicks are already acting like they were never sick after one night on the antibiotics. I have 21 chicks in the grow out/introduction pen outside and none are acting sick. I have 11 chickens and 3 ducks in the big coop and out of all of them only 2 are acting sick. Both were the same ones to act sick last month. I've moved the brooder light away but now all the chicks are huddled in the corner trying to get to the light. I'm sure it's them being sick that's causing the potty problem. Especially after another older chick showed signs. She is in the big brooder with less heat. I think it being to hot would be the obvious reason but tweety is still very active. I would have never guessed she had that blockage. She was running all over her brooder box. The little welsummers were acting droopy and having pooping problems.. ugh they were all running around too. That's why initially I thought they were just droopy from being tired... sorry for such a long explanation. It's hard for me to explain through typing it out if that makes any sense. I always feel scatter brained trying to answer everyone's questions lol. I don't sleep much..

I understand. And please don't think I am second guessing your judgement! Just trying to throw ideas out there incase one hits you and fits! I'm glad to hear they are doing better. I had hatched eggs from a very reputatable breeder awhile back, actually me and 2 other breeders in my area all got these eggs together and all 3 of us had nothing but problems with the ones that hatched. (We all also had bad hatch rates). I only have 1 healthy boy left that's in my flock. So I do believe that certain chickens can be more susceptible to germs and viruses that are in the environment. For 3 different people to get sickly birds from the same set of eggs, in 3 different environments has to be genetic.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

That's ok! I'm still learning something new every day. I have 3 kids at home and they take a lot of my time. I realized a couple weeks ago that I needed to downsize my flock. I sold 3 trios last week. I'm happy because I agree with what you're saying and I can manage my flock better now that it's smaller. I feel bad because I noticed that one of my pullets that has the wry neck was not acting normal for a week or so and I feel bad because I choose just to keep an eye on her instead of starting supplements right away. Lesson learned. But I do think medications are ok, when used in moderation (also I don't eat my eggs, I use them as hatching eggs, so that kinda plays into it too).

Speaking of sick chickens, I will update on my 2 sick girls. The one that was worse is on the mend!! No more spoon feeding. She eats and drinks all day by herself. She's preening herself and clucking and acting like a chicken. But her neck is still tilted to the side. I wonder if that is going to be permanent??
The other one has to be put down. If I was not going away, I might give her more time (I've read it can take 2-3 weeks) but her head is totally curled down, up, and under. She can't eat or drink on her own at all. So I can not let it starve to death while I'm away. Wish I would have started treatment sooner!

So sorry to hear about your sick chick not getting better. I know how hard it is as well. With 4 kids, my youngest being 7 months I feel I may have bit off a bit more than I could chew as well. It's almost a relief hearing someone else say it. Makes you feel a little less of a failure. As soon as everyone is for sure healthy I will be downsizing as well..

 

[RubyNala97]

So sorry to hear about your sick chick not getting better. I know how hard it is as well. With 4 kids, my youngest being 7 months I feel I may have bit off a bit more than I could chew as well. It's almost a relief hearing someone else say it. Makes you feel a little less of a failure. As soon as everyone is for sure healthy I will be downsizing as well..

Yup, I admit it! I actually made the decision to turn off the incubator. It had only been 48 hours and I decided that I shouldn't thin myself out anymore. It felt really good to let the 3 trios go. I was sad about it at first but afterward I realized it was for the best and I felt less stressed right away. (Plus, my last extra boy is being sold to a super nice family today! Woohoo). I'm sure all of us on this board are major animals lovers, hence being willing to help every egg out that has a chance, and as much as I would love tons and tons of chickens and chicks, I can only care for so many in the best way possible.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Yup, I admit it! I actually made the decision to turn off the incubator. It had only been 48 hours and I decided that I shouldn't thin myself out anymore. It felt really good to let the 3 trios go. I was sad about it at first but afterward I realized it was for the best and I felt less stressed right away. (Plus, my last extra boy is being sold to a super nice family today! Woohoo). I'm sure all of us on this board are major animals lovers, hence being willing to help every egg out that has a chance, and as much as I would love tons and tons of chickens and chicks, I can only care for so many in the best way possible.

Yes I completely agree. I know it will feel good to cut down. It's just hard deciding who to keep lol. I have to finish the eggs I've purchased already but as soon as they are done I'm packing the incubators away where I can't see them lol. I've given a rooster and 4 hens to my grandmother. Thats a start lol.

 

[ShanandGem]

It's tough to let them go, but I keep telling myself if I want all the joy and excitement of new birds I have to see some go out the door or into the freezer! My husband processed our first two roosters last week. I was worried I wouldn't be able to eat them (even though I didn't really like them AT ALL) but as it turns out, they were delicious. And them being gone solved my overcrowding issue as it freed up a tractor.
I find it's the hens I really fall in love with. I have a couple of roosters I genuinely love but the rest I am sort of treating like a future dinner.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

It's tough to let them go, but I keep telling myself if I want all the joy and excitement of new birds I have to see some go out the door or into the freezer!  My husband processed our first two roosters last week.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to eat them (even though I didn't really like them AT ALL) but as it turns out, they were delicious.  And them being gone solved my overcrowding issue as it freed up a tractor.
I find it's the hens I really fall in love with.  I have a couple of roosters I genuinely love but the rest I am sort of treating like a future dinner.

I couldn't eat any of my chickens. I couldn't even eat someone else's chickens. That's actually why we became vegetarian. It's much healthier too and that's a bonus but as soon as I take a bite of meat I feel it all come back up my throat. It grosses me out so bad thinking of all the little guys that were killed to make it. I know I'm an odd ball but I just can't. Turns my stomach..

 

[ShanandGem]

I couldn't eat any of my chickens. I couldn't even eat someone else's chickens. That's actually why we became vegetarian. It's much healthier too and that's a bonus but as soon as I take a bite of meat I feel it all come back up my throat. It grosses me out so bad thinking of all the little guys that were killed to make it. I know I'm an odd ball but I just can't. Turns my stomach..

Well, that certainly makes it harder! Hope you have good luck selling/rehoming the ones you decided to part with.

ETA: I know our farm raised chickens had a good, good life, and a dignified end with no suffering. I can't buy chicken from the grocery store any more now that I know what a capacity for suffering chickens have. So, I understand the way you feel. I couldn't have gotten into chicken keeping without the end result being consumption for us though; there are only so many homes for roosters out there, and most people who would take a free rooster are just going to eat him anyway.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Well, that certainly makes it harder!  Hope you have good luck selling/rehoming the ones you decided to part with.

ETA:  I know our farm raised chickens had a good, good life, and a dignified end with no suffering.  I can't buy chicken from the grocery store any more now that I know what a capacity for suffering chickens have.  So, I understand the way you feel. I couldn't have gotten into chicken keeping without the end result being consumption for us though;  there are only so many homes for roosters out there, and most people who would take a free rooster are just going to eat him anyway.

Yes our plan is to make a bachelor pen. I know it's not ideal but it's a good place to live their lives until we can find them a home.

 

[RubyNala97]

Yes I completely agree. I know it will feel good to cut down. It's just hard deciding who to keep lol. I have to finish the eggs I've purchased already but as soon as they are done I'm packing the incubators away where I can't see them lol. I've given a rooster and 4 hens to my grandmother. Thats a start lol.

Yes, that's a start. And I would never shut down on eggs I paid for! These were just some of my old eggs, so nothing really lost. I wouldn't keep most of the chicks anyway but I just took the brooder out of the house and I need a break! Lol.

It's tough to let them go, but I keep telling myself if I want all the joy and excitement of new birds I have to see some go out the door or into the freezer!  My husband processed our first two roosters last week.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to eat them (even though I didn't really like them AT ALL) but as it turns out, they were delicious.  And them being gone solved my overcrowding issue as it freed up a tractor.
I find it's the hens I really fall in love with.  I have a couple of roosters I genuinely love but the rest I am sort of treating like a future dinner.

My roosters are big fluffy silkies and I can not bring myself to eat a silkie. I'm not a dark meat fan anyway. I've had two roosters (for breeding purposes) that were the same color and I knew one needed to go but I couldn't decide. I finally made the decision today and I kept the one that's the most gentlemanly toward the girls, chicks and myself. The other was quite the looker but he could get a real attitude and I know he went to a really good home. I think it's great that you ate your extra boys. Just like you said, you know they had a good life, you know they were killed humanely and you got nourishment out of them. If I was going to eat my boys I would most likely find a processor to do the dirty work for me. I'm not at that point yet.