Help! First time Pea owner.

[DylansMom]

FYI Terramycin is for eye infection , it is not a wormer so i do not know how you wormed your guineas with it.



Most of us use safeguard for goats 3cc per gallon of water for 3 days,make a fresh batch every day, i put it in scrambled eggs but i have no way to get it in my birds any other way as they free range plus i know they get a full dose of it that way also.



You can get fish zole at most pet stores you will need to look for something like this .
If you do not see a box like this look for the ingredient on some of the other boxes that is how i found it.

Terramycin 200, active ingredient is Oxytetracycline; can be fed to chickens, turkeys, swine, cattle and sheep. Proven effective against a variety of infectious diseases cause by bacteria. If I could post a link I would, but I am not good at that!

This is probably what is being used and I believe this would work against Cocci, although I'm not 100% sure about that.

 

[PavoFowl]

@DylansMom , thank you very much! Great explanation!

@zazouse , Thank you for your help! The drug in Pfizer's Terramycin is oxytetracycline, something we shorten to oxytetra, which is also used as a remedy for foals born with contracted limbs. Oxytetra is kind of like pennicilin, "miracle drug", as it does all kinds of things, but is sold in different forms. In my experince with horses, most people are familiar with the drug oxytetra itself in the form of Terraymcin. Strangely enough, Neomycin is also sold as an eye ointment, which I always have on hand for my horse with ERU, but it is also given to birds to prevent E. coli infection.

I don't think I'll be using the oxytetra/terramycin this time, but rather use the SafeGuard as I'll be getting it for the peas.

 

[DylansMom]

Yet another question - What do you use for brooders?

With the guineas, we used the biggest rubbermaid storage tubs we could find, I believe they were 22" wide by 38" long, not sure how deep, and we made wire lids with 1/2 inch square wire. We lined the bottom with pine shavings and covered them with paper towels for quick clean up twice a day, and dumped and refilled the shavings once a week or more often if needed. We put a T post in the ground next to each brooder, so that we could clip the heat lamp on it and adjust the light holder up or down to adjust the temperature. I don't remember how many birds we put in each the last time we bought 50 guinea chicks. I'm going to buy the biggest tubs that I can find, but was thinking I'll need at least 6. My mom says we only need 4... We're getting 50 guineas, and 6 pea's. I don't think 56 birds, especially wiht 6 that start out twice as big as guineas, will fit in 4 tubs.

With 4 tubs, it would be

16 guineas
17 guineas
17 guineas
6 peas

OR

14 guineas
14 guineas
14 guineas
8 guineas and 6 peas.


That just seems WAY TOO packed. I think 6 would be perfect.

With 6 -

10 guineas
10 guineas
10 guineas
10 guineas
10 guineas
6 peas

OR

9 guineas
9 guineas
9 guineas
9 guineas
9 guineas
5 guineas and 6 peas.

It's a possibility that the peas could squash and kill the guineas (likely accidentally) because they are bigger to start out, and grow so much faster. Probably be best to keep the peas alone, so they don't kill the guineas, right?

Thankfully, the guineas only have to be kept in brooders until they molt to get real feathers and can stay warm on their own, with heat lamps on the pen if they choose to go under them, so once we have the guineas out in the pens, we can use the brooders they were in (after being sanitized, of course) to spread the peas out better, because I know they get really big, really quick.

I have seen some say to use cardboard boxes - I think, YUCK! The tubs are great because they can be sprayed out and sanitized really well. Also, predators can easily destroy cardboard, while the plastic and wire is a little more formidable.

What do ya'll think? Any better ideas for brooders?

We also used the large plastic tubs, so easy to sanitize them with bleach! Highly recommended.
I have always heard that wood shavings are a bad idea for baby peas, tends to give them impacted crops. I don't know if this is true or an old wive's tale, but I decided to play it safe. Mine spent the first 2 weeks on paper towels and then once they were big enough that they were shredding those and making a huge mess, they went into wire mesh bottom cages that let the poop fall through but not their feet.

 

[PavoFowl]

Thankfully, it seems I have done something right in the past... LOL

We didn't have problems with the shavings, but we also covered them completely with paper towels. This time, I'm going to use the pellets (like what we use in the stalls) because they're more compact, less dusty, and are just so much better than the shavings. If the peas seem to have a reaction to it, I'll just use paper towels. I'd be using them, anyway, so not an extra expense or anything.

 

[PavoFowl]

Another - (I'm on a roll.

) Have you had experience with the chicken nipples?

I would LOVE if I could get the peas to use these!!! They still drip a bit and make a mess, but at least the mess is on the ground, and not contaminating the water itself. We used the Little Giant waterers once for the guineas, and they were miserable. The birds would get feed, poop, and themselves all in the little water tray. The nipples are much nicer because even with the mess, the drinking water stays clean. Can the peas learn to use them?

I have seen many people saying these birds are not tame-able, and are absolutely stupid... I am really hoping that's not the case, but from seeing ya'lls birds and being told they are inquistive and friendly prove opposite!

 

[DylansMom]

Another - (I'm on a roll.

) Have you had experience with the chicken nipples?

I would LOVE if I could get the peas to use these!!! They still drip a bit and make a mess, but at least the mess is on the ground, and not contaminating the water itself. We used the Little Giant waterers once for the guineas, and they were miserable. The birds would get feed, poop, and themselves all in the little water tray. The nipples are much nicer because even with the mess, the drinking water stays clean. Can the peas learn to use them?

I have seen many people saying these birds are not tame-able, and are absolutely stupid... I am really hoping that's not the case, but from seeing ya'lls birds and being told they are inquistive and friendly prove opposite!

Who said Peas are not Tame-able?

 

[DylansMom]

Another - (I'm on a roll.

) Have you had experience with the chicken nipples?

I would LOVE if I could get the peas to use these!!! They still drip a bit and make a mess, but at least the mess is on the ground, and not contaminating the water itself. We used the Little Giant waterers once for the guineas, and they were miserable. The birds would get feed, poop, and themselves all in the little water tray. The nipples are much nicer because even with the mess, the drinking water stays clean. Can the peas learn to use them?

I have seen many people saying these birds are not tame-able, and are absolutely stupid... I am really hoping that's not the case, but from seeing ya'lls birds and being told they are inquistive and friendly prove opposite!

Oops I was so taken aback by the "stupid, nontame-able peacocks" that I completely forgot about the chicken nipples.

We do not have any experience with those, hopefully somebody else can answer that for you. We use higher buckets for our adults and those work pretty well, Peas get pretty tall so they can drink out of a high sided bucket. High sides keep a lot of the debris from blowing in when wings are flapped and I've never had a Pea end up in one.

 

[zazouse]

Some of my non tameable peas from last years hatch.

 

[PavoFowl]

Awwwweeeee! Your babies are all so sweet!

 

[PavoFowl]

Because Corid and Sulmet are both amprolium, do I need to keep both on hand, or just one or other?

I found Corid 20% powder at my local TSC. 10 ounces of Corid 20% is $22, whereas Sulmet is MUCH more expensive.

Because the reccomended dosage is 4 oz to 100 gallons, I think making only a gallon or two at a time, 10 ounces will last me a LONG time.

Obviously, I won't need 100 gallons for less than 60 birds, so to make one gallon at a time it would be 0.04 ounces, or around 1.18 CC's at that dosage.

If I am thinking correctly -

4 oz. x 4x 1
-------------- * --------- = ------- = ----- = 0.04
100 gal. 1 gal. 100 25

Or, more simply, 4/100 = 0.04 / 1.18 CC.

Both of these measurements are TINY. I could get close with a 10 CC syringe, but not sure how potent this stuff is, or just how specific it has to be.

So, How do ya'll dose?