Illinois...

[chickendreams24]

Babies!!!!

I can't say I held mine much when that young. (Just enough to make sure they all their limbs.) I usually mated does in pairs, so they would be due at the same time. I'd put a drop of vanilla on the doe's nose (to mask her sense of smell) and then swap babies if needed. Nine was the most I had a doe successfully raise. (11 was the biggest litter, but some were given to another mother.) I'd probably keep all of yours with the mama. If the small one gets smaller, then pull it out to bottle/syring feed. I did that once for 4 rejected bunnies. Three made it. It took a lot of TLC, but as a young teen I found the time & patience to nurse them with KMR. I wouldn't recommend trying it. It's truly a last resort kind of thing. (It took a few frustrating days for them to learn how to use the eye dropper. Also, the mama helps them urinate, so I had to use a warm wet paper towel to ..... But again, I had no other option because the doe kept kicking them out of the cage.

Also we are definitely hoping to get into the groove of having two does kindle at the same time for that purpose. Currently the blue doe is the only one we have that is old enough to breed. We are waiting for them to be 6 months before breeding.

 

[cavemanrich]

@chickendreams24
This thought just crossed my mind about 9 hungry mouths , and 8 feeding stations. You also mentioned a smaller newborn.
I would keep an eye on his growth,, and is if he is not able to get to the feed station, play musical chairs with the small ones.
Take away the biggest one at feeding time, so there are just 8 and 8. After a while, switch the one you removed to cuddle, with another hefty sized one. This way all of them get to eat in rotation.
Don't take away any that are small.

 

[Faraday40]

Here's a fun question:

What do the others in your household call BYC?

DH nicknamed this site "Cluck-Book". (Running joke since I don't use Facebook or any other social media.... but for some reason I'm on here almost daily.)

@cavemanrich said his wife called BYC "Chick-Harmony" (Probably b/c he can interact online with all kinds of other chick-lovers.)


So, does anyone else have a significant other who teases them about being on BYC or re-names it something humorous? I'm sure there are a few of you out there.....

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Not my family. They are vaguely aware there are some feathered birds outside and I post a lot of pictures to "friends" online. If they only knew the true number of birds out there.

 

[BReeder!]

Here's a fun question:

What do the others in your household call BYC?

DH nicknamed this site "Cluck-Book". (Running joke since I don't use Facebook or any other social media.... but for some reason I'm on here almost daily.)

@cavemanrich said his wife called BYC "Chick-Harmony" (Probably b/c he can interact online with all kinds of other chick-lovers.)


So, does anyone else have a significant other who teases them about being on BYC or re-names it something humorous? I'm sure there are a few of you out there.....

DW just calls it "the chicken site"

 

[BReeder!]

I finally have a chance to upload some pics today. Its been a bit busy. I am fortunate enough to work from home today, but that just turned into twice as much work.... work for my job and work around the house. I was up and outside at 5:00 this morning. Seeing as I didn't have to get ready to commute to the office, I took some time to go water the garden before the sun came up fully and let the chickens out. I snapped from photos of our growing turkeys, ducklings and youngest chicken. I grabbed several garden photos too, the good and the bad...
2 of 4 turkeys and the youngest chicken's rear end in the background.

A decent shot of a white turkey and the young chicken and other turkeys in the background.

All 4 turkeys. The milk jug is our DIY feeder and they like playing in, on and around the box we'r picked them up in.

A head shot finally of the young chicken. Any votes on roo or hen? Could use some help there.

The MESSY ducklings. We are working on securing their outdoor area. They will have access to a 1500 gallon pond and a total run area of approx. 200 sqft with pond surface included. Hopefully they look less messy with so much extra space.

On to the garden.
I will start with some of the good.
Yellow squash and zucchini are growing well and have some small veggies started. The yellow squash (right of center) is currently smaller because I weeded it 2 weeks after the zucchini (left of center).

The potatoes! I am really excited to grow these for the first time and cannot wait to harvest. They have been one of the best performers in the garden this year based on what we can see. They flowered already, and are wilting now and starting to fall over. That means harvest time is coming soon. Once the plants die back we can dig them all up.

The lettuce of s doing really well. Next to it on the far left is spinach, also doing well but still a lot of weeds.

Winter squash mix (cannot wait to see what varieties we get) and pumpkins are doing well. This took a lot of weeding last weekend...

Corn in the back (still need top pull seeds in that row, but the corn is taller than the weeds) and two roses of tomatoes that are still a bit short but growing well and starting to flower. There's even a few small green tomatoes I saw.

There are also peas and green beans doing well, and cucumbers that are still very short but starting to flower. I didn't get pics though.

Now the ugly...

The eggplant in the back is struggling. Only a few pepper plants are thriving. The rest are struggling along. No pep po er seeds came up. The struggles are late transplants.

Okra, Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts... or kack the of. I did identify some small okrs pants at least. I need top pull A LOT of weeds to expose them though. Also cabbage is not pictured, but that rule looks the same and I've had no luck identifying cabbage plants.

 

[chickendreams24]

@chickendreams24
This thought just crossed my mind about 9 hungry mouths , and 8 feeding stations. You also mentioned a smaller newborn.
I would keep an eye on his growth,, and is if he is not able to get to the feed station, play musical chairs with the small ones.
Take away the biggest one at feeding time, so there are just 8 and 8. After a while, switch the one you removed to cuddle, with another hefty sized one. This way all of them get to eat in rotation.
Don't take away any that are small.

Thanks yeah that is the plan. My mother has offered to take and foster a baby to try and raise it if needed.

Of course my first choice is to keep them with Mommy. My Mom would prefer to foster a tiny one but it had already occurred to me that a bigger one would have a better chance.

We weighed them all last night with emphasis on the tiny one. One of the blacks is also small but still approximately 10 grams heavier than the little one. Which was either 32 or 34. The biggest was I think 62. The rest I believe were in the 50s.

Unfortunately rabbits only feed the babies about 2 times a day and they want privacy for it so we will likely not be able to ever see her feed the babies. Being that seldom I don't want to risk any of the little ones.

I love your ideas though. I will read up more on it and continue to monitor how they're doing. Hopefully it will be okay but I may need to start supplementing the baby with formula but not take it away. I believe I read one time that goat's milk is a really good alternative for rabbits better than kmr. If that's the case I have a friend who owns raises goats and also my Grandma's neighbor does.

Here's a fun question:

What do the others in your household call BYC?

DH nicknamed this site "Cluck-Book". (Running joke since I don't use Facebook or any other social media.... but for some reason I'm on here almost daily.)

@cavemanrich said his wife called BYC "Chick-Harmony" (Probably b/c he can interact online with all kinds of other chick-lovers.)


So, does anyone else have a significant other who teases them about being on BYC or re-names it something humorous? I'm sure there are a few of you out there.....

DH2B calls it BYCause. Or sometimes chicken book. He has also called it chicken space before.

I finally have a chance to upload some pics today. Its been a bit busy. I am fortunate enough to work from home today, but that just turned into twice as much work.... work for my job and work around the house. I was up and outside at 5:00 this morning. Seeing as I didn't have to get ready to commute to the office, I took some time to go water the garden before the sun came up fully and let the chickens out. I snapped from photos of our growing turkeys, ducklings and youngest chicken. I grabbed several garden photos too, the good and the bad...
2 of 4 turkeys and the youngest chicken's rear end in the background.
View attachment 1843112
A decent shot of a white turkey and the young chicken and other turkeys in the background.
View attachment 1843113
All 4 turkeys. The milk jug is our DIY feeder and they like playing in, on and around the box we'r picked them up in.
View attachment 1843114
A head shot finally of the young chicken. Any votes on roo or hen? Could use some help there.
View attachment 1843116

The MESSY ducklings. We are working on securing their outdoor area. They will have access to a 1500 gallon pond and a total run area of approx. 200 sqft with pond surface included. Hopefully they look less messy with so much extra space.
View attachment 1843118

On to the garden.
I will start with some of the good.
Yellow squash and zucchini are growing well and have some small veggies started. The yellow squash (right of center) is currently smaller because I weeded it 2 weeks after the zucchini (left of center).
View attachment 1843120

The potatoes! I am really excited to grow these for the first time and cannot wait to harvest. They have been one of the best performers in the garden this year based on what we can see. They flowered already, and are wilting now and starting to fall over. That means harvest time is coming soon. Once the plants die back we can dig them all up. View attachment 1843121

The lettuce of s doing really well. Next to it on the far left is spinach, also doing well but still a lot of weeds. View attachment 1843122

Winter squash mix (cannot wait to see what varieties we get) and pumpkins are doing well. This took a lot of weeding last weekend...
View attachment 1843126

Corn in the back (still need top pull seeds in that row, but the corn is taller than the weeds) and two roses of tomatoes that are still a bit short but growing well and starting to flower. There's even a few small green tomatoes I saw.
View attachment 1843127

There are also peas and green beans doing well, and cucumbers that are still very short but starting to flower. I didn't get pics though.

Now the ugly...

The eggplant in the back is struggling. Only a few pepper plants are thriving. The rest are struggling along. No pep po er seeds came up. The struggles are late transplants.
View attachment 1843132

Okra, Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts... or kack the of. I did identify some small okrs pants at least. I need top pull A LOT of weeds to expose them though. Also cabbage is not pictured, but that rule looks the same and I've had no luck identifying cabbage plants.
View attachment 1843137

Okay so before I forget my phone hates me and lost all my web pages again. Ugh. Anyway I will rewrite or complete my PM to you later.

Also our garden could totally put yours to shame right now weed wise. LOL

 

[BReeder!]

Also our garden could totally put yours to shame right now weed wise. LOL

I began to take offense and then I came to the last two words...

 

[BReeder!]

HELP!
We have a problem... Our chickens have been perfect specimens of good health. Now we have our first chicken health problem (not counting hatchling issues), and no idea how to treat it. One of our favorite hens, Goldie (a GLW), has bumblefoot.It is quite swollen. She likely has had it for several days. We just haven't noticed. We've been crazy busy and occupied with work, pregnancy, two-year old, yard/garden work, the 4th of July holiday... There's no telling how long this has been building up. We were just out spending time in the run with DS and when DW picked up Goldie I saw the swollen foot. She's practically walking on a golfball. It's obvious by her avoided use of the foot that it's painful. What do we do? What's the fastest way to get her some relief?

Unfortunately, the ducks have our dog crate occupied, and the turkeys will need to take over the dog crate when the ducks move into their home (we have been using the duck house/area in the coop as a turkey brooder since the turkeys were small enough to walk through the bars of the dog crate). That said, I do have our wood brooder box still, but the cover for it was destroyed. I guess it could make something quickly if I need to bring Goldie into the house/garage and get our out of the coop and run (makeshift hospital setup). I just don't know how to treat this though. I kinda want to lance it and drain the infection. That seems risky though. It's what I would do to myself though...

 

[Faraday40]

@BReeder!

Most of my garden looks like your messiest patch. I never got time to weed, and only planted about 1/3 of of it. At this point it's going to be a wild foraging game for the kids and whatever we find back there will be little blessings.


Bumblefoot:
There are some great resources here on BYC. I personally see no reason to perform what many Youtube videos call "bumblefoot surgery" and thankfully have been able to heal mine without such drastic methods. (It's my OPINION. Other opinions say to cut it out, bandage, & be done..... but that's not me.)

What I do:
1. Clean feet well. Old toothbrush helps. Sometimes what looked like a huge bumble could actually a clump of mud stuck between toes.
2. Epsom salt soak for 15 min ( I pour about 1-2" warm water & a couple TBS salt into a plastic shoe box & put that into a bigger plastic storage tub. It uses less Epsom salt/water, contains possible spills, and hens are less likely to hop out. Relax or work nearby to make sure the hen stays put. Mine usually like it once in. The goal is to soak the feet without giving a bath. The Epsom salt reduces swelling.
3. I apply "colorless iodine" which you can get cheap at any pharmacy 1st aid section. My chickens have their own bottle & it dries quickly. It's a nice strong disinfectant. Blue Kote is another popular one sold at farm stores.
4. I apply to some 1st aid gauze:
* Plain "triple antibiotic ointment" without pain killer to fight infection (from $1 store),
* "Ichthammol Ointment" (I have a brand called "PRID" in a small orange circular tin) This is a drawing salve that helps pull out the pussy infection.
* Hemorrhoid Ointment to help reduce swelling.
5. I put the ointment loaded gauze on the foot pad and make a little bootie using strips of vet wrap. (I pre-cut the wrap into thin strips about .5" wide and 5-6" long.) I wrap it around the foot, ankle, between toes. I'm sure there's a video somewhere on how to do it.

The ointments do their work slowly & I repeat this process every 2 days or so. (Some people say to do it daily, but life happens. Perhaps doing it more frequently would speed up the healing.... but I don't know.) The bootie helps keep things clean so the infection can heal. i get my strips & materials ready to go before starting. I can do it myself, but having a 2nd person to hold the bird while the other wraps the foot would be easier.

In my cases, about 7-10 days after starting treatments, the black scab falls off. If tissue under it looks good = all done. If it bleeds a little, looks tender, or puss is present, I keep treating until it's gone.