INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[BackyardBitten]

***correction to my above post: my BF was cool about the chicks. must go to bed now, making crazy typos

 

[pbirdhaven]

One of the silkie chicks had an eye matted shut when I got home today. After warm compresses and rinsing it with an eye wash I got when I worked a vets office it finally opened up. It had some gunky stuff I pulled out with tweezers. I'm hoping it was just a small piece of bedding or something that irritated it. Always seems to be something! Lol

I found two chicks with their eyes matted shut this evening--have never seen that before. Didn't know what to use as an eye wash, so just used cotton balls and water. I separated them and put some aureomycin in their water in case it is an infection.

The semi of turkeys sounds awful! Poultry needs to be packed in a bit when transporting in a trailer to keep them from being beaten against the sides of the cages, but that scenario sounds cruel.

 

[bradselig]

Yea I've never had this either. I really miss working at the vets office, my animal first aid kit supplies are depleted or expired. I was going to put a topical eye antibiotic but mine was expired. Ill pick up another tube tomorrow. I have tylan but that seems a little extreme at this point.

 

[Mother2Hens]

They sure are almost the same color! the white goslings are bright yellow, here is my firstborn baby Paddy

Hoping my Pekin ducklings hatch in about 10 days, can't wait!

That is my very favorite photo. A Fluffy Rubber Ducky!

 

[Mother2Hens]

A Request from a Newbie: If possible, could everyone please add the breed abbreviation along with your photos, especially chicks? I am feeble-minded and can't remember who had what breed and the chicks are really hard to tell. Hopefully, this may also help the other newbies who need remedial identification help. haha danand's chick is adorable and pipd's are displaying some very interesting feather designs.

Here's an example of a chicken and an abbreviation:

***? (Why The Face?)

hahaha -- just joking about this photo, but it seriously would be nice to have labels.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Here is where we left off with the coop on Saturday. We were really hoping to work on is some more on Sunday, but as you can see by the picture, our yard was a bit out of control so we ended up using Sunday to take back out yard from nature. I felt like I was waging a personal war on the ticks. It felt good. So, the plan is to have the coop done and the chickens in it by next Sunday. We figure we can get the sheeting done this week, windows and door in, and worry about aesthetics after the chicks are out of the house. I'm guessing we won't have their run completed until the weekend after though. Are there any issues with making them stay inside the coop for a week? We are going to have 5 windows plus roof venting, so I don't think heat should be an issues. I suppose we could always rig something up so that they can go under the coop until the run is done. My only regret about not getting more done is that I really wanted to pick up some guineas at the swap this weekend, but I think I'm going to have to wait. The last thing we need are guineas in the house as well!

Either your husband is only 3 feet tall or that is one heck of a gigantic coop. Will it have an elevator?

 

[Mother2Hens]

OK, since I am the only smart-aleck online (it's Central time here, you know-- it's early), I will post this for you early morning birds:
(my daughter forwarded it to me)

 

[Mother2Hens]

Almost forgot to send this one....

We are going to put a 12' x 4' run with it. Unfortunately, we can't do concrete as the coop is just under the canopy of a tree in our back yard. We're going with 1/2" hardware cloth all over and out to 20 inches along the ground. The timbers that make the base of the run will be staked down with rebar. The edge of the skirt will be staked plus covered with some edgers we have spare. We're fenced in so I'm hoping this much will be enough for our neighborhood. Fingers crossed.

Just caulked it. Going to get a few more support pieces in place then start on the run.

Thankfully we have some very nice friends who are raising out chicks for us as we have four cats. Didn't want to chance them at our house.

Sounds good-- Bloomington of all places is pretty laid back, but there are crazy neighbors everywhere. When our chickens were about 4-5 months old, the tables turned and they started chasing our three cats. Our cats still run from the chickens and try to avoid them. All it takes is one hard peck on the cat's nose, and they learn a lesson.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hey, guys, I was busy all day digging, and so I didn't check on the chicks until about a half hour ago. Rangi had hopped out of the brooder, but I didn't check on them at all today and so I don't know when she did it. She's been without food, water, or heat for however long, though, and she was acting pretty lethargic and felt a bit lighter. I got water in her, but she won't eat. Does anyone know if I should try to get food in her tonight, or if I should just let her sleep and see if she'd better by morning? I'm worried sick about her. She's my baby.

ETA: She seems okay now that she's had some water in her for a little while. I'm just going to let her sleep and hope for the best.

Poor lil baby, Hoping your Rangi is OK

My thoughts were electrolytes, and chopped egg or mealworm for a boost. I have even tucked them under my shirt and kept them with me all day.

I passed a semi hauling turkeys this evening!! I may have to go back to being a vegetarian!!! It was an open semi and I could see them all, going down the highway at 70 mph! Most were missing huge patches of feathers, and of course they were stacked 10 high. Yuk and ugh!!

This is the exact reason, 1 of 2 I am raising my birds, hogs and other livestock.
The animals that provide us with food deserve our respect and humane treatment, makes me very angry to see the abuse they are put thru

Reason 2 is GMO, who knows what they fed the poor bird before it is sold to us.

and what eating them will do to us later. (steps off the soapbox)

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

OK, since I am the only smart-aleck online (it's Central time here, you know-- it's early), I will post this for you early morning birds:
(my daughter forwarded it to me)