INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[CRSelvey]

I just love their website! I get started on one article and am looking at 5 different topics 2 hours later, LOL

Me too!!! I have a subscription to their magazines, which is how I got interested in chickens. They just have so much good info out there and great recipes. My favorite is for an apple carrot muffin.

The recipe is a great base, so as long as what goes into the measuring cup equals the apples and carrots, you can use anything. I try to keep the wetness similar as well, so we use any mix of zucchini, sweet potato, apples, pears, raisins (softened), cranberries (dried), blueberries, coconut, pineapple, butternut squash, or pumpkin. My kids will eat them for breakfast any day of the week.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/apple-nut-muffins-zmaz10onzraw.aspx

I spend so much time reading their magazine that my DH gave me an iPad mini for Christmas so that I can take advantage of the digital copies they give you with the subscription. Its easier to cook with when I'm making a recipe

 

[SallyinIndiana]

I add a squirt of dishwashing liquid to each gallon of water I take out to the chickens for 30 days every so often to prevent a worm overload. Having some worms is normal, it is the overload that is not.
I'm also using the pepper and some garlic in their food.

 

[CRSelvey]

My sister had to go on a week long trip for work and mom can only stay so long by herself. Meals, meds etc. As far as her health goes, all problems are kind of on hold as far as treatments go because she is on a downward spiral with her weight. Shes losing about a pound a week for the last 8 weeks. Which even for a healthy person is not great. But shes at 122 and should be at 135+. She can't eat enough in calories to sustain her normal daily body functions. She only taking in about 500-600 calories a day, anything more than that and she starts throwing up. Drs. are confused. Not sure why this is all happening. Shes got 2 more pounds to lose before they put her in the hospital for it. Still don't know what they can do for it. She cant eat any fats, nuts, grains etc, and one day a food is good for her and stays down the next day she eats it, it comes up. Its totally hit or miss. Some good days some bad. It seems like if it has a good calorie count, it comes up. Crazy.

DH therapy is done, he does do things on his own for it, but not much anymore, mostly when it hurts or stiffens in the palm joint. It is what it is, so he works with what he has. The surgeons who did his surgery were very surprised it worked. So happy in fact, that DH had all sorts of dr's coming to see his hand daily and record the progress. Even dr's that were not part of it lol. It was crazy. We finally had to get a Nurse rep from the insurance company to come visit because there were so many drs coming to see him they wanted to control who we got bills from. Drs. had to sign in to see him. Not sure what that was all about but it was crazy!

Wow, I'm so sorry that your mom is going through this. I hope she starts feeling better and gets a good diagnosis soon!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Quote: If you want to try a natural route, there are several here that can advise you.
Chemical treatments, Rooster Booster makes a wormer that I have heard works very well. If you are just doing poultry thats the way to go, its made for poultry.
I have livestock so I follow a rotational worming. Wazine is a good choice first round, then ivermectin or valbazen is an excellent broad spectrum.
Dawg55 and other members made some excellent posts and shared info here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/401475/worming-with-valbazen

 

[BackyardBitten]

i know it's past the time of year for pumpkins, but i thought pumpkin was supposed to be a good natural de-wormer? am i wrong? or the seeds? i have set back some seeds for planting later this year.


went outside today just for 10 mins and the wind is strong enough to cut you in half!!! hope everyone and their chickens are surviving the arctic temps!

 

[DarthLayer]

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been following along a bit. I have too many roosters for my flock size, so I will be selling some along with two drakes.
I have...
1 blue wheaten AM roo -$15
1 BR/ blue wheaten AM cross roo -$5
2 BBRed OEGB hens -$10 or $5 ea. but I would prefer if they were kept together
1 Welsh harlequin drake -$5
1 Silver appleyard drake --$5
If anyone is interested, PM please.

My weatherbug is saying more below zero temps for a few more days and snow. Hope everyone stays safe!

 

[Leahs Mom]

You would think that it should be simple. I made them a good home that is clean, roomy, good ventilation, not drafty, great food (as far as I know) and a dry wrapped run that should be predator free. I am constantly trying to improve on what we have done already so this should not have happened to her. I guess this is where experience comes in.

I could get past it if there were only one thing, but knowing she had three different issues just sounds like I should have been better. Its not like she can tell me, so I should have figured it out. Now I need to get the details so I can learn to spot the signs of each. The MD or whatever it is, is pretty easy to spot now, but the rest I'm not sure about. I did notice that I have one bird with tarish kind of poo today when cleaning the poo boards, but it might be from the blueberries in their oatmeal yesterday.

I don't think that I agree with your assessment above.....Here is something to think about.

When you have a flock that is mostly thriving and one is having issues....even parasites....
there is usually an underlying issue with that particular member that is making them weak and not able to fight the infection, parasites, or whatever else may be the case.

[It also happens with people. If you can wade through the CDC statistics over the years, you'll find that most people who die after getting influenza don't die due to influenza. They die because they had an underlying issue and their immune system was not able to fight off the influenza like a normal, healthy person could. So they end up dying, but not due to the flu, but due to the "complications" (as it is so nicely put) of the flu.]


If you think in terms of animals in "the wild" with all the same living conditions, exposure to parasites and various illnesses, etc., some of them are able to "fight off" those issues with their own strong immune systems; others are not and die.

In a "wild" situation, the remaining animals are a strong population that are more likely to pass their immunities down to successive generations, creating a healthy group for the future.

Nothing was different for these individuals except that perhaps genetically they were better equipped to fight off the things they would encounter in their lives.

Many "old time chicken flock keepers" feel that if you want to have a strong breeding stock in your flock for the future, you should not try to do "heroics" on a bird that is not thriving. Or at the very least, not to raise birds from their eggs. They see it as a "natural culling" so that if you continue to breed your flock, you are breeding strong, healthy birds in the future.


So...My "take" on it is that if the rest of your flock appears to be thriving, this particular bird most likely has issues of the immune system or genetics that made it harder for her to recover from the normal things that she was exposed to.

Just to clarify, I will say that there are things that you can do to make them as successful and healthy as possible. But if good husbandry and feeding is being practiced, and the rest of the flock is thriving, I also agree with the old time keepers and see it as a "natural culling" of a weaker member of the flock.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@hogster160


Hoping the best for your mom!

 

[CRSelvey]

[COLOR=FF0000]I don't think that I agree with your assessment above.....Here is something to think about.[/COLOR]

When you have a flock that is mostly thriving and one is having issues....even parasites....
there is usually an underlying issue with that particular member that is making them weak and not able to fight the infection, parasites, or whatever else may be the case. 

[It also happens with people.  If you can wade through the CDC statistics over the years, you'll find that most people who die after getting influenza don't die due to influenza.  They die because they had an underlying issue and their immune system was not able to fight off the influenza like a normal, healthy person could.  So they end up dying, but not due to the flu, but due to the "complications" (as it is so nicely put) of the flu.]


If you think in terms of animals in "the wild" with all the same living conditions, exposure to parasites and various illnesses, etc., some of them are able to "fight off" those issues with their own strong immune systems; others are not and die.

In a "wild" situation, the remaining animals are a strong population that are more likely to pass their immunities down to successive generations, creating a healthy group for the future.

Nothing was different for these individuals except that perhaps genetically they were better equipped to fight off the things they would encounter in their lives.

Many "old time chicken flock keepers" feel that if you want to have a strong breeding stock in your flock for the future, you should not try to do "heroics" on a bird that is not thriving.  Or at the very least, not to raise birds from their eggs.  They see it as a "natural culling" so that if you continue to breed your flock, you are breeding strong, healthy birds in the future.


So...My "take" on it is that if the rest of your flock appears to be thriving, this particular bird most likely has issues of the immune system or genetics that made it harder for her to recover from the normal things that she was exposed to.

Just to clarify, I will say that there are things that you can do to make them as successful and healthy as possible.  But if good husbandry and feeding is being practiced, and the rest of the flock is thriving, I also agree with the old time keepers and see it as a "natural culling" of a weaker member of the flock.

I appreciate your take on the situation. It's certainly helps give me a more positive outlook than what I've had. Lucy was a red sex link and she was feisty and sweet from the day we brought her home. I just regret her loss and I'm scared to lose more. It's a good thing I'm not a real farmer.

 

[Leahs Mom]

It seems that we hear about a lot of young birds having heart and/or kidney failure too which makes it impossible for them to fight off any other issue. I think part of the problem with this is the poor breeding in the large hatcheries.