INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[minmin1258]

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My concern is that even if I get the run secured, I have to leave a door open when the chickens free range so they can get to water and nesting boxes and the wild birds are going to have a hay day.  It is infuriating!  I may have to add a small pop door to the run for free ranging so at least it slows the wild birds down, and I'm considering adding a chunnel to that pop door, maybe one with a couple of curves in it that the chickens can walk through but that a wild bird can't fly through.  I so do need this aggravation this time of year!

I love the idea of a tunnel! Oh and a pop door so they can return at will while free ranging is sheer genius!!! Guess that's two more projects on my Spring building list! Lol POOR DH! He won't know where he's at when he pulls in the driveway! Lol

 

[minmin1258]

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the ones I posted are partridge silkies. The ones due to hatch tomorrow will be silkies, showgirls, birchen marans, possibly some naked necks, and my first 2 modern game eggs! They didnt look to good though when I put them in lockdown. Really hope they hatch!

[COLOR=0000CD]I can't wait to see more pics![/COLOR]

 
~~Tube Feeding Sick or Injured Chickens B
• Soft,flexible aquarium tubing (from Walmart $1.75)
• 2 - 10 or 12cc syringes (from Tractor Supply $.48) with no needles
• 2 - 20cc syringes (from Tractor Supply $1.45) with no needles •
Olive or vegetable oil to lubricate the tube •
Permanent magic marker to mark the length of tube needed
• Sweatshirt sleeve - Cut off sleeve of an old sweatshirt (or use an ace bandage) •
Small dish basin with folded towel to prop up chicken
• VetRx to soothe and calm before inserting tube
Mixture: Mix the following until it is silky smooth…
• Vit E • Vit C • Vit D • Turmeric • Raw Egg yolk • Mayo • Olive oil • Polyvisol w/out iron baby vitamins
Note: you can try adding crushed up feed to this mixture and making it into a slurry. I have not had any success with slurries.
There is always a teeny flake of feed that clogs the syringe and prevents it from getting the proper suction. Everything just gets stuck.

[COLOR=0000CD]Thank you for the post!  I hope I never have to use the info, but its really nice knowing its available.  Maybe it could go on our resource page?[/COLOR]

 
So...no news from me, obviously, but happy for all of you with new chicks and more eggs!  Hoping all the sick birds bounce back soon.


I guess I do have a little news, but it's silly.  Yesterday was the first time I got to make chicken supply purchases as TSC.   Starter feed, a chick feeder, pine shavings, stuff like that.  Really not a huge deal, I'm sure, but it was exciting for me.  Got to stock up on all my stuff a little at a time so hubby doesn't feel too waylaid in the month before they arrive.

 

[COLOR=0000CD]Its very exciting to get going and it really is a huge deal .  Your life will never be the same [/COLOR]

 
[COLOR=8B4513]I am taking a short break from moving the chicks to another bedroom because my DH is on the way home from IU with our DD, Lauren, who is very ill. The chicks were in her bedroom. As "Murphy's Law" would have it, last night DH and I started moving my office from Meredith's former bedroom to Max's larger former bedroom. Now I'm moving the chicks into my former office, which is still in the process of being moved! Oh well, I can handle that . . . I'll have to assess Lauren when she gets home. I mentioned before that she's been chronically ill since she had mono a few years ago because an infectious disease specialist found that she still has the Epstein-Barr virus in her system. Might be a few years before it's under control. Could be much worse, though.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]minmin~[/COLOR] [COLOR=8B4513]The English Orpingtons are LF. They look like modern game birds with their long legs in comparison to the silkies! All the chicks are one big happy family!![/COLOR]
[rule]

[COLOR=0000CD]Oh my goodness. I just saw this post and I'm so sorry that Lauren isn't feeling any better yet?  Will she have to withdraw from her classes or can they do something via webcam for her?  Finding a doctor in her area sounds like a great idea. I hope that goes well. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]I was talking to a woman the other day who has seen an acupuncturist in Brazil.  He used to have a completely different job but contracted Lyme's disease and the only way he could feel better was using Eastern medicine.  Apparently, it worked so well for him, that he quit his job and went back to school to get a degree in the Eastern medicine practices. [/COLOR]

 
[COLOR=8B4513]CRSelvey~ When I was looking for "Ideas to entertain chicks in a brooder" lol -- I found this link that has tons of ideas-- some maybe not so good.[/COLOR]
[rule][COLOR=8B4513]That's pretty smart to slowly and steadily make some purchases without raising any red flags . . . lol . . . Desensitization of your "other half." It's a common occurrence among our thread members![/COLOR] 

[COLOR=0000CD]That's good news that you will get your chicks back to piano practice.  I can't believe you have been slacking with all of this frozen weather, gallivanting around the countryside, rearranging of the house, new babies, a job, and a sick daughter...oh and ratting my crying jag out to the whole group!  I really can't believe you. [/COLOR]

Morning all... Cockadoodledooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

[COLOR=0000CD]Good Morning to you too![/COLOR]

morning everyone woke up in a super good mood today

[COLOR=0000CD]Doing what is best for yourself should make you feel good!  I hope your day just gets better and better.[/COLOR]


[COLOR=0000CD]Lucy update:[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]I spoke with Dr. Sato again today at Perdue. First, I have to say she is wonderful.  If you ever have to take a chicken there, I hope she is the person that helps you.  Second, Lucy did have Marek's Disease.  I'm very sad that this happened to her, but now I can at least move forward with knowledge.  Dr. Sato advised me to immunize the rest of my flock even though they are not young now.  She said the immunization is not as affective in older chickens, but it is better to be safe than sorry and it will still help some of them to not develop tumors.  She said I can get new chicks in the future but they do need to be immunized and that I need to keep them separate from the rest of the flock for at least 8-10 weeks before trying to integrate them (the older the better).  Another thing she said is that they have noticed that Ameraucana, Araucana, and Silkies seem to have a slightly higher immunity from Marek's than other breeds, but they have not been able to isolate the reason yet (I thought all of the Silkie fans on this page might appreciate that info). [/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]Now, like most of you, I'm dying to have some chicks.  I need to wait until I can clean out all of the housing I have that is not part of the coop as its all been used for my two sick chickens.  I need to find out what will safely kill the Marek's virus and not be harmful to the log walls of my mudroom.  I'm so not looking forward to the decontamination process. Also, every egg I have cracked this week has been fertilized.  I'm still interested in ordering chicks (DH is not crazy about the idea), but if I could encourage one of my girls to go broody, then I could still have babies!  Is that even possible?  They'd be a mix of either OEGB or EE and what my girls are, but I don't know that I care.  Its very conflicting to have Marek's in the house and baby needs at the same time. [/COLOR]
[/quote


Sorry to hear it turned out to be Mareks. We all know you did what you could above and beyond the "norm" for your Lucy and your other birds. Wish I was closer I'd help with "Spring Cleaning" all your chicken stuff. Is a shame when we do all we can and they still get things like this. Hope the bug has claimed it's last and your flock is safe again soon. : (

 

[SallyinIndiana]

We have ignition! I'm very excited. I just fired up my new (to me) Sportsman. Test hatch goes into it tomorrow! Some barnyard mixes, some Crested Cream Legbars, and some American Bresse. I've been watching everyone else hatching, hatching, hatching. I finally broke down and had to join in.

Ohh CCL, those sound wonderful.

I need to start looking for a used sportsman. It would free up some space compared to 3 styrofoam baters. And it could hold more eggs.
I have been watching CL.
If you don't mind me asking, where is everyone getting their deals on the cabinet incubators?

 

[CRSelvey]

Doing what is best for yourself should make you feel good! I hope your day just gets better and better.

[/quote


Sorry to hear it turned out to be Mareks. We all know you did what you could above and beyond the "norm" for your Lucy and your other birds. Wish I was closer I'd help with "Spring Cleaning" all your chicken stuff. Is a shame when we do all we can and they still get things like this. Hope the bug has claimed it's last and your flock is safe again soon. : (

I really appreciate that, thank you! I'm pretty much on my own with the cleaning part, but I don't mind. It will just take awhile. I can't expose any other chicken keepers to the virus now that its been confirmed. There are some threads here where people have been living with MD and facing the same questions I am. I found that there is a virucide called Vircon S that will kill the virus in the crates and can be used to wash the floors, walls, shoes etc....Its also good to use as a shoe wash before I go someplace like Tractor Supply. I tend to wear the same shoes wherever I go, so now I think I will get a pair just for chickening.

Thanks for sharing my excitement.

I'm so sorry about the Marek's. I'm definitely going to move my bird feeders ASAP to minimize the risk.

I hope you will share with us what you find out about killing the Marek's.

I will always share the excitement! Every day is fun wondering what kind of eggs we got today. We keep track of who laid how many each week and its so fun for myself and my two youngest kids. They are really awesome pets except for the not knowing all the things that can go wrong. At least with dogs, I have a lifetime of experience to work with (but they don't give me eggs!)

I can only clean up the environment now that it exists. Unfortunately, my other birds are most likely carriers and will always shed the virus. Chickens who act sick shed more of the virus than do the carriers and will probably be put down as needed. I hate that part. I get pretty attached to them individually, but there's not much else to do. I won't be able to give any of my birds to someone else and I have to be extra careful when adding birds to the group.

I so sorry to hear the Lucy had mareks. You seem to have good hold of how to take care of things. Wishing the best for you!

And I aprreciate you sharing that little piece of information about a few breeds having a higher immunity. ( I have ameraucanas).

After hatching ameraucanas, they seem more prone to cross beaks. A few other peopl;e had mentioned this, it seems to be a trend in some peoples experiences.

That's interesting! I haven't learned much about cross beaks yet, but its good to know in case we ever do get babies around here. The doctor also said some breeds had less immunity to the disease, but I didn't think to ask which ones they were. Now I wish I had.

 

[ChickCrazed]

I really appreciate that, thank you! I'm pretty much on my own with the cleaning part, but I don't mind. It will just take awhile. I can't expose any other chicken keepers to the virus now that its been confirmed. There are some threads here where people have been living with MD and facing the same questions I am. I found that there is a virucide called Vircon S that will kill the virus in the crates and can be used to wash the floors, walls, shoes etc....Its also good to use as a shoe wash before I go someplace like Tractor Supply. I tend to wear the same shoes wherever I go, so now I think I will get a pair just for chickening.


I will always share the excitement! Every day is fun wondering what kind of eggs we got today. We keep track of who laid how many each week and its so fun for myself and my two youngest kids. They are really awesome pets except for the not knowing all the things that can go wrong. At least with dogs, I have a lifetime of experience to work with (but they don't give me eggs!)

I can only clean up the environment now that it exists. Unfortunately, my other birds are most likely carriers and will always shed the virus. Chickens who act sick shed more of the virus than do the carriers and will probably be put down as needed. I hate that part. I get pretty attached to them individually, but there's not much else to do. I won't be able to give any of my birds to someone else and I have to be extra careful when adding birds to the group.
That's interesting! I haven't learned much about cross beaks yet, but its good to know in case we ever do get babies around here. The doctor also said some breeds had less immunity to the disease, but I didn't think to ask which ones they were. Now I wish I had.

That sure is tough! I was hoping for a different outcome for you. However there is probably a tiny bit of peace in knowing that the worst has already happened. Now you figure out how to deal with it. As you said, luckily you are not the first to have to learn how to cope and it is not a death sentence necessarily. Hopefully many of your other birds are already resistant or they would have developed symptoms too. And there are vaccines to help prevent the worst of the Marek's symptoms. It would be interesting to see how many flocks without symptoms tested positive. I wonder if anyone has done that study. Since the disease is prevalent in wild birds - which are everywhere. For all we know, we could ALL already have it, it is just that more birds are naturally resilient to it than we realize.

 

[CRSelvey]

I

That sure is tough!  I was hoping for a different outcome for you.  However there is probably a tiny bit of peace in knowing that the worst has already happened.  Now you figure out how to deal with it.  As you said, luckily you are not the first to have to learn how to cope and it is not a death sentence necessarily.  Hopefully many of your other birds are already resistant or they would have developed symptoms too.  And there are vaccines to help prevent the worst of the Marek's symptoms.  It would be interesting to see how many flocks without symptoms tested positive.  I wonder if anyone has done that study.  Since the disease is prevalent in wild birds - which are everywhere.  For all we know, we could ALL already have it, it is just that more birds are naturally resilient to it than we realize.

I was just thinking and wondering those things as well! It would be interesting to know, that's for sure. If I come across any studies, I will post them.

 

[racinchickins]

kabhyper~ I loved that ad! I saw it the other day on a preview of Super Bowl commercials. They don't even wait until Game Day anymore!
How is your Silkie's eye?
So, now you're c-hatching up with the rest?

LOL! I could never keep up with the serial hatchers like Jchny2000 and Bradselig. Not only would I run out of room for chickens, I'd be looking for a home for myself too!!

COOOOOL what sportsman did u get?

Its a sportsman 1500. This will be my first try with it. I'll let you know how it works out for me. I'm seriously considering hatching separately, so may look into a still air. It would allow me to set eggs weekly.

Ohh CCL, those sound wonderful.

I need to start looking for a used sportsman. It would free up some space compared to 3 styrofoam baters. And it could hold more eggs.
I have been watching CL.
If you don't mind me asking, where is everyone getting their deals on the cabinet incubators?

I got mine on Craigslist. I had a search going that emailed me whenever something incubator related came up. I emailed the guy right away, and ended up travelling to western Ohio to pick it up. He said that several others had emailed him right away too, I just happened to beat them to it. I guess there are a lot of people looking for them.

 

[Mother2Hens]

gunchief is happy, too!

chick rookie ~ There are lots of glitches on BYC. I've had posts lost so many times! It seems to be off and on-- like when they do updates, it messes it up for awhile. I don't know, but it is very frustrating!!!

chick rookie~ I have had that happen countless times on this site. It will happen a lot and then improve and happen again. I'm guessing it's when the site does updates-- not sure. Very frustrating! It was so bad for a while that I started typing my post in a different program and pasting them into the Reply box, so if Reply didn't work, I didn't lose my post. Last night I posted the "Want to be a member?" info after the post I wrote to Suburban Mom. My whole post was blank, so I clicked on edit and deleted the "Want to?" part of my post since I had copied and pasted that in. It worked, so at least the first part of my post showed up. Makes no sense.

 

[kabhyper1]

Seriously about to hang it up. I have silkies with lice, a pullet with respiratory issues that needs tylan by mouth, her eyes unsealed every morning, and the rest of the flock is on antibiotics due to exposure to her. I went out to get the only loose sand on the property to give the flocks to bathe in, and it took 3 times as long as it should because all of our gates are frozen shut. I was cleaning of a hens butt this morning because it was caked with poo, only to realize the barn chickens have lice also. Then poor minmin gets her eggs from me today and six of them are broken. All were individually bubble wrapped, in a styro carton with bubble wrap over all of them, the carton then wrapped twice with bubble wrap, layed in a bigger box stuffed tightly with newspaper all around the carton, then taped shut. I put up arrows on the box and live embryos written on the side. How they broke I have no idea, but I feel terrible. Its just one thing after another. Okay rant over.

 

[goatluver20]

Hope things start going better for you and your chickens kab