INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

Today Cuddles seems a little "off". She's eating but her poops are strange again. (Watery, slimy) She's not aggressively fighting for treats (which was my 1st clue). She seems slower moving & more quiet than usual. Wallking, not running. Tail out straight. (Not the usual upward angle, but not droopy downward.). She spent some quiet time in the nest box. (She stopped laying Sept 1,2015, so at 1st I thought she may just be starting up again..... but her face/comb look pale when compared to the others.) Could this be in response to worms or more specifically de-worming?

I brought her inside for observation tonight. Her crop's full & hard, so I took feed away. I put Corid in her water but she's not drinking it yet. Her excessive Orpington butt fluff has dried & wet poop in it, but I decided to hold off on a bath for now. The last symptom which started 2 hours ago is head shaking or crop adjusting. Not too frequent. I found out DD gave her some treats when I 1st brought her in, so perhaps Cuddles just over-ate. (She wasn't doing it at all when she was outside earlier.) No respiratory issues, no nasal or eye discharge, no signs of injury, no bumblefoot. Any suggestions of other symptoms I should look for?

Chicken health is so complicated! I truly hope I'm simply over-reacting.

 

[kabhyper1]

5 babies!!

I'm just totally shocked! All 5 of Margie's eggs are growing! I could even see the babies moving in them!!

5 baby Reublets!



I did have a question, though, for those of you who hatch regularly! I set the eggs under her on Thursday afternoon last week and counted Friday as day 1. That would make today day 7, correct? The babies looked more like pictures of eggs candled on day 9 or 10, though. They are smaller eggs, probably considered small or even peewee by the egg scale. Could they be developing a little faster because of their size? I mean, the babies are moving around, so I'm assuming they're just fine, just curious about their development.

Silkies tend to hatch earlier than other breeds. I make broody lock down day 16. I stop taking them off the nest to poop (sometimes they go anyway) and put food and water right under their noses. I've had silkies hatch day 19.

 

[Leahs Mom]

@jchny2000 And...who else talked about the foodsaver?

Here is something that I didn't know until I watched some videos on food storage for dry foods. You can get attachments to seal canning jars - both small and large lids.

You would use these to seal anything that is dried - not for canning purposes.

I use my foodsaver EVERY DAY for this purpose as it prolongs shelf life.

For example,
when we open a box of crackers, the extras go into a canning jar and get sealed.
Chocolate chips.
Chips of any kind.
Any dry grains or beans.
Marshmallows (seriously... from smores...they'll last until the next year or more if sealed in a jar.)
Nuts
Fish Meal (for my chicken feed - I seal it in 1/2 gal jars and put it in the freezer to keep it fresh longer)
Anything you freeze that may take on odors - or cause odors.
Some people make put their salad greens in quart jars for the whole week - take one out to work daily. (Stored in fridge, of course)
Coconut
Noodles
Rice
Cake Mixes


The list goes on and on.

OH...and the seals are re-usable. Open the jar, take out what you want, then re-vacuum it using the same seal!

You can often pick them up at a Big R, Rural King or the likes. If they don't have them in stock, you can order online.
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-74003/foodsaver-wide-mouth-jar-sealer.jsp (Get both large and regular!)

 

[Leahs Mom]

PS: Been using mine like this for about 3 years!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

@jchny2000 And...who else talked about the foodsaver?

Here is something that I didn't know until I watched some videos on food storage for dry foods. You can get attachments to seal canning jars - both small and large lids.

You would use these to seal anything that is dried - not for canning purposes.

I use my foodsaver EVERY DAY for this purpose as it prolongs shelf life.

For example,
when we open a box of crackers, the extras go into a canning jar and get sealed.
Chocolate chips.
Chips of any kind.
Any dry grains or beans.
Marshmallows (seriously... from smores...they'll last until the next year or more if sealed in a jar.)
Nuts
Fish Meal (for my chicken feed - I seal it in 1/2 gal jars and put it in the freezer to keep it fresh longer)
Anything you freeze that may take on odors - or cause odors.
Some people make put their salad greens in quart jars for the whole week - take one out to work daily. (Stored in fridge, of course)
Coconut
Noodles
Rice
Cake Mixes


The list goes on and on.

OH...and the seals are re-usable. Open the jar, take out what you want, then re-vacuum it using the same seal!

You can often pick them up at a Big R, Rural King or the likes. If they don't have them in stock, you can order online.
http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-74003/foodsaver-wide-mouth-jar-sealer.jsp (Get both large and regular!)

Awesome post! We are hoarder crazy here and this has already saved us so much in preserving frozen food. Added another freezer in december, and still asking myself why I didn't get it sooner. Its also saving on zip type bags, since there's are reusable.

PS: Been using mine like this for about 3 years!

I had one in the late 90s, and it was a joke. I am so glad we got the big one! Large hog quarters fit in bags with no issues. We have already added a smaller table model and the hand sealer for zip bags.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I also like how the foodsaver system seals containers, I prepare whole foods and it keeps meals fresh so my parents don't cook and add fat/salt to their diet. I do bulk shopping and cooking for meals. It allows me to prepackage foods to what my parents diets require. If they are hungry, they can just put a meal in a microwave thats no salt and low sugar.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Today Cuddles seems a little "off". She's eating but her poops are strange again. (Watery, slimy) She's not aggressively fighting for treats (which was my 1st clue). She seems slower moving & more quiet than usual. Wallking, not running. Tail out straight. (Not the usual upward angle, but not droopy downward.). She spent some quiet time in the nest box. (She stopped laying Sept 1,2015, so at 1st I thought she may just be starting up again..... but her face/comb look pale when compared to the others.) Could this be in response to worms or more specifically de-worming?

I brought her inside for observation tonight. Her crop's full & hard, so I took feed away. I put Corid in her water but she's not drinking it yet. Her excessive Orpington butt fluff has dried & wet poop in it, but I decided to hold off on a bath for now. The last symptom which started 2 hours ago is head shaking or crop adjusting. Not too frequent. I found out DD gave her some treats when I 1st brought her in, so perhaps Cuddles just over-ate. (She wasn't doing it at all when she was outside earlier.) No respiratory issues, no nasal or eye discharge, no signs of injury, no bumblefoot. Any suggestions of other symptoms I should look for?

Chicken health is so complicated! I truly hope I'm simply over-reacting.

I am like you, i trust my gut feeling on any of my flock that's off from the norm. A firm hard crop would concern me too. For sure water only and some ACV in it. Tell the kids, family no treats or food, water only and hope she is not impacted. Do search impacted crop on BYC theres a lot of help for Cuddles. I know, its not fun to realize our bird babies have so many things that can harm them.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Any body think this will be a good brooder I think add a heater to the bottom shelf and need no lamps... Right?

"IMO" ~ Cool idea, but I think that would be a disaster waiting to happen.

As @ChickCrazed said, thin plastic film will easily melt—and the FUMES from heated plastic would KILL the chicks. The greenhouse is meant to be sealed up; unzipping it wouldn't be safe. The lightweight frame likely isn't sturdy enough—you know how fast chicks grow. You could probably find a discarded piece of furniture to repurpose. It would be sturdy. Plastic has fumes even if it hasn't been heated, so hardware or chicken wire is much safer and will last a long time. Just google: creative brooder ideas.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Today Cuddles seems a little "off". She's eating but her poops are strange again. (Watery, slimy) She's not aggressively fighting for treats (which was my 1st clue). She seems slower moving & more quiet than usual. Wallking, not running. Tail out straight. (Not the usual upward angle, but not droopy downward.). She spent some quiet time in the nest box. (She stopped laying Sept 1,2015, so at 1st I thought she may just be starting up again..... but her face/comb look pale when compared to the others.) Could this be in response to worms or more specifically de-worming?

I brought her inside for observation tonight. Her crop's full & hard, so I took feed away. I put Corid in her water but she's not drinking it yet. Her excessive Orpington butt fluff has dried & wet poop in it, but I decided to hold off on a bath for now. The last symptom which started 2 hours ago is head shaking or crop adjusting. Not too frequent. I found out DD gave her some treats when I 1st brought her in, so perhaps Cuddles just over-ate. (She wasn't doing it at all when she was outside earlier.) No respiratory issues, no nasal or eye discharge, no signs of injury, no bumblefoot. Any suggestions of other symptoms I should look for?

Chicken health is so complicated! I truly hope I'm simply over-reacting.

"Chicken health is so complicated!" has been my mantra for almost four years now. If chickens weren't so endearing, I would have thrown in the towel by now.

I don't think you're overreacting; she sounds distressed. I have the "Chicken Health for Dummies" book, but many excerpts are online. Here's info about impacted crop: www.dummies.com/chicken-crop-problems Hope she feels better in the morning! (and that you get some sleep).
My flock seemed to be getting back to normal— I thought. I took them out to the side yard to play this afternoon. My "Old Lacey" (4 year old SLW) came out and then when back in the fenced-in yard. I thought maybe she was going to lay an egg since she laid one yesterday for the first time in months. She was sitting on the perch in the coop and stayed there until bedtime. I brought food and water to her. She didn't show any signs of a problem. It worries me of course because I remember that my three deceased hens had gone in early a couple of times. They hadn't shown any obvious signs either.

She's fine, but later today, I walked in "New Lacy's" bedroom and called her. No response, so I frantically called her and looked around. I had a memory of one or two of our thread members having a lost chicken who was stuck between things in a garage. I pulled back my DD's bed, and Lacy was between the bed and the wall. She wasn't hurt, but somehow slid down there. I had the bed (mattress pad) covered in plastic and had an old bedspread over it. I had been surprised that Lacy hadn't checked out the bed before, but there's always a first time! She must not have been stuck for very long because I luckily didn't find any poop!

 

[tmarsh83]

PS: Been using mine like this for about 3 years!

Mine came with this attachment but I haven't used it for anything to this point. I guess I need to look into it.