INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[ellymayRans]

@ellymayrans Once you stop the bleeding and clean up the wound with a disinfectant, if a lot of neck skin is missing, make what's called a wet - to-day bandage. Basically this is several layers of gauze over an antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, for example), of for the naturopaths, a thick layer of natural honey. Honey has great properties and I've used it in practice. First layer of gauze should be damp but not dripping with sterile saline. Ask your pharmacist, but you can possibly use a saline eye wash or nose moisten in product. 2nd layer of gauze is less wet, 3rd is dry. Wrap with some Cling wrap and tape, or Elastic on horse wrap and tape. Change daily to no more than 48 hours. You will see pink granulation coming within days. Once the gap is totally granulated, skin will start to regrow. At that point, you can just use ointment/honey and a dry wrap every 1-2 days until the skin is all back. Hope this helps!

Great advice! Thanks for that! It doesn't appear the skin is missing but raw were the feathers were just ripped out in a large patch there on the neck. The peas are not easy to treat and depending on the extent of the wound it causes way more stress for them than may be worth. Again, just depends. I am going to watch it and hopefully can see better in better light and after the blood is dry. If there are truly punctures then I will need to treat with the antiseptic.

Poor guy! I just hate it!!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Here is a picture of my hens helping my husband remove a tree stump. They worked for several hours and they finally removed the stump. If anyone needs weeds, grass, flowers, or tree stumps removed call me I'll send my girls right over.

Oh you betcha the can!

A little over an hour ago my peas made a commotion honking and carrying on. I went out and found my white male like this! I can only assume an owl as a ground predator couldn't reach him.
The bleeding has stopped but he has puncture wounds on his neck, a patch gone on his head and nose bleeding.
I'm surprised it hit so early and with us right here with living room lights and such. He seems like he is going to be ok but a large area of his neck is raw.

Oh my.. Poor baby, bet he is terrified! It must be breeding season for a lot of wild animals. I found a RIR hen today with neck fully stripped, basically all that was left is bones, skin, feet and feathers. Weasel also go for the neck. Is there a creek anywhere near? I think the great horned owl pair here is trying to grab my flock also. Starting on the peafowls larger enclosure, and penning my muscovy once its done.

@ellymayrans Once you stop the bleeding and clean up the wound with a disinfectant, if a lot of neck skin is missing, make what's called a wet - to-day bandage. Basically this is several layers of gauze over an antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, for example), of for the naturopaths, a thick layer of natural honey. Honey has great properties and I've used it in practice. First layer of gauze should be damp but not dripping with sterile saline. Ask your pharmacist, but you can possibly use a saline eye wash or nose moisten in product. 2nd layer of gauze is less wet, 3rd is dry. Wrap with some Cling wrap and tape, or Elastic on horse wrap and tape. Change daily to no more than 48 hours. You will see pink granulation coming within days. Once the gap is totally granulated, skin will start to regrow. At that point, you can just use ointment/honey and a dry wrap every 1-2 days until the skin is all back. Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for sharing this!

 

[Mother2Hens]

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and concern re Lacy. Although I appreciate everyone's input, I'm sure she didn't get into any poison. DS bought the house across the street a year ago when he and his GF were unhappy renting their so-called luxury historic apartment downtown. They needed to find a place and that house was just put up for sale. Anyway, I know there wasn't any poison, plus I was next to her and we didn't stay long. I feel certain that her death had to do with her respiratory illness (probably MG/CRD) that she was being treated for with Tylan Soluble in drinking water. I don't like meds in drinking water! She saw the vet on Thursday and hadn't worsened, but hadn't improved. I wasn't expecting to find her dead, though. Of course, I "shoulda-woulda-coulda" taken her to the vet when I first heard an occasional rattle. I didn't think much about it since she seemed great and I was preoccupied with the necropsy ordeal.

@kittydoc ~ Thank you for all of your expertise! I briefly considered putting her in a Ziplock in the frig as I had done with Screech, but I buried her this evening at DS's house since that was her stomping ground when I took her on outings. Part of my reasoning for not delving into tests is because I've spent around $400 this year in chicken veterinary/necropsy bills, and I found out very little info for all of the stress and costs involved. The preliminary report on Screech from Purdue possibly indicated Marek's, which was my worst nightmare. I was so upset for over a week until the final report nixed that, but showed other "indications." Dr.Lossie at Purdue was great in answering questions, but after all of the time, effort, and money, it didn't seem beneficial since there was a lot of conjecture. I'm not belittling veterinary medicine at all; I realize that chicken diseases are complex and can't always be definitively diagnosed. There are too many variables and unknowns.

2016 has been so depressing. I've followed biosecurity, continually educated myself and have done so much for my chickens, but I feel like there are so many detrimental organisms out there that it's kind of hopeless. It's the bad luck of the draw.

I do plan to implement more preventative care like vitamins, etc. that many of you have mentioned. I'm just hoping that my five girls stay healthy. They've all been doing well. Bonbon has been the one I've worried about, but she seems to have pepped up. I've gotten rid of most of the deep litter and plan to switch to coarse sand/small pebbles to avoid dust and microorganisms. I first need an 80+ degree sunny day, so I can clean their coop with the Virkon S disinfectant that I recently purchased. I need to be able to power wash it and get the coop dry before they go back in. If things are going well later on, I would like to add a few more flock members. After having Screech and Lacy, I want at least one Cochin—small or large. It's so nice when a chicken runs up to me and wants me to pick it up! They're so fun and interactive—like, "Oh boy, what are we going to do now?!" and they're sweet—"Hold me, pet me like a cat."

@chick rookie Lacy didn't fly up to my shoulder in the house, but she'd fly up to my armrest while I worked! She was a special girl, and I loved my six weeks with her.

 

[Mother2Hens]

Originally Posted by chickiefreak Happy birthday to my mom!!! we have 2 little peepers!!!!

waiting for 6 more!!

hatched in the last couple hours because earlier today there were no peeps or eggs shells!!

we can't really see much because they are both dark and it's dark outside!
my face when I heard peeps

(if you can't tell I love emoji!) best birthday present ever am I right? tomorrow is my moms birthday but close enough!

@chickiefreak ~ Hope your Mom @flyladyrocks had a fun birthday, and congrats on your new chicks!
@ellymayRans ~ I'm glad your white peacock will be okay—Poor guy! And thank you @kittydoc for generously helping our thread members!
@Faraday40 ~ Nice news to hear about Cuddles!

 

[chick rookie]

Not crazy at all.

I'm so sad this is my last day of spring break, because I'm not going to be able to spend all my time with them anymore!! I just want to sit out there all day and watch Mama Margaret take care of her babies...

Which is why I have a million billion pictures of them already.

They're just so sweet together. I mean, look at them!!

She's finally come out of her 'nest-mode' and is up and around with the babies much more! Here she is eating a spilled pellet from the other girls' food. She tried to offer it to the babies, but their beaks are just too tiny to eat those big pellets!



The babies are already learning how to forage in the shavings!

If anyone couldn't tell from the last picture, I ended up putting just a little bit of Blu-Kote on one of the babies' heads so that I could tell them all apart.

As you can see, he's super happy for the inconvenience.

And I have Blu-Kote speckles now.



Here's two of the other babies gossiping about the other's head spot.

And this one, I just had to share it! Look at that little fluff bum!!

Thought I'd share some pics of my babies.


Has anyone seen an egg this small? I cracked it open and it contained egg white but no yolk.

It's been an unexpected beautiful day — Sunny and 70 degrees. In the early afternoon, I took Lacy across the street to take her broody break. She acted normal and enjoyed free ranging. Then I took my five hens out the back for an excursion. After about three hours, I decided to check on Lacy to see if maybe she'd want to go out again since it's still sunny. I found her dead. She was in this strange position just outside the kennel where she's been camping out broody (she's had the run of the bed room). Her eyes are closed and her head erect, feet outward. Maybe @kittydoc will know if that means anything.

Last week, Lacy suddenly had respiratory issues. I took her to the the vet on Thursday; she was diagnosed with MG/CRD and was prescribed Tylan Soluble. (my other hens have it in their only water, but they have been suspicious and will find the tiniest puddle for a drink).

Ugh, I just feel queasy and sad. She was so sweet and fun.

Wow I'm at a loss for words. Sorry

 

[kittydoc]

Speaking of hawks, DH and I saw over a dozen together in Zionsville on Saturday. Perhaps it is mating season. They may be fattening up a bit before they lay and get stuck spending most of their time feeding chicks. We have not had any losses since we put up bird netting, but know that's not an option for free rangers.

 

[Faraday40]

Looks like I need to set up my new brooder today! We awoke at 3am to a very loud peeping EE chick! One other egg had pipped. Right now (8am) we have 6 pips & 1 chick. I wasn't expecting any to hatch until tonight & then thought tomorrow would be the "popcorn" hatch day. Oh well! THEY'RE COMING! That's what really matters.

Here's my new brooder.... a Pack N Play with Press N Seal & a feed bag liner.
Just have to add the shavings, feeder, waterer, & fake broody


Here's my Heating pad broody hen:

 

[racinchickins]

Has anyone seen an egg this small? I cracked it open and it contained egg white but no yolk.

I get them once in a while. I got one from a Black Copper Marans earlier this week. It usually happens either at the beginning or end of their laying cycle when things aren't quite all working in harmony. Depending on what isn't matching the cycle, you can get eggs with no shell, small eggs with no yolk, double yolkers, etc.....

I'm still getting a few calls from buyers looking to get pullets ready for the great outdoors and layers. If anyone would like to be put on my list of people to call, please let me know. Or if anyone is interested in getting into the business of raising up pullets to sell, let me know. I'm sure I could help get you started.

I'll be starting back up mid april after we get back home. plan to scale back my hatching for myself, but if someone wants something hatched for them, I can do that.

Speaking of hawks, DH and I saw over a dozen together in Zionsville on Saturday. Perhaps it is mating season. They may be fattening up a bit before they lay and get stuck spending most of their time feeding chicks. We have not had any losses since we put up bird netting, but know that's not an option for free rangers.

I'm hearing them calling around the edges of our property a lot too. Hopefully they are filling up on all the rabbits that decimated our fall plantings.

 

[Faraday40]

Speaking of hawks, DH and I saw over a dozen together in Zionsville on Saturday. Perhaps it is mating season. They may be fattening up a bit before they lay and get stuck spending most of their time feeding chicks. We have not had any losses since we put up bird netting, but know that's not an option for free rangers.

We haven't had any losses, but seeing hawks almost daily scares me. The only good thing is that the giant hawks may be what's keeping the tenacious Coopers hawk away. For now, I'm very grateful that I kept both roos. Not only do they work together, but they are excellent hawk spotters. The hens obey them & take cover instantly.

 

[Faraday40]

So sorry to hear about Lacey.