Isbar thread

[lonnyandrinda]

A friend of mine who does a lot of homeopathic veterinary medicine said not to use the D-Mannose on chickens, it will kill off their floral balance. All animals have beneficial e coli strains in their gut, killing of the good with the bad can cause OTHER problems... I have been told to use food grade DE in the coop and run, to disinfect the coop, incubator, brooders, and hatching eggs with Oxine regularly, and I'm still using the colloidal silver. Waiting still for a final lab report. She agreed with me that the hens are probably infected with e coli and passing it to the eggs. Good thing we haven't ever eaten any of our Isbar eggs I guess.

 

[Flowerbh]

Can anyone post a photo of an Isbar hen who is laying eggs. I have one that is 26 1/2 weeks old who is finally getting red faced. Just wondered how much bigger her comb needs to be before she is ready to lay! Can't wait!

 

[lonnyandrinda]

These two gals are in lay. They've slowed down now that it is 95-100+ degrees every day but they each lay a distinct egg so I know they are both laying.

 

[KYTinpusher]

A friend of mine who does a lot of homeopathic veterinary medicine said not to use the D-Mannose on chickens, it will kill off their floral balance. All animals have beneficial e coli strains in their gut, killing of the good with the bad can cause OTHER problems... I have been told to use food grade DE in the coop and run, to disinfect the coop, incubator, brooders, and hatching eggs with Oxine regularly, and I'm still using the colloidal silver. Waiting still for a final lab report. She agreed with me that the hens are probably infected with e coli and passing it to the eggs. Good thing we haven't ever eaten any of our Isbar eggs I guess.

I hope the DE, CS and Oxine will solve the problem for you. Please let us know how it goes.

My daughter never seemed to have any side affects like that from the d-mannose. The problem is not that she had e coli in her system, but that she had an overabundance of it and it got in the wrong places. I believe the d-mannose helped to lessen the population so her body could handle it better, but it didn't wipe it out.

I was thinking about why it is the Isbars have a problem and not any of the other chicks. The Isbar was originally bred in Sweden, and in Sweden, lingonberries, a close relative to cranberries, is a favorite condiment so I imagine it is plentiful. I wonder if lingonberries were a regular part of the diet of the Isbar and their systems became somewhat dependent on the d-mannose (or some other compound) to help keep the e coli from running rampant. Yes, it's just a wild theory, but we have no idea what conditions these rare breeds became dependent on in their native lands that we are not able to duplicate here.

If I start having trouble keeping the chicks alive, I will try the d-mannose. If I'm going to lose them otherwise, to me it's worth a try. I will make sure they get lots of probiotics with it to help keep a healthy digestive balance.

 

[KYTinpusher]

So pretty! I can't wait until mine get that big and start laying.

These two gals are in lay. They've slowed down now that it is 95-100+ degrees every day but they each lay a distinct egg so I know they are both laying.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Thanks! Here are the two I am WAITING on to start laying- saw the splash testing out the nest box the other day- which is exciting even though her comb says she is nowhere near lay!

The black pullet is in the back- I thought I had a picture just of her but I don't- the little stinker is behind SOMEONE in every photo!


And the pretty splash! Everyone who comes to get chickens wants HER- and I have to tell them NO WAY JOSE!


And of course a few more of my pretty boy Rain:

 

[KYTinpusher]

I hope mine turn out that gorgeous! I have 2 splash chicks -

at least one of them is a pullet.

 

[Flowerbh]

Thank you for the photos! Based on those combs and my pullets comb, I may have eggs by the end of the month! Her comb has really grown fast in the past two weeks and she is almost there! If I have time, I will try to get photo of her today.

 

[mstarr]

Your chickens are all beautiful! What color would you call Rain, is he a blue? Are all your hens the same age? If so, they certainly develop at their own rate.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Yes he is a blue. He is a few weeks older than the laying hens, and a few months older than the pullets. He and the pullets hatched from eggs from The Sheriff; the two hens hatched from eggs from Jordan Farms. So I will have a blue rooster, a blue hen, a splash hen, and two black hens when they are finally all laying, and if this dratted heat doesn't get them. It was 106 here today.

His blue brother Thunder was even more spectacular colored, but had a severe wry tail. He went to a lovely home here in Oklahoma but I got word about 6 weeks ago that he passed away unexpectedly and unexplainably. The lady was very sad. There are pictures of him further back in the thread, spunkychickenmomma is the lady's handle.