Lost some birds today

[PotterWatch]

We are definitely in summer now and it is getting hot! We lost eleven cornish today. Sadly, we had a waterer get clogged and stop flowing (bell waterers). We have since found out that you shouldn't put vitamin mixes in bell waterers. Learned that one the hard way. The vitamins allowed the water to get little deposits of slimy stuff which gets into the filter and eventually clogs the whole works. We did have a 3-gal fount waterer in there as well, but apparently some of the birds didn't manage to make it over there. We are going to have some disappointed customers

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[Desert Rooster]

Sorry for your loss

 

[PotterWatch]

Thanks. It was a cruddy end to a cruddy day. Those 11 birds would have been around $250 in income

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[CapricornFarm]

Oh man, that stinks. Sorry they died. In this weather, even with water , birds can die. I lost two already , and they were in the barn and had water. Just too blasted hot. What are we going to do when July hits???

 

[PotterWatch]

We are supposed to be processing our last batch around July 24th. I really hope we can manage to keep them alive until then. Next year, we won't have any past the third week of June.

 

[babylotzahenz]

So sorry. If it makes you feel any better, my own experience this year has been less than stellar. I lost my whole flock save ONE (23) in a rain storm one day. I noticed them huddled out under the rabbit coop during the storm. They didn't move most of the day as it continued to pour rain. They were about 3 to 4 lbs at that time. I went out later on and they were all dead, chilled or drowned, not sure. The water poured that day, all around them. Completely my own fault, as even though they were completely feathered and huge for their ages, they were just too fragile to be in any rain at all, let alone that raging storm. One lone pullet survived, unscathed. She was later killed by our own dog. Those beasts are just so fragile, and need babysitting. It is a bit sad to see them looking so grown up and are really just as young and immature as their peers of the same age, that are 1/10th the size. I tried again, with another dozen, no luck then either. One poor bird walked out of the coop, was completely fine, laid down and then had a seizure. He was about 7lbs and ready to process for a roaster.

good advice about the vitamins. I am amazed at how stinky the waterer fonts get in just a days time with the heat we are having, and the slime that is on the walls that must be scrubbed off. I wonder if putting just a drop of clorox bleach would make a difference and be safe. We used to use that in our well water, was not a problem for humans.

sorry for your loss.

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Oh no! I'm sorry that happened to you and your birds.

Heat and water is a huge problem in summer here too. I'm looking into auto waters too and I didn't know a vitamin mix could do that.

I hope the rest of them are ok till processing day. How many are you growing out? I'm sure you've said in another thread but I forget.

 

[AngelzFyre]

Quote:
Potterwatch- I'm so sorry to hear about your loss of birds.

baybylotzahenz- Some do add bleach to their waterers, I clean mine out regularly with it..but just purchased a natural enzyme product called Poultry/Gamebird Water Protector to add to my waterers and it works great! I don't worry about poisoning them with too much bleach left in there and it works great on the slime and smell you're talking about. I still do mine daily since we are getting temps in the 90's and above, but this stuff has really made a huge difference!

 

[PotterWatch]

We have just over 200 total right now to be processed in batches of 50 around once a week until the third week of July. Tomorrow we are going to try putting a small fan on each tractor. We'll see if that helps. I hope so!

Our water buckets do get cleaned every day, we just didn't realize that the filter was getting gummed up. We are going to have to find a way to add vitamins to their food instead.

 

[Jschaaff]

I am really sorry! Your unfortunate accident, will surely help others now, so thank you for sharing that valuable information about the vitamins in the bell waterers. It is appreciated. I wish you luck with the of your meaties and hope the fan helps.

-Jessa