Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[snowflake]

Rather than trying to apply Vasoline to their legs, you might find that it is quicker and easier to apply something that can be sprayed on. Also litter, debris, etc will cling to the Vasoline.



Evidently that is exactly what happened today in Russia.

Good morning, Michigan! What a day for me to turn 27... A meteorite hits Russia and another one is scheduled to be a nearby miss tonight!

Ok... My oldest wants a painting of a rooster... SO, I have drawn 2 for him to pic from... Maybe... I don't know. Will have to redraw them with watercolor pencil onto water paper... BUT Opinions please...





Or even make a painting of this one with all four cockerels...

I was going to say the bottom one Guess I won, very nice art work, he should be very happy with it

Top drawing is cool.. more visual interest, however, I would suggest eliminating the diagonal line (stick in back ground) in front and behind the roo... it visually divides the drawing (nice job by the way).

You have some darn good looking Fav roos. I may need to discuss future purchase. Mine seem so beard weak.




OH and guess what? Farmer - don't look!! LOL! I'm working DH over for this little fella!
He will be my herd buck. From Sugar Creek lines, suppose to be good I hear.

And he has blue eyes!!



*UPDATE*: Casanova (goat) is coming home Sunday!

very sweet

I am not looking forward to mud either, but I would like to get a start on the garden before it gets to hot

 

[RaZ]

Egg collecting is a breeze. My coop is within my garage.

Even the chicken run looks better than the rest of the yard. My dogs love to tear up the lawn. Or should I say "former lawn"?

I hate this transition time when it is not frozen but too cold for anything to grow. I think the groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of mud.

 

[kimmie6067]

A mean cockerel just bit the dust. I was planning on doing it anyway, but his attitude sealed the deal earlier. I wanted it to be a bit...warmer. Oh well. He's in the crockpot on low, since I didn't have any plans for dinner anyway.

How do you go about killing them and then putting them in the crockpot? I wish I could do it maybe if I saw it done?

 

[fuzzybutt love]

So I got some pics to share, not the best but you can kinda get the idea:

Can you give them some canned cat food or tuna to help them get some protein?
I give mine some, and the vitamin supplement i mentioned before, but too much salt can be very bad too. I think there's low sodium canned fish? I told DH at some point i want to take the fish he don't keep because they are small and whatnot and can them, then i have a healthy supply.............?

Quote:Originally Posted by Opa
Well, you got time over me but i know for a fact that mine died because she was constipated. I found the lump before she died; she sat for a week and if i hadn't been so busy for that week i'd have caught it sooner. She must've sat for at least 4 days before i caught on; i had provided water in the box from the get-go, but my guess is that she wasn't drinking enough and had eaten some of the nesting material. My coop has a linoleum floor, and she was the only banty. I mop daily during the summer, and i knew her poops. No banty poops, no broody poops. (yes, when i clean i do check poops. Gross, but it's saved my bacon many times as i've been able to catch and fix things i otherwise would not have caught in time) Water and feed i provided were untouched. Right at the 4 day mark i noticed she wasn't passing more than a dribble when i tossed her out of the box; i don't live at the same place as my birds and had relative's kids for a couple weeks so couldn't just stay there.......... as soon as the kids went back to their state i smuggled the bird home to my apartment and tried warm baths, olive oil, firm massage, everything. She died a week into brooding Hard irregular lump down below, after death i pressed and manipulated it to be sure it wasn't an egg. It moved with a great deal of effort, but tore her insides so there was no way that it could have moved naturally, and i couldn't have had a vet do surgery or i would have in a minute. I've been treating and caring for various types of birds since i could walk; not your average bird keeper. I'd say i have at least 17 years experience. (The whole family knows if something's sick, bring it to me; if i don't know the answer i will find the answer or not sleep until i do) Very rare and sad is the day when i lose one. If i had access to vet's equipment............... some day.

My orpington was exibiting the same signs but the difference this time was that i was watching for it so after giving her the recommended 3 days to get the eggs to a constant temp i intervened right away. I did read that some hens will set at least that long before starting to come off the nest, that's why the 3 day recommendation to see if she's just waiting. I tossed her out at least once to twice a day, and that first time i tossed her out it was touch and go whether she could actually poop, she was straining very hard and i worried that she'd rupture herself....... did a poop that was collie sized.......

So i say most of the time the leave it alone approach is the right thing, but if you know for sure, and it's been 3 days, i hold to my position to intervene. Had i not listened to all the kind folks who reassured me that leaving it to nature was best, i'd still have my little banty cochin. Not angry, just sad and want people to know that yes, it is possible. Probable, maybe not. But possible.

 

[kimmie6067]

After over 60 years of being around chickens I still stand by my position that broody hens should be left alone. They will not starve themselves nor become constipated. They don't need to leave the nest to defecate. If a hen dies while sitting on eggs there was another problem or condition that caused her death. Without the proper equipment and training determining the cause of a bird's death is next to impossible. The death of a bird doesn't mean that you have done anything wrong. The grim reality is that if you are going to raise chickens some are going to die.

Opa today I went and checked on my JG coop where the broody is to collected eggs from the others and I found more eggs then should have been there, one had been pecked. I found a broken one yesterday to. I think they are falling out of the nest, a design flaw on my sons part. So I moved her in a rabbit hutch which I could believe she fit inside the opening to inclosed part away I put the eggs in there she is laying on them when I went out and checked so I hope this works and I get some baby JG blue or black. So do you think she will be ok without being around her flock for so long? Dumb question I know but I really like this hen.

Kimmie

 

[fuzzybutt love]

sorry for the long post, i felt it was necessary to give the whole story to make sure that it was clear that yes, it was very clear what the cause of death was. This wasn't some shady sniffle, or a pale comb, or any of the other mystery illnesses. It was a large lump in the spot that either an egg or feces would get stuck, and she wasn't pooping. At all. And what she did poop i looked up and it should have been a red flag, runny white urates (and nothing else) are a very clear sign of an obstruction. But i didn't know that then, now i do and i don't want anyone else to have to learn the hard way. I did also learn that yellow runny poop is liver failure, so at least i got to say goodbye because i knew she'd die soon.

I was going to do an autopsy, but not necessary after the final exam. I did other gross things to determine too, but felt that was best omitted for general reading.

 

[kimmie6067]

Nova, this is really nice! Especially if it was in bright colours - I love the composition.

Nova I like this one to because you always see rooster standing up this depicts a nice relaxed roo, to me anyway.

 

[1muttsfan]

Kimmie, broody hens actually prefer to be away from the other birds, they get quite cranky when bothered.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/01/chicken-sick-bay-first-aid-kit-be.html

 

[kimmie6067]

Kimmie, broody hens actually prefer to be away from the other birds, they get quite cranky when bothered.

I made her get of the nest the other day because she had not moved for days I could tell because the nest had not been disturbed at all. I put her in the new place and she pooped a really smelly green stuff I hope she is ok.

Kimmie