Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[bigmrg74]

Problem:


I have 25 birds. I live in Manton. All my birds appeared fine this morning. Not one bird is more than two years old. The eat non gmo corn, Purina organic layer pellets (TSC), and TSC worms. I seen a bird at 4:00pm acting like she didn't want to move out of a nest, but did. I opened up the worm sack and she jumped from her nest. She then walked to the corner of the coop and didn't move or react with an panic. She just laid there. She died three hours later - looked totally normal. Nothing was done to her. She just died - weird. I watch my birds daily too. They have zero wind / cold exposure too. Zero symptoms except no movement or reaction. Maybe the rooster Giant crushed an egg in her - IDK...no clue. Anyone have any thoughts?


Bob

Kinda sounds like what happened to one of my girls a couple of weeks ago. Just found her plopped funny on the floor of the coop. I scooped her up and put her in dog crate in our heated tack room out in the barn. It was kinda cold that morning and her comb was looking kinda pale. went out to check on her about an hour later and she was gone. I kinda think she was just eggbound. I had been getting some super large eggs when the girls all started up and I haven't seen them since.

 

[Stacykins]

love the soap stacykins, hope you can make a go of it, bring some to chicken stock if you can. I would love to buy some, I use goats milk soap on my face all the time. it is my favorite, but I am having a hard time finding it now. looked all summer in my area, with no luck.
a necropsy is over $100 , can have it done at MSU they usually prefer to do more then 1 bird and the $100 covers 3 to 5 birds I think.

Thanks! It is so much fun to make, like cooking, but with lye rather than an oven. I will actually be near Grand Rapids a week before Chickenstock (I'm going to a wedding!). But I don't have enough PTO to extend that to another week, so alas, I must miss out.

 

[bobhoke]

Hi

Yeah ours was brought inside the house, but she still died like yours. No sign of struggle. My wife made an interesting comment about an article that she read, but cannot cite. She read that if your primary feed results in an excessive storage of body fat e.g corn, then this has been proven to be fatal. l assume this was proven in necropsies.

All my other birds look great. I am watching them like a hawk though. I don't have anything else to do outside of these horrid taxes anyhow. I was gonna switch to an entire Jersey Giant flock, but their combs are too large for our cold MI winters. My Giant rooster has spots of black (frostbite) in his. I'm gonna see if pea combs fair any better because I have a large wyandotte rooster (pea comb) and it has zero signs of frost bite. The hen that died was an australorp (hybrid). I'm not spending the money on a necropsy unless I lose another - maybe two birds.

In summary, I just think the bird kicked the bucket. Our birds are horribly spoiled based on the circumstances. They have a 16 x 22 ft coop that is off the ground with a 6' to 12' sloping roof that no wind penetrates. It also has plenty of ventilation. This is our first winter in MI with birds. Thanks!

Bob

Does anybody want a Jersey Giant Rooster - 10 months old? He's nice and duty bound - will trade.

 

[chyna]

How long should a new addition be isolated before they merge with the flock? He is a young rooster joining a flock of 10 hens and 4 roosters that get along great.

 

[bobhoke]

Well this IMO is not a science, and is generally a personality / size based decision. Regardless of the fact that the four other roosters get along or not - there will still be the pecking order challenge. There will/should be strife.

My first question would be is not how old your new roo is, but what is his size in comparison to the others? Heck, he might be the most domineering of them all. I recently brought in a rooster that was two months younger than the existing ones and my new one took over the entire flock and all my other roosters now hide in-between hay bails when he comes around because they got along so well. My new roo doesn't play. He's all business and thinks the others are too stupid for the job which they coincidentally are. He's the boss and Im keeping him.

Now another supposed yet common mindset / scientific theory is that one roo / 12 hens is about right / flock, making your current 4/ 10 hens ratio way out of whack thus substantiating my reluctance to bed down with any standing avian scientific theories. I will die stomping my foot and stating it depends on the bird demographics, atmospherics, resources available and other tertiary variables. You just need to have situational awareness and time to monitor your birds interaction when you integrate them.

You can isolate that bird in a cage with the other birds for as long as you want. As soon as you let him out they will determine the pecking order. If he is w/o character, younger and much smaller he may die (get eaten). If he's smaller more aggressive, younger and a better fighter he might dominate - who knows? Just drop him in unless he's only like a month old. Heck if he's that young the hens will tear him up too.

Just throw him in and see what they do for about 30min - 60min. They should be nose to nose within minutes and you'll see where it goes from there. If they fight then pull them apart if its too violent (excessive blood / ganging up or vice versa). If there is just mild pecking and bumping of the chest then he'll just have to endure that for awhile and grow. Throw'm in and see what happens - I would as long as he has comparable size or the smarts to run away with a potential place to hide. Use common sense. Good luck.

 

[gladahmae]

I have *never* successfully integrated a new rooster. Ever.

My rule of thumb with new birds is 2 weeks separated (they get dusted for lice and wormed during this time), then I put one bird from the existing flock in with the new bird. Give it a week. If there are no issues that pop up (like if the new bird is carrying something, your existing bird you added would catch it), then i put everyone together.

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi

Yeah ours was brought inside the house, but she still died like yours. No sign of struggle. My wife made an interesting comment about an article that she read, but cannot cite. She read that if your primary feed results in an excessive storage of body fat e.g corn, then this has been proven to be fatal. l assume this was proven in necropsies.

The issue with corn and other high fat foods such as sunflower seeds is that they can lead to excess body fat, which increases mortality due to liver disease, digestive problems, and egg laying issues such as egg binding and internal laying. Most birds are best off eating a formulated processed feed that prevents them from preferentially picking out the tastier high fat ingredients, and supplying those in small amounts as a special treat such as scratch grains.

If your flock appears healthy and the birds are acting normally, I would agree with waiting and watching for any further unexpected deaths. Sometimes birds just die.

How long should a new addition be isolated before they merge with the flock? He is a young rooster joining a flock of 10 hens and 4 roosters that get along great.

Birds will act 'normal' until they just can't anymore, so it can be very difficult to see signs of illness. Only a post mortem exam will show the cause of her death. You can chill her body and keep in in plastic in the refrigerator (not frozen) for several days, and still have a necropsy done, especially if more birds look ill or die. I've had severe mite infestations kill birds too. Mary

If you are lucky

. Well worth doing if you have sick birds, or multiple unexplained deaths.

 

[Farmerboy16]

I was on the news today! This was at my job. http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/sparta/rare-triplet-calves-born-at-sparta-farm-1/49421027 I am the one in the black bibs and green hoodie.

 

[chyna]

Is he a splash Silkie Rooster.

 

[ToniTalley]

I was on the news today! This was at my job. http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/sparta/rare-triplet-calves-born-at-sparta-farm-1/49421027 I am the one in the black bibs and green hoodie.

Cool!