Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[ToniTalley]

Don't use kitty litter, use sweet PDZ. I get mine at tractor supply...it's also called stall sweetener. It keeps the poop dried up and the stink way down.

 

[aart]

Yes, PDZ!.
Keep it shallow(<1/2") and they won't dust bathe in it.
Poops can still freeze to the bottom tho, the wetter ones anyway.
So still some scraping to be done.

It's a toss up:
deeper and maybe less scraping but more dust bathing,
or shallow and more scraping but no dust bathing.

I have vinyl lining the boards, which helps with sticking.
Some piles have to be left until thaw.
I cracked the vinyl first winter, pounding on poopsicles.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-poop-pictures.621363/page-178#post-18966048

 

[dyorto]

Great. Thanks everyone!

 

[yochickiemomma]

Hey all! I hope eveyone had a great holiday!
I need a little help. I have consulted my books and skowered the net and im just not happy with the results I have.
Issue: limping, swollen foot
Breed: bantam rooster Cochin mix
Age: almost 2 years old
Just started limping 2 days ago and progressively gotten worse. One foot is obviously swollen but not dramaticly bigger. He doesn't recoil when I poke or squeeze it. My first thought was bumble foot but there are no obvious abrasions. (He has feathered feet not easy to inspect). He does roost up pretty high but for the last week.... week and a half he has been sleeping on the floor. I've been adding vitamins to their water everyother day for the last week. He is eating and drinking normally. I know he doesn' feel good because he HATES me enough to come at me most days but he's letting me pick him up and look at him now.
1. What can I give him for the pain and swelling and how much?
2. Is there a name for what's going on w his foot?

As much as we don't see eye to eye and I have threatened freezer camp more than once I hate to see him hurting like this. He takes very good care of his girls and offspring.
Thanks in advance for any ideas and advise.

 

[aart]

Thanks in advance for any ideas and advise.

He could have a mild 'strain/sprain'.

If limp is really bothering them by inhibiting their normal activities too much, I will isolate them in a crate to 'force' rest for a day or two. Letting them out late in day, an hour before roost time, to give them a stretch and evaluate their mobility, then decide if they need another day and put them back in crate off roost after dark. Repeat stretch and eval the next day until they are better.

 

[snowflake]

Sooo. I’m sure this has been thought of and asked before. I have poop board collectors under the roosts that I fill with shavings. Would it not work to fill those boards with scoopable cat litter instead and scoop them every day?

I put cut open feed bags on my poop boards, cleans off real easy and not as costly as pine shavings or cat litter,. with the freezing temps, you don't need to clean every day, frozen poo doesn't smell

 

[snowflake]

Big47, congrats, on your up coming wedding, enjoy the planing and don't get to stressed out,
Raz, hope your surgery went well and things start improving at your place.my hens haven't given me any eggs for a month, makes things easy, I fill the waterer's, and the feed pails and unless I am bringing them a treat, I can go out every other day and not worry about them.
the temps have been crazy cold here, hit minus 15 one night, heated waterer's held up well even though they are getting rather old.
Happy New Year all, weather should warm up just a bit soon

 

[yochickiemomma]

He could have a mild 'strain/sprain'.

If limp is really bothering them by inhibiting their normal activities too much, I will isolate them in a crate to 'force' rest for a day or two. Letting them out late in day, an hour before roost time, to give them a stretch and evaluate their mobility, then decide if they need another day and put them back in crate off roost after dark. Repeat stretch and eval the next day until they are better.

Thanks Aart. As much as I don' have room in the house for a chicken hubby suggested I bring him in tomorrow and set him up in a small cage in a quite corner to help reduce stress and hopefully help him heal. What are your thoughts about giving him some sort of anti-inflammatory/pain reliever for the swelling or antibiotics as a precaution?

 

[aart]

Thanks Aart. As much as I don' have room in the house for a chicken hubby suggested I bring him in tomorrow and set him up in a small cage in a quite corner to help reduce stress and hopefully help him heal. What are your thoughts about giving him some sort of anti-inflammatory/pain reliever for the swelling or antibiotics as a precaution?

Oh, I leave crate in the coop, so bird can stay 'with the flock' and avoid any re-integration problems.....plus bringing a bird inside during the winter would add temperature acclimation issues into the mix. I am not one to medicate birds and have no idea what you could give for that.

 

[1muttsfan]

I would scrub his foot clean with warm water, wetting the feathers down so you can examine it (especially the bottom) for bruising, wounds or evidence of bumble foot. I agree that leaving him (crated) in the coop is best.