Michigan

[NovaAman]

Welcome G M!

Gonna totally change subject here. But got a new camera... Well its old, but its new for me and gonna share!
Gonna be pic heavy... SO...

Can you believe they are the same age? She is so little and he's so big!

 

[NovaAman]

Very pretty dog!

 

[chicken grandma]

Beautiful, happy looking chickens Nova!

I would watch that dog also - she looks like a fawn!

 

[M.sue]

All this talk about chicken's illnesses is over whelming and boggling my mind not to mention a little scary. I just hope & pray all turns out well those dealing with things.
One of my Isa Browns has a small boo-boo.

On my way out to the pen I placed a warm dish of goodies in the yard. I let them out and they made a mad dash right to the dish. Little did I know my dog Bailey was there lapping up the snack. The girls didn't care and started to take over. I was still by the pen when all of a sudden I heard a ruckus going on...... snaps & pecks. Bailey didn't like the intrusion and the girls weren't gonna let that dog eat it all. I yelled, went over & got Bailey out of there for none were willing the share. Later when they were in the pen checking out their new flooring I noticed the one Isa had a puncture/scrape mark by the back of her comb. Not a big or nasty but big enough to be noticeable to me & there was a little bit of blood. Didn't seem to bother her but I brought her into the garage, blotted it with peroxide and applied some ointment to it. It looked worse after I treated it. I put back in the pen, she seems fine although she didn't like the feeling of the ointment on her head. She tried to wipe it off a couple of times.
I will inspect the wound again tomorrow morning. Should I treat again or just keep an eye on it?

On a brighter note...here's a pic of the chickens new flooring for the winter. They didn't know what to make of it & kept searching for the ground underneath!!

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi GM welcome to BYC and the michigan thread

Grandma, the only time a fecal test is positive is when the chickens are shedding. This happens only sporadically unless a chicken is stressed or otherwise ill. A negative fecal test does not mean your birds do not have coccidia (they very likely do), only that they are not shedding at that time.

 

[M.sue]

I'm not hi-jacking the thread..... teville5 beautiful dog, is she a grey hound? Nova, love the pics of you chickens & your camera takes very clear shots!

 

[teeville5]

Quote:
Yes, she does and she moves very deer-like, too. She's a whippet and runs really fast so when she sprints across the yard it could be very easy to mistake her for one. Her jumps mimic the way deer jump, too.

Nova- I'd say your 'new' camera is a good one. Those are very nice photos.

ETA- she's a whippet and is basically a smaller cousin to a greyhound

 

[Olive Hill]

Man, I just can't keep up these days. Too many posts, too little time.

M. Sue -- I didn't read all the posts, but please don't let talk of illness and disease scare you. There are things that can go wrong, there are diseases that can be devastating, but it's really not rocket science. Don't bring potentially compromised birds onto your property, if you do make sure you quarantine them, practice basic biosecurity measures (note: this will not protect against everything some disease are resistant to sanitizers, for instance, but it does give you a good head start), don't make excuses for yourself or others, practice pragmatism and above all do not under any circumstances believe everything you read on BYC. And please know I'm not singling anyone on this thread out on that last statement, like I said I haven't read all the posts -- and I will say usually when I am reading most of that shared in this particular thread is generally accurate -- but there is a lot of misinformation on this forum as a whole that could lead someone very astray. When in doubt, do your own research. And as a general rule you should always be in doubt unless you are SURE you know better.

As for your hen's injury I wouldn't worry too much. Keep an eye on her to make sure 1) it doesn't get infected and 2) the other chickens aren't pecking at it. But she really should be fine. They have a tremendous capacity to heal on their own. If you do have to treat SWAT is a great livestock-specific ointment that speeds healing right along and discourages bugs and pecking. Blu-cote is another good choice, it's spray on, rather than a cream-like ointment and if you have picking problems it's your go-to treatment plan. Because it's purple it really turns the birds off from messing with the wound. HTH!

 

[Olive Hill]

Has anyone ever raised Red Caps? I'm hoping to procure some in the spring and am feeling... cautious. Those combs don't necessarily say "Pick me! I'm cold hardy!".

I'll give them a try either way, but was just interested if any Michiganders had personal experience.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

Nova Amma is the one with the black fluffy face "Mr fluffers"? He really has some super long saddle feathers!!!

Is he a favorolles roo?
And i second Olive on pretty much everything. You do what you can, and learn as much as you can, and make your own decisions. If you get TOO caught up in the worrying you can lose track of what got you started in the first place;
Really, if you think about it we're all here cause we love birds, and just by being here and asking questions it means we care, and that we're in the process of educating ouselves; I think it's safe to say that we here at BYC put more thought into the health and safety of our birds than some people do in their kids!!!!