Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote:
Hmmm... Thats interesting, because I bet that Tank was an early hatcher among his "cohort" at the hatchery because he came to me so much bigger than the rest. And Heinz 57 was almost a full ounce bigger than the next biggest chick, and she has stayed quite big for a girl...

For my home hatches I tracked hatching time per egg, but I did not number my chicks coming out, so I can't correlate the early/late hatchers. I may try that next year.

- Ant Farm

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[Cynthia12]

Whisker cheeks? Or just puffy?

That wasn't a very good photo...here are a few more, close up. More puffy. He has a beard too.











I'm worried about that comb. Thinking maybe a boy. Not supposed to have boys. If I can get a collar on one that will work for a while..I keep him for a while, until I get some fertile eggs..if they don't crow too much. They get smart to the collar, and turn their neck sideways so they can crow..louder! I'm serious! Smart little stinks!
And this one is actually bigger than the other black one. Fezz. Got a black Fezz, and a blue chipmunk Fezz. The other black is considerably smaller.

 

[llsgirls]

S&G girls: Largest (and sweetest) girl, Heinz 57: (I'm worried this one will somehow end up being a late boy): And here's my sweetie snuggling with me on the brooder sill: - Ant Farm

You give me hope that maybe mine isn't a Roo. Your girls look pretty stocky.

4.5-5 weeks

 

[cactusrota]

So we finally got back up to Utah where my birds have been mixed in with a cousin's flock while we tried to get some things straightened out. My NN's didn't get as big as I'd hoped, but they still look really nice. My roo didn't get much bigger than most of the hens, and when I picked him up he felt pretty lean, but that could just be because of the hard winter here. There's a few birds, theirs and mine, that looked like they got a bit frost bitten in their toes.

This is him next to the alpha RIR.


Him and his sister with the other hens.


They're about 10 months old now +/-. What I find interesting is that the last time I saw them, about the last week of November, he was showing some red spots on his shoulders, and they've pretty much disappeared. So now he's back to the solid black that is was when he was little. Oh, except his cap is red!! Little bugger is a redhead! haha!

My other roo that I left here, that's actually about a month younger than the NN's, has gotten tall and leggy like crazy. He had really bright white ears before that have darkened a bit since then. He was pretty aloof then too, and still keeps to the outskirts of the flock most of the time. He's a total mystery on breed, but sure is handsome.


and... sorry to go off topic in the NN discussion, but my black EE's are looking gorgeous as always, too. They're about a year old and sisters. All five of my birds up here were from three different mixed barnyard hatches.





I'll be bringing these kids home to AZ this weekend. It'll be interesting to see how my two roo's act once they aren't under the alpha RIR anymore, I predict the tall/dark/handsome mystery roo is gonna take over.

 

[DesertChic]

That wasn't a very good photo...here are a few more, close up. More puffy. He has a beard too.











I'm worried about that comb. Thinking maybe a boy. Not supposed to have boys. If I can get a collar on one that will work for a while..I keep him for a while, until I get some fertile eggs..if they don't crow too much. They get smart to the collar, and turn their neck sideways so they can crow..louder! I'm serious! Smart little stinks!
And this one is actually bigger than the other black one. Fezz. Got a black Fezz, and a blue chipmunk Fezz. The other black is considerably smaller.

It's really hard to know for sure at this young an age. I was positively convinced that one of my birds from my previous hatch was a cockerel, and it turned out to be a fast maturing pullet. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have the same luck.

 

[lpyrbby]

I just want to vent a little here while I try to learn some patience and hope that what I'm trying is actually helping.

I brought three brabanter chicks home on Saturday to add to my 15 turken chicks of similar age and cleaned out the brooder the same day. By yesterday (Tuesday) morning, my turkens were sneezing occasionally. I THINK I heard the brabs sneeze a few times on Saturday, but I might have just imagined it. I saw some were looking hunched a bit on Monday night so started Corid since they are in too small a pen at the moment. They have some room to move, but not enough, especially when compared to how much room I have afforded to the larger birds in my yard. After coming home last night and noticing more sneezing, I asked a group on FB and tried doing some other research on what I could do for chicks with respiratory problems. I stopped the Corid and switched to some VetRX in their water this AM and then bought some colloidal silver today. I've heard really good things about it and want to give it a try. I gave it to them tonight in a fresh batch of water.

We almost got the in-coop brooder done today (door needs to be installed) but nothing is square with that coop (carport coop) so the door needed to be shaved. It *should* get installed tomorrow and I plan on moving them out to that tomorrow with the MHP and hoping an airier location will help them. The chicks are still eating and drinking from what I can tell with 18 of them in the pen. They have wild moments of activity, so it's not like they've gotten to the point of just laying down and giving up, but I am honestly TERRIFIED of losing them all. I just learned I have a rumpless NN in the mix and just - they're ALL important to me. I don't want to lose any of them and I'm scared. I'm trying not to freak out over it and just keep a watchful eye and hope for the best. I grabbed one of the brabs that was walking around chirping and I saw a bit of liquid around one nostril. No smell and I couldn't hear any wheezing. I'd dab some VetRX on some nostrils if I knew for certain I wouldn't treat some twice. Many look SO similar that I'm not confident of that.

Those little birds, they're letting me pet them from outside the brooder and rub their little naked necks and puffy heads. And I have at least 3 that LOVE when I put my arm in the pen with them so they can roost on me. It's not uncommon to have 5 of them on my arm either. I want to at least try one thing for a day or two to see if there's any improvement before I freak out too much. I do have Tylan 50, but there's not much out there at all for dosing little chicks and I definitely don't want to overdo it for them.

*sigh* I just needed to get that out of my system. I realize things I've done wrong and hate that the chicks are at risk because of me and my decisions. I just have to hope that moving them outside doesn't make it worse. I have to hope that the silver is going to help them. I have to hope that they're strong enough. And somewhere in there, I have to find the trust in myself to know when I need to change trajectory before it causes death. Wooooosahhhhhhhhhhh....

 

[cactusrota]

I would be stressed out too. I'll bet the silver works, though. We've been making our own for awhile now and it makes a big difference in us humans. I'm sure if anyone else here can think of something that would help they would share it. Will cross my fingers for your babies...

 

[lpyrbby]

I would be stressed out too.  I'll bet the silver works, though.  We've been making our own for awhile now and it makes a big difference in us humans.  I'm sure if anyone else here can think of something that would help they would share it.   Will cross my fingers for your babies...  

Thank you. I really hope it does help. Since I didn't have much left of the pine pellets, I added a fresh layer this morning on top of the old with a new batch of water and dribbled some VetRX around the pen and on top of the heat plate. It looks like everyone is still drinking and I did see most of them eat this morning as well. When I picked up one of the littles, I could feel the rattle in his body, poor kid :/

Back to wait and see, for now. Hopefully I'll see even just a small sign of improvement when I get back home from work.

 

[bramblefir]

I just want to vent a little here while I try to learn some patience and hope that what I'm trying is actually helping.

I brought three brabanter chicks home on Saturday to add to my 15 turken chicks of similar age and cleaned out the brooder the same day. By yesterday (Tuesday) morning, my turkens were sneezing occasionally. I THINK I heard the brabs sneeze a few times on Saturday, but I might have just imagined it. I saw some were looking hunched a bit on Monday night so started Corid since they are in too small a pen at the moment. They have some room to move, but not enough, especially when compared to how much room I have afforded to the larger birds in my yard. After coming home last night and noticing more sneezing, I asked a group on FB and tried doing some other research on what I could do for chicks with respiratory problems. I stopped the Corid and switched to some VetRX in their water this AM and then bought some colloidal silver today. I've heard really good things about it and want to give it a try. I gave it to them tonight in a fresh batch of water. 

We almost got the in-coop brooder done today (door needs to be installed) but nothing is square with that coop (carport coop) so the door needed to be shaved. It *should* get installed tomorrow and I plan on moving them out to that tomorrow with the MHP and hoping an airier location will help them. The chicks are still eating and drinking from what I can tell with 18 of them in the pen. They have wild moments of activity, so it's not like they've gotten to the point of just laying down and giving up, but I am honestly TERRIFIED of losing them all. I just learned I have a rumpless NN in the mix and just - they're ALL important to me. I don't want to lose any of them and I'm scared. I'm trying not to freak out over it and just keep a watchful eye and hope for the best. I grabbed one of the brabs that was walking around chirping and I saw a bit of liquid around one nostril. No smell and I couldn't hear any wheezing. I'd dab some VetRX on some nostrils if I knew for certain I wouldn't treat some twice. Many look SO similar that I'm not confident of that. 

Those little birds, they're letting me pet them from outside the brooder and rub their little naked necks and puffy heads. And I have at least 3 that LOVE when I put my arm in the pen with them so they can roost on me. It's not uncommon to have 5 of them on my arm either. I want to at least try one thing for a day or two to see if there's any improvement before I freak out too much. I do have Tylan 50, but there's not much out there at all for dosing little chicks and I definitely don't want to overdo it for them. 

*sigh* I just needed to get that out of my system. I realize things I've done wrong and hate that the chicks are at risk because of me and my decisions. I just have to hope that moving them outside doesn't make it worse. I have to hope that the silver is going to help them. I have to hope that they're strong enough. And somewhere in there, I have to find the trust in myself to know when I need to change trajectory before it causes death. Wooooosahhhhhhhhhhh....

I had a respiratory illness go through all my chicks this year. Mortality was very low, around 2%. There were a few I didn't think would make it, but they made a full recovery.

Because most avian respiratory illnesses are viral it's best to just provide supportive care. I don't use AB's in my flock and in situations like these they would only treat or prevent secondary bacterial infections that might crop up with a weakened immune system.

Nutritious food, clean water with ACV and vitamins, warmth, and isolation. Basically remove all stressors you can so the birds can recuperate.

One of the one's I didn't think would make it: