Nevadans?

[HighNDryFarm]

Boy, 18 gauge is a big ole needle. I usually only use that size for penicillin since it's so thick. This vaccine must be the same consistency. How big are the chicks? It's going to be tough to inject those smaller chicks. Good luck to everyone.

 

[chicharomirinda]

Chick update...
Yesterday afternoon, Dijon (cream brabanter) looked miserable. The poor baby would try to take a few breaths, then gasp so deeply she almost fell over, then sneeze in an adorable but very disturbing way. I just couldn't cull her without someone to hug me after, and was worried about being a bad parent because of the emotional rollercoaster, so I waited for Russ to get home. He saw how attached I was to the little mohawk chick, so he said, "Let's give her antibiotics and wait the night out. If she's worse tomorrow or has a puffy face, we'll cull her." We dosed her, and 4 other chicks that were snotty and sneezing: Burger, my silver spangled hamburg, Korma the brahma, General Tso the cochin, and Fried Rice the speckled sussex. And then we prayed a bunch. (If you haven't guessed, we do that a lot.) This morning, Russ woke me up with, "Well, she's eating and drinking on her own." She's still gasping a bit, but she's more alert. When I refilled the food, she willingly joined the hustle for a spot at the feeder. The other 4 are sneezing, but are eating as well. We've decided that, if they get no puffy face, and they recover with the antibiotics, we'll just let them take that route. I'm so hesitant to cull these little babies for snotty sounds, even if some chicken owners might advise that. And honestly... if these chicks do have coryza after all the precautions we took, then the laying hens are exposed too. And if they don't come down with any problems, then they have a high enough resistance to prevail.

for those chicks. you have been through so much! Hopefully they will recover with the antibiotics.

 

[NevadaRon]

Dijon sounds like one tough bird! Just think - the ones that make it will all be good breeding stock.

 

[gaited horse]

Dijon sounds like one tough bird! Just think - the ones that make it will all be good breeding stock.

How does that improve breeding quality?

 

[chicharomirinda]

Picnic photos at last. Since I had the camera, no photos were taken of me. Oh darn!

If anyone does not want photos of their children (or any other photo) posted, let me know and I will remove.

Steve and Sunny. Sunny is saying "Hi Sheryl!"

My husband, Jose Efrain

Our hostess, Mandy

Missy and Russ

Mandy's son

Missy's daughter is pulling the wagon. My daughter and Mandy's younger son are standing by for a ride.





Missy's daughter pulling my son and daughter

Missy's son and my son playing soccer

 

[americanvalkyrie]

Great pics! It's just like being there. Hey wait... I was there.

Chick update:
Dijon is feeling well enough to move about the brooder. She's still sneezing and acting sleepy, but she's made a visible improvement. All of the other chicks are coming down with it, and one of my silkies even has a crusty nose. But if Dijon is going to pull through, maybe the rest will, as well.

I have no clients tomorrow, and a HUGE to-do list. If I actually stay off BYC, maybe I can increase my chances of getting it all done!

I picked up the doe rabbit today and checked her out to see if there were any signs of pregnancy. Oh yeah. There are. Good thing Russ just has a few finishing touches for the nesting box. It's not a super good one, considering he has very limited time, but it's safe and sheltered. He can build a better one for actual PLANNED breeding.

 

[NevadaRon]

Quote:

How does that improve breeding quality?
Their offspring will have greater resistance to that disease - and probably greater immunity in general.

ETA: Thanks for posting the get together pics Elizabeth! Looks like a great time was had by all. I was thinking about how at the last get together I took the pictures so I wasn't in them, either. We need two cameras at the next one!

 

[SunnyDawn]

Boy, 18 gauge is a big ole needle. I usually only use that size for penicillin since it's so thick. This vaccine must be the same consistency. How big are the chicks? It's going to be tough to inject those smaller chicks. Good luck to everyone.

I was thinking the same thing! I went and got two 18 gauge needles today from One Stop. The owner said that vets use the same needle for a whole herd or flock (you just can't reinsert a contaminated needle into the bottle of sterile solution of course). The 18 gauge needles are huge!!! The solution does not seem thick at all but I haven't shaken it up yet. I think I'll try the smaller insulin needles to see if they work. It would be so much easier to give the vaccine with the small needles. Those big needles look very unwieldy!

I got good news from the company that sold us the vaccine today. They said that as long as the amount needed for dosing is taken out right away and the remaining vaccine is kept in the fridge protected from light that we can store it til the expiration date. In fact she said that we can even take our individual doses and store them if we put them in a sterile container right away. She said that some customers boil and seal mason jars for this purpose but I thought mason jars used a rubber seal. Are there some that don't use the rubber seal?

If this is the case I can bring folks the meds in a cooler with ice packs and then I can transfer to your sterile container with one of the large 18 gauge needles and syringe. Since traveling all over town to deliver meds would be a nightmare for me, I was hoping we could all meet in a central location in Reno for the transfer? Elizabeth has already posted the dosing instructions so that part is covered.

Dijon sounds like one tough bird! Just think - the ones that make it will all be good breeding stock.

The disease is not transferred to the egg and birds that show more resistance would make for healthier stock but I would worry about them being carriers for life after this. Even with vaccination you still have the worries of exposure before the vaccine is fully administered.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Haha! Steve and I look sauced in that first pic! Seriously we weren't drinking anything!

 

[NevadaRon]

OK here are the first of the bee pics. I went with a lighter colored jacket this time and also I had the smoker going.

Lighting the smoker


Feeding time!



Examining a frame. That small wooden thing near my thumb is the queen cage, held in place by a rubber band.



A better look at the frame. The queen is near the bottom - the workers are clumped around her to protect her.