NY chicken lover!!!!

[ChickPrincess]

land

A'hoy!

 

[ChickPrincess]

Gees! Went out to let the chickens out this morning and was eaten alive by something. I was out there 3 or 4 minutes and have itchy bites all over my arms neck. Just after I read an article on AOL news about the Asian Tiger mosquito.
All this rain has done a number!

 

[County Boy]

Does anybody know of where I can get a bearded Silkie hen? I have of Silkies now but would like another hen. Or, if somebody would like some Silkies, I can sell them the pair I have. I need more room in my flock and need another Silkie hen or this pair isn't worth hanging on to. They are taking up a decent sized coop that could hold 4-5 of my other birds if I can't get a new hen.

 

[horsekeeper]

Hope I'm not jinxing myself, but only one mosquito bite this year. No flies either. Chickens and muscovy ducks are wiping out anything that moves in the back yard where all the bugs breed in the bushes and weeds.

 

[marquisella]

Afternoon all. I am a horrible chicken momma.

I took my sick hen out of the cage and gave her a bath because she stinks so bad. I found that she has a puncture wound of some sort on her lower abdomen and it must be infected as it has a mass of worms in it.

They came out while I was bathing her.

It was gross. I feel bad because I should have checked her more closely but I couldnt see it until I bathed her.

While she seems okay, I cannot believe that this isnt recoverable. I will have dh put her down tonight. I am an idiot and should have know better. I do believe now that it is NOT coryza but is the pox my silkies have.

All my other silkies look good, even Eowyn, my broody momma. I do have a chick that is going downhill and I am not sure if it the heat or something else. I whipped out the rooster booster today and gave everyone chicken powerade in their waterers. Hopefully this helps. I thank all of you for your support, thoughts and prayers. This has been a rollercoaster ride.

We all learn by trial & error...for anyone interested, if you find any animal with maggots, that is what the worms were, pour peroxide on the wound, the maggots will come practically flyinng out. You usually have to repeat several times before they all come out. ITs called "Fly strike".

What happens if there is wet manure anywhere on an animals body for even a short time, flies will lay eggs in it. The eggs hatch, and burrow into the flesh of the animal, thus forming a hole. The will literally eat away the insides of the animal if not stopped in time.

I learned this when I first had sheep. I had a lamb that had a poopy butt, and I didn't notice anything until It showed signs of being sick. When I discovered it, the magots had burrowed inside the lamb, with a hole about he size of an orange.....yuck...I poured peroxide on the wound and they came flying out. As I pressed on the area from behind the open sore & pushed towards the opening more kept coming out, like I was pushing them out. I think I did this 3 days in a row, with spraying with fly spray & betadine in between expressing the maggots and the lamb healed up & was fine.

The problem with chickens is you won't find the mess until its too late, and chickens don't have the flesh to recover like sheep do.

At least now, you know you don't have an epidemic. Sorry about your hen though.

 

[AQHAchick22]

Quote:
How common is this? When I get home today I'm going to take scissors and some water to my BO hen with a bit of poop around her butt...I'm paranoid now.

 

[rancher hicks]

Now I'm worried about this fly strike thing...there have been a lot of flies hanging around the coop and my BO hen Glady's has a bit of poop in the feathers around her vent and I've just kind of been letting it go because it's not too bad but now I feel like I need to go outside, grab her and give her a bath

How common is fly strike?!

Hen--I'm so sorry for your loss you're in my thoughts and prayers!

Me too. I have a bunch of little flies in the covered run. It's been so wet and hot, so I cut two holes in each side to let the heat out. The coop is pretty much dry due to all the DE I spread around. I hate to take the plastic off cuz it will be a pool when the rain comes.

Still the runs are wet and need a thorough cleaning. I hadn't planned on working today and that has all my focus. I have to go in late in the day so I can't get all muddy and yuk. DW will be here but she won't clean chicken runs.

 

[rancher hicks]

Letting the kids start to free range, but they pretty much stick to the stall and their pen. Everyone put themselves to bed tonight, so happy the kids have learned where home is.
But Luna decided to bring her chicks out tonight. When I went to lock up, she was on the floor in the stall with 4 chicks, one chick was left by itself in the coop. Don't trust to leave her outside of the coop on the floor all night, so grabbed the chicks and then her. But I found that one of the chicks she brought out is injured. I don't know if it fell off the ramp or if she stepped on it, but one leg is pointing up and to the side. Don't know if it is broken or dislocated, tips of the toes are purple. I don't know what to do, if it can be fixed. Chick can't stand or walk, uses it's wing to help propel itself forward. Heartbroken to lose so many in less than a week. Considering pulling the chicks from her, because I really don't want to deal with any more death this week. Especially if I have to put this one down. Someone, please advise. :'(

I am sorry about your chick. You should quarantine it and perhaps if you can use some bamboo skewers to make a splint. Have someone hold them in place while you wrap it. The purple toes might signify a circulation problem and I'm not sure what you can do about that.

I saw the rooster step on one of the Del chicks the other day and thought for sure it was a goner but but it was okay.

Whew! I do a head count each morning and listen for the peeping.

FY - I for those who have peepers in a coop, I once suggested a radio to drown out their peeping which may or may not signal predators that there are chicks about.

I hope things work out. I've had to put more than a couple down when my blk orp got on them. Young roosters are dangerous around young birds. I no longer let them out when there are young birds about. The &**( got on two young Del pullets and did them in.

 

[rancher hicks]

Rancher, I took the lone black Orpington that you had to keep my silkie company. The new feathers coming in have light patches on them...



Any idea what that would mean for this little guy's adult feather colors?

It may be that the father is the CR roo over a lav or splash hen. I've not finished the crate coop to move him to it. I've bought the stuff but haven't done it yet. I'm still debating giving up the orps.

I'm getting ready to write to see if I can get more CR eggs to hatch. If I can't I may not keep them.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: My big girls always have messy bottoms. Not horribly it seems their fluffy butts are really fluffy and catch some here & there. I try to cut off the messy feathers when I can. Their skin/vent area is clean it just sticks to the feathers. Never heard of fly strike. I do find a few flys occasionally in the coop but its usually because they cant figure out do go thru the cattle panels instead of trying to get out the door lol

The hoop coop has a lot of ventilation and it stays dry in there when it rains except for a few small leaks where zip strips come in. I plan on rectifying that by applying tar around the vents and over the zip tie holes. The silicone and duct tape just doesn't seem to work. I figure tar will fix the few leaks and I am going to remove everything, silicone and duct tape, and start fresh.

I hope to get it done tonight before the rain comes.