NY chicken lover!!!!

[LuvMyChicks1491]

I lost my Red last night. She was one of the original chicks that I got from TSC 3 years ago. She had a swollen abdomen a little while back and I knew that her days were numbered I lost my other 2 the same way. I would get the swelling down with warm baths and some TLC then a few weeks later they would swell up again.

She was such a sweet girl...my avatar picture is of her when she was younger...

The day I brought them home...


Red this summer...

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Way to go Pyxis on the great article making the home page!!

 

[rancher hicks]

I lost my Red last night. She was one of the original chicks that I got from TSC 3 years ago. She had a swollen abdomen a little while back and I knew that her days were numbered I lost my other 2 the same way. I would get the swelling down with warm baths and some TLC then a few weeks later they would swell up again.

She was such a sweet girl...my avatar picture is of her when she was younger...

The day I brought them home...


Red this summer...

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[HISIRISHGEM]

Most any pelleted fish food you buy will be high in protein - feed modestly, you don't want them getting kidney failure. On the coop front - I have built all my own coops from reclaimed pallet wood and some bought wood. It can't be too complcated if I can do it! I don't use plans - only the one in my head....

Oh, if you have pictures you could post sometime so I could get a visual that would be awesome. My head is a bit foggy these days. Thank you about the pelleted fish food. I'll have my husband stop to get some. Who mentioned SAD? I have it too. I can't WAIT for spring to start. This is awful! My head is so foggy, my emotions up and down. Of course it didn't help with the year we've had of straight losses, but this is just ridiculous. I felt like I was having a heart attack and my vitamin D level was so low that the 50k didn't do it and we had to add over the counter Vitamin D once a day WITH the prescription D.

Well now lately if the sun is shining I sit on the porch reading just to soak it up.

I know I'm going to catch flack but,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "A man who has made no enemies is probably not a very good man." - Scalia, so here goes.

For some reason SOME women and men think because she or he doesn't work outside the home she or he has no money. I'm on a crusade to change this thinking or should be.

DW used to ask women who came into the hospital if they "worked outside the home". Some were surprised by this question.

Ladies just because you don't get a paycheck doesn't mean you're not working. Used to be we got paid by cash in an envelope.

DW and I are a team, sure we do different jobs but with the same goal in mind, just like the NFL and all that. Sure Manning got all the attention but Manning didn't pass the ball to himself ! DW and I compliment each other, we make the other look good. Well mostly she makes me look good but you get the idea?

When DW worked she had her pay put in two accounts. One joint and one personal. The money in her personal account was hers to do what ever she wanted with. Not groceries, kids or other necessities but how she decided.

At the same time she doesn't gripe because I have MY chickens.

So ladies and gentlemen you may not agree with me, but you'd be wrong. You are not a "house wife" you are a WIFE who takes care of the house and should receive the same respect as your spouse.

Someday I'm going to take those His and Her towels and sew a line across the His and Hers and embroider in OURS !! Course I can't embroider so it may never happen.

FYI, you don't want to get me started on Husbands and Wives who call each other Mom and Dad. That is just sick!

Your friend and ally,
Rancher, married to his girlfriend not his mother, Hicks

Baker, print this out, hand it to him and go get a tan.

First of all,

for adding the Scalia quote.

Great man right there. Second

I am a Homemaker, Wife, Mother and woman of many hats. There are two things that have bugged me. One, that I am less of a human being because I stay at home. Like I'm lazy. Couldn't be further from the truth. Two, when people ask if I have more children. They open up a can or worms with that one because I gave birth to my first born prematurely after 8 years of trying. He was a little miracle baby. He passed away 25 minutes later. The first aspect of healing is acknowledging that he was alive and here. So when people ask, I come across as "Debbie Downer" but I'll never disregard that I have a second child. He's alive, he's just living at home in heaven.

Not many men with a mind set like that. My husband is a real good man. I don't think anyone else could have handled the things we've been through. Luckily God has been the center and whenever things like SAD during winter happen, or any other adversity, just as with the good but in adversity he takes the Bible out and we read together. It's calming and helpful. Anyways, a very kind thing to say. I really miss the shivelry of times gone by. I hope our little girl will know it.

As for the hoop. It sounds neat, but I have no idea how we'd do that. We're not very handy. I speak for solely us when I say I wish as we both were growing up we had learned basic skills like sewing, building, knowing how to fix simple things and fix simple car issues. Seriously, I hope we can learn these and teach these skills to our daughter. They're priceless. Just to complete simple home/car and home-keeping skills. I know how to cook and do other things but there is so much I wish we knew. It would save us so much. I.E. we need two tub surrounds for each of our bathrooms. One has a window, the other upstairs in cut odd because it's like an a-frame having been upstairs in the attic. SO, it's hard to find the older cut out surrounds. They're kind of cheap too. I'd love to know how to replace the fixtures on our own without someone taking it all up and spending 10k for two surrounds. Who knows what they'd find if they took it all down. You know how remodeling and surprises go. ((sigh))

I lost my Red last night. She was one of the original chicks that I got from TSC 3 years ago. She had a swollen abdomen a little while back and I knew that her days were numbered I lost my other 2 the same way. I would get the swelling down with warm baths and some TLC then a few weeks later they would swell up again.

She was such a sweet girl...my avatar picture is of her when she was younger...

The day I brought them home...


Red this summer...

I'm so sorry. There are two the I am getting close to. I can't imagine how I'll feel when my it's my favorites time. May I ask what the bloated tummy means?





As for me...

A little bit of a tough day for me. I'm not sure I'm being over-dramatic but I went out after the chickens had been out for a bit and my favorite hen sounds horse. The others sound okay that I could hear with exception to snow white who seems to be the more aggressive EE'er since she's come with the others last fall. I think she's a culprit in the feather pecking but she also has her feathers pecked back. She sounds pretty horse and so I brought her in with me, brought some food and water in as well. She's the flighty and skittish one but she'll put up with my daughter picking her up just like the others will. Rancher I know you gave yours something in the water (I think you did at least) that took care of wheezing. Now the girls aren't wheezing but they sound horse. It was quite wet out.

I don't have anything in the house for colds for birds. What should I get and do you think they'll be okay until tomorrow when I can get to Tractor Supplies or does anyone know of anything I can give them tonight that I could get say, at Walmart or Wegmans in the animal section if I should get something tonight?

Another issue I've seen with snow white is she's skinny. I can feel the bone maybe the breast bone? She's not very fat. There's only one REALLY fat. The others are okay but not a whole lot of meat on their bones. We have two feeding stations in different corners of the 8 x 10ft coop. We also leave scratch outside and they are let out to free range though there's not much out there. Is this a normal thing? They get the pellets that are from the tractor supply store. They get black oil sunflower seeds, scratch and we give them lots of veggie treats. All I can think of it that maybe they are getting TOO MUCH scratch where they aren't wanting to eat their regular food and sunflower seeds. Maybe they get full on scratch and treats and don't eat enough of the food and sunflower seeds? They didn't like the FF either. Very finicky for some reason. So my over-emotional self keeps wondering what I'm doing wrong?

or if it's a normal thing for them?

 

[rancher hicks]

Oh, if you have pictures you could post sometime so I could get a visual that would be awesome. My head is a bit foggy these days. Thank you about the pelleted fish food. I'll have my husband stop to get some. Who mentioned SAD? I have it too. I can't WAIT for spring to start. This is awful! My head is so foggy, my emotions up and down. Of course it didn't help with the year we've had of straight losses, but this is just ridiculous. I felt like I was having a heart attack and my vitamin D level was so low that the 50k didn't do it and we had to add over the counter Vitamin D once a day WITH the prescription D.




First of all,

for adding the Scalia quote.

Great man right there. Second

I am a Homemaker, Wife, Mother and woman of many hats. There are two things that have bugged me. One, that I am less of a human being because I stay at home. Like I'm lazy. Couldn't be further from the truth. Two, when people ask if I have more children. They open up a can or worms with that one because I gave birth to my first born prematurely after 8 years of trying. He was a little miracle baby. He passed away 25 minutes later. The first aspect of healing is acknowledging that he was alive and here. So when people ask, I come across as "Debbie Downer" but I'll never disregard that I have a second child. He's alive, he's just living at home in heaven.

Not many men with a mind set like that. My husband is a real good man. I don't think anyone else could have handled the things we've been through. Luckily God has been the center and whenever things like SAD during winter happen, or any other adversity, just as with the good but in adversity he takes the Bible out and we read together. It's calming and helpful. Anyways, a very kind thing to say. I really miss the shivelry of times gone by. I hope our little girl will know it.

As for the hoop. It sounds neat, but I have no idea how we'd do that. We're not very handy. I speak for solely us when I say I wish as we both were growing up we had learned basic skills like sewing, building, knowing how to fix simple things and fix simple car issues. Seriously, I hope we can learn these and teach these skills to our daughter. They're priceless. Just to complete simple home/car and home-keeping skills. I know how to cook and do other things but there is so much I wish we knew. It would save us so much. I.E. we need two tub surrounds for each of our bathrooms. One has a window, the other upstairs in cut odd because it's like an a-frame having been upstairs in the attic. SO, it's hard to find the older cut out surrounds. They're kind of cheap too. I'd love to know how to replace the fixtures on our own without someone taking it all up and spending 10k for two surrounds. Who knows what they'd find if they took it all down. You know how remodeling and surprises go. ((sigh))



I'm so sorry. There are two the I am getting close to. I can't imagine how I'll feel when my it's my favorites time. May I ask what the bloated tummy means?





As for me...

A little bit of a tough day for me. I'm not sure I'm being over-dramatic but I went out after the chickens had been out for a bit and my favorite hen sounds horse. The others sound okay that I could hear with exception to snow white who seems to be the more aggressive EE'er since she's come with the others last fall. I think she's a culprit in the feather pecking but she also has her feathers pecked back. She sounds pretty horse and so I brought her in with me, brought some food and water in as well. She's the flighty and skittish one but she'll put up with my daughter picking her up just like the others will. Rancher I know you gave yours something in the water (I think you did at least) that took care of wheezing. Now the girls aren't wheezing but they sound horse. It was quite wet out.

I don't have anything in the house for colds for birds. What should I get and do you think they'll be okay until tomorrow when I can get to Tractor Supplies or does anyone know of anything I can give them tonight that I could get say, at Walmart or Wegmans in the animal section if I should get something tonight?

Another issue I've seen with snow white is she's skinny. I can feel the bone maybe the breast bone? She's not very fat. There's only one REALLY fat. The others are okay but not a whole lot of meat on their bones. We have two feeding stations in different corners of the 8 x 10ft coop. We also leave scratch outside and they are let out to free range though there's not much out there. Is this a normal thing? They get the pellets that are from the tractor supply store. They get black oil sunflower seeds, scratch and we give them lots of veggie treats. All I can think of it that maybe they are getting TOO MUCH scratch where they aren't wanting to eat their regular food and sunflower seeds. Maybe they get full on scratch and treats and don't eat enough of the food and sunflower seeds? They didn't like the FF either. Very finicky for some reason. So my over-emotional self keeps wondering what I'm doing wrong?

or if it's a normal thing for them?

Real quick. "Duramycin" is what I got at TSC. Put some in the water. Not to much but enough to color the water. Can't really say what's wrong but when the weather warms the humidity goes up and bam! Someone gets sick.

As for food I gradually mix the new feed with the old and they get used to it. I also get pelleted feed so it pretty much looks like the same layer feed.

Not sure whether you believe in it or not but I've laid hands on my chickens and prayed for them. This is Buckwheat. She swellled up and everything I read said she was doomed. She got better and while she hadn't laid in a long time begin to lay again. Notice the egg on the flower pot? I did treat her as best I thought how but the articles were no help at all. She's still with me. I figure she's close to 6 or 7. Frenchy her mom just turned 8 yesterday.

Point being put your hands on your birds and ask God to help them. My faith tells me if God goes to the trouble to count the hairs on our heads and notices the sparrow that falls he cares about our animals.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

If anyone is in western new york and want to jon this facebook group...the more the merrier.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/859848244053120/

 

[HISIRISHGEM]

Real quick. "Duramycin" is what I got at TSC. Put some in the water. Not to much but enough to color the water. Can't really say what's wrong but when the weather warms the humidity goes up and bam! Someone gets sick.

As for food I gradually mix the new feed with the old and they get used to it. I also get pelleted feed so it pretty much looks like the same layer feed.

Not sure whether you believe in it or not but I've laid hands on my chickens and prayed for them. This is Buckwheat. She swellled up and everything I read said she was doomed. She got better and while she hadn't laid in a long time begin to lay again. Notice the egg on the flower pot? I did treat her as best I thought how but the articles were no help at all. She's still with me. I figure she's close to 6 or 7. Frenchy her mom just turned 8 yesterday.

Point being put your hands on your birds and ask God to help them. My faith tells me if God goes to the trouble to count the hairs on our heads and notices the sparrow that falls he cares about our animals.

Thank you! I've been praying for them with our daughter each night for God to keep them safe (my 4 year old tells them to "stick together girls!" Hahaha) I'll lay hands on snow white and go out and lay hands on the others tomorrow. I gave snow white some mashed bananas with some yogurt. I'm worried about my favorite girl. It's probably for nothing but at this point they all have me freaked out a little bit. Of course it's a full moon tonight too! Everyone has been flipping out the past few nights. My poor husband used to have the dog but now we have all females and our new dog is female. No other males in the house God bless him. Hahaha

Do you think I should open the window a bit more tonight? This weather is a bit odd. We're due more snowstorms starting on Wed. Poor girls.

 

[Purpletie3]

Where do I get the catfish food? Is the black oil sunflowers protein? I've been throwing LOTS Of that in there. I'm willing to use anything. Now I'm a bit worried. I'll have to check poor Lady Mary and bring her in. Being new, I don't know how to gauge normal from not so normal but I would have thought that it would calm by now but I did get them in September and it started in November when the weather got dreary and the girls were cooped up more than when they had first come. May I ask how you lost her from feather picking? Did she fall ill or did they peck her to death? I've been thinking about moving her and a couple others to a different coop. Maybe that's the solution.

Thank you so much for your input! Especially on the TSC coop too.

The sunflowers should have protein for them. My gal was really bloodied bad. I brought her inside and painted her butt and fed her treats and vitamins and I think the stress got her. I was so sad. She was a beautiful English Orpington...Her feathers were so thick that my bf didn't see how bad she was picked until it was bad.

I have two Amish coops that I bought from Waterville Sheds. Great craftmanship if you live that way. I actually have a single garage they made also. Speaking of hoop coops I just picked up a cattle panel hoop plans...that may be on the horizon soon!

Best of luck with your chickens!

 

[Devona]

Thanks, rancher. I'm sure I'm not the only one that appreciates that sentiment! I'm a 'stay at home mom', but I'm definitely not a housewife. I don't keep house very well, but I do shuttle my kids around here and there all year round, especially in the summer.

 

[Devona]

Most any pelleted fish food you buy will be high in protein - feed modestly, you don't want them getting kidney failure. On the coop front - I have built all my own coops from reclaimed pallet wood and some bought wood. It can't be too complcated if I can do it! I don't use plans - only the one in my head....

Do you take the pallets apart and then make the coop, or do you use the pallets as they are, and make the walls with them?