NY chicken lover!!!!

[Henicillin]

My weekend was less than stellar. My old pony Bingo died Thursday night. He was laying down when we got home from work in some tall grass in a wet patch of lawn. We helped him get up and I forced him to go to the barn (because he always leans back against a wall to sleep). He got a shot of Banamine and I also picked up a new bottle of Azipen to try another round. Found him in his stall Friday morning.

There was no suitable place to bury him in his favorite spots on our lawn, so picked a nice shady spot in the main pasture for him. I took his leftover bags of grain to my fellow horsewoman down the road today and talked for quite some time. We always get caught up swapping horse stories. But when I explained all of his symptoms leading to his death, she suggested Congestive Heart Failure. Reading over the symptoms online, she is right. He never had any of the edema, but everything else fits. That explains why the Dex did nothing for his breathing problems, because it wasn't a breathing problem. It is relieving to know what he died of and that there was nothing I could have done to cure him, but wish I had known sooner and I would have put him down 2 weeks ago. He stopped eating last week. I miss him terribly, he was my best friend for 20 years. Even hubby misses Bingo yelling for his grain each morning as soon as you walk in the door. I look out on my back lawn and remember him grazing near the deck. I took down the fence and mowed the lawn today.

I'm so sorry about Bingo. It's so hard to lose an old friend.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Well my oldest turned 4 yesterday. She looking like a small adult and makes me think she was just a baby yesterday. It makes me sad and happy all at once to think about it.

Wonderful picture! My baby just turned 18!

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Laperian---my condolences on losing a beloved part of your family.

Cass---those pitiful peeps will get you every time. They do me. I wish you luck on getting them trained and into their coop.

Feels like another warm one. I have resigned myself to having to buy 2 new waterers. For some reason the hens waterer is rusting in spots and I am not happy about that. The terrorists are also drinking more than what their plastic waterer can hold. I have to fix my nipple waterer as well so I can have at least 2 waterers, if not 3, so I dont have to worry about them while I am at work. 26 chickens drink a lot of water. Working on a spot for the hens coop to move it to so we can start building the run for the big coop. Our soil is more rocks and clay than anything else so it if going to be a backbreaker for sure. Need to get the run done though, so the cheeps can be outside every day.

Incubator is still holding steady and the first candle day is thursday. Soooo hoping the incubator gods are smiling on me!

 

[vmdanielsen]

Looks like everyone had a good weekend, lots of chatter today! Travis - cute hat! I have an upcoming 2 year old party to work on, got all the party supplies, now to get all the rest of the plans together.

My weekend was less than stellar. My old pony Bingo died Thursday night. He was laying down when we got home from work in some tall grass in a wet patch of lawn. We helped him get up and I forced him to go to the barn (because he always leans back against a wall to sleep). He got a shot of Banamine and I also picked up a new bottle of Azipen to try another round. Found him in his stall Friday morning.

There was no suitable place to bury him in his favorite spots on our lawn, so picked a nice shady spot in the main pasture for him. I took his leftover bags of grain to my fellow horsewoman down the road today and talked for quite some time. We always get caught up swapping horse stories. But when I explained all of his symptoms leading to his death, she suggested Congestive Heart Failure. Reading over the symptoms online, she is right. He never had any of the edema, but everything else fits. That explains why the Dex did nothing for his breathing problems, because it wasn't a breathing problem. It is relieving to know what he died of and that there was nothing I could have done to cure him, but wish I had known sooner and I would have put him down 2 weeks ago. He stopped eating last week. I miss him terribly, he was my best friend for 20 years. Even hubby misses Bingo yelling for his grain each morning as soon as you walk in the door. I look out on my back lawn and remember him grazing near the deck. I took down the fence and mowed the lawn today.

In the chicky news, the final 3 big kids were moved into the main group this weekend without any issues. We got home late tonight and everyone was in the coop up on the roosts except for the big 3. And 2 of them were outside the fence. Got them in and closed up for the night. That fence is going to drive me crazy.

The gound is so hard and full of rock near the garage, I can only get the step in posts in 2", if that. Then the wire springs back up and pulls the posts out of the ground. Posts are serving no real purpose, as that section is the old fashioned 4' chicken wire which is heavy enough to stand up on its own, until the posts topple over. The chooks are probably getting out either over the 3' wire where it is mashed down from us stepping over, or under the wire because we all know how well chicken wire conforms to changes in topography.

So sorry to hear about Bingo.......

 

[vmdanielsen]

Laperian---my condolences on losing a beloved part of your family.

Cass---those pitiful peeps will get you every time. They do me. I wish you luck on getting them trained and into their coop.

Feels like another warm one. I have resigned myself to having to buy 2 new waterers. For some reason the hens waterer is rusting in spots and I am not happy about that. The terrorists are also drinking more than what their plastic waterer can hold. I have to fix my nipple waterer as well so I can have at least 2 waterers, if not 3, so I dont have to worry about them while I am at work. 26 chickens drink a lot of water. Working on a spot for the hens coop to move it to so we can start building the run for the big coop. Our soil is more rocks and clay than anything else so it if going to be a backbreaker for sure. Need to get the run done though, so the cheeps can be outside every day.

Incubator is still holding steady and the first candle day is thursday. Soooo hoping the incubator gods are smiling on me!

If I have the nipple waterer and a regular waterer in the same pen, the chickens won't drink out of the nipple waterer. But, it does serve as a good back up!

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Ginny---I found that my rir will use both as they are nosy and like to check out everything. I didnt even have to show them what to do. As soon as I put it up, they were over there pecking at it and drinking out of it. They will use both waterers when they are in there. I have to fix a leak at the joint in the nipple one. My today project after work. I am most unhappy that my galvanized waterer is rusting in spots. Thats not supposed to happen and I have only had it a year and a half.

 

[Lapeerian]

Inquiry: Where do you find the nipple waterers? I have seen them online, but haven't really researched to find the best deal. Are they all the same, or is one place/brand better than another? I want to set up a nipple waterer system with a large bucket so I can easily top fill and keep it clean. Right now I have a dog dish that I dump and fill twice a day. It is always dirty from someone using it as a foot bath and sometimes gets tipped over, leaving chickens without water until I get home. Even with filling it twice a day, now that all 18 are together and the warmer temps, I won't be able to keep the dish full enough so will temporarily use one of the horse grain pans and bring the chick waterer back into use for backup. Suggestions or pics are welcome!

 

[marquisella]

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplie...ering_systems-ft1_hoses_nipples;pgwc1045.html

I love my bucket system. Fill up once a week. I put Oxine in during the summer to help keep algae down.

I should add, you cannot put the lid on the bucket tight, or the water won't flow. I put it on just so it covers the top, but losely so air can flow into the bucket.

 

[marquisella]

I thought I would share with you all that Premier has free shipping when you buy over $100. I have had a bad streak of egg eating, so I decided to buy 3 roll out next boxes so the eggs roll out of sight & they can't eat them. It would have cost me $40 for shipping. Its a great deal if you want something that weighs a lot and spend the $100.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Ginny---I found that my rir will use both as they are nosy and like to check out everything. I didnt even have to show them what to do. As soon as I put it up, they were over there pecking at it and drinking out of it. They will use both waterers when they are in there. I have to fix a leak at the joint in the nipple one. My today project after work. I am most unhappy that my galvanized waterer is rusting in spots. Thats not supposed to happen and I have only had it a year and a half.

I hate when things don't live up to my expectations.