Official Squatch Watchers

[rjohns39]

Good morning! Pardon my tardiness "lol".
I have to make a phone call that I was supposed to make over two months ago whoops.
Im glad I forgot though im NOT glad I remembered.
The call is a first cousin's wife I haven't seen any of my mom's family since 2016 except her last living sister that I visited.
Iv'e got to put on my steel belted big girl panties, have an adult conversation and do my best not to blurt out how bad they suck.
Probably going to happen anyway, but im not a complete savage so I gotta try at least.
It is my fault iv'e got to do this anyway, I made first contact.
I was so happy to see her because im pretty damn stupid sometimes.
That lasted maybe 2 seconds lol.
First thing she says we didn't know where you were to contact you!
I can totally see how a place that every single family member has been coming to for 60 plus years slipping her mind.
It happens often for them too, seem to remember the amnesia struck when mom could have used their support.
Had another round when I could have used a teeny bit not for mom but with her.
I was over it but she just had to chunk that whole didn't know where you were turd in the ole punch bowl. Freakin guilty conscious was driving her mouth apparently.
So yep, I forgot all about this.
I'm going to call her though if for no other reason to not be on the same level of jackassery.

 

[apryl29]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it.

Honestly with a second bird looking "off" I would switch back.

Do you have the bags from the new feed so you can check mill dates?
Even if the mill date is "ok" if there is a chance it got damp I would be inclined to not use it.

I still have them in my trunk. I'll take a look tonight. I don't think they got wet, or anything like that since I got them, but IDK about before. I keep them in a trash can in my coop and they *should* be fine in there, but if there was something up w/ the feed I'd rather switch back. Sucks to have wasted the $$, but it is what it is. I'll go grab a bag of feather fixer from TSC tonight.

How old are these chickens? No recall on the feed is there?

The 2 I just lost were about 2 1/2 yrs old. the first one was one of the survivors from the production pack I got from hoover hatchery. The one that seems sick now is the other survivor. The one the I had euthanized yesterday was an Amberlink from TSC. All were bought the end of Feb 2017. IDK about a recall. I'll have to see what brand it was and look online. I didn't even think of that.

Apryl, i'd go back to feeding the norm only from the original place you buy feed.
Weed out as many unknowns as you can, especially feed related ones.

I think that's a good idea. I didn't know if I was over reacting or not. Thank you!

I'm so very sorry Apryl. You did your best, chickens are complicated and being "farm animals" don't garner many vets that will do surgery that are reasonably affordable.

The fact that we get attached and want the best for them is a relatively new concept, within the last 60 years. They are still not considered a typical pet and since they are seen as food producers and eventually food, there really is no demand for vets capable of doing more advanced care.

It would be great if more vets did the more complicated treatment for chickens, as they would probably have a decent clientele. They wouldn't get swamped, but there would be enough of a demand to be worth adding it to the clinic.

Luckily there is someone nearby who will see chickens, but they don't do any surgery or anything. She said there is an Avian vet in Akron who could do surgery, but it was also just as likely that she would die in the near future anyway.

 

[apryl29]

Good morning! Pardon my tardiness "lol".
I have to make a phone call that I was supposed to make over two months ago whoops.
Im glad I forgot though im NOT glad I remembered.
The call is a first cousin's wife I haven't seen any of my mom's family since 2016 except her last living sister that I visited.
Iv'e got to put on my steel belted big girl panties, have an adult conversation and do my best not to blurt out how bad they suck.
Probably going to happen anyway, but im not a complete savage so I gotta try at least.
It is my fault iv'e got to do this anyway, I made first contact.
I was so happy to see her because im pretty damn stupid sometimes.
That lasted maybe 2 seconds lol.
First thing she says we didn't know where you were to contact you!
I can totally see how a place that every single family member has been coming to for 60 plus years slipping her mind.
It happens often for them too, seem to remember the amnesia struck when mom could have used their support.
Had another round when I could have used a teeny bit not for mom but with her.
I was over it but she just had to chunk that whole didn't know where you were turd in the ole punch bowl. Freakin guilty conscious was driving her mouth apparently.
So yep, I forgot all about this.
I'm going to call her though if for no other reason to not be on the same level of jackassery.

It really makes it easier to not feel guilty about not contacting some family.

 

[Molpet]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it.


I still have them in my trunk. I'll take a look tonight. I don't think they got wet, or anything like that since I got them, but IDK about before. I keep them in a trash can in my coop and they *should* be fine in there, but if there was something up w/ the feed I'd rather switch back. Sucks to have wasted the $$, but it is what it is. I'll go grab a bag of feather fixer from TSC tonight.


The 2 I just lost were about 2 1/2 yrs old. the first one was one of the survivors from the production pack I got from hoover hatchery. The one that seems sick now is the other survivor. The one the I had euthanized yesterday was an Amberlink from TSC. All were bought the end of Feb 2017. IDK about a recall. I'll have to see what brand it was and look online. I didn't even think of that.


I think that's a good idea. I didn't know if I was over reacting or not. Thank you!


Luckily there is someone nearby who will see chickens, but they don't do any surgery or anything. She said there is an Avian vet in Akron who could do surgery, but it was also just as likely that she would die in the near future anyway.

My 2 Isa browns from 2016, got sick in the same week. They hadn't been laying. One died right away and I put the other down a few days later.... They were sweet so I didn't cull them when they slowed down laying last year. It was sad even though they were livestock... Don't think I could have eaten them anyway

 

[apryl29]

My 2 Isa browns from 2016, got sick in the same week. They hadn't been laying. One died right away and I put the other down a few days later.... They were sweet so I didn't cull them when they slowed down laying last year. It was sad even though they were livestock... Don't think I could have eaten them anyway

We had no plans of eating any of them. I just didn't expect them to start dying off so soon and all at once. I'm really worried about Olive, she's an egger so I'm hoping she will live longer. She doesn't lay as much as the production birds so I'm hoping she'll hang on for a few more years. She's my youngest daughter's favorite & she'll be devastated if she dies. She's doing a hard molt right now so hopefully she'll make it through.

 

[Molpet]

We had no plans of eating any of them. I just didn't expect them to start dying off so soon and all at once. I'm really worried about Olive, she's an egger so I'm hoping she will live longer. She doesn't lay as much as the production birds so I'm hoping she'll hang on for a few more years. She's my youngest daughter's favorite & she'll be devastated if she dies. She's doing a hard molt right now so hopefully she'll make it through.

Prayers that Olive is fine and just the molt.

I had intended to make soup when they quit laying... but they had a retirement home.
The birds for laying wear themselves out and have too many reproductive issues, I will not get them again. Someone gave me these but they were so sweet.

 

[Parront]

Prayers that Olive is fine and just the molt.

I had intended to make soup when they quit laying... but they had a retirement home.
The birds for laying wear themselves out and have too many reproductive issues, I will not get them again. Someone gave me these but they were so sweet.

The longest lived best layers I ever had were Brown Leghorns. Still laying pretty good at 4 years old, lots of them.

 

[apryl29]

Prayers that Olive is fine and just the molt.

I had intended to make soup when they quit laying... but they had a retirement home.
The birds for laying wear themselves out and have too many reproductive issues, I will not get them again. Someone gave me these but they were so sweet.

They do grow on you after a while, esp if they're good natured.

The longest lived best layers I ever had were Brown Leghorns. Still laying pretty good at 4 years old, lots of them.

I'll keep that in mind if I go looking for birds again. I still have 12 and unless I get my own place I'm not going to be adding to my flock any time soon.

 

[Rubysword]

I guess my family isn't the only one losing their flock. I'm really sorry for all of the sickness that seems to be going around!

So my family just moved. We had already been having issues with predators, and our flock was down a lot. We gave the chickens to someone in Pennsylvania who we knew and trusted. All of them got eaten by a mystery predator, including Dove, our sweet chocolate orpington. So I'm currently chicken-less.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I guess my family isn't the only one losing their flock. I'm really sorry for all of the sickness that seems to be going around!

So my family just moved. We had already been having issues with predators, and our flock was down a lot. We gave the chickens to someone in Pennsylvania who we knew and trusted. All of them got eaten by a mystery predator, including Dove, our sweet chocolate orpington. So I'm currently chicken-less.

That super sucks dear.

I am so sorry. I know how you loved them all.