***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[old*cowboy]

I am not happy with the birds we bought last night. I am going to call the folks at the auction to let them know the birds we brought home are sick. It may just be change in enviroment but I want to let them know in case others have an issue. I know they can't do anything about it. They are in isolation (that is how we do all our new birds). We got a trio of bantam partridge cochins for Kurt. Those and the Columbians are on his wish list. But the roo and one of the hens have a sneeze. We are treating with Duramycin 10 now in case this is a respitory thing and not allergies or a change in homes. I know stress of auction and moving a bird can bring out illness so we have decided no more auction birds. We had decided that before now but I gave in and bought them. So if you see me at auction DO NOT let me buy any birds, lol.

The key to buying auction birds is isolate, and quarantine no mater what they look like. When you consider all the thousands of birds that come thru an auction site every year, the most healthy of fowl can bring home a bug. A sick bird comes thru, poops, sneezes, or coughs on the ground, then another cage is set there and the chickens do the same and then on and on. Healthy bird comes thru and is set on this same ground, well you get the picture. It is not the auctions fault. Is is just the way it is. Same way with poultry shows. if you take birds to a show, or buy birds at an auction, ISOLATE and QUARANTINE.

 

[jcatblum]

Just caught up on the thread. Spent all day in the garden. Planted 500 ft of asparagus. Now I am toasty sunburned!

Hope everyone had a great weekend & enjoyed the amazing weather.

 

[Oakieridge]

Oh I know it isn't the auctions fault and I don't expect them to do anything about it. I just want them to be aware just in case. I don't know who sold the birds and like you said they may have been healthy before getting to the auction. We always, always quarintine every bird even chicks. The chicks I bought last week at Newcastle are happy alert little things but I still will not put them in a brooder with chicks we had hatched from our own stock of the same age. 30 days is the rule here with all new birds. I have 2 barred rock hens I would LOVE to have breeding for sexlinks right now but can't use them for another 2 weeks. By then we will have quit hatching until after July 4th but I don't risk my healthy breeding stock for anything.

We are now going to look for someone selling hatching eggs for Kurt's birds or someone with day old chicks. He has 7 little banty cochin chicks now he loves he just wanted to start doing some hatching of his own now. He can wait for them to grow.

I forgot to post a picture of our new A-frame coops our first one was built out of pallets and some cedar dh had milled. The others are all out of the cedar hubby had milled. He made lapjoints for all the sides. This one wasn't 100% complete when I took the picture, he added a board across the front of the coop for a wind block at the bottom and at the top. The little BO chicks are loving their new space. It isn't as big as the coop we had them in but since we sold all the black australorp chicks they were with they didn't need that big of a coop.

 

[old*cowboy]

Oh I know it isn't the auctions fault and I don't expect them to do anything about it. I just want them to be aware just in case. I don't know who sold the birds and like you said they may have been healthy before getting to the auction. We always, always quarintine every bird even chicks. The chicks I bought last week at Newcastle are happy alert little things but I still will not put them in a brooder with chicks we had hatched from our own stock of the same age. 30 days is the rule here with all new birds. I have 2 barred rock hens I would LOVE to have breeding for sexlinks right now but can't use them for another 2 weeks. By then we will have quit hatching until after July 4th but I don't risk my healthy breeding stock for anything.

We are now going to look for someone selling hatching eggs for Kurt's birds or someone with day old chicks. He has 7 little banty cochin chicks now he loves he just wanted to start doing some hatching of his own now. He can wait for them to grow.

I forgot to post a picture of our new A-frame coops our first one was built out of pallets and some cedar dh had milled. The others are all out of the cedar hubby had milled. He made lapjoints for all the sides. This one wasn't 100% complete when I took the picture, he added a board across the front of the coop for a wind block at the bottom and at the top. The little BO chicks are loving their new space. It isn't as big as the coop we had them in but since we sold all the black australorp chicks they were with they didn't need that big of a coop.

Good looking coop and I bet the cedar smells good too.

 

[Nektosha]

Quote:
I agree with all of the above, butt... had to call anyway, just to make sure someone would check them. Would rather be wrong than to have a bunch of chicks suffering. Didn't complain about the stores anyway, just the situation. TSC in Purcell has healthy chicks. They've only been open a year or so, and the employees know their stuff. Have yet to talk to anyone there that couldn't speak intelligently about whatever item I was asking about.

 

[NanaKat]

I just love that picture. Unfortunately, my dog killed one of my hens today so no more dog in the chicken pen here or over at Jack's when I am helping catch birds. I thought Louie was doing so well. He ignores the birds walking around but a hen on a nest is just too much of a temptation for him.
Plus, i loved that little hen.

Sorry about your little hen.

 

[upcdayz]

Late yesterday afternoon I noticed that Bunny, my silkied Serama hen, was acting funny - isolating herself, crouching and just not acting like herself. I didn't think too much of it until about 2:30 this morning. I woke up in a panic remembering that she hadn't laid an egg today. I went to check on her and found her away from all the other birds, sitting on some straw. I think she was trying to lay an egg today and it's now stuck. I immediately put her in a warm, 30 minute bath, blow dried her and put some vaseline in and around her vent. I can feel an egg in there. Now she's in the living room, in a box with a heating pad in it, with towels over the heating pad. Water and food (with oyster shell) is in there with her. I hope she passes the egg. She's got to be hurting. She keeps contracting like she's trying to pass it, but so far no egg. Will check her in the morning.

 

[Oakieridge]

Late yesterday afternoon I noticed that Bunny, my silkied Serama hen, was acting funny - isolating herself, crouching and just not acting like herself. I didn't think too much of it until about 2:30 this morning. I woke up in a panic remembering that she hadn't laid an egg today. I went to check on her and found her away from all the other birds, sitting on some straw. I think she was trying to lay an egg today and it's now stuck. I immediately put her in a warm, 30 minute bath, blow dried her and put some vaseline in and around her vent. I can feel an egg in there. Now she's in the living room, in a box with a heating pad in it, with towels over the heating pad. Water and food (with oyster shell) is in there with her. I hope she passes the egg. She's got to be hurting. She keeps contracting like she's trying to pass it, but so far no egg. Will check her in the morning.

Poor baby, hope she gets that egg out quickly and is fine.

 

[RetiredArmyWife]

Nice! What kind of wood did you use?

Oh I know it isn't the auctions fault and I don't expect them to do anything about it. I just want them to be aware just in case. I don't know who sold the birds and like you said they may have been healthy before getting to the auction. We always, always quarintine every bird even chicks. The chicks I bought last week at Newcastle are happy alert little things but I still will not put them in a brooder with chicks we had hatched from our own stock of the same age. 30 days is the rule here with all new birds. I have 2 barred rock hens I would LOVE to have breeding for sexlinks right now but can't use them for another 2 weeks. By then we will have quit hatching until after July 4th but I don't risk my healthy breeding stock for anything.

We are now going to look for someone selling hatching eggs for Kurt's birds or someone with day old chicks. He has 7 little banty cochin chicks now he loves he just wanted to start doing some hatching of his own now. He can wait for them to grow.

I forgot to post a picture of our new A-frame coops our first one was built out of pallets and some cedar dh had milled. The others are all out of the cedar hubby had milled. He made lapjoints for all the sides. This one wasn't 100% complete when I took the picture, he added a board across the front of the coop for a wind block at the bottom and at the top. The little BO chicks are loving their new space. It isn't as big as the coop we had them in but since we sold all the black australorp chicks they were with they didn't need that big of a coop.

 

[RetiredArmyWife]

Good looking coop and I bet the cedar smells good too.

Oh never mind my question. I thought it looked like cedar. lol