***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[nnbreeder]

I went to check on the new girls tonight and they were all crowded into two corners, as if they couldn't stand the idea of not being in close contact with a bunch of other birds. It's a tiny coop, not really big enough for more that 20 or 25 birds for long periods, but these 60+ are only using a fraction of it.

This is going to be an interesting project, but I have my work cut out for me.

Buster do a search for ex batts. That is what they call the old battery hens in the UK and Oz. They have been rescueing battery birds for a great many years and have the experiance to pull them through the hard time of freedom. Some of the birds actually scream when put down on dirt or grass because all they have known are cages. They are not socialized and just plain don't know how to be chickens. In the UK there are actually groups that knit pull overs for the birds without feathers.

I can't post the sites because they have forums and I have already been spanked a time or two for it. LOL

 

[artsyrobin]

here are a few pics of the chicks, gave them to the silkie from coral to hatch since she'd gone broody- so when they started to pip i put them under her- anyway one is still in the bator, not sure what is going on with it, and one pipped and died, what causes that?

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote:
they quite often are afraid of light and dirt and grass... they do adjust, just takes a bit

 

[MacGuyver]

Those having breathing problems, 2 things help me. Asthma clear -- it's a mix of herbs & natural. Also drinks high in caffeine. I personally don't like soda, but when I am wheezing a mt dew helps bunches. When a new born puppy is having a hard time breathing they say give it caffeine. So same thing IMO. However I don't drink caffeine filled drinks often, so may not help those who live off coffe & sodas.
The weather forecast was showing a few days below 100, but they disappeared off the forecast already! I keep trying to talk myself into taking kids to the water park, but I am waiting for a cooler day. Guess I just need to take them & get over the forecast!

Caffeine is actually very good for asthma. Twenty years ago we used to use Theophylline for our neonates who had difficulty breathing. However, it was found that there were a lot of unacceptable side effects (brain bleeds, etc.) from the theo. They switched to using caffeine instead, and it helped the breathing but with a much nicer side effect profile.

 

[nnbreeder]

they quite often are afraid of light and dirt and grass... they do adjust, just takes a bit

A lot of them are stressed so badly they throw their feathers in the first couple of days. And yes most do adjust.


The change of feed is also a problem, the feed of a battery bird is high in calcium and low in protien because they don't get any excercise. Watch for both sour crop and impacted crop.

Sometimes they don't adjust to having other birds around them and just can't grasp the whole pecking order process so they have to be carefully watched for getting pecked on.

 

[michaeldaugherty]

Jcat i have 2 more of the flat cages an alot that are the same just taller so just help your self to thim if i am not ther ..I get home a bit after 4..NN i thot the same thing about the comb's i seen it on TV wer they cut thim off an make soup..

 

[michaeldaugherty]

Elie HOW is your bird's doing you got the other day at the sale ...I new when you wer biding on that last one it was the one that guy was wonting because he walkd off after you got it out..

 

[michaeldaugherty]

artsy they are not manny silky's around hear at all if i was to come threw your town i would swap you out of some ...I have one that is part O.E an i just keep him because he had ben in a life trap for 6 mths so i let him run free...He is a talker an like's to crow,,,

 

[nnbreeder]

Talked to Teva a few minutes ago and she is fit to be tied.

She is doing what is called assisting. She takes the conductors from the cars to the engine or switches as they make up trains. U.P. is making up a train over at the BNSF yard and she is over helping them.

Meanwhile dispatch calls her to go over to the UP yard and assist them while they make up a train and then she has to take the conductor to the different switches ahead of the train so they can get on the mainline and out of Enid.

She was the only van left in Enid so she got blessed with this chore. She got on site about three this afternoon and she guesses it will be around 3am before she gets released. Every time UP throws a switch over at the BNSF yard they have to call BNSF dispatch to get permission to do it, same with moving their train. Makes for slow going.

The only good thing about it is that since she is dispatched to two locations she is getting double pay. And the two yards are within about 1/2 mile of each other. Bad thing is that she doesn't know the BNSF yard and where all of the crossovers are where she can cross the tracks. I told her to just jump the rails but she didn't think the van would do it. LOL



I bet I get a good talking to about that comment later too!!

 

[nnbreeder]

Caffeine is actually very good for asthma. Twenty years ago we used to use Theophylline for our neonates who had difficulty breathing. However, it was found that there were a lot of unacceptable side effects (brain bleeds, etc.) from the theo. They switched to using caffeine instead, and it helped the breathing but with a much nicer side effect profile.

That is the very reason I got Teva one of those fancy single cup brewers. Just takes seconds for a cup of coffee instead of minutes in her old perker. Used to by the time she got coffee brewed her fingernails would be getting blue.

She has a script for Advair but it is way expensive, nearly 200 a month. With my new job we will again be able to afford it.

An old-timer told her to put some vinager in a bag and use that as a breathing treatment and it helps to open the lungs as well. I have seen it bring the color back to her nails and had I not seen it I would have told anybody they were nuts!