***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
I am so, so sorry. I know too well how devastating that kind of loss is, but I've come to wonder if they know instinctively that they're safe in our arms, and they wait for us to come hold them. It's likely that there was nothing you could do for her other than let her know she was safe. My condolences. I know you probably don't want the information right now, but the purple face and comb are typically a sign of oxygen deprivation or heart failure. Remember the color of that comb, because when you see it in your chickies in the future, you'll know there are problems. If my chickies have a respiratory thing and don't have tinging of the comb, I give general medical care and don't really worry, but if the comb changes color, I know it's time to take big measures.

 

[NanaKat]

So my girls are getting big enough to put in their chicken coop BUT it has not been built yet which is what I plan on doing tomorrow. I have spent the past month getting free lumber to build the little 5ft wide 8ft deep and 6ft tall A Frame palace. I'm nervous because this will be my first structure I have ever built so any suggestions are welcome! This shall be entertaining for the neighbors!

Build a good framework before putting on the outside walls.

I think it started upper resp, but has settled into my lungs.  Can't move even to walk from the bed to the bathroom w/o coughing out a lung.

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water to keep that crud thinned out. The thinner it is the better you can get it coughed up.

Young living has an oil concoction for respiratory care...will see if I can get a list of ingredients.

anyone- can i use poultry dust on week old chicks? was holding the serama baby and saw a mite!

Make a dust bath and let them dust themselves....week olds will take dust baths with a broody hen.

I

I'll bring some more. I love it too. I have 2 large plants, from the original that I bought years ago, and they have several off shoots.

I plan on bringing quite a few different plants, basil, more white violets, chocolate mint and some succulents

i wonder if any one has some wisteria i would like some of that.

Will bring some plants to exchange too.

ok, still my beating heart! Dog went to barking - muskovy girl is under the porch on a nest, so i grab the flashlight and looked and she didn't look right- so i get closer and the DANG rat snake is wrapped around her! so i crawl under there, yelling for hubby- cursing the blasted thing and got him to let her go bonking him with the head till he got annoyed snapped and me and took off, muscovy girl jumps up and runs over to the chicken run to go in- didn't know rat snakes would try to constrict a full grown duck- the other ducks move off the nest when he shows up, but not this girl!  so i need ideas to catch a rat snake...

Brave girl! I use a minnow trap that has funnel entry openings and bait it with a few eggs. Snake goes in and can't get out after eating the eggs. Think the idea was either from Bill or Les...works great.

 

[Jeansrie]

So sorry for your loss

Quote:
I am so, so sorry. I know too well how devastating that kind of loss is, but I've come to wonder if they know instinctively that they're safe in our arms, and they wait for us to come hold them. It's likely that there was nothing you could do for her other than let her know she was safe. My condolences. I know you probably don't want the information right now, but the purple face and comb are typically a sign of oxygen deprivation or heart failure. Remember the color of that comb, because when you see it in your chickies in the future, you'll know there are problems. If my chickies have a respiratory thing and don't have tinging of the comb, I give general medical care and don't really worry, but if the comb changes color, I know it's time to take big measures.

Thank you for your kind words. I'm taking it a little hard knowing I should have checked to see if she went in with the rest, but she's been broody and I just assumed she was on her nest. Live and learn I guess.

 

[SharkmanDan]

Thank you all for your help. Bought antibiotic and supplies to separate her from Atwoods, picked her up to move her and her comb and face were purple. Cuddled her for a minute and she died in my arms. Our dog is big, I'm sure she tried to play and did some internal damage.

I'm sorry for your loss. We had a weak black Australorp, that died about a week into having her. Not sure really what it was. They were all playing, and doing the normal chick stuff, and when I checked on them a couple of hours later, she was dead. I removed her, and all of the others, seem to be fine. No issues, at all, now two weeks later.

From the moment we brought our chicks home, our beagle, (who is normally a typical, "couldn't care less" hound dog, who just lays around like hounds do) has been very possessive of the chicks. We have been babysitting my sister's Golden Retreiver, who is a dominant "Alpha" female. Our beagle is normally passive, to the Golden, but, NOT around the chicks. Then, he becomes super dog, and protects them. The Golden is very interested in them, and when we tried to let her, and our other dogs, check out the chicks, up close (we were holding the chicks) both she, and the beagle, tried to bite them. Not aggressively, mind you. But certainly advanced, with an open mouth, and tried to nip, or nibble at the chicks. So, we have kept them all segregated since. But, our plan is to "Free-Range" them, as they grow older, and I'm not sure how we get them to not chase, and/or try to kill, the chickens. Suggestions would be met with gratitude.

Since I know that different breeds have different instincts, I figure I ought to list our 6 dogs breeds.
Inside, house dogs are:
#1-7 year old purebred Miniature Schnauzer female, spayed about a year ago. She is the alpha, of all of our dogs. Definitely rules the roost, so to speak.
#2-7 year old purebred Toy Poodle female, spayed about 4 years ago. She is mostly docile, but likes to pretend she is relevant in the pack, as a protector.
Outside dogs are:
#3-7 year old Catahoula Cur male, mixed breed. fixed at about 5-6 months of age. Good watchdog. Barks at stuff that needs barking. Mostly uninterested in the brooding chicks, but that is likely to change, as the chicks get put in the coop, and let out to forage.
#4-9 year old Beagle, purebred, fixed at 5-6 months. Usually not aggressive at all, but his actions around the chicks, tell me, that he thinks they are HIS food, live on the hoof.
#5-1 year old Boxer female, spayed at 11 months. Very playful, but mostly uninterested in the chicks in the brooder. As much as she likes to play, And as big and strong as she is, I believe she will want to play too hard with the chickens, and potentially damage them.

I am open to all good advice. Our plan is to build a dog run, around the coop and pen, for the beagle to stay in, and keep any foxes, coons, possums and other chicken aggressive critters away. His nose leads him to run off for weeks at a time, (twice now) and as much as we would rather he not be "caged", we love him too much, to have that happen a third time. The Catahoula, and Boxer, are to be the free roaming watchdogs, as their breed, natural instincts, and toughness, should ward off, most of the critters, leaving the beagle's job, to be pretty simple. We have LOTS of room, and LOVE our dogs. We are open to the possibility, of getting another dog for our "pack", and at this point are leaning towards a male GP, if we choose to take on another dog.

 

[brandy00]

I'm sorry for your loss. We had a weak black Australorp, that died about a week into having her. Not sure really what it was. They were all playing, and doing the normal chick stuff, and when I checked on them a couple of hours later, she was dead. I removed her, and all of the others, seem to be fine. No issues, at all, now two weeks later.

From the moment we brought our chicks home, our beagle, (who is normally a typical, "couldn't care less" hound dog, who just lays around like hounds do) has been very possessive of the chicks. We have been babysitting my sister's Golden Retreiver, who is a dominant "Alpha" female. Our beagle is normally passive, to the Golden, but, NOT around the chicks. Then, he becomes super dog, and protects them. The Golden is very interested in them, and when we tried to let her, and our other dogs, check out the chicks, up close (we were holding the chicks) both she, and the beagle, tried to bite them. Not aggressively, mind you. But certainly advanced, with an open mouth, and tried to nip, or nibble at the chicks. So, we have kept them all segregated since. But, our plan is to "Free-Range" them, as they grow older, and I'm not sure how we get them to not chase, and/or try to kill, the chickens. Suggestions would be met with gratitude.

Since I know that different breeds have different instincts, I figure I ought to list our 6 dogs breeds.
Inside, house dogs are:
#1-7 year old purebred Miniature Schnauzer female, spayed about a year ago. She is the alpha, of all of our dogs. Definitely rules the roost, so to speak.
#2-7 year old purebred Toy Poodle female, spayed about 4 years ago. She is mostly docile, but likes to pretend she is relevant in the pack, as a protector.
Outside dogs are:
#3-7 year old Catahoula Cur male, mixed breed. fixed at about 5-6 months of age. Good watchdog. Barks at stuff that needs barking. Mostly uninterested in the brooding chicks, but that is likely to change, as the chicks get put in the coop, and let out to forage.
#4-9 year old Beagle, purebred, fixed at 5-6 months. Usually not aggressive at all, but his actions around the chicks, tell me, that he thinks they are HIS food, live on the hoof.
#5-1 year old Boxer female, spayed at 11 months. Very playful, but mostly uninterested in the chicks in the brooder. As much as she likes to play, And as big and strong as she is, I believe she will want to play too hard with the chickens, and potentially damage them.

I am open to all good advice. Our plan is to build a dog run, around the coop and pen, for the beagle to stay in, and keep any foxes, coons, possums and other chicken aggressive critters away. His nose leads him to run off for weeks at a time, (twice now) and as much as we would rather he not be "caged", we love him too much, to have that happen a third time. The Catahoula, and Boxer, are to be the free roaming watchdogs, as their breed, natural instincts, and toughness, should ward off, most of the critters, leaving the beagle's job, to be pretty simple. We have LOTS of room, and LOVE our dogs. We are open to the possibility, of getting another dog for our "pack", and at this point are leaning towards a male GP, if we choose to take on another dog.

In my experience some dogs just don't do well with chickens at all and some do. I have found that with our dogs we have more trouble with them wanting to get the chicks than the full grown birds. My chickens will sometimes perch on our German Shepherd mix and even eat out of her food bowl right along side her. But she acts like she really wants to get a hold of the peeping chicks. My mini Schnauzer goes absolutely nuts over chicks. She thinks they are living squeaky toys! Luckily she has never got close enough to get one. She will chase the big chickens and I'm pretty sure if they weren't bigger than her she would do worse. She's a "toy" though and at 4 yrs she weighs 13 lbs. She is a very well behaved dog, but as I'm sure you know there are just some things you can't make a schnauzer do or not do The chickens have learned to stay out of the yard when she's out doing her business. Some friends of mine have a couple of boxers, and they tried everything to teach the dogs to get along with the chickens. But, they never had a any success. They were just way too high energy. But, that's just one example. I think it depends more on the temperament if the individual dog than the breed.

 

[TipihlowLadies]

I hatched some egg's from ameracana cross hens and a buff Rooster all chicks are buff no green legs will they lay brown egg's?

 

[Kyzmette]

Robin, what you did with that snake is beyond brave. Those things have fangs just as scary as a viper's, in spite of there not being any poison in them.

NanaKat mentioned a minnow trap... it seems like anything of that type would work, but your timing would have to be spot on. You could put in a fence with openings smaller than the eggs, leave a nest of eggs inside the fence, snake goes in, eats eggs, can't get out until eggs are digested or broken. If you left it out there overnight it wouldn't work, but they typically go hunting shortly after full dark. I'd check around 10:00, then maybe 11:00 or midnight, just to be safe.

Poor duckie, she had to be scared! Poor Robin, she had to be scared too, but never mess with a mama's babies!

 

[RACHELLE85]

Hi! Im from Marlow Ok! Glad to see theres an okie forum. Im on a few facebook chicken pages but nobody is buying or selling anything much on them. Hopefully ina month or so when my chickes get feathered out Ill put them in a sell. Wheres the bestplace to go around here im thinking newcastle? Anybody do well up there in sales?

 

[NanaKat]

KSane ...glad to hear you are safe. Sounds like a control burn was not a good idea.

Around here the fire department includes burning trash in the definition of control burn. We don't let our renters burn their trash since we have pastures and hay storage near the rent house. It is so hard to get burn bans in different counties since the decision is in the hands of the County Commissioners who don't like to upset their constituents (voters). Sounds like the laws need to be changed...one loss of life is too high a price to be paid. The loss of homes and outbuildings as well as livestock and wild life is devastating enough.

Robyn ...how is your little hen that you were thinking about tube feeding?

I gave Beau three tube feedings. By day two he was able to pinch off two good loaves with proper nitrates so I put him back on wet mash with vitamin water as his drinking water. Today he has grain back in moderation with chopped greens, fruit, scrambled egg in measured portions. His appetite is good and he is eating all I give him on his feeding schedule. I'm working on keeping his crop emptying so it doesn't get enlarged again. His breath smell better and he has gained two ounces.

Kass.. Citronella, Lavendar and wintergreen are the three main oil ingredients in the RC .... A few drops in a diffuser helps open your chest You can also use coconut oil...a pea sized portion, mix in your palm with a few drops of the RC and rub it on the bottoms of your feet and put on socks.
My girls swear by using Vick vapor rub on the soles of their feet with socks at night to help relieve cold and sinus blockage.

 

[brandy00]

Hi! Im from Marlow Ok! Glad to see theres an okie forum. Im on a few facebook chicken pages but nobody is buying or selling anything much on them. Hopefully ina month or so when my chickes get feathered out Ill put them in a sell. Wheres the bestplace to go around here im thinking newcastle? Anybody do well up there in sales?

Welcome to BYC! I'm from Velma, and also a newbie to BYC