***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[Jeansrie]

Jeansrie, remember when I posted that all four of the youngsters I bought from you appeared to be pullets?  I've been hearing a cockerel crow for about a week--they're 3 months old now--but he wouldn't ever do it when I could see him.  I thought it was the original chick I bought yours to be companions for.

Well, yesterday, he crowed several times when I was right there, and he's the one I most wanted to be a cockerel!  He's going to be a very beautiful rooster, as his crest is every bit as big or bigger than the pullets' are.  He's got all the qualities I could want in a beautiful blue boy!  I checked the others today, and so far they all still appear to be pullets.  But they're still young and if I hadn't seen and heard him crow several times, he still looks like a pullet.  They are all shaping up to be excellent birds! 

I highly recommend Jeana's silkies and showgirls!! 

By the way, on the pics you showed of yours, wanting confirmation on colors; I think all of the first three are splashes, and the fourth is a dark blue.  I know the father is a splash, and I think you'll see splash markings appear on all the light colored ones.  The third one doesn't look like a light blue to me, but I've certainly been known to be wrong.

I have posted so many pictures so many different places I am not sure which ones you're referring to - it's funny the color variations in getting with only splash and blue birds. Here is one with a light splash on the left and a dark splash (I think!) on the right, I love the differences!

I think the dark splash is a boy, I may just hold on to him until the Norman show

 

[mjgigax]

I have just finished a quilted faux stained glass wall hanging, this is for a swap, so I may have to make another one for me.

really, really lovely - colors and design

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Rinda,
When treating with these, are the eggs inedible, as they are with antibiotics? I have a brown leghorn, in my general laying flock, that I just noticed, this morning, looking this way. Everyone else seems happy and healthy, but she's a bit listless. Usually the first off the roost, first out the door, and first to fly out of the pen, to go free-ranging, in the mornings. Today, she just seemed like she preferred to wait on everyone else, to go ahead of her. Her wings are hanging a little low, and her tail is not held high, like normal. She's not fluffed up, but certainly not herself. With 70 layers in the coop, and she being the fastest of the flock, catching her, to isolate her, might be a bit of a job. And, telling which poop is hers, unless I see her actually poop, is also difficult, under those circumstances.
On the other hand, could it be loneliness? Her best buddy, another brown leghorn, that we got at the same time, and they grew up together, as best pals, disappeared, presumably to a hawk, this past weekend. The two of them hung out together since hatching, and now, there's just the one?

No there is no egg withdrawal on Corid. It is a thiamine blocker. I just looked that up this morning for someone else. The amount of Corid present in the egg yolks is less than the USDA threshold. If you want a source you can read more here. All this wet (and now warm) weather is leading to a LOT of problems with cocci. It would not hurt to put her in a dog crate and give her 5 days of corid. While she's caged is a good time to monitor her food intake and offer scrambled eggs if she will eat them, and watch her droppings. Can you catch her at night? That's the easiest time. She could be pining, but if it is coccidia and you wait to treat it may be fatal. Cocci is much more common in young birds (under 3 months) but can affect older ones and even adults sometimes.

I have just finished a quilted faux stained glass wall hanging, this is for a swap, so I may have to make another one for me.

Gorgeous as always!!

You might also want to raise your brooder temp a little. Sick birds need to be in a cage or room that's about 85 degrees.

-Kathy

Good idea.

 

[NanaKat]

Hey! Good to see you Elwood! How are you?

Was out gathering eggs this evening and filling feeders and water tubs. In several of the pens there are still a few mushy spots. So I put a few eggs in my pants pocket in one pen and forgot to remove them before going into the next pen. Now this pen has ground that is dry on top, but the mud shifts under my feet. Thinking I can use one of the support pipes like a dance pole and simply swing around the soft spot, I smash one of the eggs in my pocket as I hit the pole. Then I slide down the pole into the mushy spot burying both feet in the sludge. I drop the food bucket as I'm pulling out the broken egg shell and yolk as the liquid soaks my pocket. The bucket is now stuck on its side.
Now I have chickens swarming the ground around me to nab a piece of the broken egg. One hen uses the side of the bucket to catapult herself over my feet to get to the egg. Instead she flies into one of my legs throwing me off balance. I lose my grip on the pole and fall out of my shoe so now my bare foot is in the mud. Fortunately I don't break the other egg. Using my other pocket I'm able to wipe off the yolk off the egg and look for a place to put it as I try to pull myself out of the mud. I put the egg in the bucket with the feed. Pull my shoe out of the mud, slip my muddy foot back into my croc and head for the water hose with the bucket in my only clean hand.
I'm just glad no one was with me holding a camera.

 

[Kassaundra]

Hey! Good to see you Elwood! How are you?

Was out gathering eggs this evening and filling feeders and water tubs. In several of the pens there are still a few mushy spots. So I put a few eggs in my pants pocket in one pen and forgot to remove them before going into the next pen. Now this pen has ground that is dry on top, but the mud shifts under my feet. Thinking I can use one of the support pipes like a dance pole and simply swing around the soft spot, I smash one of the eggs in my pocket as I hit the pole. Then I slide down the pole into the mushy spot burying both feet in the sludge. I drop the food bucket as I'm pulling out the broken egg shell and yolk as the liquid soaks my pocket. The bucket is now stuck on its side.
Now I have chickens swarming the ground around me to nab a piece of the broken egg. One hen uses the side of the bucket to catapult herself over my feet to get to the egg. Instead she flies into one of my legs throwing me off balance. I lose my grip on the pole and fall out of my shoe so now my bare foot is in the mud. Fortunately I don't break the other egg. Using my other pocket I'm able to wipe off the yolk off the egg and look for a place to put it as I try to pull myself out of the mud. I put the egg in the bucket with the feed. Pull my shoe out of the mud, slip my muddy foot back into my croc and head for the water hose with the bucket in my only clean hand.
I'm just glad no one was with me holding a camera.

Only b/c you weren't hurt

 

[mjgigax]

Only b/c you weren't hurt

Yes, sounds like a scene from the chicken version the Blues Brothers or a National Lampoon movie.

 

[SharkmanDan]

No there is no egg withdrawal on Corid.  It is a thiamine blocker.  I just looked that up this morning for someone else.  The amount of Corid present in the egg yolks is less than the USDA threshold.  If you want a source you can read more here. All this wet (and now warm) weather is leading to a LOT of problems with cocci.  It would not hurt to put her in a dog crate and give her 5 days of corid.  While she's caged is a good time to monitor her food intake and offer scrambled eggs if she will eat them, and watch her droppings.  Can you catch her at night?  That's the easiest time.  She could be pining, but if it is coccidia and you wait to treat it may be fatal.  Cocci is much more common in young birds (under 3 months) but can affect older ones and even adults sometimes.

Thank you. She seems a bit better today, but, I have an open brooder, so I'll try the Corid for 5 days in the brooder as a hospital room, starting tonight.

 

[MrsDickey]

For those on Facebook and within 50 miles of Tulsa, I have created a new group called Green Country Farm Swap. Any and all farm related things allowed. Great place to sell, trade or get advice. Please join.

 

[SharkmanDan]

Now, I may have another issue that I ought to ask about.
I've been having some real issues with my turkey egg fertility. I got one to fully mature in the shell and hatch, but it died within 24 hours, of going in the brooder. A few other eggs developed some, but stopped development early. Most, did not develop, at all. I have about a dozen or so, in incubation now, but my expectations are low.
About 6 weeks ago, I took 20 eggs to a turkey breeder, and asked him to incubate them, for a fee. I got a call last week, Tuesday, that of them, three had pipped, but the rest were in arrested development stages. He had them looked at by an avian veterinary doctor, and he said that the problem is a mineral deficiency. So, my friend asked me what I am feeding the turkeys, and how do I keep them.
The are kept in the huge pen with the chickens, the turkey hens, roost in the coop with the chickens, but the Tom prefers to stay out at night, roosting on a shaded roost I built for the chickens, that the chickens don't like. They prefer natural branches stacked up, under the cover of oak and hickory trees.
Our pen and property, are over-run, with bugs of all sorts. The chickens are given a safe pen, but mostly fly out and free range, by day, and have plenty of organic food available. But, I supplement this, with ADM's Tindle 16% Egg Layer, mixed with a 20% Egg Maker/Starter/Grower/Layer ration, and some cracked corn and crimped oats for treats. When I can afford it (not recently) they get better treats like meal worms, and Chicken Crack, but, that's been pretty much ruled out for several months, now. They have plenty of foliage, and little critters to eat, and the chickens seem to have no issues with fertility, whatsoever. But, the turkeys, apparently need more minerals. My friend's vet, suggested a mineral block, from Atwood's. I haven't been to Tahlequah, Ft. Smith or Muskogee, in a while, but, after selling at the Sallisaw Farmer's Market, Saturday, I went to Tractor Supply Co., to look for a mineral block. They had a "Flock Block" by Purina, which seemed to be very high in minerals, and it was about the same price, so I got it. My friend said that put out for his 90-100 chickens and turkeys, his mineral blocks last about two months. I put this one out, Sunday afternoon. By Tuesday evening, it was GONE. I mean nothing left. Not a trace. The label said that free choice, the birds would only eat it, as they need it. If my 65 birds went through it in 2 days, rather than 2 months, that tells me that my birds are lacking something in their diet.
What to do?

 

[SharkmanDan]

Mrs Dickey,
I just searched for it, and did not find it.