***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[thatlaidyb]

Here is an even better link

https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/vmc/dls/necropsy/Pages/default.aspx

Thank you! I will definitely look into this.

It seems like a long shot, but google "curled toe paralysis" in chickens. I believe it's due to a vitamin deficiency and it can frequently start in the middle toe.

I will put some vitamins in her water in the morning to see if that helps. Thank you!

 

[thatlaidyb]

The same EXACT thing happened to both my Asil cockerels this spring, about a month apart. They were so beautiful and so sweet, those deaths hit me hard. I had gotten them from someone in Norman and they were in with the hatchery Leghorns and a few others I'd gotten from various places and raised. But it was just the 2 Asils it happened to. Started out with the middle toe, the foot, then dragging their leg. We ended up putting them both down. What I thought it was at the time was Marek's disease, I still think that. And maybe the 2 Asils were just more prone to get it and show those signs because of their breed and because they were related. Marek's has tons of signs and symtoms, and usually by thg time a bird is 8-9 months old they've become somewhat immune to getting it. How old are your birds? My Asils were 5-6 months old. I still miss them.
Hawks will go after adults, too. One had ahold of one of my Black Ameraucana hens a few yrs ago. My daughter was here and said the crows were going nuts and when she went out there she saw the hawk chasing down the chicken. She hollered like a mad women and the hawk took off. Poor Linda the Ameraucana was pretty shook up but ok.

My American Bresse just turned 22 weeks old and just started to lay. That's part of why this is driving me so nuts. Only the Bresse are getting this my Black Australorp are Light Brahma are just fine, but then they are just turned 9 months old.

This is a long shot, but consider there may be a link between contaminants in your coop and your problem.

Don't clean the coop unless you've got all your birds in another enclosure, far enough away that airborne particulates from your coop won't be inhaled by your birds. Don't just shoo them out into the yard: cage them and put them out of harm's way.

Use bleach and water solution or Oxine or some other trusted germ killer on all the interior surfaces in your coop. Let everything dry before you put new bedding in. Don't rush this step. You need to kill whatever is hurting your flock. If it were me, I might spray and dry, and then spray and dry, just to be sure I haven't missed any cracks or crevices.

Don't put your birds back into their cleaned coop until you're sure everything is dry and all the dust has settled. If you've got a nasty bug, germ, bacteria, fill-in-the-blank-a-cillis in your coop, you're launching it into the air when you clean the old bedding out. Three weeks sounds like it could be the length of time a nasty coop bug needs for incubation.

I hope you find the problem soon.

I had an uncle who claimed that he was responsible for keeping the coop clean. He scraped the poop out with a wide metal spatula every morning. What he failed to recognize was that my aunt sprayed the interior of the coop with bleach and water once a week. He was getting rid of the parts that they could see, but she was getting rid of the bad stuff that they could not see. Both steps were essential to having a clean coop.

That is a very good point. As a rule I do tend to rush through my outside chores because of my boys being so young and I don't like to leave them in the house for every long by themselves. I will take my time and clean the coop out again this week. Thank you!

 

[ashtree]

Does this look like wry neck? He's alert but twisting his head around alot and not moving much.

 

[NanaKat]

Ok my gardening friends....I haven't had a a garden in several years due to job demands for my hubby and I...(and the only thing he knows about a garden is how to eat ..) So I guess I haven't had a garden because I haven't the time to properly care for it. I stil get lots of veggies from the farmers market, neighbors, etc. I love to can.. So here is my question. My sister has alot of frozen corn, and I mean ALOT. When it comes time for me to be able to can soup can I use the frozen corn? I cook my soup makings together and then hot pack and pressure cook.

If the corn is cut from the cob before freezing, then yes just add the frozen block of corn to your recipe and then can it. If the corn is on the cob, you will have to thaw it and remove it for the cob. It will be softer than fresh corn, but workable.

@Nanakat I was just grumbling iver the empty state of my blackberry brambles. I've already canned several batches of preserves, so I can't complain too much, but I wonder why yours are getting full now while mine are emptying.

Early blackberries are actually dewberries. They are shorter plants than the long cane blackberries. Also the berries are slightly smaller. Some old timers call them June berries. Blackberry bushes begin ripening fruit in July thru early August. Both make great jams, cobblers, etc.

most likely a redtailed halk but a pic would help id better. Here is a pic i took of one. It is not very good but may give you an idea. They vary in color also so although this one has a redish chest not all of them do some have a cream colored chest.

Is that guy actually perched on your run??? The nerve! Will a red tail or red shouldered hawk go for full size chickens? Or just bantams? Or just chicks? We have a chicken named peregrine because it looks like, well obviously, a peregrine falcon. My husband and I joke that one morning we will go out to the coop and all the chickens but peregrine will be dead and she will swiftly take flight she's a large fowl cochin tho...nothing about her is swift!

Most Hawks go after any prey they can carry off. Some will hit their prey, consume part and then return to carry off the carcass. We have actually seen a hawk return for its kill after we scared it off the first time.

 

[ashtree]

Does this look like wry neck? He's alert but twisting his head around alot and not moving much.

Im pretty sure this is wry neck, not finding out much in my chicken health handbook, but read elsewhere it could be injury or vitamin deficiency. He is isolated and I'm looking at treatments plans now. Anyone that has successfully dealt with this I would love to know about. If its a vitamin deficiency I can handle that, but if this is from an injury (this chick does have a vaulted skull) then I dont really know what I will do.

 

[ashtree]

So, now he's standing up, walking around his cage (isolated from the others) a little wobbly but not twisting the neck at all. I dont see any other symptoms….poop looks normal, maybe a little dry. He's talking lots, are their varying degrees of wry neck? Im going to get some Poly-vi-sol and check the cabinets for vitamin E. Im beat myself up for liking silkies so much

vaulted skulls…...

 

[Kyzmette]

Im pretty sure this is wry neck, not finding out much in my chicken health handbook, but read elsewhere it could be injury or vitamin deficiency. He is isolated and I'm looking at treatments plans now. Anyone that has successfully dealt with this I would love to know about. If its a vitamin deficiency I can handle that, but if this is from an injury (this chick does have a vaulted skull) then I dont really know what I will do. 

I've dealt with wryneck in a chicken I got from the auction once. In mine it was a long road to recovery, but she eventually got over it. I've heard of cases that were almost overnight recoveries. Increase her vitamins immediately, a poultry wash, or poly-vi-sol without iron. Also give her additional vitamin E with selenium and a B complex. If you can't find the combined E with selenium, you can give them separately, but go easy on the selenium because it can be poisonous, but it's also crucial to help with the E absorption.

If this is wryneck, she can recover. If it's a head injury, I can only suggest to give her time for the brain swelling to go down, and keep your fingers crossed for no permanent damage.

 

[ashtree]

I've dealt with wryneck in a chicken I got from the auction once. In mine it was a long road to recovery, but she eventually got over it. I've heard of cases that were almost overnight recoveries. Increase her vitamins immediately, a poultry wash, or poly-vi-sol without iron. Also give her additional vitamin E with selenium and a B complex. If you can't find the combined E with selenium, you can give them separately, but go easy on the selenium because it can be poisonous, but it's also crucial to help with the E absorption.

If this is wryneck, she can recover. If it's a head injury, I can only suggest to give her time for the brain swelling to go down, and keep your fingers crossed for no permanent damage.

Ok he's seriously walking around the cage like he's fine now. I feel like Im losing my mind. Is any of this making sense?

 

[artsyrobin]

adding vitamins can't hurt, and in silkies particularly need those extra vitamins

 

[ashtree]

adding vitamins can't hurt, and in silkies particularly need those extra vitamins

OK, I just got the poly vi sol. Going to do a dose then send him out with his buddies.

What do you think could have been going on? There was definitely something off this morning, but really seems fine now!