***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[nnbreeder]

Glad to hear that the goat field day is kid friendly, I wanted to go, but wasn't sure about the girls. I will have to wait before I sign up. Imagine I will be scheduled to be at the farmers market, so hard to be 2 places at once!
Thanks for all the goat well wishes. I can't imagine our place without them. Still not sure how Bambie is going to make it without her sister, those 2 are always in trouble together.
The goats are all walking around & appear to be moving better, but 1 still looks bloated. He is burping everytime we rub his tummy. Normally they have hay for breakfast & forage in the afternoon with comercial feed to call them in for the night. If they don't come out to forage we offer more hay. I am going to keep them from forage until we get a good rain & nitrate chances are down. We do have lots of Johnson Grass in our front pasture, not sure how much is in the areas the goats visit. They seem to do most of their foraging in the woods. The leaves on the trees are better than any other thing I ever offer them.

Last wk there was talk of using oil with feed. I purchased Equine Fat supplement. The atwoods brand even list the dosages for your dogs. It boost there energy & makes their coat shinny. Think the Atwoods brand was about $20, the other was $30 something. Of course I walked out with the more expensive one after comparing the two. Didn't even realize it until I got home. It smells like oranges & the birds enjoyed it mixed on their feed. Haven't tried to see if the dogs like it yet.
So far we have seen a few sprinkles twice today. Only lasted 3 or 4 minutes each time. Glad some of you are seeing rain. Now off to grab a late dinner & crawl into bed.

What kind of hay? Many times Johnson grass hay is just called grass hay. And if it's cut with a brush hog instead of swathed you nearly won't be able to tell the difference.

Goats eat Bermuda hay fairly well but only if it has seasoned for a couple of years or at least that has been our experiance.

My favorite hay is Bluestem, it can be fed to anything, even our hogs went crazy for it and it will keep critters fat and sassy through the hardest of winters.Seems to be tasty and easy to digest.

The Legumes, Cow Peas, Mung Beans and Soy Bean hay should be fed sparingly but is a good suppliment during long cold spells.

Haygrazer, Sudan and Millet hays should only be bought from a trusted source and in years like this should come with a nitrate test. Never feed German Millet to a horse.

These days Alfalfa is really over fertilized to meet the dairy and horse industry. It too should be tested for Protien and Relative Food Value. The way it is cut can mean the difference between life and death to an animal due to Blister Beetles. Northern grown doesn't have this problem.

Last year we got ahold of some hay from Michigan, nothing special just what we would call native grass, and I would like to have about 500 bales of that on hand at all times. Wonderful hay, everyone ate it good and maintained there weight really well on it.

Another good spot to get hay from is the Flint Hills of Eastern Ks. Probably some of the best native grass that there is.

If you are worried about the Nitrate levels in your pasture pull a few samples of different grasses and have the Ag. Dept. test it. I think the test is around 20 dollars. Go in and grill the local county extension agent, you pay for the service with your taxes so use them. They should have info about nearly everything Ag. And if they don't they should have a good idea about where to get the answers.

 

[nnbreeder]

Hi everyone
I have a dilemma that I could use some opinions on.

Today a woman from down the street comes to my door and says there is a red chicken in her backyard. It showed up yesterday and she did her best to care for it but she is afraid of chickens and knows nothing about them (she didn't even know it was a hen). Since I'm an animal lover I told her that I would come and get it, which I did. I currently have her in a cage in the garage and completely isolated to the best of my ability from my flock.
I asked the only person I know of that has chickens, if she was his and he said that all his was accounted for. He even told me that the other day he found a rooster and hen in his backyard and when he got closer they ran towards my house, so he figured they were mine.
So my son and I drove around asking everyone we found if they knew of anyone that owns chickens in the area. Only 1 person said yes but they live 8 blocks away from us and in town with dogs every where, It isn't likely it was from them.

Here is the catch, my flock has fowl pox. And I don't have a proper place to keep her quarantined for 30 days. She looks to be a production red in very good health and just starting to lay or about to. She obviously has not been kept in a cage or enclosure because she is not liking the cage I have her in now at all. She is also very afraid of dogs.


Should I call animal control? I'm sure they will just kill her since I've seen the pound here and it is barely big enough to hold cats and dogs let alone a chicken.
Anyone in Durant that can take her off my hands?
Or should I put her up for sale? though I feel bad asking for money for something I've not put any money or effort into myself (other than driving around and asking neighbors).

Personally I would keep her. As long as the cage she is in now is not way too small for her she should be fine in it. Large pet taxis also work very well for temporary pens.

Is the Pox wet or dry? Could you post a pic of it? Often times black spots on the combs from pecking is often mistaken for Pox. The comb is a very handy handle for other birds to grab. even roosters will grab the comb when mating.

 

[jcatblum]

The hay they eat came from our pasture last yr-- it is a mix, some fescue, Bermuda & Johnson. Bermuda is the largest portion of the mix I believe. We had it tested last yr, haven't even thought about it this yr since it was good last season & this yr has been milder. The goats seem to be doing well this AM the we're moving around & Bambi was screaming at us as we loaded the van for market.
We actually got some rain last night! Think a 1/4 an inch, maybe a tad more. It was just enough to hold the dust down this AM. Saw a glimpse of the news. Fingers crossed there is still more rain coming.

 

[Oceanseve]

Jcat - I'm so sorry to hear about your goats I know how it is to have a critter dying in your lap and there's nothing you can do about it. **hug** so sorry.

Wow, it's probably been a month since I've been on. I hope no one else has had any disasters like Jcat. I've had my hands full here. Just popped back on to ask how much harder it is to break a broody guinea than chicken. I had told DH I thought one of our guineas were sitting cause I swore I was seeing her occasionally, but never all of them in one spot so it's hard to tell. Sure enough this morning she was screaming bloody murder and I found her. Apparently something got her eggs (or possibly chicks as long as it's been) during the night. She was refusing to get off the nest and attacking the dogs for getting near her. Hmph, is it easier to just leave her and wait for her to figure it out? I don't want to waste time on a lost cause, but I'd also like to get her out there eating bugs again!

 

[MacGuyver]

Yes, and sound it too. I have one Guinea. I don't say own because he belongs to my neighbor. He had a flock of them but his dogs killed them all one by one. This one decided I fed my birds better than he did so it came over and has lived here ever since. Thinks he's a chicken. He flies to the top of my cotton trailer coop at dusk and calls everyone in, then goes inside and roosts with the layers. Even mounts one or two when he can catch them.

I have always wondered what would happen if I tried to hatch one of those eggs.

He sounds cute, I mean, for a guinea. The guinens, or chickeas, are so ugly they're cute.

 

[Darklingstorm]

Personally I would keep her. As long as the cage she is in now is not way too small for her she should be fine in it. Large pet taxis also work very well for temporary pens.

Is the Pox wet or dry? Could you post a pic of it? Often times black spots on the combs from pecking is often mistaken for Pox. The comb is a very handy handle for other birds to grab. even roosters will grab the comb when mating.

It is dry pox and they all have it. The yellow stuff on their beaks is hard boiled egg yolk for being nice and holding still for the camera. Oh and don't have a rooster.

 

[Kassaundra]

Glad to hear that the goat field day is kid friendly, I wanted to go, but wasn't sure about the girls. I will have to wait before I sign up. Imagine I will be scheduled to be at the farmers market, so hard to be 2 places at once!
Thanks for all the goat well wishes. I can't imagine our place without them. Still not sure how Bambie is going to make it without her sister, those 2 are always in trouble together.
The goats are all walking around & appear to be moving better, but 1 still looks bloated. He is burping everytime we rub his tummy. Normally they have hay for breakfast & forage in the afternoon with comercial feed to call them in for the night. If they don't come out to forage we offer more hay. I am going to keep them from forage until we get a good rain & nitrate chances are down. We do have lots of Johnson Grass in our front pasture, not sure how much is in the areas the goats visit. They seem to do most of their foraging in the woods. The leaves on the trees are better than any other thing I ever offer them.

Last wk there was talk of using oil with feed. I purchased Equine Fat supplement. The atwoods brand even list the dosages for your dogs. It boost there energy & makes their coat shinny. Think the Atwoods brand was about $20, the other was $30 something. Of course I walked out with the more expensive one after comparing the two. Didn't even realize it until I got home. It smells like oranges & the birds enjoyed it mixed on their feed. Haven't tried to see if the dogs like it yet.
So far we have seen a few sprinkles twice today. Only lasted 3 or 4 minutes each time. Glad some of you are seeing rain. Now off to grab a late dinner & crawl into bed.

What size a bag is it in? Will it turn rancid? How much do you give to chickens?

 

[artsyrobin]

morning everyone.... i have to say, i am totally in love with dominiques! check this out- i put her in with the cochin girls, figured there'd be some fussing, nope- nada... they acted like they'd always been together! so cool!! i have the other 2 cochins to add to the group once the weather cools down- then i think they may just stay in their own coop and enclosure...





meanwhile, Lucky, the roo that isn't...

 

[nnbreeder]

It is dry pox and they all have it. The yellow stuff on their beaks is hard boiled egg yolk for being nice and holding still for the camera. Oh and don't have a rooster.

About all you can do for it is to treat the areas with Iodine and start waging war against mosquitos which is the main way it is spread.

When the scabs flake off though the virus can stay viable in them for years. Here is the info I have on it and the good news is that there is a vaccine that can be used to combat the virus.




Fowlpox is a slow-spreading viral infection of chickens and turkeys characterized by proliferative lesions in the skin (cutaneous form) that progress to thick scabs and by lesions in the upper GI and respiratory tracts (diphtheritic form). It is seen worldwide.
Etiology and Epidemiology:
The large DNA virus (an avipoxvirus, family Poxviridae) is highly resistant and may survive for several years in dried scabs. Field and vaccine strains have only minor differences in their genomic profiles, although the strains can be differentiated to some extent by restriction endonuclease analysis, and immunoblotting. Recently, molecular analyses of vaccine and field strains of fowlpox viruses have shown some significant differences. The virus is present in large numbers in the lesions and is usually transmitted by contact through abrasions of the skin. Skin lesions (scabs) shed from the recovering birds in poultry houses can become a source of aerosol infection. Mosquitos and other biting insects may serve as mechanical vectors. Transmission within flocks is rapid when mosquitos are plentiful. Some affected birds may become carriers, and the disease may be reactivated by stress (eg, moulting) or by immunosuppression due to other infections. The disease tends to persist for extended periods in multiple-age poultry complexes.


Prevention and Treatment:
Where pox is prevalent, chickens and turkeys should be vaccinated with live-embryo or cell-culture-propagated virus. The most widely used vaccines are attenuated fowlpox virus and pigeonpox virus isolates of high immunogenicity and low pathogenicity. A turkeypox vaccine has been developed to control pox in turkey flocks in which fowlpox vaccine has been ineffective. This virus appears to be immunologically different from fowlpox virus. In high-risk areas, vaccination with an attenuated vaccine of cell-culture origin in the first few weeks of life and revaccination at 12-16 wk is often sufficient. Health of birds, extent of exposure, and type of operation determine the timings of vaccinations. Because the infection spreads slowly, vaccination is often useful in limiting spread in affected flocks if administered when <20% of the birds have lesions. Because passive immunity may interfere with multiplication of vaccine virus, progeny from recently vaccinated or recently infected flocks should be vaccinated only after passive immunity has declined. Vaccinated birds should be examined 1 wk later for swelling and scab formation (“take”) at the site of vaccination. Absence of “take” indicates lack of potency of vaccine, passive or acquired immunity, or improper vaccination. Revaccination with another serial lot of vaccine may be indicated.
Naturally infected or vaccinated birds develop humoral as well as cell-mediated immune responses. Humoral immune responses can be measured by ELISA or virus neutralization tests.

 

[nnbreeder]

The hay they eat came from our pasture last yr-- it is a mix, some fescue, Bermuda & Johnson. Bermuda is the largest portion of the mix I believe. We had it tested last yr, haven't even thought about it this yr since it was good last season & this yr has been milder. The goats seem to be doing well this AM the we're moving around & Bambi was screaming at us as we loaded the van for market.
We actually got some rain last night! Think a 1/4 an inch, maybe a tad more. It was just enough to hold the dust down this AM. Saw a glimpse of the news. Fingers crossed there is still more rain coming.

Since Johnson grass grows so fast you might invest in what is called a weed wick. It has booms like a sprayer and along the booms it looks like cotton rope instead of spray tips. Load the tank with a good herbacide like Roundup and set the booms high enough that they just wipe the Johnson grass. As soon as the Roundup hits the Johnson grass is dead, roots and all. The ditches adjacent to the pastures need to be done as well but that can be done with a hand sprayer if the slopes are bad. Two tablespoons of Roundup to a five gallon sprayer will kill everything but Bermuda. Once you get the Johnson grass killed out do an application of a good balanced fertilizer like 10-20-10 and the bermuda should thicken up and choke out a lot of the other weeds.

If you already have a spray rig it can be converted over to a wick system, all you would have to do is to change the booms and plumb around the pump since a wick system is gravity flow.

Your local extension office should have a soil probe to loan out of you want to do some nutrient testing of the pasture as well. It is stainless steel and won't corrupt the tests like using a steel shovel, rust, will That way you can plan soil amendments to get the most of the pasture that you have.

One of my neighbors fusses over his pasture and through the summer he runs 40 head of mama cows plus calves on 33 acres, plus we were taking 800 small squares off of it three times during the summer. My baler will make 75 pound grass bales so that was a lot of tonage. We only cut every other year. In the off year it was regularly cut with a mower to add organic matter back to it.

This pasture was a bermuda/bluestem mix. And had what we call calf or Buffalo wallows throughout it. The wallows are a shallow depression where supposibly the buffalo took their dust baths years ago. They will catch water like a mini pond and allow for less runoff when it rains. The pasture retains more moisture and the grass grows better.