Okies in the BYC The Original

[okiechick57]

ALl is well here Monty.the last of my ducks go to new homes this weekend........was going to bring the Australorp roo to the sale tomorrow.....but if snow packed I wont......... he is just to untrustworthy to let loose . and is a rough one on the hens too...... I know what you mean about the price of feed........its a killer....that is why I cut back too..... MY scoives are a present from a graduating class of firefighters to the captain in Edmond...........will live on many acres and with a pond......so that is good..... If you go to Harrah sale let me know.... I may try and get there...... I have 30 eggs in a bator now OH MY what am I thinking ?

 

[GracefulBantams]

Buckguy, ohno! I am really sorry, but I don't have any advise

; the only things I thought of, you are already doing - light, supplements, etc...
I would say, that I think selling out completely is a bad idea. You should at least keep a small pen of birds

Cammie, thanks

I have pictures of the chick/eggs posted here.
I'm not sure what to tell you about your little crippled chick, but I am sorry

Can't wait to see pictures of the new-and-improved house

 

[okiechick57]

The fun and easy part of my life these days......

 

[jimd]

Okie, what sale tomorrow? Did you mean Harrah on Saturday. I can't fond any info on it. I went a couple of years ago (that eventually led to haveing to kill every birfd in my flock). I understand they closed and another has opened. How can I find more info?
I may go to Maud tonight.

 

[countyroad1330]

I'm hoping we still get some snow down this way, I've missed out every time! Monty, your chickens really are on strike. *ha* I think when the weather warms up you'll feel better about it all.

Grace, your chickie baby is so cute! That is the fastest hatch I've ever seen. My fastest usually take at least 4-5 hours. I thought the egg marked 'Large' said 'Larry'.

Okie, your pictures are cute too! That little girl is adorable.

Are those Cochin chicks?? Jack T. is looking for a rooster, maybe you should talk to him about it.

My little cripple didn't make it.

Christie comes today to pick up the chicks that hatched. If she takes everything I've offered, I will be back down to two chicks. Time to refill the bator!

 

[okcarla]

jimd, the Harrah auction is run by different people and at a different place than before. It's at the Harrah Lumber store in downtown, Harrah, opens at 3:00 pm and sale begins at 5:00 pm. I've heard of people selling sick birds at auctions before, but I've luckily never bought any. I recommend quarantine & antibiotics for a few weeks before introducing auction birds to your birds, unless you know & trust the person that's selling. I've gone to the Harrah auction twice now, haven't bought anything but some hatching eggs, but if I see the right bird and it looks healthy, I'll consider buying it.

I intend to go to the Harrah auction on Saturday night. I'll probably take some junk to sell (I mean, miscellaneous stuff) and probably a couple of young pairs of Spitzhauben chickens.

Buckguy, have you tried Kelp meal? Maybe the chickens are nutritionally deficient. Or, what about adding some cold weather weeds & grasses that are coming up everywhere to convince the hens it's Spring and time to lay. I have a 70 something year old uncle that lives in Missouri, that swears by feeding his chickens some dog food each day ... and his chickens are absolutely beautiful and prolific. I started buying the cheapest Shawnee brand dry dog food at Crest, and feed some of it wet to my birds every day now along with their regular feed, and I'm having excellent results. Hey, another thought, maybe you should add a handsome young rooster to get the girls in the mood!

I hope to see some BYC Okies in Harrah on Saturday night. Also, I hope the lady that makes cinnamon rolls is there, too! Mmmmmm!

 

[jimd]

I'll try to be there. I'm not a terribly outgoing person, but I'll be the one with a fire department hat that has chaplain on the bill.
We actually had them isolated, but there was an issue with feeding and watering. They were done in the wrong order, new birds, then old birds, so it spread. I believe it was call choriza. Very nasty stuff. Extension office doubted that's what we had, but everything matched. We put down what was left (including my son's 25 welsummer chicks), about 15 assorted birds, and the 2 remaining adult welsummers.
Bleached everything, and wnet all winter without birds. Then started over towards the middle of last summer to test things out. We've now gone 8 months with no problems other than dogs, and we're ready to start over!
JimD

 

[okcarla]

jimd, couldn't you have treated the birds with medications? Antibiotics? Gosh, that's awful to put down an entire flock. I hope you can make it to the Harrah auction on Saturday night.

We intend to be at the auction, my boyfriend (Gerald) should be wearing his Retired Air Force ball cap, and he usually wears a camoflauge jacket.

 

[jimd]

We tried to treat for a week. We thought we had it whipped, but then things declined.
Additionally, the birds that recovered would ALWAYS be carriers, and anything introduced would have had to be vaccinated, or survive the initial infection. AND, I would never be able to let a bird leave.

I believe the seller was aware (not the auctioneer). One bird had a little sniffle, and the other 3 were fine looking. So tonight will actually be the 1st time I've looked at an auction for birds since then.
I felt really comfortable with the silkies I bought in Pryor last week. My 5yr old is bouncing off the walls with joy. Since saturday, we've gotten 4 eggs. 1 is in the incubator, and 3 are in a egg carton to be put back under the hen Tuesday after the weather breaks (I hope!)

 

[okcarla]

jimd, If your county extension office doubted that your birds had Coryza, I would have found out what the problem really was before I destroyed all my birds. There's other bacterial problems that have similar signs, such as Colibacillosis, a type of e-coli bacteria, which can have very similar symptoms, and it's treatable with the right med's. Sometimes you have to try different medications to find the right one to effectively treat the infection.

I wonder if there's a good bird vet here in Oklahoma to test birds? Many years ago, when I lived in San Antonio, there was a vet that I took my parrots to whenever I had a problem. He would take cultures of my birds and have them tested. I did have a parrot that got sick from a virus and I had to give it med's for a several weeks.