Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

Thanks everyone. Still here but eye infection, bronchitis, hoof rot, neither is castrated.

Those poor boys..... glad the respiratory is only bronchitis (though that is bad enough) and I'm sure they will improve quickly under your family's loving care!

 

[fisherlady]

...

That only shows love. 


He is a good rooster with both hens and chicks, for sure!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I didn't even see that was a Roo before! I'm curious how my Roo will be with the littles, once she brings them out of the coop. I feel like she's been in there forever with them. But it is chilly out, and they are so tiny. I forgot how small they are!

 

[dheltzel]

All full of eggs . . .


Lovely Lavender Ladies

 

[yoopergirl1211]

Eek, did you find that before you left for the vet?

Didn't know it was bronchitis thought it was lung worm. And I thought he just had a bad eye so I'm relieved it's an infection. Their hooves are much better so I'm pretty happy we figured out that much on our own. I have 5 different medicines to give them 3 times a day. But they should be fine in a week or two! And it was only $130 for everything so that's cool.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Great news! They will improve quickly now.

 

[fisherlady]

Didn't know it was bronchitis thought it was lung worm. And I thought he just had a bad eye so I'm relieved it's an infection. Their hooves are much better so I'm pretty happy we figured out that much on our own. I have 5 different medicines to give them 3 times a day. But they should be fine in a week or two! And it was only $130 for everything so that's cool.

Glad you have them on the road to recovery...what information did you get about the lady you bought them from?

 

[AnRamire]

Can you give her a pet cage or carrier with the door opening too small for the larger birds to get into?

People use a similar set up for chick feeding ( called a creep feeder) the small birds can fit in and get access to whatever is meant for them inside but the bigger birds can't. Some folks use the set up to give youngsters a place to hide from pushy older birds and I like the set up for small broodies when they are mixed in a large fowl flock. Just make sure the nest is set inside in such a way that other hens can't reach in and bother the broody while she is setting.

The added bonus of this set up is that the hen remains within sight of the flock so reintegration works better. If you have a large dog crate you can place smaller opening hardware cloth around the bottom so that the chicks can safely stay in it with the mama hen for a few days while you evaluate the behavior of the flock towards them.

Thank you. I will give this a shot. I do have a medium sized dog crate. I wounder it that will be enough space. I will try and modify the door opening for her. I do currently have a silkie roo. perhaps I will see if she can hatch one of her own eggs before venturing to hatching eggs. I am looking for other silkie colors. I just love this breed.

 

[yoopergirl1211]

Okay does anyone know what game bird conditioner is? I'm trying to get off the layer and go to an all flock? food with calcium on the side. I tried to explain that to the guys at feed store but not sure if they understood. Will this work? And loving the FF! So far everyone likes it. Trying to do chicks too but they eat too fast lol.

 

[hyzenthlay]

Ok, before I go out and buy sand this weekend for the new run--is it really a good idea? Right now the new run is straight mud, and is about 4' wide x 28' long. It has ok drainage (because it's on a slight slope that runs down to the area where I have ponding), but no roof, and is very sloppy right now after all the work to put in the fence. I am thinking of putting down about an inch of sand on top off the mud to start, just to soak up some of that moisture and improve drainage. I want to get the chickens out there to start using the run, and don't want wait to order a truckload of sand for delivery, so I was just going to buy some bags from Home Depot. But now I have been reading comments on BYC where some people say their sand never dries and gets stinky, and other people saying that if it mixes with the dirt then when it does dry it turns hard like a rock. It seemed to depend a lot on climate--the people in hot dry places seemed to love sand, but people in cold, wet places had more mixed reviews. I know some of you fellow Pennsylvanians have done sand in the run. Will I regret it?

@dheltzel , I seem to recall you were a proponent of sand. Do you only have it in covered runs, where it can stay relatively dry?

If I don't do sand, I am thinking of throwing down some chopped leaves and mulch in there--we have plenty of both of those on hand....