Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[fisherlady]

@Auroradream26

When would you be available to meet at Sheetz in Northern Cambria to look at the roosters? I figure to bring 2 or 3 and then you can choose which looks best for your needs. (I am betting it will be Fabio, but I don't know what the breed standards call for).
I am separating all of the cockerels to a grow out pen, they are starting to chase hens...it will be butcher time soon.

 

[fangedknight]

Wow okay it's been a while since I've been on. I've got lots of news, some good, some bad, and some that's currently making me try not to have an anxiety attack but good news is I have instructions from my Avian vet.

So! Starting from the top. Unfortunately I lost one of my Welsh Harlequin Ducklings, I think it was a combination of an out of control brooder + Siblings breaking neck while trying to get a drink. (It was weird... very very weird ). However the other two are doing just fine. (Still have my male so that's good).

Next thing that wound up happening was late last week (Thursday I think), Mom and I noticed that Sofia was limping around and getting picked on even more. I picked her up and felt her leg, moved it around, etc. It's not broken (or splayed) but I wasn't sure what was going on so I brought her inside to rest up and see if she felt better. Managed to get her into the vet today, Dr. Allen did an awesome job with her and Sofia was a little trooper who nearly fell asleep during the exam. (Not to mention she kinda looked like she was having fun when she got her two shots.... I'm slightly worried she might be a junkie... )

The other thing I've been noticing with both the flock and Sofia, is blood in/bloody stools. I brought in plenty of samples from Sofia since she's the only one I can actually ID the poop of. I'll be getting those results tomorrow, and I do have instructions for what to do for everyone to treat it if it is Coccidia (Or however you spell it).

Needless to say it's been a long loonnngg week. I hope everyone is doing much better and that there's no more chicken chaos!

 

[dheltzel]

I'm sorry for the loss of the duckling.

I've had some recent losses to Coccidosis. I think I get complacent and don't pay enough attention to what is happening in each pen.

 

[emorems0]

Does anyone have experience trimming spurs on a rooster? I'm not sure what else we could do, but I'm a little afraid of tackling this job (I don't even trim my dog's nails... she freaks out over it so we take her to get them done).

We've lost two hens the last 3 weeks to apparent spurring. I didn't recognize what it was on the first hen because I didn't have the opportunity to look her over much when I found her - found her in the run when I went to throw food in their run on my way out the door, she already had maggots on her underside when I picked her up but that was the extent of what I saw. I buried her quickly because the kids were waiting in the car. The second hen I found in the coop when we got back from vacation, there were a few escapee chickens that had to be returned to the coop and I saw her laying on the floor of the coop. I took her into the garage to look her over and found a big gash down her side. I did my best to treat the wound, but it was down to the bone on her leg. She hung on for 2 whole days, but passed this morning.

So, Romeo is 3 years old and has never hurt any of his girls in all that time. Looking him over today, I can see that one of his spurs is really long, the same side that both girls were injured on. The other one doesn't look nearly as long. Is it weird that they are different lengths? How do I know how far down I can clip without hurting him? My understanding is that you just clip them with a dog toenail clipper, is there anything else I need to know? I'd love to hear some experience about this...

 

[BullChick]

I have not done it, but it's my understanding that a hot potato over the spur will make it slide off within minutes.

 

[fisherlady]

Does anyone have experience trimming spurs on a rooster? I'm not sure what else we could do, but I'm a little afraid of tackling this job (I don't even trim my dog's nails... she freaks out over it so we take her to get them done).

We've lost two hens the last 3 weeks to apparent spurring. I didn't recognize what it was on the first hen because I didn't have the opportunity to look her over much when I found her - found her in the run when I went to throw food in their run on my way out the door, she already had maggots on her underside when I picked her up but that was the extent of what I saw. I buried her quickly because the kids were waiting in the car. The second hen I found in the coop when we got back from vacation, there were a few escapee chickens that had to be returned to the coop and I saw her laying on the floor of the coop. I took her into the garage to look her over and found a big gash down her side. I did my best to treat the wound, but it was down to the bone on her leg. She hung on for 2 whole days, but passed this morning.

So, Romeo is 3 years old and has never hurt any of his girls in all that time. Looking him over today, I can see that one of his spurs is really long, the same side that both girls were injured on. The other one doesn't look nearly as long. Is it weird that they are different lengths? How do I know how far down I can clip without hurting him? My understanding is that you just clip them with a dog toenail clipper, is there anything else I need to know? I'd love to hear some experience about this...

We do it regularly, and for the reason you are wanting to do it...to reduce hen injuries...
2 methods have worked for us, dog toenail clippers and a Dremel tool with cut off wheel.
When first doing it I suggest having a helper and plan on only doing a slight shortening, some spurs you can see a color change where the 'quick' is, but most you can't so better off doing it in stages.
Have a small cup with either flour or some type of 'blood stop' such as stipick powder handy.
Cut off about a quarter inch of spur and check for bleeding, apply flour or powder if bleeding present. If no bleeding and spurs seem excessively long you can take more off or if you can see the quick you can take it back to within about 1/8 inch of the quick.
If you can't tell where the quick is I would do the first 1/4 to 1/2 inch and then wait a week to do any more. As you get used to trimming them you will have a better idea on how much you can take at a time.
If they bleed don't worry, just apply the powder of choice and hold a finger tightly over the tip of it for a minute, the bleeding will stop. Clean up any visible blood from the foot to prevent other birds from messing with it.
If you have a dremel tool just practice by cutting a pencil or dense stick of similar size, I like using the dremel because I can actually round off the end of the spur after shortening it.
I honestly think the most complicated part of the process is getting a good hold on the bird, I usually have DH hold the bird like a football in the crook of his arm, pinned against his side with the birds head towards his back and slightly downwards. This allows DH to pin the free foot against his side with his forearm while holding the upper leg of the foot being worked on with his hand. Once you get a comfortable work position figured out the rest is pretty straightforward.

 

[fangedknight]

Trying to find a bloody goose for Klaus is driving me up a wall. Does anyone know of anyone who has Pom geese? I'm really looking for a Buff Saddleback Pom since I want to be able to breed show geese.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

We do it regularly, and for the reason you are wanting to do it...to reduce hen injuries...
2 methods have worked for us, dog toenail clippers and a Dremel tool with cut off wheel.
When first doing it I suggest having a helper and plan on only doing a slight shortening, some spurs you can see a color change where the 'quick' is, but most you can't so better off doing it in stages.
Have a small cup with either flour or some type of 'blood stop' such as stipick powder handy.
Cut off about a quarter inch of spur and check for bleeding, apply flour or powder if bleeding present. If no bleeding and spurs seem excessively long you can take more off or if you can see the quick you can take it back to within about 1/8 inch of the quick.
If you can't tell where the quick is I would do the first 1/4 to 1/2 inch and then wait a week to do any more. As you get used to trimming them you will have a better idea on how much you can take at a time.
If they bleed don't worry, just apply the powder of choice and hold a finger tightly over the tip of it for a minute, the bleeding will stop. Clean up any visible blood from the foot to prevent other birds from messing with it.
If you have a dremel tool just practice by cutting a pencil or dense stick of similar size, I like using the dremel because I can actually round off the end of the spur after shortening it.
I honestly think the most complicated part of the process is getting a good hold on the bird, I usually have DH hold the bird like a football in the crook of his arm, pinned against his side with the birds head towards his back and slightly downwards. This allows DH to pin the free foot against his side with his forearm while holding the upper leg of the foot being worked on with his hand. Once you get a comfortable work position figured out the rest is pretty straightforward.

Thanks for the info. I'm still learning about Roos. Is the spur just like a large toenail?

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks for the info. I'm still learning about Roos. Is the spur just like a large toenail?

Yep, an oversized claw on the inside of the leg which can be the thickness of a pencil and sometimes curved with varying levels of pointedness. Our Grayson has super thick ones which are rather straight and actually can trip him up because they grow straight towards each other. Some grow faster than others but almost always end up needing trimming at some point if you keep roosters beyond 2 years old.

 

[FluffyButt789]

Hubby made doors today. Going to paint it tomorrow I think. He made the doors into an M for our last name and plans on useing it for winter storage as well. 8x16x6
View attachment 1094930

Wow, I wish I could build that! How much is that costing you? I want to rebuild our coop but the current one cost us $200 in materials so I'm putting it off. I really want meat chickens too so I'll be following your experience with them to see if I'm up to the task next year

I didn't take your previous post as meaning the 4H processed birds but it is unfortunate that we now feel the need to clarify these things to avoid upsetting people. .... there is nothing wrong with processing birds and raising farm animals for meat is just a plain and simple fact of life....it is unfortunate that it has become a subject to apologize for or avoid.
And to those who think kids shouldn't be exposed to it I strongly disagree...raising animals for any reason should involve all aspects of the process, from birth to death (be it butcher or old age). Kids don't need to be forced to participate in something they aren't comfortable with, but should be given realistic and accurate information on the processes so they can make decisions based on reality, not hype or preconceived notions of others. Kudos to the 4H system for recognizing these issues and supporting the option of meat birds projects!

Well we don't process our roosters in front of the kids but we went fishing this past weekend and the kids really wanted to see us filleting the fish. I thought they would be traumatized over that (they are only 4 and 2) but they weren't. They were glad whenever we got a fillet off of the fish. I was surprised but I'm also unsure about it. Am I a bad parent to let my kids see something like that? At least they understand where meat comes from, and I aim to teach them respect for their food.