Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

The oil arrived a couple days ago, so it was soaping day today! And I got to try out one of my new molds!! That definitely sped up the process because I didn't have to spend forever trying to get parchment paper cut and lined up just right!

This batch is lemon scented, but ended up smelling more like citronella when all mixed up and in the mold. I'm hoping that's just from the funk the eggs impart at first and it will smell like lemon again when cured. I also will need to either cut really small bars or cut it horizontally and then into bars because it's pretty shallow from being a small batch of soap. Guess I need to either double (or half, that could also work) my recipe if I want proper-shaped bars!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, for the first time in a decade, I now really do have an outbreak of coccidiosis. Someone or multiple someones in the silkied Cochin and English Orpington group had some bloody droppings overnight. They're all maybe just a tiny bit hunchy today, but running around and playing as normal otherwise. Still, no reason to risk acting too late by waiting for worse symptoms, so I put the whole crew on Corid this morning.

With all the rain we've had this spring and summer, I suppose it's not a huge surprise that this has happened. Rats. At least I've made sure to always have Corid on hand when I have chicks around, so they didn't have to wait long for meds! I sure hope they recover well, as those silkied Cochins particularly are very important to me.

 

[ronott1]

Well, for the first time in a decade, I now really do have an outbreak of coccidiosis. Someone or multiple someones in the silkied Cochin and English Orpington group had some bloody droppings overnight. They're all maybe just a tiny bit hunchy today, but running around and playing as normal otherwise. Still, no reason to risk acting too late by waiting for worse symptoms, so I put the whole crew on Corid this morning.

With all the rain we've had this spring and summer, I suppose it's not a huge surprise that this has happened. Rats. At least I've made sure to always have Corid on hand when I have chicks around, so they didn't have to wait long for meds! I sure hope they recover well, as

those silkied Cochins particularly are very important to me.

The oil arrived a couple days ago, so it was soaping day today! And I got to try out one of my new molds!! That definitely sped up the process because I didn't have to spend forever trying to get parchment paper cut and lined up just right!

This batch is lemon scented, but ended up smelling more like citronella when all mixed up and in the mold. I'm hoping that's just from the funk the eggs impart at first and it will smell like lemon again when cured. I also will need to either cut really small bars or cut it horizontally and then into bars because it's pretty shallow from being a small batch of soap. Guess I need to either double (or half, that could also work) my recipe if I want proper-shaped bars!

View attachment 2782228

The soap looks nice!

I suspect you had coccidiosis before. You do not always see blood in the poop.

Since I switched to nipple water bottles, I have not had coccidiosis here.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Would they really have been okay for almost a month with coccidiosis and had no changes for better or worse? I know they don't always have bloody stools, but it seems like something should have happened in all that time.

Definitely not ruling it out, though! I actually don't really have that much experience with the disease, so I genuinely don't know. This is only the second time I've had chicks progress to this point. The first time was a large part of the reason I joined BYC in fact. In that case, the chicks progressed further before I started them on Corid, to the point where a few of them had to be manually made to drink in order to get medicine in them. Thankfully all recovered. These babies are still running around and drinking on their own, so I'm comforted by that and hopeful they will recover just fine.

Also interesting on the nipple waterers. Why do you suppose that is? Just less dirt being kicked in? I've considered switching my flock to them on a few occasions, but it just seems like too much effort when what I have already works well.

 

[ronott1]

Would they really have been okay for almost a month with coccidiosis and had no changes for better or worse? I know they don't always have bloody stools, but it seems like something should have happened in all that time.

Definitely not ruling it out, though! I actually don't really have that much experience with the disease, so I genuinely don't know. This is only the second time I've had chicks progress to this point. The first time was a large part of the reason I joined BYC in fact. In that case, the chicks progressed further before I started them on Corid, to the point where a few of them had to be manually made to drink in order to get medicine in them. Thankfully all recovered. These babies are still running around and drinking on their own, so I'm comforted by that and hopeful they will recover just fine.

Also interesting on the nipple waterers. Why do you suppose that is? Just less dirt being kicked in? I've considered switching my flock to them on a few occasions, but it just seems like too much effort when what I have already works well.

Coccidiosis is a weird one! It is environmental. Water in the brooder encourages more cyst growth. The water in the tank of the nipple water fountain is much less likely to become contaminated.

It seems like some breeds are more likely to get coccidiosis due to having an immunity to it. Older hens can get it but not show symptoms. They can have a lowering of egg laying though.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Gotcha! Yeah, they can be pretty messy with the open waterers in the brooder. I do know it's environmental, and that coccidia are more active and prevalent in damp environments, which is why I'm pretty sure it's the wet weather we've had here that's caused it with these babies. Their brooder was definitely dry because the waterer was raised to keep it from being spilled or filled with bedding (not that it kept all of the bedding out, of course), but they've been outside for a while now and we've had some rain since moving them out. No way to keep everything dry for them in the rain.

Just because it's cute, here is the fuzzy crew in their big cuddle puddle tonight. They're so precious. The English Orpingtons kinda do their own thing at night, but you can see them at the edge here.

 

[ronott1]

Gotcha! Yeah, they can be pretty messy with the open waterers in the brooder. I do know it's environmental, and that coccidia are more active and prevalent in damp environments, which is why I'm pretty sure it's the wet weather we've had here that's caused it with these babies. Their brooder was definitely dry because the waterer was raised to keep it from being spilled or filled with bedding (not that it kept all of the bedding out, of course), but they've been outside for a while now and we've had some rain since moving them out. No way to keep everything dry for them in the rain.

Just because it's cute, here is the fuzzy crew in their big cuddle puddle tonight. They're so precious. The English Orpingtons kinda do their own thing at night, but you can see them at the edge here.

View attachment 2783656

They are very cute!

We do not get rain in the summer here. Currently we are in one of the worst droughts since they started keeping records in California.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oh, no, that's awful, Ron! I hope you get some relief from the drought soon! Wish I could have sent you some of our rain!

 

[ronott1]

Oh, no, that's awful, Ron! I hope you get some relief from the drought soon! Wish I could have sent you some of our rain!

Hopefully we will get normal rain this winter.

22 wells have gone dry in our County and the lakes with water storage are nearly empty.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, I had another hawk attack yesterday that claimed the life of the Khaki Silver Duckwing OEGB cockerel that hatched this year. Looked like a juvenile Cooper's as it always is, though I was a fair distance away when it took off. The cockerel was alive enough when I got to him that, even though he was otherwise limp, he opened his eyes to look at me for a moment. On my walk back to the coop he began to seize and that was that. He was not a keeper, but I still don't like losing any birds to predators, and I especially don't like that there is again a known chicken attacking hawk in the area. Hopefully it having wasted its energy without getting a meal will discourage it. Still, I've added additional covering to the pens with tinies and babies in them, as much as possible, and my tiny girls, who were out with the flock, are in lockdown now, much as they hate it. Some time in hawk-safe pens won't kill them, at least.