Clueless Coopkeeper
Hatching
- Nov 21, 2017
- 4
- 3
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Not entirely sure if this is related, but only since getting our hens have we been experiencing some mange like symptoms in our domestic pets, (dogs and cats). We use straw for the bedding in our coop which we keep in our fenced backyard, where the dogs also go to do their business. We are in the rural part of southwest Arizona, so there is limited vegetation in our yard, (a couple of lemon saplings, a desert bird of paradise plant, and what I believe is a cresol bush. We have some house plants but they are kept well out of reach of all of the animals and have not shown signs of being consumed by any pets). We feed the hens mostly crumble and fruits for treats, and occasionally scraps that are we have researched to be safe for chickens. One of the three hens does not sleep in the coop, it prefers the railing on the back porch. We got a large dog house in hopes that she would inhabit it, but even with our first winter coming on she keeps her post on the railing. We are worried that she will be too cold in the winter, but imagine that instinct will take over if it does become too cold.
Our yard makes for great dust baths as it is primarily arid sand and caliche type rock, dirt, and dust. Since bringing our new pets home our dogs have had a severe increase in itching particularly their paws, faces, legs, and ears (big time). Also, one of our dogs, a small Chihuahua dachshund mix named Soda, has had what appears to be chronic pink eye, although the discharge from the eye has been less than I would expect from such a condition. Within about an hour to ninety minutes from noticing that her eye looked swollen the entire eyeball turned a milky white. This persisted for two days, without much signs of discomfort from the dog. Since then the eye has cleared up, only to become inflamed again this time lasting for several weeks and now it seems as though the problem is spreading to the other eye. The tipping point for me was the recent episode of what appeared to be a seizure in our other little Chihuahua. I do not know if any of this is related to the chickens, but it seems there must be some connection as the dogs are only 4-5 years old and had none of these issues (to our knowledge) prior to our new addition to the family.
Any constructive advice is welcome, please be sensitive as I have lost a lot of sleep in the recent weeks worrying over this and am in a delicate state of mind. Thank you in advance for your responses and much needed recommendations. (We are big hearted and small wallet-ed, and to be fair the animals are my housemates not mine. In all seriousness she cannot afford to keep the animals she has, and does not take them to a vet ever. I am in total opposition to this type of animal care, but because I do cohabitate with them, I do care a great deal for them, and this dog in particular. Unfortunately, I am a full time student and barely get by with the little part time work I am able to find in our extremely rural community. Please save the scolding and judgements as I am already at my wits end with these problems and know that the necessary thing is medical intervention, sadly we do not have the financial means to make this happen).
Our yard makes for great dust baths as it is primarily arid sand and caliche type rock, dirt, and dust. Since bringing our new pets home our dogs have had a severe increase in itching particularly their paws, faces, legs, and ears (big time). Also, one of our dogs, a small Chihuahua dachshund mix named Soda, has had what appears to be chronic pink eye, although the discharge from the eye has been less than I would expect from such a condition. Within about an hour to ninety minutes from noticing that her eye looked swollen the entire eyeball turned a milky white. This persisted for two days, without much signs of discomfort from the dog. Since then the eye has cleared up, only to become inflamed again this time lasting for several weeks and now it seems as though the problem is spreading to the other eye. The tipping point for me was the recent episode of what appeared to be a seizure in our other little Chihuahua. I do not know if any of this is related to the chickens, but it seems there must be some connection as the dogs are only 4-5 years old and had none of these issues (to our knowledge) prior to our new addition to the family.
Any constructive advice is welcome, please be sensitive as I have lost a lot of sleep in the recent weeks worrying over this and am in a delicate state of mind. Thank you in advance for your responses and much needed recommendations. (We are big hearted and small wallet-ed, and to be fair the animals are my housemates not mine. In all seriousness she cannot afford to keep the animals she has, and does not take them to a vet ever. I am in total opposition to this type of animal care, but because I do cohabitate with them, I do care a great deal for them, and this dog in particular. Unfortunately, I am a full time student and barely get by with the little part time work I am able to find in our extremely rural community. Please save the scolding and judgements as I am already at my wits end with these problems and know that the necessary thing is medical intervention, sadly we do not have the financial means to make this happen).
