Hello- My birds have a week left before slaughter, and I'm seeing quite a bit of runny poo. Any home remedy tips I should try that will leave them unmedicated for slaughter, but still make sure I don't lose any before then? Thought I remembered something about milk and something else about apple cider vinegar, but wasn't sure exactly how to go about either. Also- how do you weigh your chickens? I'm thinking of doing my roos this weekend (it will be 8 weeks and they LOOK pretty big, but I'm not positive,) then waiting a week on the hens. Are you using a poultry scale or is there an easy "home" method to get a bearing on weight. I'm sure when you've been doing it awhile, you just "know" but this is my first batch. Lastly, how do you grab and catch them when fully grown? I have a tractor, and getting them near the door is it's own problem, but I tried to pick up a roo yesterday to get a bearing on his size, but when I was able to catch him, he flapped so much I couldn't hold him without worrying risking hurting him. Any tips here on picking up/carrying? Are you doing it by the feet?? Haha, it was a lot easier when I could get my hands around them and they were lighter! Thanks!
i can answer one question! lol grab them by their wings. hold on to both shoulder blades with both hands and they won't flap.
Quote:The least stressful way on the bird that I have found is to just take my bathroom scale outside...put it on a board on a flat surface...weigh myself one or two times to make sure that I am on a level enough spot where it is accurate and then just pick up a bird in my arms and see the difference in weight. I am sure that I probably look awfully silly, but it is quick and it works!
As for the picking up, I agree, you could pick them up by the wings/shoulderblades, and also hold their feet. As for weighing, you can get a fish scale...spring loaded with a hook, tie thier feet and hang them from the scale. maybe even a produce scale and bind their wings. Or wrap them in a towel. Just my .02 cents. I have no idea about the runny poo...sorry!!
This might be a long shot, but I noticed mine had it a few weeks ago after a drastic change in the weather from hot to cold. It took a few days to pass and now they are all fine. There was nothing else different. Some of my laying hens stopped laying right at that time too. We went from 98 degrees to 58 with rain and wind in a two day period. Everyone is back to normal. Did you have an environmental change at all? Or a food change?
Quote:Oh, come to think of it, I had a food change- I've had to switch back and forth from the Dumor's to the broiler feed from the mill (I missed closing time at the mill a couple of times,) and the protein level was even different between the two. Could that be the problem? I didn't even think of it, but now that you mention it, I remember that even in dogs that can be a problem when changing their food.
It is probably the food change.... my dogs get sick when I change the food and I noticed that when I started feeding more corn to the chickens they got runny poo..
Thanks for mentioning that- I can't believe I didn't think of it because I absolutely knew it about dogs! I put some apple cider vinegar in their water just in case, but that has to be what it is- my birds are seven weeks old, never been around other birds, I've never had other birds on my property, and they aren't acting funny or showing other signs of sickness. That's a relief!
For weighing my chickens I have a postal scale I bought cheap on ebay. I just set the chicken on the scale and it will stand there till i pick it back up. This has worked really good for me. It gives me the weight in lbs and oz.
Quote:Wow, I can't imagine them standing there for it! I guess I could always put them in a box and recalibrate it to zero too. I have a postal scale- I'll give it a try. Thanks.