Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Ladies-Eight]

In or out of the jar?

As I know nothing about this food I'd like to see both if that's not to much trouble.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Thought this was too funny not to share here...

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Too cute!

 

[Ladies-Eight]

I hope volunteering works out. You need to find things that makes you at least a bit better, and feeling useful usually helps !
You lost your best pet friend and your whole life turned upside down, so it's understandable that it's not just a kick your butt and you should be doing good in a few weeks thing.

@noflyzone

I feel that you need to find things to do that make you happy, feel good about yourself, and get you out of the house.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good afternoon one and all!

@Perris

The bowl of food looked good and thanks for showing it.

Temperature is in the 80s.

Have a great day!

 

[TropicalChickies]

I have never heard of using paraffin. I wonder how that works.

It only works as a skin barrier. It suffocates the mites already on the skin and helps to prevent others from attaching. But it doesn't do anything to kill eggs or really break the cycle, you have to keep applying it.

 

[no fly zone]

I'm so sorry you are going through such a difficult time. I was wondering if a small indoor bird such as a cockatiel or small parrot would be something you can do or would consider. A handfed one can be amazingly personable and cuddly. Nobody will ever replace Skeksis, but you may find a new love.

No noisy birds, plus the NJ gestapo requires a permit for everything.

 

[Shadrach]

Re, Carbon's watery poo: 3 of our eldest hens have been prone to loose poops their whole lives. It's notably worse during molt and in the morning. (I've wondered if it's due to organ damage from being shipped as chicks in a very cold February. None of our other groups of birds have this issue.)

In the past month, one of those hens, Bebe, was having projectile, watery stools first thing in the morning, plus a bright red comb while molting. Her crew had been wormed and her behavior was okay, so I settled on it being molting stress, but it wasn't sitting right.

When you asked for advice about Carbon, Azygous' suggestion resonated; an infection hadn't been on my radar despite the red comb. Within 48 hours of starting antibiotics, Bebe's comb was the right shade of pink for molting, behavior went from okay to great, and her morning poops were more acceptable. Not perfect, but less dramatic; her morning poops are never perfect.

This week, I've gone the other direction, with treats of raw cow's milk (we get raw dairy through a share with a local farm) and greek yogurt to boost good bacteria. Bebe's holding steady.

Meanwhile, rooster Andre is for sure now in his first molt at 2.5 years old. At one point, he was also having his first watery stools. He hadn't been wormed in a long time, so I took a leap and wormed him. It immediately firmed things up. His stools are still soft but in range of what I expect during a molt. Gotta love navigating the gray area between medicating too much and not enough

Not sure if my observations are helpful but thought I'd commiserate. As hard as molting is on the chickens, it's tough on keepers.

Tax: Andre as a freshly minted naked neck/carrioca. Plus a classic Starla photobomb. Andre is so in love that he was letting the pullets "groom" incoming feathers off his neck. Luckily, he had enough after they cleared a patch on either side and now dances them away when they're feeling groomy. Otherwise he might've needed a protective neck apron, if that exists.

Here's hoping the rest of his new hackle feathers will cover the gaps, or we'll have to live with his mullet for a while.

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An infection is a possibility but until Carbon has finished the worming treatment I won't know much more than I do now.
She's a prime candidate for worms and anything else that can be caught be feeding off the ground. Carbon chucks the feed out of the bowls and then picks it up off the ground.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

An infection is a possibility but until Carbon has finished the worming treatment I won't know much more than I do now.
She's a prime candidate for worms and anything else that can be caught be feeding off the ground. Carbon chucks the feed out of the bowls and then picks it up off the ground.

Thinking good thoughts for her. Hopefully the worming and getting past the molt will make her more peppy.

 

[becstalls]

We had an issue with northern fowl mites a few years ago. Tiny, brown, like to run around their vents but can often be seen on the skin if you part their feathers. They can be visible on surfaces like roosts if you look very closely. Our mites liked plastic and could be found on our waterers.

My first step was to remove all bedding from coops and nesting boxes. I added mite powder to the garbage bags of bedding before taking them to the dump. Then I treated coops and birds themselves. It was a journey that lasted 9-ish months.

It wouldn't have taken that long if I'd known what worked, but different pests respond to different interventions, and it's hard to know what will work best. The liquid permethrin everyone raves about did nothing for us! Elector is ridiculously expensive but did beat back the mites...for 3-4 weeks a time. Then they'd be back.

Gardstar powder (on the shelf near the permethrin at T-S-C) was the most effective for us. It's also cheap and easier to apply, as there are no spray bottles, no measuring correct dilution, no making birds wet.

What finally worked was dusting under roosts, under floor coverings, under nesting material: places where the birds won't really contact it but mites will (these days, I still do this quarterly to reduce chances of a recurrence). I'd carefully apply dust directly to birds and, finally, reluctantly, one carefully measured ivermectin dosage to the necks of birds with the worst mites. Ivermectin is a last resort because it isn't easy on their systems, but neither are mites, and neither is regular dusting with poison.

If it's mites, it's important to beat them back decisively. As much as I can't stand chemicals, if applied correctly, they work faster and do less damage than mites will to the chickens' health. Lastly, don't waste time with things like DE that can harm their respiratory systems without hurting the mites a bit Best of luck with whatever you're dealing with!

Thanks for the info. Yep, tiny brown things that run around near their vents. I usually don’t notice them anywhere else on their bodies though. Ironically, the infestation seems to have started right after I changed the coop bedding. But probably they were there before and I just noticed it then because of the Broody hen it seemed to start with. Thank you for the Gardstar powder suggestion!

 

[Shadrach]

Four hours today. Chilly but stayed dry.

I seem to have mould on top of the fermenting feed. It had been fermenting for 52 hours. It doesn't smell bad.

Carbon is still struggling however there is nothing runny about this poop. The poop at the front of the picture is Henry's. His doesn't seem to change much no matter what he eats.

Lots of bits of feather shafts.

Out and about. Dig and Mow are still being mothered by Fret but Fret spends more time with Carbon these days while Mow and Dig go foraging together.

Eating seeds and grains. I don't think they missed a single one.