Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Well I got everyone in for the night. Dug a couple trenches so hopefully the water will go down some by morning.

Tax: How do we get in there?
View attachment 3027223

How long does it take to dry up after a snow melt like that?

 

[Shadrach]

I lost my oldest hen this week too! She would have been 6 years old had she lived till May 5.

It's hard when you've known them for a few years.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@Sequel I am sorry you lost your old girl

 

[Shadrach]

I'm not all organic anymore I have changed since coming into BYC

But I found this what is your take on it?

https://www.countrygreenliving.com/make-a-natural-chicken-wormer/

There are lots of things that are reputed to promote gut health in chickens. The site you linked to mentions some of them. But, if a chicken has a critical worm load none of them are going to do the job.
For you Marie in the UK Flubenvet is your best bet.
Ivermectin is no longer effective against some worms, maily because lots of people started misusing it.
There is no such thing as preventitive worming either. You could treat a chicken for worms on day 1. Finish the course on day 7 and on day 8 they can eat something and be reinfected.
The time to worm chickens is when they have worms.
I've read lots of posts from chicken keepers who say their chickens have never had/don't have worms because they give them this "natural" remedy or that. How would they know? You don't always see worm segments in the poop.
You need to get a fecal float done to test for worms. You can even get DIY kits for this.
It's a bit like antibiotics. People give antibiotics as a preventitive. There's no point. The time to give antibiotics is if there is an infection. If you want an infection preventitive then clean the problem properly and regularly.

 

[Shadrach]

my top hen has suddenly started wheezing, both on the in breath and the out She seemed fine this morning; poop is normal, and she's still feisty enough to peck me for grabbing her out of the coop and bringing her in to try to assess her properly. She scoffed some mealworms with gusto, and her breathing has gone nearly silent now she's asleep. Any suggestions?

Is it possible she has something lodged in an airway?

 

[Marie2020]

There are lots of things that are reputed to promote gut health in chickens. The site you linked to mentions some of them. But, if a chicken has a critical worm load none of them are going to do the job.
For you Marie in the UK Flubenvet is your best bet.
Ivermectin is no longer effective against some worms, maily because lots of people started misusing it.
There is no such thing as preventitive worming either. You could treat a chicken for worms on day 1. Finish the course on day 7 and on day 8 they can eat something and be reinfected.
The time to worm chickens is when they have worms.
I've read lots of posts from chicken keepers who say their chickens have never had/don't have worms because they give them this "natural" remedy or that. How would they know? You don't always see worm segments in the poop.
You need to get a fecal float done to test for worms. You can even get DIY kits for this.
It's a bit like antibiotics. People give antibiotics as a preventitive. There's no point. The time to give antibiotics is if there is an infection. If you want an infection preventitive then clean the problem properly and regularly.

Thanks sharach. I just have to be careful with my Agatha. She's a funny little thing due to being overly used.

 

[Sortacountrychicken]

How long does it take to dry up after a snow melt like that?

If the snow would stop melting it would be completely dry in 3 days easily. There's still a lot more to melt so there's probably another few days of this going on. Even with the trenches the water was back up to a foot deep once the snow started melting again.

 

[Shadrach]

I was stuck. I didn't want to buy chicken feed through Amazon. I really wanted to support either a local pet/livestock supplier or a feed manufacturer preferably local. I've found a couple but they are quite a distance and to ensure the stuff gets delivered I have to be at one place or another for what is often an unspecified period of time. There is a pet food place in the village close to the allotments. I am so not interested in carrying a 20kg bag of feed half a mile or more!
I've used a rucksack before. Even that is hard work.
My best friend offered me her shopping trolly. She needed it for a while when she couldn't drive. I hummed and errrd a bit. Shopping trollies; they're for old frail people aren't they? Well, I slipped past the pride bit and said okay I'll give the trolley a try.

Yes I know it's pnky red. Yup I know it looks odd in a field. Yes the bag does come off and one can strap bulkier items than the bag will hold.
I'm getting to know a few of the bus drivers now and did I get some strange looks when I got on the bus dragging the trolley behind me.
Anyway, despite my reservations t worked. The trolley is rated at max load of 20kg but I could move one of my loudspeakers with it and that weighs 35kg. The trolley wasn't happy but it didn't break.
I picked up a 20kg bag of feed at the village pet supplies. After a bit of a struggle I got it in the trolley bag and headed off to the allotments. It did the job and some. It managed the rough field too.
End result.

Even stranger, I think C must have come up on the lottery or stolen someones debit card. There are mealworms in the feed bin! and bird seed and some other stuff.
There hasn't been that much food in the bin since I've been doing the chickens.

 

[Shadrach]

C was at the allotments this morning apparently. Geese and chickens were out for a couple of hours. I got to the allotments at just gone 1500 and left at 1830 so a good bit of time out for the chickens.
This is them just after I opened the gate. Not hungry enough to hang around and there was still a little bit of feed in the feeder.
After a rummage and scratch in the rough they returned to my chair and settled down for a major grooming session.

 

[Sortacountrychicken]

Tax for all the weather posts. Everyone is up by the barn as it's the only dry ground right now. The young boys have been terrorizing the hens a bit. Jackdaw is starting to figure things out and is starting to spend more and more time with a couple of the hens in the barn although they all rejoin the group to roost. I have one hen that will occasionally sleep in the barn but so far Jackdaw has returned to the coop each night. Jackdaw and Chickadee in the barn.

The blue girl here is Chickadee. She is getting ready to go broody. She was hatched last May and this would be her first time. She considered going broody late last summer but never did. She has been picking fights all day and has mostly been beat to a pulp. She is still laying currently.