Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

Four hours today. It stayed dry until I headed for the bus stop.
Stessed over Carbon. She's getting on in years.
I can't make up my mind about a pair of Light Sussex pullets a freind is still offering. I think Fret will go broody again in the spring and that may well solve the fewer hens than I would like situation.
Got a couple of days of crap weather ahead it seems from the met office forcast.
I've been given a good sized rosmary bush and a couple of other herbs to go along with my recently donated thyme and some lemon smelling plant.

 

[fuzzi]

Four hours today. It stayed dry until I headed for the bus stop.
Stessed over Carbon. She's getting on in years.
I can't make up my mind about a pair of Light Sussex pullets a freind is still offering. I think Fret will go broody again in the spring and that may well solve the fewer hens than I would like situation.
Got a couple of days of crap weather ahead it seems from the met office forcast.
I've been given a good sized rosmary bush and a couple of other herbs to go along with my recently donated thyme and some lemon smelling plant.
View attachment 3673074View attachment 3673073View attachment 3673072View attachment 3673071View attachment 3673070View attachment 3673069

The chicks are so big!

And I hope Carbon feels better, soon. No matter what happens you've given her and the others time as a free entity, a less stressful and more natural existence after battery life.

 

[Ladies-Eight]

Ex Batts good evening one and all!

I just bought a bag of food for the new puppy and it has 31% crude Protein.

Temperature is in the 60s.

Have a great day!

 

[tranquiliti]

Paprika's chicks are 7 weeks old today, and I think we've got 2 boys, thinking about status
View attachment 3672249
and three girls, thinking about food
View attachment 3672250
View attachment 3672253
With Fez being a pullet, and 2 girls 1 boy in Janeka's 3, we've been lucky with the gender ratios again this year. Or maybe it's because none of the clutches were early in the year? I'm sure I read something in one or more of the old handbooks about early season clutches being predominantly male and late season female, but I've not read any modern study remarking on it - maybe because the emphasis these days is on hatching early enough to have pullets to sell in the spring?

These are very interesting thoughts, correlating with my observations of my own guinea hatches this year. I would need to spend more time analyzing the factors leading to eventual outcomes, but it is true that my three oldest surviving keets are almost decidedly male, and the vast majority of the youngest 8 are female (anybody want some crazy puffs? Please? ).

 

[BDutch]

I do hope Carbon is feeling better soon too. But personally I would never give antibiotics if I wasn’t sure this would help. The good bacteria get killed by antibiotics too, and chickens often get new problems within a few months after administering the antibiotics.

Another reason not to give antibiotics without being certain what you are coping with is that this is not good for our general healthcare. It increases the risk of developing bacteria strains that are not responding to any antibiotics anymore. We already have enough of these resistant strains thanks to all the vets and doctors that supply antibiotics too easily, like for virus infections. Fact: Factory farmers are high risk patients in hospitals because they are often carrier of resistant bacteria.

 

[Perris]

I second what @BDutch said

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

I second what @BDutch said

Beryl’s Friendly Bacteria can help recolonise their digestive system, smelly but they seem to like it. Doesn’t come in less than 12 chicken pack. Not sure Beryl looked anything like the picture though
https://www.chickenvet.co.uk/beryl-s-friendly-bacteria
https://www.avivit.uk/product/beryls-friendly-bacteria-for-poultry-12-bird-pack/ and quite a few other sources…
2nd link is same chap as Legbars of Broadway, have ordered from them a few times & one lot went to the wrong address, contacted them & apparently as it comes in a thermal wrap it is fine for up to 5 days at room temp. Mind you, my flat is empty at the mo (looking after elderly mum) so not terribly warm

 

[Perris]

the second link is very informative. I particularly liked these bits:

"How does it work?​

Beryl’s Friendly Bacteria colonise the chicken’s gut and prevent establishment by disease causing bacteria. When chicks are hatched and reared by the mother, they naturally pick up their mother’s friendly bacteria from her faeces, but most domestic chickens are hatched in incubators and so are separated from their mothers. They are therefore susceptible to whatever unhealthy bacteria are in their surroundings.

Origin of the brand name​

Beryl lived in the Malvern Hills, where she kept chickens in her cottage garden. Some local scientists who wanted to develop a natural product to protect poultry from salmonella, using the competitive exclusion concept, used Beryl’s donor hens to help develop the product. After rigorous testing by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, the samples were certified safe and free of all known avian pathogens.
...

Why does Beryl’s Friendly Bacteria have a distinctive odour?​

Beryl’s has a distinctive odour, so it is advisable to mix it in a well-ventilated room, or outside. The friendly bacteria are anaerobic and are smelly by nature. "

So, it would appear to be a fecal transplant, from lab grown cultures of the caecal poop of proven healthy garden chickens.

I do hope Beryl was suitably compensated by the commercial firm charging a fortune for dried chicken poo

 

[Shadrach]

I wrote about Carbon's problem in some detail with pictures so readers might refer to these posts in the event they encounter a similar problem.

I have never given a chicken antibiotics for an undiagnosed problem before.
I have never given a chicken antibiotics for anything other than external injuries that have either become infected or, on the advice of a vet, stood an unacceptable risk of infection.

My experience of giving chickens antibiotics on the three occasions I have done so have been mostly disastrous and have led to extended suportive care, eating problems, crop disorders that took weeks to sort out, further weight loss and reintegration problems when they have had to be isolated while wounds have healed.

On the other hand I've dealt with some very unpleasant wounds with carefull cleaning and an application of Stokholm Hoof Tar.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-and-injuries-with-stockholm-hoof-tar.74400/

None of the birds treated as above spent more than a day away from their tribe and non of them died from their injuries and all continued to eat well and compared to those given antibiotics, recovered very quickly.

I'm not on the same page, or even reading the same book as BDutch regarding natural health products, whatever they are, and I don't really care about the effects of the overuse of antibiotics with my own species.
I do care about chickens though.
The last three occasions I've been prescribed antibiotics I didn't take them, they make me feel truly awful, and lived to write this.

I have amoxicillin on hand to give a medium dose of 125mg per day for seven days.

Whatever has caused Carbon's problem, stress, moulting, reduced immune system response, old age, it's a digestive tract problem she's dealing with leading to crop problems. These are the areas in my very limited experience that suffer badly when the chickens is given antibiotics. The last thing I want is to exacerbate the existing problems by giving antibiotics.
Getting her crop moving more freely has given positive results; still runny droppings but a much higher solid content.
I'm not in a position to give constant supportive care, or keep Carbon somewhere I can keep an eye on her adequately.
If she dies, she will have had a long life compared to the Ex Battery hens and some of the other rescues that have ended up at the allotments. Currently, as can be seen from my posts, she's eating, drinking and out foraging with the rest of her family. Should this stop, then I will reassess.


I'm going to try @L-plate chicken mum suggestion first and cross my fingers.

 

[Perris]

I hope it works for Carbon, and for you.
Happy to send you some of my lot's poop as well if you want it