Silkie thread!

[Shadow920]

Thank you Shadow 920. . I do feed scraps- mostly old bread and vegetables and salad past their prime.. .My 18 year old Sheltie gets most of the meat scraps. Thanks for the warning about the avocado, I didn't know that. But we seldom have any of those left over and I don't think I've ever tossed any to them.

I have 4 LF hens right now and the 6 younger silkie pullets. I have extra calcium out for the LF and I haven't decided whether to switch everybody over to layer feed after the younger girls are laying. No hurry I guess. I was unsure at first whether to put the silkies with the big girls but I'm pleased the whole bunch seems to be melding into one flock. The big girls are a little bossy over food but it seems to be more of pecking order thing. They will chase one of the silkies of a few steps so they can eat first but no extended chasing and I see no signs of pecking or missing feathers. I started with 11 silkies and I think they overwhelmed the 4 big girls. Now.I've gotten rid of roosters and a couple of pullets I wasn't as crazy about and am down to 6 pullets I really like. I have 3 separate food and water containers and lots of hiding places and a 32 x 14 pen and everybody seems to get along okay. The showgirl is the boldest and she started eating along with the big hens and has persuaded the others to come along and eat with the big girls. Once in a while one of them get chased off but they come right back.I love silkies and want a bunch more. So I need toa sk another question:

I gave my best silkie cockerel to a friend who has considerably more space and chickens than I do. Would it work if in the spring I sent my six girls over to her place to visit the roo for a week ? They should be 9 or 10 months old by then. Will he breed them for a week or so then I can bring them home and can collect eggs for another week or two and try to hatch them?

chickens can take some time to adjust if you change their routine. i've been pretty lucky to have chickens adjust fairly quickly. it's possible that if the rooster knows the territory then the new hens will adjust faster. that's been my experience. i bought my cochin pair together. they were my first chickens. about a month later the hen was laying. however i had a banty rooster for a year and a half. last spring i bought two sebright hens, a week later had a hen laying to set. i just recently made the resulting chicks permanent residents in my banty flock. now be warned i tried to breed both sebrights. the other one took 14 days to lay 7 eggs, and then stopped. just abandoned the nest and has only laid 2 or 3 eggs since. this was in the middle of summer. i haven't seen any eggs from her for awhile. i won't be asking her to set a nest again. but if given the chance with a different hen i may add some of her eggs to someone else's nest at some point. so if the rooster is familiar with the territory it should be fine. roosters love new hens. lol

 

[foxandthehen]

No, not necessarily. He's probably just not show quality. Buffs are difficult to breed without black leakage. Here's one of mine that is pet quality. She has lots of black leakage in her wings and tail.

Thank you!Being pet quality explains it all. He also only has 9 toes. That's okay. He's still my perfect little guy. Your hen has gorgeous ear lobes.

 

[Sylvester017]

Which wormer do you use?

Ivermectin horse paste topically under each wing of each hen - the paste comes in a large syringe tube at the feed store. If the hen weighs 2 lbs then only one Q-tip drop under each wing on the actual skin, if the hen weighs 4 lbs then two Q-tip drops under each wing on the actual skin, you get the idea - one paste drop for every pound of bird. I have only 4 hens so this is an easy treatment for me to do. Some people think Ivermectin paste is useless for worming but I've used it for almost 5 yrs and my flock's fecal tests have never tested positive for either worms or cocci. I also use Rooster Booster's worming feed to add to our flock's regular feed as a follow-up for a month after worming with Ivermectin. Everyone does or uses something different for worming but if it ain't broke I'm not fixing it. My method has worked fine for me. Everything I do I run by my vet so I take his word as final confirmation. He exercises on the side of caution, has worked in the poultry industry, and loves chickens - especially mine, I might add

-- he's always pulling out his phone to snap pics of my Silkies!

Do research on different wormer products till you find one that suits your taste, so to speak. There are a lot of wormer recommendations on BYC and at first it boggled my mind all the input I was getting from so many people. One thing you want to check is that the wormer you choose covers more than just roundworms. Apparently there are different types of worms and maybe one product may only cover one or two types so read your labels. Tapeworm is a separate issue and uses a different type of medicine or vet care.

GL!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Ivermectin horse paste topically under each wing of each hen - the paste comes in a large syringe tube at the feed store.  If the hen weighs 2 lbs then only one Q-tip drop under each wing on the actual skin, if the hen weighs 4 lbs then two Q-tip drops under each wing on the actual skin, you get the idea - one paste drop for every pound of bird.  I have only 4 hens so this is an easy treatment for me to do.  Some people think Ivermectin paste is useless for worming but I've used it for almost 5 yrs and my flock's fecal tests have never tested positive for either worms or cocci.  I also use Rooster Booster's worming feed to add to our flock's regular feed as a follow-up for a month after worming with Ivermectin.  Everyone does or uses something different for worming but if it ain't broke I'm not fixing it.  My method has worked fine for me.  Everything I do I run by my vet so I take his word as final confirmation.  He exercises on the side of caution, has worked in the poultry industry, and loves chickens - especially mine, I might add -- he's always pulling out his phone to snap pics of my Silkies!

Do research on different wormer products till you find one that suits your taste, so to speak.  There are a lot of wormer recommendations on BYC and at first it boggled my mind all the input I was getting from so many people.  One thing you want to check is that the wormer you choose covers more than just roundworms. Apparently there are different types of worms and maybe one product may only cover one or two types so read your labels.  Tapeworm is a separate issue and uses a different type of medicine or vet care.

GL!

Keeping parasites at bay when you only have a few birds is a lot less challenging than when you have a large flock. Science has been done on ivermectin as an anthelmetic for birds and found to be inadequate. It's use in external parasites it's far more positive , yet it can be quite easy to overdose your birds. If the product you are using contains praziquantel and you were administering it orally , then that would have an impact on the worms. Perhaps the rooster booster you are giving for that follow up is the reason your feacal counts are low.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x/abstract

 

[Sylvester017]

Keeping parasites at bay when you only have a few birds is a lot less challenging than when you have a large flock. Science has been done on ivermectin as an anthelmetic for birds and found to be inadequate. It's use in external parasites it's far more positive , yet it can be quite easy to overdose your birds. If the product you are using contains praziquantel and you were administering it orally , then that would have an impact on the worms. Perhaps the rooster booster you are giving for that follow up is the reason your feacal counts are low.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0450.1989.tb00635.x/abstract

Except I only started Rooster Booster wormer middle of this year

I just can't believe I've been worm-free for nearly 5 years if Ivermectin wasn't working. Vet liked that I was using Iver and I'll also check on the ingredient. Maybe it's like you said that a small flock has way less challenges than a large group.

 

[EZFarms]

Anyone ever hear the old wives tale about "sexing" eggs?
The tale is that the pointier the eggs the more likely a male the rounder the more likely a female. I'm wanting to test this theory

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you Shadow 920. . I do feed scraps- mostly old bread and vegetables and salad past their prime.. .My 18 year old Sheltie gets most of the meat scraps. Thanks for the warning about the avocado, I didn't know that. But we seldom have any of those left over and I don't think I've ever tossed any to them.

There are several websites with toxic vs safe foods for poultry, and other pets in general. These have been some of my favourites - I really like the last one but sometimes the link for it doesn't always work and the URL has to be typed in:

http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4509858_feed-chickens.html
https://poultrykeeper.com/general-chickens/poisonous-plants-chickens/
http://www.grit.com/animals/common-...-to-dogs-cats-and-chickens.aspx#axzz3KpE7wOXl

 

[cgmaster]

Anyone ever hear the old wives tale about "sexing" eggs?
The tale is that the pointier the eggs the more likely a male the rounder the more likely a female. I'm wanting to test this theory

That theory is incorrect (the shape of the egg has nothing to do with it). Some hens tend to lay rounder eggs, some end up laying pointier. Some hens eggs hatch out with more of a specific gender no matter what shape they are.

 

[EZFarms]

I have four serama eggs in an incubator right now and all the eggs are from one green and the are pointier then the other. I can feather sex so i want to see how accurate this really is (or isn't)

 

[Hholly]

Thank you!Being pet quality explains it all. He also only has 9 toes. That's okay. He's still my perfect little guy. Your hen has gorgeous ear lobes.

He's very handsome!