Silkie thread!

[FirstTimeClucky]

Im glad she's doing better. I keep Corid on hand just for emergencies. It lasts a long while.

The Kaytee baby parrot is kept in my freezer as you can tube a chicken and force feed them it if needed since it is smoothe and flows. It's perfectly fine for chickens as there isn't the extra calcium some of the foods have.

Ive tubed a bird with Ensure before because it was all I could get on short notice. Omg the smell of the poop about killed me. It's why I keep some of the Kaytee stuff in the freezer now.

The good news is that I've been watching her with my camera because I find if I go to the cage she stops what she's doing. I just watched her go to two food dishes and eat for a while at each, then she went to the water and drank some. I'm happy and relieved that she's eating now and not just picking at it. Hopefully that means she has turned a corner and is no longer in danger. Maybe it was stress after all. Still getting the Corid though.

 

[sue25]

The good news is that I've been watching her with my camera because I find if I go to the cage she stops what she's doing. I just watched her go to two food dishes and eat for a while at each, then she went to the water and drank some. I'm happy and relieved that she's eating now and not just picking at it. Hopefully that means she has turned a corner and is no longer in danger. Maybe it was stress after all. Still getting the Corid though.

How is she doing today?

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

How is she doing today?

This morning she scared me. I heard a lot of scuffling in the cage and when I went to look, she was darting back and forth and snapping her beak, seemingly at random. I thought she was having some sort of seizure. Then I noticed the little moth she was chasing. She caught it, but didn't know what to do with it.

I didn't find any more bloody poops in her shavings today. I've seen her eating this morning, so it looks like she's still doing well. I'm going to turn off the heat lamp since she's not spending her time huddled under it anymore.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

In another day or two, I'm going to get my last 3 cockerels banded and take some pictures. I want to keep 2, 1 as a breeder and 1 as a backup. Will you guys help me decide which one should go to a new home and which two are best to keep?

Edited to fix auto correct errors

 

[FishMtFarm]

In another day or two, I'm going to get my last 3 cockerels banded and take some pictures. I want to keep 2, 1 as a breeder and 1 as a backup. With you guys help me decode which one should go to a new home and which two are best to keep?

Yep, sure will

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Ok, here we go! I need to know who you think is best for breeding and who you think is worst and should be sent off to a new home. I'm only keeping 2. I did the best I could to get decent pictures. All are bearded (yellow has had his picked and green has lost some of his too). All 3 boys are roughly 7-8 months old.

Red boy
Weight: 2 lbs 12.5 oz

Yellow Boy
Weight: 2 lb 8.5 oz

Green Boy
Weight: 2 lb 13.4 oz

Thank you all in advance!

 

[FishMtFarm]

Keep the green and the red, sell yellow. Red has a nice high cushion tho I would like to see it a bit fuller. Short back and tight wings from what I can see. Green boy has a full nice high cushion and is more typey which I like in my birds. I'd say use green as your breeder and red as your backup.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

I thought I'd post another update about Divine. She's doing great and has developed quite the diva personality. As I write this she's at the front of her cage "yelling" at the top of her lungs because she knows it's almost bed time. She hates being covered up at night now (I do it to protect her from feline incursions) and yells even louder when she's alone in the dark. She comes to the front of her cage whenever I'm nearby, looking for attention. Tonight I put my face right up to the cage and she was peering at my hair and shaking her head. She became a bit too interested in my eye so I had to back off. She seems to like being held and will perch on my hand or arm, crouch down and start making her tiny cricket noise.

She's an eager eater and I can always tell at a glance that her crop is nice and full, because it bulges out from between her feathers. I always laugh when I hear her peeping or trilling with her mouth full, though I wonder if she'll choke herself one of these days. She climbs right inside the larger feeder (a jug with an opening cut in the side of it, hung from the side of the cage) and scratches and kicks the food out. Then of course she climbs out, starts on the food she kicked to the floor, and scratches that around as well. There's a big bare area in front of her feeder now. I had to move her water cup because she decided to start roosting in it, and I'd find her with soaking wet belly and legs in the morning. She has a perch to roost on but has never used it.

I found a local bird supply store that carries coccidiosis medication as well as a full range of antibiotics and supplements, so I'll be going there from now on when I need meds or other bird related items. As a precaution I'm giving all of my chickens the medicatiion for 5 days in their water. I also bought some grit for my birds, it's oyster shell mixed with anise and it's a bluish colour. I'm not sure if it would be OK for a young chicken (it's usually used for pigeons). For the time being I'm offering her some non-oyster shell grit that's made for small caged birds.

Here she is, 5 weeks old now!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=385798291856452

 

[Hinotori]

I thought I'd post another update about Divine. She's doing great and has developed quite the diva personality. As I write this she's at the front of her cage "yelling" at the top of her lungs because she knows it's almost bed time. She hates being covered up at night now (I do it to protect her from feline incursions) and yells even louder when she's alone in the dark. She comes to the front of her cage whenever I'm nearby, looking for attention. Tonight I put my face right up to the cage and she was peering at my hair and shaking her head. She became a bit too interested in my eye so I had to back off. She seems to like being held and will perch on my hand or arm, crouch down and start making her tiny cricket noise.

She's an eager eater and I can always tell at a glance that her crop is nice and full, because it bulges out from between her feathers. I always laugh when I hear her peeping or trilling with her mouth full, though I wonder if she'll choke herself one of these days. She climbs right inside the larger feeder (a jug with an opening cut in the side of it, hung from the side of the cage) and scratches and kicks the food out. Then of course she climbs out, starts on the food she kicked to the floor, and scratches that around as well. There's a big bare area in front of her feeder now. I had to move her water cup because she decided to start roosting in it, and I'd find her with soaking wet belly and legs in the morning. She has a perch to roost on but has never used it.

I found a local bird supply store that carries coccidiosis medication as well as a full range of antibiotics and supplements, so I'll be going there from now on when I need meds or other bird related items. As a precaution I'm giving all of my chickens the medicatiion for 5 days in their water. I also bought some grit for my birds, it's oyster shell mixed with anise and it's a bluish colour. I'm not sure if it would be OK for a young chicken (it's usually used for pigeons). For the time being I'm offering her some non-oyster shell grit that's made for small caged birds.

Here she is, 5 weeks old now!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=385798291856452

Oystershell is not grit. It should not be given to chicks.

Grit is stone. Commercially it's granite grit sold for poultry. It comes in different sizes. Some for chicks and some for adults. Chicken given food other than processed commercial feed must be given grit to digest food.

Oystershell is ground up by the grit in the crop so that laying hens can utilize it.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

Oystershell is not grit. It should not be given to chicks.

Grit is stone. Commercially it's granite grit sold for poultry. It comes in different sizes. Some for chicks and some for adults. Chicken given food other than processed commercial feed must be given grit to digest food.

Oystershell is ground up by the grit in the crop so that laying hens can utilize it.

Thanks for that information. I knew oyster shells are a source of calcium so I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to give it to a bird who isn't laying eggs. Because I keep a range of bird species I buy several kinds and sizes of grit or shells. Right now Divine is on grit sized for budgies and small parrots. It doesn't contain oyster shell but it does contain a bit of charcoal which I'm guessing won't do any harm.