Texas

[A1momof3]

Right!
I have Easter Eggers, which are crosses w/ Ameruacanas. They're very sweet birds!

Is She a splash? She's gorgeous

Have you tried Cupcake Moscato?
It's my second fav (on my budget lol)
But this one was Bartenura and was very VERY yummy. And only $15

Oh I love me some wine, all kinds of wine and Mascato is very good. Lots of good recipes for drinks using wine also for like partys and what not.

I came home from my appointment and put my Ameraucana chicks out in the aviary. I had to lock up the Pionus as she was going to ground wanting to have a nest in the crate I brought them outside in--can't have that, she could really hurt one if she bit it.

As I was putting them in the crate, I noticed one had an a prolapse caused by the urates (the white stuff) drying on the cloaca. That stuff does not wash off! I washed with baby shampoo and slathered her/his cloaca with antibiotic ointment and then gently worked to get it off. As soon as the dried urates were off, the prolapse went back into the body. Whew!

I covered the brooder with paper towels (so I could see a bowel movement) but nothing. I covered the brooder up, hoping the chick would go under the brooder plate and dry off but no such luck. I finally decided that outside in 85F humid weather was better than in my cooler house so put baby outside. As I was blow drying the chick, s/he did pass urates and urine but no feces. I'm a bit concerned. I gave the chick a bunch of meal worms so I know it has some food in his/her crop.

Suggestions.

I have no idea about this in chickens, can help you if it happened to you but I did find this on the web and it seemed very helpful.. lots of pictures and info...
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html

 

[A1momof3]

She wasn't in trouble immediately--I thought she had coughed it out. It was when I came back a few hours later and her lungs had started to fill up with fluid and she was struggling to breathe. She was so afraid. I feel so awful about it. Her crop was so gassy, flaccid and distended that when I picked her up to give her her anti-gas meds (over the counter "colic" meds for human babies that the vet told me to giver her), she just spit up and inhaled some. Maybe I did it by putting some pressure on the crop as I picked her up--I do blame myself.

She is such a smart little bird and to see her so afraid and struggling, well my farmer side (cull illness) was beaten into submission. I hope she is okay. I really like her soul.

Ok, ya'll my family has raised chickens for years while I was growing up and my grandparents, my daddy's parents, raises lots of chickens... and I just don't remember them having all these issues. LOL Momma got her chicks in the mail and I don't remember pasty butt....or any of the things I have been doing for my peeps. Yes they are spoiled and ours were not when I was growing up. lol
My dad even rescued a crate full of chickens that fell off a big truck on its was to the processing plant one morning on his way home from work. It was half roos and half hens. They were just sitting on the side of the road along with a lot of dead birds, so he just put it in the truck and off he went.

So, like us humans, have chickens just got weaker as time has progressed?? lol

 

[ClovisMan]

Quote: What happened was...people started treating chickens as pets instead of livestock. Back when my grand-daddy had chickens, if it had an issue, it was culled and put in a pot. He didn't incubate nothing. The chickens reproduced naturally. There wasn't a vet visit for the farm dog much less a chicken. So no, chickens are not weaker, people are...of course this is just one rednecks opinion.

 

[Brookshire11]

I have 3 seven week old guineas and they make the most racket out of all my poultry. Noisy, noisy, noisy!

Yeah, these projects have actually been a long time coming. It just took some saving for them to see fruition. Still have many projects left to go! lol

After the coop/run is relocated and finished, the compost area will be fenced out, then the garden area and the greenhouse will be constructed. Then the fencing and the pens for my future nubian goat flock will be done.....I will finish when I am old and gray! LOL

I'm jealous!!! Although, you know the rules. We're never actually finished. Bahaha. I need to get my guinea a few hens. That would really make DF happy. Who doesn't like bukaw bukaw buck wheat buckaw all day when you're trying to sleep? Haha.

Brookshire, you asked how loud guineas are? Picture this: small band of ten. Two males. Males are constantly on the look out and get small band riled up every time the wind blows. Riled up guineas means NANANANANANANANANANANANANANANANA BUCKWHEAT BUCKAW NANANANANANANANANANANANANANANANANA!


Eta:

I'm picturing them singing that while doing that little run chickens do. You know, where they hunch down and rush you? Lol!!
Yeah I'll have to wait til I'm outside the city limits on those.

 

[shewatson]

What happened was...people started treating chickens as pets instead of livestock. Back when my grand-daddy had chickens, if it had an issue, it was culled and put in a pot. He didn't incubate nothing. The chickens reproduced naturally. There wasn't a vet visit for the farm dog much less a chicken. So no, chickens are not weaker, people are...of course this is just one rednecks opinion.

I agree people baby them too much, when I was young we slaughter our own hogs, ring a chicken neck and had supper and had coon dogs that never were taken to a vet. My dad gave all the dogs their shots and stitched them up if they needed it. Oh the olden days.

 

[Brookshire11]

bnjrob (I think that's how you spell it) has some pretty good opinions and info on raising hardy, more independent birds.
I can't say I've never spoiled my girls (they got watermelon last night), but I really like all the ideas, and I hope to integrate them more.

 

[A1momof3]

I'm jealous!!! Although, you know the rules. We're never actually finished. Bahaha. I need to get my guinea a few hens. That would really make DF happy. Who doesn't like bukaw bukaw buck wheat buckaw all day when you're trying to sleep? Haha.

Brookshire, you asked how loud guineas are? Picture this: small band of ten. Two males. Males are constantly on the look out and get small band riled up every time the wind blows. Riled up guineas means NANANANANANANANANANANANANANANANA BUCKWHEAT BUCKAW NANANANANANANANANANANANANANANANANA!


Eta:

So.....I keep looking at all these beautiful breeds, and I think EVENTUALLY (like years from now) I may want to look into breeding.
I'd love to help repopulate some of the smaller breeds, like the White Faced Black Spanish and the different Orpingtons...I think I'd really enjoy that.
Hubby said "If you can prove that you can actually give away chicks, instead of keeping all of them, then I'm all for it."...
So I go "So how do you test me? We just hatch out some chicks?" And he goes "Yep!"

Obviously not until next year or so, but how fun! I'm prepared, I've got my Silkies and a mellow BO!

I'm going to have "the talk" with my hubby when he gets home about the breeding thing. I am going to approach it as a money making thing.... it should work!?!?

Here's my 5.5 week old Ameraucanas on their first day outside. They sure are homely looking at this age! Ms Jellybean, the black ones with the yellow stripes on their faces will be black. The grey-headed ones are blues and the light grey one on the left is a splash like the hen I sent a picture of.

I CAN'T WAIT!!! I just can't wait till I get to put mine in their new coop. Heck I can't wait to get my new coop done. This waiting around for hubby to get home is for the birds! LOL

Yeah. I've lost about ten pounds since I found out alone. Body looks great right now, but the Pudge is already showing and I'm only ten weeks. This is going to be a long LONG pregnancy if the fatigue, sickness, and light headedness keeps up. The cravings and mood swings I can deal with.

As promised, here's the boys enjoying their new digs. Prior to feed and water being put down I let them scope things out. The big roo, now named Lyle, hasn't stopped crowing yet. He's so excited! The guinea, Larry, seems to have no problem yelling at the dogs.

First thing they did was took dust bathes, Larry is now black instead of yellow.... And he's supposed to be white! Hopefully that god awful poo smell comes off of them in the next few days. They just got shavings under the roost and bathed in that, too! I wonder how long Joe Schmo had these boys locked up. I couldn't resist them! Straight from his truck to mine they went.

You are so good!!

Pad/slab construction for my metal building has commenced! Should be about 2 weeks from today until its finished. I can't wait. It means I can move my coop to the desired location and build my big run!

Oh man, more people making progress. Next week.... Next week we will get started on completing mine!!

What happened was...people started treating chickens as pets instead of livestock. Back when my grand-daddy had chickens, if it had an issue, it was culled and put in a pot. He didn't incubate nothing. The chickens reproduced naturally. There wasn't a vet visit for the farm dog much less a chicken. So no, chickens are not weaker, people are...of course this is just one rednecks opinion.

WHO... Me?? treat chickens like pets..... you mean letting Lulabella ride around on my shoulder is not a livestock activity?

The rest of that story was, when it came time to deal with all those roos, my childhood was for ever scared. LOL Daddy wringing their necks and sent me down there to pick up those flopping birds and then carry them down to my Papa who was sitting there with a Number 2 wash tub full of hot water that he put them in, stripped their feathers off then handed them to my MawMaw who was at another #2 tub with water and plucked the rest of the feather off and I have no idea what happened after that but I wouldn't eat home made fried chicken again until I was an adult. That smell just did me in. Mind you I was only like 10 maybe. LOL

 

[A1momof3]

I agree people baby them too much, when I was young we slaughter our own hogs, ring a chicken neck and had supper and had coon dogs that never were taken to a vet. My dad gave all the dogs their shots and stitched them up if they needed it. Oh the olden days.

I raised my kids that way......LOL stitched them up a time or two...... rub some dirt in it.... but my animals... How dare you!! LOL

bnjrob (I think that's how you spell it) has some pretty good opinions and info on raising hardy, more independent birds.
I can't say I've never spoiled my girls (they got watermelon last night), but I really like all the ideas, and I hope to integrate them more.

Will have to check that out.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Ok, ya'll my family has raised chickens for years while I was growing up and my grandparents, my daddy's parents, raises lots of chickens... and I just don't remember them having all these issues. LOL Momma got her chicks in the mail and I don't remember pasty butt....or any of the things I have been doing for my peeps. Yes they are spoiled and ours were not when I was growing up. lol
My dad even rescued a crate full of chickens that fell off a big truck on its was to the processing plant one morning on his way home from work. It was half roos and half hens. They were just sitting on the side of the road along with a lot of dead birds, so he just put it in the truck and off he went.

So, like us humans, have chickens just got weaker as time has progressed?? lol

No, I don't think chickens haven't gotten weaker. I didn't cull when she first got sick and I didn't let her die. If I hadn't taken them to the vet they would most certainly have died in February when their crop was a mass of putrid, rotting hay. For three days every morning I went into the garage expecting one or both birds to be dead. They were skin and bones.

Because I took them to an avian vet, I was able to effectively treat the blockage.

They might never have had a blockage if any of the following hadn't have happened:

1) I gave them antibiotics which probably upset the balance of their flora in their crop. Why did they get antibiotics? I'm telling you these health issues with these two Ameraucana hens is a whole cascade of things. They got antibiotics because a new bird I bought coughed when I opened the shipping box (not uncommon from lack of ventilation during shipping). Two days later we had that wicked cold front with bitter temps and 35mph winds from the north so I closed up the coop too tightly and a few of my chickens coughed the next day. Was it disease from the new bird that was in quarantine, or from poor ventilation? I didn't take chances and put everyone on antibiotics for five days.

2) I separated them from the free range flock (and cockerels) to get them into show condition for the two shows I went to in March. They were not happy to be in the bare garden so ate hay in their coop and blocked their crop, causing a compost heap in their crop.

3) They were put on Nystatin, an anti fungal since the antibiotics needed to be given in very sweet water setting up the perfect environment for a yeast overgrowth.

4) Once the crop was mostly unblocked and sweet smelling, the Nystatin didn't deal with the gassy crop so we tried another tact--acidify the crop with apple cider vinegar in the water. I think that made the crop more gassy. I believe whatever organisms had made her crop gassy were acid loving ones, so I just made it all worse. Of course, when you are doing a treatment (under vet's instructions) you have to give it time to work.

5) That didn't do anything and in fact made everything worse--poor hen would sit on my lap while she tried to burp it out--and she aspirated on some crop contents that came up with the gas.

6) Now we tried a different tact, again, and took away the acid environment and the crop returned to normal. She also is getting antibiotic treatment to try to prevent aspiration pneumonia, a huge risk for her after she aspirated some of her crop contents.

So, how much of all my health problems with this poor sweet little hen were 100% caused by me?

I think this hen is as tough as nails to still be alive to be honest.

 

[shewatson]

I raised my kids that way......LOL stitched them up a time or two...... rub some dirt in it.... but my animals... How dare you!! LOL

Will have to check that out.

Yep and my great grandmother if she had a hen that peck other hens or her own chicks would take a sewing needle and thread and sew her eye lids shut. I think I'm telling my age.