Texas

[Ms Jellybean]

If they are staying with you turn their room into your brooder room, like Lisa's bathroom. If that doesn't speak to them.... nothing will!!

It was pretty obvious--she was choking and her trying to clear her airway--it was pretty obvious. She then declined over a few hours as fluid filled her lungs. I took her to the vet (against my "farmer's" better judgement--after all it was my own d@mn fault) thinking she would be dead by the time I made the long drive into the city. He gave me the options--Lasix to clear the fluid out of her lungs and injectable antibiotics (Baytril) to combat any infection that might set up. He said her lungs/airway weren't as bad as they actually sounded--it was the fluid build up that was causing the noise and her terror of suffocating. I thought about it. Let me see, a kazillion dollars I don't have for a chicken worth almost nothing against trying to save my favorite chicken's. Decision made. He beamed when I decided to try to save her and said how much he wanted to treat her.

My vet wanted to be a poultry pathologist when he was in school--he is only 10 hours short of a degree in poultry science--but decided in school he liked chickens too much to only work on dead chickens, so now he is an avian vet in San Antonio. He doesn't work on many chickens, so he is always happy to see mine.

So far, I'm crossing my fingers that she will live. At the moment, she is really good. Once we cleared the fluid from her lungs--I guess her body was setting up the response to drowning--she has never looked back. The crop has finally settled down and is acting normally. That took months to sort out. She is gaining her weight back. She laid an egg today, poor thing, and maybe one a couple of days ago--not sure because the other crop-issue bird was with her in the pen and I don't know what that one's eggs look like.

Just a bit of information: chickens (maybe birds in general) don't have the cells that sweep debris out of the lungs the way humans (and maybe all mammals) have. So, anything that goes into the lungs stays in the lungs until the body seals it off and/or the white blood cells go outside the capillary walls into the lungs, grab the foreign matter and go back into the blood stream and do whatever white blood cells do when they've "eaten" foreign material. Aspiration of a foreign body is a bigger issue with birds than with people.

Here is a picture of her. She's a splash Ameraucana from the same breeder Ms. Jellybean is getting her Ameraucana from. They might even be related.

Oh, she is so pretty!

SO, I'm thinking I need some Ameraucana goodness. Could you please share the source of these lovely birds? Are they locals where I can go pick up live birds?

I'm getting mine from the Paul Smith lines via GameandMore here. He lives in FW area and I am picking them up in Denton (hopefully Wednesday - depends on his delivery date).

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!

Why wait? Now is a great time to try. Get that incubator out!

The breeder is Paul Smith in Gainseville, Texas.

Go to: http://www.ameraucana.org/

The Ameraucana Breeders Club (above) has a breeders section. You can find a breeder by state.

Paul Smith has some of the best Ameraucanas in the US. He is the Ameraucana Breeders Club director for this area. I had both groups of chicks (last year and this year) mailed to me. He has a waiting list, so I don't know what he has available for the rest of the year.

Contact GameandMore. He may have some extra to sell.

This was a pretty common sight in the Middle East....

Love it!

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 to get mine. These next few days are going to be the longest days to get through!

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!

I need someone like you around here to finish up all my projects.....

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.

I ride my bike by a flock of guineas over by Myers Park. They are so funny to watch. They do not like me on the bike and always make a fuss when I go by. I can't wait until I can have some. I was thinking one hen to go into the flock of chickens.

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.

I hardly ever took my kids to the doctor. We are one of the healthiest families I know. I did let the doctors do their stitches though...

 

[jajeanpierre]

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 think you are correct. A friend who is a serious chicken breeder is horrified I have tried to save this bird. She believes that if they get sick, you cull. Not because you are heartless, but to remove any potentially weak birds from your genetic pool. If my beautiful splash hen lives, I will not be selling any of her babies because I will just consider her to not be suitable for someone else's breeding program.

I had a Silkie drown in my pool. I was so upset about it, thinking I should have done more to keep them away from the apron of the pool. My friend, the cull queen, said, no, a chicken should never go anywhere near a body of water and if she did she was stupid and stupid should never be allowed to reproduce.

When there is a hawk alert, the Ameraucanas fly to the fence line. The Polish just stand there in the middle of the yard looking around stupidly. They are hawk dinner waiting to happen. (I have since put two of the Polish with the Ameraucana rooster and he has them whipped in line. They now RUN for the fence line when there is an alert.) My friend, the cull queen, said that some breeds have had the survival instincts bred right out of them. I would have to agree with her.

 

[Brookshire11]

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.

Oh, she is so pretty!

I'm getting mine from the Paul Smith lines via GameandMore here. He lives in FW area and I am picking them up in Denton (hopefully Wednesday - depends on his delivery date).

Why wait? Now is a great time to try. Get that incubator out!

I don't have the funds for an incubator now..lol
Plus..I don't know if I want to hassle with it. I think I'd rather stick them under a broody.
"Here, YOU deal with them"

I need someone like you around here to finish up all my projects.....
Here too!

I ride my bike by a flock of guineas over by Myers Park. They are so funny to watch. They do not like me on the bike and always make a fuss when I go by. I can't wait until I can have some. I was thinking one hen to go into the flock of chickens.
Oooh! I'll have to go see them one day.

I hardly ever took my kids to the doctor. We are one of the healthiest families I know. I did let the doctors do their stitches though...

We were NEVER sick until we moved up here. We still don't go in much. Sometimes there's just not a lot they can do for the bugs going around.
I've made best friends with Elderberry syrup, eucalyputs oil, and good ole garlic and chicken stock. Lol.

 

[Brookshire11]

Oh! Lovingmyhens, I emailed a lady who runs a little hobby ranch about the BCMs. And she only has chicks :/ She said she had a waiting list for pullets but wasn't sure how long it was.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Oh, she is so pretty!

I'm getting mine from the Paul Smith lines via GameandMore here. He lives in FW area and I am picking them up in Denton (hopefully Wednesday - depends on his delivery date).

Ms Jellybean, you are not getting Paul Smith lines, you are getting Paul Smith hatched birds. GamesandMore is buying them directly from Paul Smith. He tried to buy birds from me; I referred him to Paul Smith.

Paul hatches on Mondays I believe. When you get them, check out which web is punched or not punched. We might have family.

Toe punching (putting a hole between the toes in the web) is a way to keep track of the breeding pens the birds came out of. There are two places to punch a hole on each foot, in the webbing between the front three toes.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

More work got done here today. The list gets shorter, little by little. Emphasis on little.


My handyman found this when he took the old, rotted siding off the garage. Given the condition of the yard when I moved in, I can't say I am surprised it is here.

New siding, primed and ready to paint. Just need that side door replaced first. Please excuse the mess in the yard. I'm still working on getting nice grass. I want to plant the roses in the bed by the garage along with a hawthorn or two. The forsythia are going on the end of the garage and the stakes are for the garden. I'm making an arch for my squash to climb up.

I have found all kinds of things in this yard since I moved in. Broken tools, knives, bottles, old pop can pull tabs, antique bricks (lots of those!), car parts, broken dishes, almost petrified bones - I think from a cow. Anyway, lots of strange things, so the machete was not a big deal.

This is my best find. It's a piece from a necklace or bracelet from 1900. I just about died when the jeweler told me that. I was thinking 1930's due to the filigree, but he said, no 1900. I hope I can find the rest of it! My yard isn't too far from where the city landfill (late 1800's) used to be. The park is built on that site now. There must be all kinds of cool things under there!

The green is enamel and the stones are glass. It isn't worth much, but I love it!


The thunder is really starting to rumble now. The windows are even rattling some. I don't think the yard work I wanted to do after work is going to get done tonight. :/ I want to plant my roses.
I bet I won't be planting my garden this weekend either. It's pretty wet out there.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I ride my bike by a flock of guineas over by Myers Park. They are so funny to watch. They do not like me on the bike and always make a fuss when I go by. I can't wait until I can have some. I was thinking one hen to go into the flock of chickens.

Your neighbors will hate you if you get guineas--they are really noisy, very wild and fly over ANY fence. Guineas are not what you want in a neighborhood.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Ms Jellybean, you are not getting Paul Smith lines, you are getting Paul Smith hatched birds. GamesandMore is buying them directly from Paul Smith. He tried to buy birds from me; I referred him to Paul Smith.

Paul hatches on Mondays I believe. When you get them, check out which web is punched or not punched. We might have family.

Toe punching (putting a hole between the toes in the web) is a way to keep track of the breeding pens the birds came out of. There are two places to punch a hole on each foot, in the webbing between the front three toes.

Oh, I thought he was the breeder.

Oh! Lovingmyhens, I emailed a lady who runs a little hobby ranch about the BCMs. And she only has chicks :/ She said she had a waiting list for pullets but wasn't sure how long it was.

I asked the guy in OK today too. He only has chicks. I'll check with the lady in Honey Grove. I think she only has chicks too though....

 

[jajeanpierre]

I don't have the funds for an incubator now..lol
Plus..I don't know if I want to hassle with it. I think I'd rather stick them under a broody.
"Here, YOU deal with them"

You have Silkies for next year.....

 

[Brookshire11]

Ms Jellybean, you are not getting Paul Smith lines, you are getting Paul Smith hatched birds. GamesandMore is buying them directly from Paul Smith. He tried to buy birds from me; I referred him to Paul Smith.

Paul hatches on Mondays I believe. When you get them, check out which web is punched or not punched. We might have family.

Toe punching (putting a hole between the toes in the web) is a way to keep track of the breeding pens the birds came out of. There are two places to punch a hole on each foot, in the webbing between the front three toes.

How neat!

More work got done here today. The list gets shorter, little by little. Emphasis on little.


My handyman found this when he took the old, rotted siding off the garage. Given the condition of the yard when I moved in, I can't say I am surprised it is here.

New siding, primed and ready to paint. Just need that side door replaced first. Please excuse the mess in the yard. I'm still working on getting nice grass. I want to plant the roses in the bed by the garage along with a hawthorn or two. The forsythia are going on the end of the garage and the stakes are for the garden. I'm making an arch for my squash to climb up.

I have found all kinds of things in this yard since I moved in. Broken tools, knives, bottles, old pop can pull tabs, antique bricks (lots of those!), car parts, broken dishes, almost petrified bones - I think from a cow. Anyway, lots of strange things, so the machete was not a big deal.

This is my best find. It's a piece from a necklace or bracelet from 1900. I just about died when the jeweler told me that. I was thinking 1930's due to the filigree, but he said, no 1900. I hope I can find the rest of it! My yard isn't too far from where the city landfill (late 1800's) used to be. The park is built on that site now. There must be all kinds of cool things under there!

The green is enamel and the stones are glass. It isn't worth much, but I love it!


The thunder is really starting to rumble now. The windows are even rattling some. I don't think the yard work I wanted to do after work is going to get done tonight. :/ I want to plant my roses.
I bet I won't be planting my garden this weekend either. It's pretty wet out there.

Things are moving along! Your yard STILL looks better than mine. I need to work on it.
Its starting to rain here too.
I wouldn't mind watching a storm roll in tonight. But my littles won't be happy if they don't get to play outside when they get home.
My daughter just love to get in the run with the "baby chicks" (Silkies) and "Mama Chicks" (larger girls).
They all ate watermelon together yesterday, and she even brought Freya in last night. First time to help.
She's 3...lol