The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

My friend in PA sent me this email a bit ago, just an FYI:

I called Marvin. He let the whites go 8 years ago. Only has a few barreds for himself and no longer shipping. Chris is in CA. He will ship for sure.

So, I guess Chris Maddalena is a good option, as long as he still has what we want when we get to that point. And Steven Gribble is another.

 

[getaclue]

When you get them, keep me posted. I hope they live up to your standard, and are excellent, like the BRs you've come to love.

 

[speckledhen]

Gosh I thought I submitted this post, but here it is in Drafts, at least the first part of it.
I will, Cheryl, keep you posted on new stock, but it may be awhile.

The hits just keep coming....new issue. Athena is in a bad way, fly strike per my video on YT. Why now? It's not hot outside, very few flies anywhere, especially in the barn. I had looked for wounds under her wings because of Mace being so clumsy trying to breed that huge gal, but there never were any. The problem, however, turned out to be on the back flank down low. This video tells the whole story and update below in this post:

The update from today: In examining Athena again after a couple of days of healing, I now see what that darkened skin really was. Apparently, she had some sort of wound there, prob from Mace's clumsy breeding attempts of a bantam rooster on large fowl hen. And a fly deposited eggs in the cut/scrape, whatever it was that was probably bleeding a bit. The entire darkened area, slightly larger than a silver dollar, was where they were eating the skin and it was bleeding slowly and drying on the skin. It has now shrunken back and I see they got through the skin into the immediate muscle by a bit, probably not into her body cavity, likely were just under the skin itself. So, she has exposed muscle. But she is weak on that side, which I don't quite understand, like the leg is stiff. No sign of infection, has had two PenG injections, wormed internally and externally with two different wormers because Invermectin gets external and some internal, Valbazen only internal worms. Not sure if fly larvae are even susceptible to either, but it's a desperate move to attack the larvae from all fronts to make sure they're dead/gone. I may attempt to get a picture of the wound now that she's on the healing side of it, IF she actually does heal and survive the stress of all that.

Now, Forrest is showing weakness on his left leg. His hips are not against the body, but at a slight angle and his left leg was shaking and he kept tripping. Reminded me of Hector's shaky leg he had for quite awhile that was injured jumping off a high spot. Poor little Forrest, he just tries to keep up. Gave him baby aspirin.

Bash is still off and what on earth is happening here? And my husband is not doing well at all, not much help to me, he just drags himself out of a chair to do some things and help me, but he's as unsteady as Forrest on his feet. Plus I am in the middle of a huge afghan crochet project as well as trying to quilt a large lap quilt and there is NOT ENOUGH HOURS in the day (yes, I yelled) or enough of me to go around. On top of all that, I make content for YouTube and I am tired and stressed.

 

[getaclue]

1.) Soak the bird in warm water with some dish soap in it (cool water works as well, but can stress the bird out. No dish soap can work as well). I like to use a bucket for soaks.
2.) Take the bird out and wrap her/him with a towel to keep their wings to themselves. During this time, pick out ANY maggots left behind with tweezers.
3.) Cut off any feathers in the way, to get a better view, if needed.
4.) Cover the wound in Triple Antibiotic Ointment (neosporin) without any pain killer OR spray the wound with veterycin.
5.) Keep the bird in a fly-proof container. Screening on a cage works too.
6.) Keep checking and picking out any maggots you might’ve missed DAILY, as well as applying antibacterial cream/spray.
7.) Repeat the steps until the wounds are healed.

On a personal note, for the aforementioned soak, you might want to add a little bit of Adams Flea & Tick shampoo to the water at the END of the soak, and only leave them in it for 1 minute. The instructions call for lathering, and leaving it on for 5 minutes, but that's for furred animals with a flea infestation. The 5 minutes tends to cause a little skin irritation/inflammation when left on this long. https://www.amazon.com/Adams-Plus-Flea-Shampoo-Precor/dp/B004KDRGD2?th=1

 

[speckledhen]

Check and check. Did all that, checking daily for maggots and have seen none at all. I just came inside from allowing Athena out of the hospital cage. Her color is better, she's walking better and had a minor dust-bath after which I resprayed the wound. I think she'll make it, cautiously optimistic. I don't have the flea and tick meds, though I did use some Ivermectin Pour on. We'll keep checking. I am just glad I found this before it was too late.
She will not be allowed back with Mace until sufficiently healed and she will be wearing a saddle. I have them with flank protection, or I did. If the elastic is stretched out, I'll just replace it.

 

[getaclue]

I have no doubt you've done those things. I just thought I'd post, in case anyone reading wasn't familiar with fly strike. I hope Athena recovers nicely. Fingers crossed.

 

[speckledhen]

It's perfect for someone who is lost in dealing with this, Cheryl. Most have never had experience with it (good for them, yuck!). Education is what we're about with chickens. My chicken videos on YouTube are popular. There is so much bad information on that platform because anyone can have a channel, LOL.

 

[getaclue]

Yes, you do have a nice, informative channel on youtube. I agree that there is a lot of bad information on almost any topic one chooses, however, there are also channels like yours, that are really good. It's a mixed bag of nuts, and yes there are some nuts on there too.

 

[speckledhen]

Yep, nuts by the bagful! There are some channels that I shudder to think anyone takes their chicken advice.
Oh, I re-read what I wrote. I meant my chicken videos are popular among my own content! Did not mean to sound like I was bragging, yikes! Most prefer the chicken videos to the others....except the stalker that follows me around and attaches like the leach he is. Amazing how obsessed he seems with me, on every channel, every video, has to be the first to "thumbs-down" me. Probably a wussy teenage boy who fancies himself tough and scary. Hardly.

 

[speckledhen]

I made a new saddle for Athena patterned after the ones I made for my big Orpingtons. It's faux leather with flank flaps and seems to be doing the trick for her. She is in with Mace and the other three hens. She is outside with them digging around happily. That depression in her side whose edges are scabbed over is coated in ointment and hopefully, it will be protected. It's healing nicely, but it made a depression-like "cut-out" on her lower left flank almost at the bottom where the abdomen curves under from the layers of skin and upper muscle the maggots ate into. She seems pretty good now, actually. Here is a pic of her wearing her new duds.