The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[jlynnet]

A few of my chicks at 2 weeks old. American Bresse(white), SFH, and Partridge Barthuhners(3 chipmunks)'

5 week old Tolbunt Polish

5 week old Partridge Orps

5 week old SFH.
I can't wait until their pens are finished! We are so behind from the rain.

 

[Pozees]

Oohlala: I love love love your coop! I want to do something similar in the next week or two with my run.

Delisha: thanks for all of the help! I thought I was doing what they needed by providing food, water and free ranging.....and letting them be chickens ..i do try to keep it natural ...my dh doesn't think much of worming eithei thought it was worms that cause the problems some are havingr but when this started up ......I've really been disheartened....thanks for all of the info. I will defiantly be using ff and yogurt, and uacv , other probiotics as well as a real waterer.

Please don't be disheartened. All of life is learning. Even the stuff we don't like at all, we learn from. Everyone here, is here to do just that - learn from one another, share what worked and what didn't, and understand that each of us has slightly different circumstances which may or may not lend themselves to the same success others have had with different conditions. Your flock is way ahead of where it was two days ago. You are on the path to improvement.

 

[Leahs Mom]

holderh -
Could you please do 2 things:

-I think you mentioned that you have a pen that they are in sometimes, and that they get to free-range sometimes. Please describe what the ground is like in your pen and, if possible, take a photo so we can see it. Then - describe the free-range area. How large is it and what is on the ground there? (grass, dirt, forest floor, etc.).

-Please read about the gnarly bunch in it's entirety. If you have the time, please read it before the end of the weekend or as soon as possible. There are some things in that story that will be helpful and some things in that story that I may not recommend...but in general, I think it will encourage you to see how those birds started out, what was done, and how they looked at the end.

 

[holderh]

Please don't be disheartened. All of life is learning. Even the stuff we don't like at all, we learn from. Everyone here, is here to do just that - learn from one another, share what worked and what didn't, and understand that each of us has slightly different circumstances which may or may not lend themselves to the same success others have had with different conditions. Your flock is way ahead of where it was two days ago. You are on the path to improvement.

Thanks! ...Its just definatly frustrating! I will keep doing what you all suggested.

 

[holderh]

If you found lice/mites on your rooster, every one has them. They all need to be treated..looks like wood ash baths for all. Neem Oil on roosts.
Sue can walk you threw how to treat that bumble foot. Looks like possible leg mites too. Neem oil every ones legs.
His bottom is red from yeast and being chewed on.

I guess he will need a coating of anti fungal cream too...What exactly do the leg mites look like and how often do you oil there legs to prevent?

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks! ...Its just definatly frustrating! I will keep doing what you all suggested.

Just remember, there are lots of suggestions from members of this thread trying to be helpful. You don't have to do every single thing immediately. Just read the advice and decide if you want to take it or not. I don't think I would have enough time to bathe 6 or 7 chickens 3 times a day--but you can learn from this thread and others here on BYC--and do what what you can to improve your chickens health. No one has all the answers, and you can just do what you think needs doing first, and keep going from there. Don't get discouraged. Maybe another picture close-up of the front of the legs before you are sure they are leg mites.

 

[holderh]

holderh -
Could you please do 2 things:

-I think you mentioned that you have a pen that they are in sometimes, and that they get to free-range sometimes. Please describe what the ground is like in your pen and, if possible, take a photo so we can see it. Then - describe the free-range area. How large is it and what is on the ground there? (grass, dirt, forest floor, etc.).

-Please read about the gnarly bunch in it's entirety. If you have the time, please read it before the end of the weekend or as soon as possible. There are some things in that story that will be helpful and some things in that story that I may not recommend...but in general, I think it will encourage you to see how those birds started out, what was done, and how they looked at the end.

Leahs mom: I finished reading it all today...it was very encouraging. I have feed fermenting now and i have the nustock ordered as well....okay...my chickens have a coop with a 16x32 attached pen Its 4 ft tall with netting over it. I let them out in the morinings at about 6 to free range....they have several acres they roam which inculdes the woods, horse pasture, our back yard, front yard ...all of its grass, dirt, rocks, leaves and they have access to feilds with crops in them but they dont go out there much and havent since last year...and I always keep them up in the run when my daddy is spraying the crops. right now the run is just dirt with no grass. They have eaten it down. We are planning to move it to a different location in a couple of weeks and making the run out of 6 ft tall chain link instead of the cattle pannels we are using now. My dh is also going to install a pop door for me. I will take a picture of it tomorrow if i can. They free range/pasture from about 6am-1 or 2 pm and sometimes longer. I then call them into the run and feed them layer pellets , BOSS and some scratch...I just throw it on the ground to keep them busy...they stay in the run till they go into the coop for the night and then I lock them in. Sometimes if we have had a preditor issue I will leave them in the run only for a few days but I feed them extra pellets and kitchen scraps....Also they get all the squash and zuchini they want when we have it in the garden.

The thing is when I first noticed the messy bottoms on one or two of them about 10 months ago I called the vet and he suggested I have a fecal float done. so i did and they showed worms so I wormed them with what he gave me. by january they really didnt look any better and some were missing feathers around their vents still... so I posted on here and everyone suggested it could be vent gleet....so I started fermenting feed, feeding yogurt ect , cleaning the chickens up and I put a topical spray on them...i think its called vetamicin...its for yeast, staff ect...but I dont remember if that is the right name....I did this for a couple of weeks and they didnt get better so I stopped and I called the vet agian. He said he had never heard of vent gleet and when I told him it was supposed to be a yeast infection he advised I do another fecal float for worms and I did and they showed an overload of worms so I wormed them agian. He said if that didnt work I should have them send off a sample to check for bacteria....I havent done that yet but I probably will just so I know exactly what is going on with them. However I will keep fermenting their feed from now on and feeding probiotics.

Thanks agian for all your help and suggestions...I really enjoyed that blog and it really gave me some encouragement.

 

[holderh]

That's a pretty good picture of bumblefoot, a staph infection that is pretty common from stepping on sharp rocks or jumping from high roosts. You can soak the foot in epsom salts a couple of times a day, and then perhaps attempt to cut it open and get out the yellow cheesy core. After that, put some neosporin ointment on it and wrap it up with vet wrap or duck tape to keep it clean. There is a how to on "The Thing."

Oh that is what I was afraid of....Thanks for letting me know what to do!! this is the first time I have experianced this!

 

[holderh]

A few of my chicks at 2 weeks old. American Bresse(white), SFH, and Partridge Barthuhners(3 chipmunks)'

5 week old Tolbunt Polish

5 week old Partridge Orps

5 week old SFH.
I can't wait until their pens are finished! We are so behind from the rain.

Oh they are precious!!! I love the SFH!! and the polish ones!

 

[holderh]

Just remember, there are lots of suggestions from members of this thread trying to be helpful. You don't have to do every single thing immediately. Just read the advice and decide if you want to take it or not. I don't think I would have enough time to bathe 6 or 7 chickens 3 times a day--but you can learn from this thread and others here on BYC--and do what what you can to improve your chickens health. No one has all the answers, and you can just do what you think needs doing first, and keep going from there. Don't get discouraged. Maybe another picture close-up of the front of the legs before you are sure they are leg mites.

It nice to get suggestions from others who have been there before...I do try hard to let them be chickens, do their own thing. I try to look them over good once a month....the bumble foot and leg mites are new but the gleet issues have been going on for a while....LOL I sure appreciate everyones help..I will try and get another picture tomorrow...they are not to happy with me right now LOL