The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Alibabe]

I'm thankful to hear other people are realistic. My chix are my friends and I will do whatever it takes to keep them happy but they are just chickens. They are spoiled and it kills my husband when I come home from the grocery store with treats for them - not to mention giving them leftovers from my own plate.

Ditto.

With one exception, my OH buys them treats, chops up the peelings from the kitchen so they can eat it easily and generally loves the girls too although he blames our daft behaviour on me!

 

[jenschix]

The hens are my own folly. After we lost our 11 year old saint bernard to old age and I cried for days - I installed a rule that the only pets we could bring into our house had to be able to go on the grill or flushed down the toilet. Chickens and fish were the options - I never cried over flushing a goldfish. I have cried on butchering day and don't eat chicken anymore but I just can't give them all up. Complaining neighbors and all.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
thanks. she's eaten (and pooped) more today than in the last week. I don't know if it's just the soaked feed or the chick in there with her...

got the ff started. 8) took way more water than I was expecting to use for the little bit of feed I put in... when someone told me how much they were feeding, I wasn't equating dry to wet weights. it's only got about 3/4" of water over the top, but I just stirred it too. that stuff settles like concrete in the bottom. LOL also added a good 'plop' of buttermilk to the mix. (couple flies donated protein too, while I was stirring LOL)

and a new pic of the new girl. looking much 'happier' 8)


sunny wants to try some too!

 

[lalaland]

See if you can get hold of some of this product - completely natural and organic and very good for your chickens. Available in US - http://www.ropapharm.com/global/animal-species/poultry I
http://www.ropastore.com/us/ropapoultry

it looks really interesting!

Lala...I'm watching both places to see how it turns out.

Lindz - I'll send you a link so you can find it quicker.

thanks, SUe

ok well, an update on my bantam blrw girl... gave her feed soaked overnight, and she went NUTS for it! makes me wonder if she's only had soaked/fermented feed before. she didn't seem to know what to do with the crumbles/pellets/grains I gave her for the most part.

having the chick in with her is definitely making her more active. tho her gimp is still present today, it's not any worse.

time will tell I guess.

she has some minor issues for a bantam blrw (too orangey for one) but on the flip side, she's also my ONLY bantam blrw girl at the moment... so i'll work with what I've got and improve as I can.

I just wanted to say that she is beautiful! love the coloring, myself

Here are the ingredients for the Ropapharm

Emulsifier (E484), propylene glycol, water, oregano, cinnamon, pepper, nicotinamide, pantothenic acid, milk thistle, artichoke, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, thyme oil.
Vitamin A E 672 2000000 I.U.
Vitamin B1 600 mg
Vitamin B12 4000 mcg
Vitamin B6 800 mg
Vitamin D3 300000 I.U.
Vitamin E 8000 mg



With the exception of the emulsifier and the propylene glycol, it looks like items that some of the folks on this thread already use with their chickens.

Not sure why they are using propylene glycol in there.

You know what, I totally forgot I still have some oregano growing in the garden - the brussel sprouts are kind of overshadowing it , so it came thru the frost just fine. I'll pick some in daylight tomorrow.

 

[AletaG]

Where do you put the slice of apple???? I've tried actual funnels but the flies don't seem to want to fly down the hole....
I leave a kombucha jar that the fruit flies got to and spoiled open .... they don't seem to gather in it just on the cabinet around it!

The vinegar alone didn't seem to cut it, so I take a piece of wire and hook it thru a piece of fruit that I place half in/half out of the liquid, hooking the top over the edge of the bottle. I had the same prob using a plastic funnel, but a rolled-into-a funnel piece of post it note seems fine. Maybe it's a light transmission thing. I'll try to get a pic posted later, I suck at that. Dunnoh about the kobucha...

I use beer instead of the acv/apple... same idea tho, but I tape a cut off straw to the mouth of the beer bottle, going down about the length of the neck. about 1/2" of beer (corona) in the bottom of the bottle.

Be-ah. As my old roomie from college would say. I'm thinking they like to see light thru what they are crawling on. Odd.

Completed my insulated ff box. Need to do a couple minor things to finish it up but have to wait for foam to dry.

Hers a pre view ..... Need to get a couple thermometers to put one inside & one outside to see what the temp difference is.

I will post more pics when it's completed.

Nice! Considered this, but the coops are on the N side of the house. Will see how much diff just keeping it in cooler, open hole on top, will do. Keeps the chickens out ok, and lets us keep the feed right there, which was the first concern.

 

[lalaland]

I found this link while researching mrs murphy's problems: http://www2.ca.uky.edu/poultryprofi...natomy_and_Physiology/Chapter3_digestive.html

it is a quick cool overview of the digestive system - and gives an nice list of symptom clues from the bird's droppings.

 

[delisha]

ok, maybe i'm just being overly paranoid... my new bantam blrw girl (still in quarantine) is stick thin, no meat at all. been a challenge to get her to eat, which is why I started thinking hard about FF... well, tonight she's started gimping lightly.

I've done the drastic measures treatment of all new birds from unknown situations. treatment with ivermectin the day she gets here. well that's been close to a week since she's been treated, so I doubt the ivermectin has anything to do with the gimp. I DID see a bunch of worms in the stools the next couple days, so I feel that was definitely worth it. also the mites are gone. but she still breathes hard and gapes like she's got gapeworm (ivermectin isn't always the first choice for that, so i'm not surprised she's still gaping) and now starting to gimp...

I did put one mixed mutt baby with her, one of my 'smee-chins' (bantam blrw x partridge cochin) about 6 weeks old, who will remain in quarantine with her for the duration and have noticed a big difference in her eating and activity just in the last day. so i'm pretty sure there's a definite benefit to that. just hoping the gimp is just a tweaked foot or something from the baby making her move around more than she has been... she's maybe 3 - 4 months old, but weighs the same as the 6 week old baby.

thoughts? suggestions? and yes I know the chance i'm taking with the baby but feel the benefits of having a friend are going to outweigh the risks...

I would have given her a friend too..will encourage her to eat more.
add calf manna pellets to her feed
the mouth opening is making room in her crop..look in her mouth to see if you can see gape worms. If you look they look like grey or black string right under the surface of the skin. I would not drug her in this weak condition unless you see them. I think you should ask the person you got them from and ask her if she medicated her for cocci..what you describe sounds like the effects of blocking her vitamin uptake.
you can see them at the back of the throat

You know you want to smooch her!

not really..has she spit at you?

The hens are my own folly. After we lost our 11 year old saint bernard to old age and I cried for days - I installed a rule that the only pets we could bring into our house had to be able to go on the grill or flushed down the toilet. Chickens and fish were the options - I never cried over flushing a goldfish. I have cried on butchering day and don't eat chicken anymore but I just can't give them all up. Complaining neighbors and all.

welcome to the group..!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hahahahaha....That's exactly what I thought, Del.... When I saw that face I felt like I should duck in case she decided to spit

 

[ki4got]

Here are the ingredients for the Ropapharm

Emulsifier (E484), propylene glycol, water, oregano, cinnamon, pepper, nicotinamide, pantothenic acid, milk thistle, artichoke, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, thyme oil.
Vitamin A E 672 2000000 I.U.
Vitamin B1 600 mg
Vitamin B12 4000 mcg
Vitamin B6 800 mg
Vitamin D3 300000 I.U.
Vitamin E 8000 mg

With the exception of the emulsifier and the propylene glycol, it looks like items that some of the folks on this thread already use with their chickens.

Not sure why they are using propylene glycol in there.

some things are not easily water or oil soluble, but are sugar soluble (propylene glycol). the emulsifier breaks down the surface tensions of the various ingredients, making them bond with whatever solvent is being used (also, propylene glycol) more easily.

ivermectin is the first thing that comes to mind that is neither water or oil soluble, but does dissolve in propylene glycol. it CAN be made to mix with water, using an emulsifier, but not easily or inexpensively.

do not mistake propylene glycol with ethylene glycol. they both have similar properties, but ethylene is the traditional 'green' antifreeze. the orange antifreeze is propylene glycol, which is much less toxic but more expensive for that purpose and requires other additives to accomplish the same benefits as the green stuff (automotive benefits... cars don't care if you can drink the stuff and not die).

 

[ki4got]

Quote: ok part 1...
I have no idea if she's been treated for anything or not... she's already been dewormed tho (automatic as soon as they come in the door) and there WERE worms in her stool...
as far as seeing the gape worm, maybe easy for YOU... that pic just looks like a chick with his mouth held open... and I can't wrangle a bird to get that good a look (nor do I want to if I can help it with this girl).
if it is a vit b issue, then the ff should help. she's also getting polyvisol in her water too.

if it' is gapeworm, ivermectin is typically not 100% effective against them. that's why I use it. like heartworm in dogs, you don't want to kill it off fast, or they'll potentially suffocate with dead worm blockage. but treating with ivermectin in lower doses over a period of several weeks will kill them off slowly and prevent them from reproducing in the meantime. as they die they are resorbed, coughed out or swallowed. actually the long term treatment for heartworm is the same. (the rapid treatment for HW in dogs has a high chance of killing the dog because of those blockages mentioned above, and should only be used in young, healthy, strong dogs.)

part 2... the alpaca. YUP. BTDT.

last time was a 3-way cluster*&^%... me, holding feed bucket for a blind horse because everyone else was stealing her food. grace, the blind horse, eating her food without having to fight off starving alpaca or another horse. alpaca, sneaking up behind me, to reach that long snaky neck around me and steal a mouthful of grain. grace pins her ears and bites at the alpaca, alpaca spits at grace. unfortunately, I was in the middle. large chomp on one boob, blob of glop dripping off the back of my head...

I can laugh about it now, but that day I was chasing one alpaca around the yard with a driving whip, trying my hardest to kill her. thankfully (for her) her owner got home in time to rescue her from me... so nope. I don't have a great fondness for their faces. fortunately for her, her owner also decided to move soon there-after. taking her, the 2 miniature-colt-eating-danes and himself to another state. (well, the month old mini colt did live, but still has scars to this day, at 8 years later... including a ruptured iris on one eye.) ok i'm done venting.
not really but...