The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[lalaland]

Has anyone used the Vet RX? It's basically essential oils and I got some to put in my first aid kit. Just wondering if anyone has ever used it?

yes, I tried it on scaly leg mites. couldn't really tell if it worked...

 

[lalaland]

Just finished skimming zillions of posts!

Someone was talking about a "sun-room" with old windows. Here is what aart did at her hen house:

You can see her coop page at:

that was me! the little extended area I made today with haybales and a plywood roof is so dark. Thanks for the pics - I know I can get lots of pretty much free windows from craigs list. I think I could really make the underneath of the coop much brighter if I blocked the winds with windows instead of haybales. wheels are turning....

 

[armorfirelady]

That's a great idea Lala and if the had screens you could just open them when it's warm...........

 

[delisha]

Aoxa, finally got some comb pictures for the "who will lay first" guessing game. Apologies for the poor pics>

1. Angelina, (icelandic)she is actually redder than you can see in the pic. She is icelandic, has a scalped comb, meaning, sliced off somehow as a chick, and she is blind in one eye. Also has a stunted wing.


here she is a few weeks ago:


amelia is a crested cream legbar:


and here she is with her flockmate, Seaquist (think she is leghornx ameracuana):





Here is coco chanel, she hasn't even pinked up at all:


and here is Edie:


I am supposed to have two ameracaunas and so that must be Edie and Coco Chanel.

And the three sulmtaler pullets, one is missing in the photo:



So, these are 8 or the 9 pullets who are now six months old and are still not laying!

I would say you leghorn cross is first..amelia, angelina, the other two on the bottom and your ameraucaunas last. They take 7-12 months.

Quote: Epsoms salt soak...she is having internal problems with laying. I would soak her daily in a warm bath. Make is pretty darn warm. A chickens internal temp is 104-106. It should be warmer. You want her to relax and soak for a while with out it getting cold. Blow dry her after the soak. If she is under a year old she will probable be ok.

Has anyone used the Vet RX? It's basically essential oils and I got some to put in my first aid kit. Just wondering if anyone has ever used it?

yes, I use it when I go to shows and it is in my first aid kit. When I put that dry hay in and they sneezed, I used it.

That's a great idea Lala and if the had screens you could just open them when it's warm...........

great idea!

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
monster maul was bought. don't remember where, maybe tsc, lowes or home depot... I know it was one of the 3.

as for the babies, they don't 'get' it, as in they don't understand it's food and good for them. they like to play with the crumbles, so I've got plenty of those in there for them. once they're another day or 2 older i'll add an older chick in to show them how it's done. LOL

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
ditto. a roo that shows aggression is not one I want to breed. no matter how nice his conformation... IMO personality is a heritable trait, and I want birds I can trust in the yard not to stalk me when i'm not looking.

right now everyone is free ranging except the babies. the roosters are - 2 silver grey dorking, 1 red dorking, 3 lf blrw, 1 bantam blrw, 1 sfh, 1 mille fleur 1 red 1 blue mottled and 2 partridge bantam cochins, 1 ee and a blrw/cochin (bantam) cross.

 

[Scott H]

Does Monster Maul split wood also. ..;-)

 

[ki4got]

aaggjg - any discharge from nostrils? Do her eyes look normal? Is she eating and drinking? If I had to guess, assuming she has no discharge, I would say it is either Marek's or parasite overload. Check for external parasites (mites/lice) which most often are evident under wings, around vent, and on head.

If you decide you want to worm, there is lots of information here and elsewhere, but what I opted for was Safeguard liquid for goats, 0.5 cc per large fowl and 0.25 cc per bantam (Silkie), repeat in 7-10 days. I bought a box of 1 cc syringes without needles from Amazon when I ordered the Safeguard, but they also had the Safeguard at the local feed store.

If it is Marek's it is highly unlikely she will survive. If it is parasites she may, although once they are down it's tough. If it is something else (someone on another thread recently posted that his birds may have died from a leukosis (sp?), which I think he said was basically tumors that grow until organs don't work or until nerves or blood vessels are blocked) all you can do is support her and hope for the best. I'd say separate from the flock, but if she has something contagious it's probably too late for that anyway. I would still separate just in case.

I am very sorry, and am hoping she pulls through for you. I think you did the right thing giving her some polyvisol, and you can try giving her some scrambled or boiled egg, some scratch, anything she will eat. I will be thinking of you.

the thing i'm leaning away from marek's for, is that it usually affects birds under 5 months old. not always but most often. so if she's an older bird that's been laying, I would say it's unlikely. but if she laid a shell-less egg, was it a 'leather' egg or just egg whites and yolk? if it was just the whites/yolk strewn around the nest, I'd say she has a broken egg inside and that may be causing the problems... (not a good prognosis if that's it) if it's a 'leather' egg with no shell on it, then something's upset her system. that can happen with hens new to laying or hens under some sort of systemic stress. also, hens that are lacking calcium will pull it from their own bones short term to keep laying, but that weakens the bones and can cause fractures down the road... or it could be an injury, such as coming off the perch and landing wrong. they can break a keel bone or leg/hip/pelvis when that happens. not much you can do about them for the most part, except keep them quiet, immobile and well fed.

personally, the vitamins are a good idea, but I might also mix up some scrambled egg (with milk and cheese added) and make sure she has a good supply of crushed egg shell/oyster shell available within easy reach (and water too!) I'd put her in a hospital cage (think you said you were) and limit her ability to move anywhere other than maybe to stand to poop. (aka a small cage with only enough room for bird, food and water.) if you're of a mind, you could also add some veggies she likes or bits of chopped liver, bacon or other meaty bits too. meat has a lot of good vitamins birds need, especially when the body is stressed.

I've had hens with broken bones (thanks to my blind horse) and usually they will test their own abilities a bit at a time and will let you know when she's ready to graduate to a bigger cage or back outside...

 

[ki4got]

Does Monster Maul split wood also. ..;-)

LOL yes, that's it's original purpose... I've just added more to the repertoire. to quote hubby "for splitting wood it works better than any other splitter or maul, short of a hydraulic one."

 

[ki4got]

and some good news of my own! I don't have to pray my gimp red dorking roo is able to breed any more! he'll stick around because I like him, and for 'just in case' (and it would be nice to have chicks from another line...) but I just acquired a roo of my own breeding (sold the eggs) from my red dorking roo I lost last summer (aka Thing2)...

so I introduce to you, Thing2.5.

he's a bit crowded at the moment, in a small quarantine cage, but also suffered a bit of frostbite on his comb already this year, so i'll give him a chance to heal that up before he goes back outside