The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[PeepsCA]

Quote: I made banana bread this year for the Holidays (12 loaves, so lots of peels left over), and this time I chopped up all the peels into bite sized pieces for my Guineas/Turkeys/Peafowl (to avoid any crop impaction issues)... they all horked it down and pushed and shoved to get at it like it was candy. That was almost 3 wks ago and all are still alive and well

 

[Sally8]

The American buffs were used in the creation of the buff toulouse, which are the geese I keep. Gosh I love them. They are real characters.

As usual your photo's are beautiful!

 

[Bulldogma]

Peeps,

Please do share!

X's 2

My girl ate a bit this evening and had a poop - mostly water, but a little solid stuff which is better than what she was doing earlier. I put a mini-perch in the dog crate and she is perching... which is good.

I'll see what comes out of her tonight - I should be able to see if there is a pile under the perch and go from there.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I went out this afternoon to let the big kids out of the run to range and discovered the 2 pie tins of FF devoured. Yay. So my whole flock is now on FF. I am using crumbles in my FF now and having a hard time draining the liquid off(mostly just using a ladle at this point), if I switch to pellets will they become soft enough for the chicks to break apart and eat(6-8 weeks old)? Now that I know they are going to eat the FF I am going to start adding BOSS and other whole grains to the big kids FF.

 

[PeepsCA]

Peeps,

Please do share!

I first fasted him for 2 days, with only UP-ACV water to drink, and I massaged his ballooned crop frequently... I also gave him UP-ACV water with an eye dropper just to make sure he was getting fluids and electrolytes in, and massaged some more. After 2 days of that and his crop was no longer ballooned I force fed/crop fed him a couple of syringe fulls of an even mix of yogurt, molasses and olive oil (usually about a tsp of each, give or take), with about 1/2 a clove of finely grated garlic and about a 1/2 tsp of finely minced fresh oregano (about 20 small leaves I guess) stirred into it, 3X a day. I tried to mix/grate/mince everything fresh each time, but usually had left overs I'd keep in the fridge and would just add more fresh stuff to it so I had enough to work with each time. (Lucky for me and the Cockerel I grow plenty of garlic and tons of oregano and always have molasses, yogurt and olive oil). Make sure the garlic is grated super fine and the oregano minced as fine as possible too so the gizzard has nothing to grind up/no work to do, and everything can hopefully pass around and soak into any blockage to help loosen it enough to get it to pass (if that is the issue).

If you do not have a crop feeding tube... then you can modify a syringe by cutting the very tip off so the mixture will pull in and squirt out easier. (You can also put the mixture in a plastic baggy, snip a tiny corner off and squirt it into the fully extended syringe if you have a hard time drawing it up and filling the syringe). I gave the cut tip on the syringe a quick melt on my (gas) stove burner and smoothed it with my finger so the edges were smooth and would not hurt/damage the birds' throat (a lighter will work too, just be quick enough to melt it but not blacken it). I also lubed the outside of if with a little olive oil, to help it slide down the throat easier.

Here is what I used, I originally wanted just a 1cc syringe for this because a 3cc seemed huge for such a small bird, but I did not have one. This size worked perfectly tho, and I could get 2-2 1/2cc of the mixture down the throat each time, and it was over pretty quickly so stress to the bird was minimized.



It takes some practice, and probably at least another set of hands so someone can hold the bird still for you (she will of course try like heck to kick, flap and fight you), but if you can extend the bird's neck straight (up) while someone holds her firmly but not too tightly wrapped in a towel, you should be able to pull her beak open by grabbing her wattle/throat area and then gently slide the syringe down the left side of her throat (with her facing you) far enough that you can feel it (and maybe see it moving under the skin too) go past her throat/voice box area before you depress the plunger on the syringe. You'll get it all in the bird's crop and nobody wears any of it as long as the bird is held onto really well. It does take a little finesse to keep the neck extended and beak open while you get the syringe in there and positioned correctly tho. The straighter the birds neck is, and the farther it is extended (almost stretched) the easier it is. Once it was in a little ways I just kind of tilted the syringe towards the left side of her throat skin (with her facing you), until I could see or feel where exactly it was and I was sure it was definitely in the right spot, and then slid it in a little further before depressing the plunger. I'd also "wash it down" with a couple eye dropper fulls of ACV/water each time too. Then about 5-10 mins later I'd gently massage his belly area (don't know this helped, or if I was even massaging in the right area, but at least I felt like it could be helping!).

After 2-3 days of that given orally 3X a day I was able to just mix the mixture into scrambled egg and he'd eat it on his own (he was pretty hungry by then). He passed a pretty fibrous stool once or twice on the 3rd day, which is what leads me to believe it was a blockage. After he passed the blockage I kept him on soft foods (scrambled eggs, mashed cucumber, even cooked mashed potato) and did not give him any regular feed for over a week, and I kept mixing in yogurt, garlic and oregano to what ever I fed him, I gradually started mixing in soaked crumbles (this was before I started FF) until I was sure he was eating and pooping normal and was his usual perky starving self. He had garlic breath, and garlic/pizza smelling poop for a couple of weeks, lol but... it cured up the issue and he is alive and crowing like a madman these days. No damage done. It was time consuming tho. I have not had the issue again.

HTH, and you guys don't all think I am some mad scientist cruel chicken torturess now, lol.

ETA... Edited for typos, grammar and left out words, as usual, lol

 

[Sally8]

not chicken related but a short video of a good friend who raises game hens totally free, living in tree's like many of my sumatra's. Here he is 4 miles frommy house pullingChevy Chase out of a ditch. If Chevy was going to the Berkshires or Vermont he had to drive right past the house.

Terry and I have always been friends, but we got closer afer he spent hours looking for me the day my daughter died. Then unfortunately 3 months later I was at his daughters funeral.

I just love Chevy! While everyone else is watching "you'll shoot your eye out" or" Every time you hear a bell ring, an angel gets his wings", I have to watch Chevy putting lights all over his house. I just saw him on tv the other day and he's starting to age.

I'm so very sorry about your daughter. Sue

delisha, I'm also sorry about your loss. Within 1 year, my grandmother lost my grandfather and her youngest daughter (age 41). Her mourning over my grandfather was considerable but she never got passed losing my aunt. She always said a parent should never have to bury their child

 

[Bulldogma]

I first fasted him for 2 days, with only UP-ACV water to drink, and I massaged his ballooned crop frequently... I also gave him UP-ACV water with an eye dropper just to make sure he was getting fluids and electrolytes in, and massaged some more. After 2 days of that and his crop was no longer ballooned I force fed/crop fed him a couple of syringe fulls of an even mix of yogurt, molasses and olive oil (usually about a tsp of each, give or take), with about 1/2 a clove of finely grated garlic and about a 1/2 tsp of finely minced fresh oregano (about 20 small leaves I guess) stirred into it, 3X a day. I tried to mix/grate/mince everything fresh each time, but usually had left overs I'd keep in the fridge and would just add more fresh stuff to it so I had enough to work with each time. ​

Thank you for sharing this!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
Where did you see those? (Where do they come from?)

 

[delisha]

I seen them on the hatch thread. I think they are special and needed to be shared. It is titled

flock of coops

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sue, look at how jealous your other hens are! I hope you gave them some too!

Whoops... forgot to reply to this... YES I DID! I always throw a little in for them too.