The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

I do have deep litter issues. Like I have stated. I have never deep littered and this is my first year. I have noticed it is keeping my floor damp. I have wood floors in the coop and now I worry about wood rot. Could I put sand on the bottom to prevent that? It just started when the weather got nice and the coop thawed out. All the talk of ammonia smells in corners had me digging out my corners and they are all damp wood under.

 

[PeepsCA]

Quote: Was hoping the chick had improved and was zipping around the brooder tripping over it's hobble/brace, by now. I hate being the barer of bad news

Judging by how the entire leg looks twisted to me, my suspicion is a rotated femur (which is a deformity, not an injury).

While I am far from a hatching expert, I have incubated a lot of eggs (Guinea, Turkey, Quail, Silkie), hatched out well over 1700 birds... so I've run the gamut of incubator issues and hatcher injuries etc but IME with splayed leg (or legs), the leg doesn't turn out from the body. Normally splayed legs are the result of an injury cause by slipping/poor footing which results in a wobbled out/stretched out joint socket that lets the leg slide out from under the body to the side, no rotation of the entire leg is involved. Usually within a couple hours of being braced/hobbled (and the chick or keet has gotten used to the hobble) the leg is used normally, with no favoring, no pain.

You mentioned slipped tendon, and the tendon not budging when you tried to move it... I can definitely see in your pics that the tendon on that leg is not in the correct position over the back of the hock. If it was a slipped tendon it would be easily moved back into the tendon groove (but would probably slip right back out as soon as the leg was bent), which with my suspicion of a rotated femur would be a resulting deformity that occurred during development while still in the egg (not from an injury after hatching).

The chick is most likely not grasping with that foot because the femur rotation and tendon deformity are causing it considerable pain. Hopefully I am wrong, but as I mentioned splayed leg is a pretty quick fix if noticed and the legs are braced/hobbled soon enough... which IMO you did.

 

[zinia8]

[COLOR=4B0082]Was hoping the chick had improved and was zipping around the brooder tripping over it's hobble/brace, by now. I hate being the barer of bad news [/COLOR]:/

[COLOR=4B0082]Judging by how the[/COLOR][COLOR=4B0082] entire[/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]leg looks twisted to me, my suspicion is a rotated femur (which is a deformity, not an injury).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=4B0082]While I am far from a hatching expert, I have incubated a lot of eggs (Guinea, Turkey, Quail, Silkie), hatched out well over 1700 birds... so I've run the gamut of incubator issues and hatcher injuries etc but IME with splayed leg (or legs), the leg doesn't turn out from the body. Normally splayed legs are the result of an injury cause by slipping/poor footing which results in a wobbled out/stretched out joint socket that lets the leg slide out from under the body to the side, no rotation of the entire leg is involved. Usually within a couple hours of being braced/hobbled (and the chick or keet has gotten used to the hobble) the leg is used normally, with no favoring, no pain. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=4B0082]You mentioned slipped tendon, and the tendon not budging when you tried to move it... I can definitely see in your pics that the tendon on that leg is not in the correct position over the back of the hock. If it was a slipped tendon it would be easily moved back into the tendon groove (but would probably slip right back out as soon as the leg was bent), which with my suspicion of a rotated femur would be a resulting deformity that occurred during development while still in the egg (not from an injury after hatching).[/COLOR]

[COLOR=4B0082]The chick is most likely not grasping with that foot because the femur rotation and tendon deformity are causing it considerable pain. Hopefully I am wrong, but as I mentioned splayed leg is a pretty quick fix if noticed and the legs are braced/hobbled soon enough... which IMO you did.[/COLOR]

Great info.
Have to put this in a note book for a reference.
Reminder to study up on hatching.

 

[jockeyeba]

What's BOSS?

How much FF do you think 8 hens would go through in a day?  Do you just put it out for them and they will regulate themselves, or should I be putting out a set amount?

They love it BTW!

THis is BOSS...


But, it also can stand for BlackOilSunflowerSeeds.....

 

[jockeyeba]

​

to​

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on your very first SFH Egg​

http://search.millan.net/cgi-bin/ts.pl?index=525367"> [/URL​

So exciting to get an egg from a chick you raised!​

[URL=http://search.millan.net/cgi-bin/ts.pl?index=525367"> [/URL]​

​

[/url]

[URL=http://search.millan.net/cgi-bin/ts.pl?index=525367"> [/URL] [COLOR=4B0082]Yah, X2! (What Melabella said so colorfully, lol).[/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]Glad you have been given a little something back, after all the culling you've had to do lately.[/COLOR] [/url]

[URL=http://search.millan.net/cgi-bin/ts.pl?index=525367"> [/URL] X3 [/url]

 

[zinia8]

​

to​

​

on your very first SFH Egg​

​

So exciting to get an egg from a chick you raised!​

​

X4

 

[jockeyeba]

This is a change of subject but for years around here (since before I was born) ichthammol drawing salve has been used for wounds that have gotten infected. It is used on all of the animals and
If a cow, pig, sheep, goat, dog whatever got in infection in a wound a big glob of ichthammol was put on and an old rag tied around it and a few days later all was good. I got a couple infection at times and the same was done to me. Smells terrible and we wore it to school but I don't remember any of the farm kids that did not smell of it at one time or another. So no one payed the smell no never mind. I used it on my kids and will use it on they're kids too or whatever gets hurt.

IMO It has way different uses than nu stock though and it is thick like grease and does not separate. 
 
I get it at tractor supply.
Miss Lydia supplied me with this link.  Hope this is ok.
http://herbs.lovetoknow.com/Ichthammol_Ointment

I may be dreaming, but I think I remember the name of this ointment and I can't imagine where from, but it was a long time ago! It just sounds so familiar. Sounds like something that would be very useful! 

We've used it on racehorses, I know you can get it where horse supplies are sold

 

[jockeyeba]

[COLOR=4B0082]Is this baby chick getting around/up walking, using the bad leg and it's foot correctly yet texasmomma? [/COLOR] [COLOR=4B0082]If there is no improvement within a couple of days with the brace/hobble on, I have a different idea on what the leg issue could be... [/COLOR]

Would love to hear what you think might be going on. It is not really walking or putting pressure on the foot. The leg is straightened out now, but it doesn't grasp with the foot.

Had 2 that we made the mistake of helping out of the shell in our only "bator" try, I tried the brace/hobble deal but it didn't get any better & died 5 days later

 

[jockeyeba]

I posted pictures of chicks on here, the chick had wattles that were already coloring, however they were small wattles. I took pictures, and was told by many and one in particular made a comment about hatchery chicks and 16 weeks of sexual maturity. (My birds are not hatchery, however it is not pure either) that it is a pullet and should start to lay soon. It was 16 weeks at the time. ..It is a cockerel I believe. I am still not sure. It is now about 24 weeks old. It acts like a cockerel sometimes.

Delisha, can we see pictures here?

you have to learn who to listen to on here. A lot of people just don't know how to sex a bird by look. There are a few people that are really good at it. I think I'm quite good at photo sexing them. I actually find it easier to spot boys in my own flock after taking images. 

So aoxa what sex do you think my chick is?

 

[jendodd79]

jenn,

Most feed stores, Tractor Supplys, heck even home depot and Lowes sell it around me. You can find it anywhere they sell wild bird food.

Good luck finding it, shouldn't be too hard.

I love that picture of your daughter with her first egg..

MB

Thanks! I can't wait until our next set of firsts this time around!!