The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[hotrodflash]

ok Leahs mom sent me here
ok so i have 3 baby chicks (2 weeks and few days) and they have bald bellys where the bone is any one know why????( there moveing around eatting good has clean water and has corn bedding)


(pic was tooken saturday)

I had one that was slow to feather on her belly as well, she is 7 weeks now and completely feathered now.

 

[animallover2202]

That chick is fine.

are you sure? then what cause the baldness and will feathers grow there?

 

[lalaland]

Wow. That is not like mine. Where did you get yours from? I wonder if that makes difference? One thing I forgot to say about my Welsummers is that I almost never see them eating food from the feeder. When I was reading Bee's OT thread she would talk about birds being able to freerange almost exclusivly. I had barred rocks and americanas, then I got my Welsummers. After having them about a month I understood what Bee meant about 'finding their own food.

sigh. last spring a very sad man asked me to take his hens for him. he got my name from a friend of a friend of a friend.....had gotten chicks, his life went to heck, and they never moved out of the bedroom that he brooded them in. they were a year old, and had never seen sun, felt the wind, seen a bug, ...etc. feather picked so badly I first wondered if they had mange. pale dull combs and wattles. So of course I took them, and he cried when we were putting them into my truck. I don't know where he got them from, I would guess a hatchery.

there were wellies and 4 black austrolorps. the wellies are very different in temperment from their flock mates, the little black hens. the little black hens are very much like austrolorps in their behavior and look like little mini almost banty lorps - not the usual good sized like an orp. that is why I wonder if they could be something else - because of their size. the wellies are mid-sized, and might be stunted in growth.

now, almost a year later, the little black hens are definitely part of the main flock, but the wellies still hang back, are kind of dreamy and absent minded.

 

[aoxa]

That chick is fine.

are you sure? then what cause the baldness and will feathers grow there?

Yes chick is fine. It's an ugly stage they go through.

 

[delisha]

Quote:
It is not *baldness* They are growing and loosing baby down. You chicks are nice and fat. They spend a lot of time on the ground with there belly's. It is natural and normal.

On another note..for everyone..


I do not know who is holding that chick, but, it looks like a good nail scrubbing is in order before handling baby's. Bacteria is harbored in human hands more than on any other surface.

 

[animallover2202]

It is not *baldness* They are growing and loosing baby down. You chicks are nice and fat. They spend a lot of time on the ground with there belly's. It is natural and normal.

On another note..for everyone..


I do not know who is holding that chick, but, it looks like a good nail scrubbing is in order before handling baby's. Bacteria is harbored in human hands more than on any other surface.

that's my lil sis hand she comes on the weekends

 

[Ashdoes]

I'm pretty consistent making my girls wash hands before eating, after playing with the chickens, after going potty, and after playing outside...I do not make them wash hands before touching the chickens. I'm not sure that's something to really pick on.

 

[aoxa]

I'm pretty consistent making my girls wash hands before eating, after playing with the chickens, after going potty, and after playing outside...I do not make them wash hands before touching the chickens. I'm not sure that's something to really pick on.

Washing hands after poultry is important. I never wash before.. unless I was going from a quarantine pen to my own birds..

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you have a disgusting dog that loves chicken poo - and most do - don't let them lick your hands or face. I came down with Camplyobacter from doing just that when I started. Hospital for a week and incredible pain. I had a severe case of it though. My bowels had stopped moving altogether for 2 weeks and I was getting ulcers.

Just a tip

 

[delisha]

I'm pretty consistent making my girls wash hands before eating, after playing with the chickens, after going potty, and after playing outside...I do not make them wash hands before touching the chickens. I'm not sure that's something to really pick on.

I was not *picking on* anything. I made an educational statement about bacteria. Some people know about it and some do not.

 

[lalaland]

handwashing is an interesting thing - all those studies on how much healthier kids are when they have pets, and even more healthier are kids on farms with animals - all that exposure to germs/bacteria strengthens their immune system. a kid with no pets and a parent with a penchant for antibacterial soaps? more likely to have allergies and autoimmune disorders.

I say, bring on the dirt!