The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Yeah, he's got HRIR flock that he advertises for chicks locally. Idk - I can see the roo too, I guess the color and size threw me.

Salt, I've got a mixed flock now that are roughly 13-14 weeks old now and I've only got one roo, an Aussie, that's attempting to crow. It sounds hilarious. Once he gets it perfected though, he'll be as loud as a trumpet! LOL

Don't you love first crows? They start with one syllable and make me giggle.

Jagger crowing when he first started. This was my first 'real' rooster.

Here is Cletus - my current BR rooster. He's 19 weeks and started crowing at 16 weeks. I adore his sing song crow. I hope it never changes.

 

[aoxa]

Ok
Ok thanks. I will let her rest and then try again in an hour or so. I thought so but was so worried when she threw up when I picked her up. She hadn't done that before.

That's normal for Sour Crop. Ruby would throw up when she would bend over for food.

 

[aoxa]

 

[loanwizard]

To continue with my non political correctness.... That ballooned bird.... That either has a lung blowing air the wrong way, or needs a serious bit of Benadryl.....

Two names come to mind..... Puffy Combs, and Hey Hey.... it's Fat Albert!... or Alberta as the case may be..... Sue me.... it isn't a human like someones Aunt or something....

In all seriousness, I AM sorry for your loss but not sending a card or flowers.... maybe a balloon.....

 

[salt and pepper]

Ok, I'll wait... Here's another one, they both look the same

 

[Mumsy]

The necropsy on the balloon bird is complete. I am taking a break to think about it and then download the images and study them. Then I will be spending some time researching.

My hunches are almost always right first guess. It was a cockerel. It was suffocating and made no sound as it tried to breath. It did not struggle but was clearly dying. When I opened the bird from the bottom, it was filled with air pockets. EVERYWHERE. The lungs were completely flat. That bird did not deflate upon death. It's entire body cavity and every inch of space under it's skin was filled with air. At this early point I'm am baffled. Have no idea what caused this. There was ingesta in the crop, gizzard, upper and lower intestine. It was defecating right up until death. There was nothing in the proventriculis. I am forming a theory. More later.

 

[aoxa]

The necropsy on the balloon bird is complete. I am taking a break to think about it and then download the images and study them. Then I will be spending some time researching.

My hunches are almost always right first guess. It was a cockerel. It was suffocating and made no sound as it tried to breath. It did not struggle but was clearly dying. When I opened the bird from the bottom, it was filled with air pockets. EVERYWHERE. The lungs were completely flat. That bird did not deflate upon death. It's entire body cavity and every inch of space under it's skin was filled with air. At this early point I'm am baffled. Have no idea what caused this. There was ingesta in the crop, gizzard, upper and lower intestine. It was defecating right up until death. There was nothing in the proventriculis. I am forming a theory. More later.

Wow.. So interesting.

Sorry if I sound morbid.. it's just something I've never heard about. I'm awaiting more details.

 

[countrygirl74]

Try it with your eggs, you will not be disappointed.

The smell of the coconut oil is amazing.

My son has Crohn's and coconut oil is on his diet - we use it for everything! Especially eggs!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/587516/my-chicken-has-blown-up
Here is a thread about another bird very similar.
I've had a few chicks that had small air bubbles, but never like Mumsy's bird.

Thanks for posting this - I thought I had read something like this before and on BYC but couldn't find it.

It's been brought to my attention recently that Kentucky has some representatives that are freaking out about avian flu and state flocks. Apparently, some are trying to write/pass a bill that will make it illegal to own and raise chickens or any other poultry in a populated area - i.e., a city backyard, or even one in a large town. Still further disturbing are the mutterings coming from other places around the U.S. where some places have put in "no poultry anytime" ordinances, causing many to scramble to re-home their flocks.

I don't know about any of you, but I'm starting to get rather worried about the future of keeping any livestock anywhere unless you are "employed" by a major food producer as an accepted farmer. It seems like food diversity is going out the window, along with our rights as citizens to grow and raise our own food. I don't know if any of this has to do with the Monsanto Protection Act or not, but there's been a lot of changes in a lot of places regarding livestock and poultry ordinances very recently. I'd even read a post from a friend on Facebook yesterday who shared a very sad status update of a friend being fined roughly $8000 for not getting rid of their flock when an ordinance banning poultry was passed, and state officials came in and euthanized what remained of the flock that they couldn't re-home. These were pets to the family's children. It broke my heart.

Are any of you other folks seeing resistance to keeping your own flocks or any other livestock in your area coming up? Many of the farmers in my area hang out at the local McDonald's early in the morning, and I generally get updated on all the discussions going on via a mutual friend. He's rather worried about this as well, as his chickens provide supplemental income for his family.

Just more proof of the government having too much control - that would be a sad day when we can no longer raise our own food...

The necropsy on the balloon bird is complete. I am taking a break to think about it and then download the images and study them. Then I will be spending some time researching.

My hunches are almost always right first guess. It was a cockerel. It was suffocating and made no sound as it tried to breath. It did not struggle but was clearly dying. When I opened the bird from the bottom, it was filled with air pockets. EVERYWHERE. The lungs were completely flat. That bird did not deflate upon death. It's entire body cavity and every inch of space under it's skin was filled with air. At this early point I'm am baffled. Have no idea what caused this. There was ingesta in the crop, gizzard, upper and lower intestine. It was defecating right up until death. There was nothing in the proventriculis. I am forming a theory. More later.

So sorry Mumsy - interested to hear what you find...

 

[starlingdaly]

I have a calculator for Celsius to Fahrenheit attached to my toolbar so I don't confuse you guys too much.

Tomorrow is 30 and that's hot for me!  

It's 31 today here in NC and 32 the rest of the week and I've been hiding indoors. I don't like anything above 30. 28 is pushing it, really.

That's so sad, mumsy, so sorry to hear!

 

[Mumsy]

Wow.. So interesting.

Sorry if I sound morbid.. it's just something I've never heard about. I'm awaiting more details.

Thank you aoxa. It is because of this thread and the desire of some here to learn including me, that I will share.

It is so sad and frustrating to lose birds from my flock to these bizarre and unknown reasons. Especially since this bird showed no signs of illness and acted and looked so healthy other wise. It bums me out too that my birds are bug free, in great flesh, and there is clear evidence it was eating and pooping right up until it filled up with air. I've been studying the images and can find nothing weird or unusual in the organs or entrails.

I will post my best images and give a guess of what happened. I believe kassandrau was correct. Something was wrong in or near the trachea or somewhere between it and the lungs though I could not find it. This poor creature was continuing to blow up right up until I ended it's suffering.