The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[delisha]

Del, they are 6 weeks old. What are your thoughts on my birds now? Good size, too fat, too small, what?

Anyone else who raises meat birds, feel free to offer your thoughts as well.

They look beautiful...nice strong birds. You will not have problems with crippled feet at all. I bet they are good bug catchers. Almost ready for butchering. Take the largest male and make beer can chicken on the grill....it is sooooo yummy with young birds.

I had a 13 week old cockerel Buckeye die this morning. When I let them out, he wanted to lay down in the feed shed. I scooted him out and saw he was walking very knock kneed. It was a very different gait than normal and he kept laying down. His comb was also very pale pink and he was visibly struggling to breathe. It was at least 86 degrees yesterday, down to 72 last night and cool yet this morning. He drank some electrolytes when I separated him.

While I was handling him, he started to seize. And then continued to jerk for a few seconds and stopped breathing.

He had some white on the end of his feathers around his vent. He smelled kind of bad. There was also some fresh watery white and another spot of light yellow poop near the shed. Didn't see who pooped it though.

Does that sound like anything? Heatstroke even though it was cooler today?

I FF with an organic feed. And it's the same feed we've been using. They free range most of the day.

I'm thinking about doing a necropsy but it will be the first bird I've processed. So other than seeing the pictures in this thread, I don't necessarily know what normal organs look like. So maybe nothing will be gained except some experience.

Other random- I did have a chicken get accidentally ran over yesterday while we were playing ball with my puppy. It was a total accident, not aggression. I couldn't see the number on the chicken to know which one it even was. Chicken was flattened but got up and ran away.

Sorr to hear of your loss

Do the necropsy..every time you do it you learn about your chickens. Looking inside a chicken lets you learn about things that all the reading in the world can't teach you. Every one you do will let you know when you run across something that is not right. Take pictures and we can help you. Use some of the pictures in this thread or on line to walk you threw it. You will never regret learning about your chickens and the health of them.

Quote: good luck..I sure hope it works.

Tina our silkie x barred rock is the proud mother to 13 chicks. Most of which are Heritage Barred Rock. Two are Lydia's kids (the whites) one is a Naked Neck. She is protective and hasn't lost a single baby.

that is cute to the max

The eight eggs I rescued from Bonney the Catdance hen at day fourteen are all nearly hatched. One to go. They look great. Those eggs were caked with hardened poo. I hated putting them in my incubator but they all candled with embryos so I let them hatch. Seven in a brooder in the house. Eleven went out into the chick house. Seven are under two broody hens in the barn. Two chicks have pasty butt today. Nasty pasty butt. And those two chicks are one each of the broody hens. All of the chicks that hatched in the incubator and are now in the brooders are all clean and healthy. It's not hot here. Day time temp in the mid to high 70's. Night time temp in the low 60's. The hens are good moms at covering the chicks and they are eating the same as the brooder chicks. So much for heat being a cause for pasty butt in chicks. And this is proof in my book that chicks raised naturally under broody hens can in deed get it.

I cleaned them up and applied Nu stock to their vents. Watching them carefully now. I won't put them in the brooder with the others in case it is a pathogen that can pass on. I will cull them if they don't recover quickly.

woo hoo more silkies..I am so jealous

 

[countrygirl74]

I had a very endearing experience with "Rooster Boy" today.

I was outside picking cucumbers. They are right over the fence from the chicken's range area so there was a congregation of chickens on the other side of the fence hoping I'd throw something over.

Waaaay over in the "kennel run" that's attached to the hen house was one of the pullets (Miss Sweden). She wanted to come over where the rest of the congregation was gathered. Now Miss Sweden has always been very skittish about running from the pen to the range area as it is open skys for a good long way before she feels safe. Usually when she goes through that space, she squaks loudly and half flies through there very nervously.

So...she lets out this "distress call" just before she's about to make a break for it and Rooster Boy's head snaps up. He literally SPRINTS a long distance to get to the gate opening where she is. When he gets there, he escorts her over to the congregation.

Now y'all have probably seen that before. But that was the first time I'd seen him doing the "gallant" thing. I've seen him "on watch" and saying warnings...just never saw anything as dramatic as that.

Awwwww.... so much fun to watch.

When I took care of bumblefoot, I wrapped the vet wrap very loosely. Just enough to keep it on and give some protection to the foot. First I put ointment on, then a cotton gauze square over that, then wrapped loosely.

Do all of you find that you always HAVE to do surgery or do you make a distinction between varied degrees of bumblefoot? Just curious because all my ducks had it, 2 of them really bad and I never did any surgery or removed scabs. I just put nustock on it and made sure they had soft areas to walk on, water to get into, increased their niacin and fresh greens and now none of them have any. On my jumbo, it was multiple bumbles and really big blackened areas too...

Tina our silkie x barred rock is the proud mother to 13 chicks. Most of which are Heritage Barred Rock. Two are Lydia's kids (the whites) one is a Naked Neck. She is protective and hasn't lost a single baby.

So cute - love seeing mamas with their little ones!

 

[annewandering]

My Gpa got a fungal pneumonia and like you say they automatically treat for bacterial, but when they finally figured it out the meds to treat it were $6000 for a months supply.

My husband would have died if he hadnt had medicare. Ouch.
This is what they treated my husband with.
fluconazole, Diflucan

 

[Sally8]

My husband would have died if he hadnt had medicare. Ouch. This is what they treated my husband with.
fluconazole, Diflucan

That's amazing. I wouldn't have thought either would have been strong enough.

 

[Kassaundra]

It's too bad that our med care will SKYROCKET with socialized medicine here. Hope it gets reversed before it ever gets started.

But...back to topic, Kassaundra, do you know what particular anti-fungal they treated him with?

No clue this was many years ago, probably near 15. Fortunately my Gpa was a veteran. He bypassed the VA for most health care b/c it was sooooo obnoxious and poor, but for medications and his body parts (leg, hearing aids, glasses, dentures ect....) he would use the VA. He was 100% service connected disabled so could get his health care free when he needed to. He couldn't get all the medications he needed through them b/c you can't get meds they don't approve, he had to jump through a lot of hoops but did get the antifungal medication approved since there was no alternative. My info about it being difficult to catch and treat came from that incident and the doctors treating him at the time.

 

[annewandering]

That's amazing. I wouldn't have thought either would have been strong enough.

Its the same med. Just the generic and brand name. The pills are pretty strong I guess but its more a matter of getting the right meds not an antibiotic. You also take the meds for months not days. Dont remember how long but it is for awhile. Some people do not respond to this med and they have to go to stronger but that is more a case of where the fungus is growing I believe. For instance in the brain. Not a good place.
I dont know how it would work on chickens. My guess is it probably would in very low doses but that would be something you would have to investigate.

 

[RedRidge]

Quote: Several comments... this is the same drug, 2 different names.
... this drug is normally prescribed to combat out of balance yeast in the body - frequently due to excessive antibiotics killing off the good bacteria and causing an imbalance - although other causes for the imbalance are common also.
... it "can" be prescribed for fungal problems, especially intercontinental exposure from foreign countries.
... kefir or other probiotics is an easier, safer, and much less expensive solution.

Water kefir (or milk kefir) - 8 oz/day for humans will prevent yeast problems, fungal problems, and create intestinal balance.

IF you ever HAVE to take antibiotics (which imo should be a last resort), then difulcan is prescribed to be taken on the final day of antibiotics as taking is sooner is counterproductive. Again... kefir will eliminate the necessity.

 

[annewandering]

Several comments... this is the same drug, 2 different names.
... this drug is normally prescribed to combat out of balance yeast in the body - frequently due to excessive antibiotics killing off the good bacteria and causing an imbalance - although other causes for the imbalance are common also.
... it "can" be prescribed for fungal problems, especially intercontinental exposure from foreign countries.
... kefir or other probiotics is an easier, safer, and much less expensive solution.

Water kefir (or milk kefir) - 8 oz/day for humans will prevent yeast problems, fungal problems, and create intestinal balance.

IF you ever HAVE to take antibiotics (which imo should be a last resort), then difulcan is prescribed to be taken on the final day of antibiotics as taking is sooner is counterproductive. Again... kefir will eliminate the necessity.

So kefir is ok for chickens? Anbd what is kefir?

 

[aaggjg]

Several comments... this is the same drug, 2 different names.
... this drug is normally prescribed to combat out of balance yeast in the body - frequently due to excessive antibiotics killing off the good bacteria and causing an imbalance - although other causes for the imbalance are common also.
... it "can" be prescribed for fungal problems, especially intercontinental exposure from foreign countries.
... kefir or other probiotics is an easier, safer, and much less expensive solution.

Water kefir (or milk kefir) - 8 oz/day for humans will prevent yeast problems, fungal problems, and create intestinal balance.

IF you ever HAVE to take antibiotics (which imo should be a last resort), then difulcan is prescribed to be taken on the final day of antibiotics as taking is sooner is counterproductive. Again... kefir will eliminate the necessity.

So if I am dealing with a fungal infection ... surely I need something strong then kefir to fight the out of control mold.... I gave her yogurt ... and have probiotics ... is there anything else that will help??? I'm oxine fogging her ....

 

[annewandering]

So if I am dealing with a fungal infection ... surely I need something strong then kefir to fight the out of control mold.... I gave her yogurt ... and have probiotics ... is there anything else that will help??? I'm oxine fogging her ....

I dont know what oxine is but I know fungus likes moist warm places.