The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[hoosiercheetah]

We have had several Roos and I think they bother me more than anyone else. The current roo has a throaty crow that I don't find disagreeable. However, there are some mornings in which he seems to find it necessary to keep the crowing going for longer than I would prefer. Other mornings are just fine. We just got new neighbors and he's not exactly legal, so I worry on mornings like this one that he has greatly annoyed the new neighbors. I am thinking I should take over some cookies and a few eggs. it's taking me almost a week to get a dozen eggs these days, so I want to make sure it's worth it to give them away.

They say good fences make good neighbors. I say good cookies do a better job of it.

 

[Lacy Blues]

lalaland, it could be Mareks. He is at the correct age... it strikes fairly young. It's not hereditary.

There is a cure... now lets see if I can remember what it is.

St. Johns Wort. The tiny little pills (about 1/8" diameter) in a small blue vial that you can find at a health food store. You don't ever touch the pill. The cap on the blue vial is a dispenser of sorts, you turn it and it will allow one pill into the cap, turn it again to close the slot, then remove the cap with the pill in it. You let that pill soak til its disintegrated in a teaspoon of water that you have ready and waiting for it. Once it has disintegrated, you take an eye dropper and suck up some of the fluid. With somebody helping you, you drip 5 or drips into the crack on the roof of his mouth. That's it. The person holding him should have him secured and then open his beak and tip his head way back so that the roof of his mouth is facing completely up. If you have no one to help, wrapping him up firmly in a large towel with his legs out behind him so he cannot struggle is the only way to do it. Hopefully he won't struggle. Make sure he's calm before attempting the drops so they don't get spilled/wasted.

They say to do this once per day but I did it twice per day and my bird showed dramatic improvement in only a few days. I would continue the treatment though for a week after he is back on his feet but only once per day at this point.

Hope you can get all the items he needs and that he makes a speedy recovery.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Forgot to mention, it is extremely important to keep him eating so even if he doesn't want his regular food, give him anything to keep him eating. Hard boiled eggs are great, perhaps some cheese. Yogurt is fantastic during times of stress. Only about a tablespoon daily to start with.

How is his weight? Is he really more skinny than you want him to be? This is part of Marek's as well. It is a wasting disease and it strongly affects the legs in the early stages.

High calories will keep the weight on him, thus the cheese.

 

[lalaland]

lalaland, it could be Mareks. He is at the correct age... it strikes fairly young. It's not hereditary.

There is a cure... now lets see if I can remember what it is.

St. Johns Wort. The tiny little pills (about 1/8" diameter) in a small blue vial that you can find at a health food store. You don't ever touch the pill. The cap on the blue vial is a dispenser of sorts, you turn it and it will allow one pill into the cap, turn it again to close the slot, then remove the cap with the pill in it. You let that pill soak til its disintegrated in a teaspoon of water that you have ready and waiting for it. Once it has disintegrated, you take an eye dropper and suck up some of the fluid. With somebody helping you, you drip 5 or drips into the crack on the roof of his mouth. That's it. The person holding him should have him secured and then open his beak and tip his head way back so that the roof of his mouth is facing completely up. If you have no one to help, wrapping him up firmly in a large towel with his legs out behind him so he cannot struggle is the only way to do it. Hopefully he won't struggle. Make sure he's calm before attempting the drops so they don't get spilled/wasted.

They say to do this once per day but I did it twice per day and my bird showed dramatic improvement in only a few days. I would continue the treatment though for a week after he is back on his feet but only once per day at this point.

Hope you can get all the items he needs and that he makes a speedy recovery.

I can get the st johns wort tomorrow when I go back to the cities. He is very calm, and is a tame rooster, always follows me around . this is good because he is not struggling much when I tried to dose him with a molasses flush.

Whats the idea of having his head upsisde down and dropping the st johns wart solution on the top inside of his beak?

I'm going back and forth between mareks and botulism.
Never had mareks or botulism that I know of.

He has had one watery massive poop so far, with urates, green, and some more grey material. Also a tiny bit of intestinal sloughing, it did't appear to be blood.

Forgot to mention, it is extremely important to keep him eating so even if he doesn't want his regular food, give him anything to keep him eating. Hard boiled eggs are great, perhaps some cheese. Yogurt is fantastic during times of stress. Only about a tablespoon daily to start with.

How is his weight? Is he really more skinny than you want him to be? This is part of Marek's as well. It is a wasting disease and it strongly affects the legs in the early stages.

High calories will keep the weight on him, thus the cheese.

His weight seems fine - and he ate the whole egg. I know he was grazing for food last night before he went into the coop. Haven't offered him more food yet because I wanted to try the molasses flush. Not so good drinking - does a lot of clacking his beak together, not so much with the swallowing.

 

[lalaland]

oh ****. I just read the great big mareks info page and I can't tell you how upset I am. He just started the classic mareks split position, one leg stuck in front one in back.
that means he has already exposed the entire flock. and the virus lives for years and years in the dirt, etc. Now way to eradicate. If he recovers he will be a carrier if I understand it right. And anyone coming to my place can bring home the virus, and I can bring the virus if I go to the feed store, etc.
Dang Dang Dang.

I will try the st johns wort but this a hard blow.

lucyblues, you have mareks in your flock/flocks?

 

[lalaland]

http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf


they say cull.....and that the paralysis could go away in one or two days but then the bird will die with tumors in the near future.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I think the only way you can CONFIRM that's it's Merek's is with necropsy and real testing. There are other things that have many of the same symptoms too so I wouldn't resign that it's Mericks untill the fat lady sings (sorry..I'm fat and I'm a lady and I do occasionally sing, so I mean no put down by that).

I'm going to go have a look at my med book and see if I see anything encouraging.

Please tell me his age.

Also, did your other ccl come from the same place and what were her symptoms? And at what age?

Where did you get your birds?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Is it possible that they may have come into contact with any peticides/herbicides, etc. from neighbors spraying, etc.?

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm reading that lymphoid leukosis, Newcastle all have some similar symptoms.

 

[lazy gardener]

I do hope it's not Marek's. But, there are immunizations for it. My understanding is that the immunizations don't keep the birds from getting it, but make the disease less symptomatic. There's a guy who is raising Dominiques who has it attack his flock every fall, and he is seeing increasing resistance within his flock. I don't believe he's immunizing. He blames it on wild migratory birds passing through. Centrarchid is his name, I think.