The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Leahs Mom]

@JulesChicks
I know you have a unique situation with these young ones you brought in from somewhere else so you are stuck trying to figure out how to fix someone else's problem that's now become yours. I just want to make sure you know that when I caution use of these items, it's not aimed at you or to make you feel bad about trying to figure out how to respond to these "kiddos". It's a hard place to be in and I've had to figure out what to do in a "not-so-drastic" as your situation before too.

I know that these young ones you have come with problems from their former environment. If I had to guess, I'd guess that the breeder uses pharmaceutical inputs routinely on and around their birds. From observation over the past few years, I've noticed that the folks that have the most illness with their birds are the ones that are using pharmaceuticals routinely (rather than reserved for emergency) and feel the need to "disinfect" everything constantly. It's sad because I know they're trying to keep their birds healthy, but the methods seem to perpetuate chronic illness and recurring problems that the folks that use more "natural" methods seldom or never have.

I always try to encourage folks to observe on these threads and see whose birds seem to always need some kind of treatment over and over. And then pay attention to the husbandry methods they use. It can be very revealing.

 

[JulesChicks]

Thanks Leah's mom for all it that! I will look over the links more carefully after the kids are in bed. Playing hooky today from all the problems as its my bday. Lunch with my mom and my kids and out taking the kids for ice cream. Have to go attend to all the chickens soon though. Hopefully no more blood from the littles! Have a great afternoon/evening everyone

 

[FridayYet]

Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Ditto!

 

[tjo804]

@JulesChicks

 

[SherrieC]

SherrieC. That bird looks to have a heavy load of worms, I don't like to use chemicals but your bird would probably love you for it.

JFYI one thing I do for my large dogs is give them about a cigarette amount of tobacco once every few month to keep them free from worms, for chickens you should only need a a stand or 2 though

sorry not on much right now, we getting extreme heat keeping a close eye on birds.

I know the regular wormers do not work on tape worms for the cats and dogs I think they use capstar but I dont know what the active ingredient is nor if it is safe for chickens. I do not know what you can use in a chicken to get rid of them. I would be really interested to know this. And yes they look alive and crawley, My vet told me those are the eggs. the dropped segments. so anyone that snacks on the poo will also be infected.
Please keep us posted on how you get rid of them.

I have found some wormers that are used for tapeworm in ornamental birds, interestingly in my research because commercial birds are generally kepts in cages in big shed and don't see light, soil. fresh vegetation, insects etc they generally do not get worms. Because of this there's no research done on the safety of wormers in chickens so if you want to worm your chicken you're on your own!

Those segments don't mean a heavy worm load but rather a mature tape worm that release segments from its tail that came out in the poo. For a chicken to be infected by tapeworm those segments first have to dry up to release the eggs and then an insect has to eat them to then be eaten by the chicken who then during digestion hatches those eggs in its intestines. Crazy!

Fortunately or unfortunately I have lots of insects and earthworms in my soil for chickens to eat as well as vegetation and flowers etc to attract insects and birds, so its always going to be a problem unless I lock them up. They're all seemingly healthy and happy currently.

So I'm trying to figure out what I should do, I haven't decided yet. I am still waiting on a book by an Author I mentioned recently (Paul Healy) who breeds heirloom chickens biodynamically. He has recipes for monthly worming mashes that he uses and I'm hoping I can ask him what he does when faced with finding tape worm segments in their poo.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I've lost count of the number of broodies that I've had this year. I've run out of pens to keep them separate in. I finally have one hung up in a cage on bungee cords. How long is it supposed to take to break them of being broody?

 

[JulesChicks]

Thank you all! I had a wonderful bday and fell asleep with the kids, so didn't research anymore. However, I did decide (after much deliberation and research) to go ahead and use the Duramycin. It was $10 and I had it, as opposed the the $50 Denagard I had yet to order and receive. The smallest Marans, Scrappy (I've been calling her), the one who I took to the vet, was not looking good yesterday. She was asleep in the shad of the tractor and she usually comes to the door to greet me. I went all the way into the tractor and pet her for a bit without her moving. She only got up when I had to step near her to reach the egg that was behind her. I have decided to keep it simple for myself and not try to separate out the 3 that are sick to only treat them (since I don't really have enough kennel space for them) - so I am treating all 6 that are in the tractor which includes the 2 laying hens. I found a thread online where a person asked specifically about Duramycin and egg withdrawal and she said 18 days. The package says to treat for 7-14 days at 400mg-800mg and divide it into two dose. I mixed it at 800mg last night, but don't know if I should mix it at that 2x a day or at the 400mg 2x a day (I think the former). Any thoughts on how long I should treat for? So, I will be tossing eggs for the treatment period plus 18 days. This vet said any residue after that would be very low. I still have to figure out the Oxine - I may get use both the activated (removing birds) and unactivated (on birds). The 2 Marans, providing they respond well, will need to be cleaned up. I don't know that it's a good idea to give them a full bath, but can I use a wash cloth on their feathers to clean up the dried snot and FF that is all over them without damaging their feathers?

@Lacy Blues good luck breaking your broodies!

Have a great day everyone!

 

[farmerfogg]

I'm eggcited to announce that after having my backyard flock now for four years, I finally have my very first broody hen! Her name is Willow and she's a two year old Black Sexlink. My neighbor had some eggs from his flock, as he has a rooster and I do not. I've put the eggs under her Monday night. And so far, so good. She gets up once or twice a day to stretch and do her business, then gets back to the nest. I'm hoping all goes well with her and perhaps we'll get some chicks in a few weeks.
We're building her a Maternity Ward in the coop so she can remain with the flock and raise her brood in a safe place.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Thank you all! I had a wonderful bday and fell asleep with the kids, so didn't research anymore. However, I did decide (after much deliberation and research) to go ahead and use the Duramycin. It was $10 and I had it, as opposed the the $50 Denagard I had yet to order and receive. The smallest Marans, Scrappy (I've been calling her), the one who I took to the vet, was not looking good yesterday. She was asleep in the shad of the tractor and she usually comes to the door to greet me. I went all the way into the tractor and pet her for a bit without her moving. She only got up when I had to step near her to reach the egg that was behind her. I have decided to keep it simple for myself and not try to separate out the 3 that are sick to only treat them (since I don't really have enough kennel space for them) - so I am treating all 6 that are in the tractor which includes the 2 laying hens. I found a thread online where a person asked specifically about Duramycin and egg withdrawal and she said 18 days. The package says to treat for 7-14 days at 400mg-800mg and divide it into two dose. I mixed it at 800mg last night, but don't know if I should mix it at that 2x a day or at the 400mg 2x a day (I think the former). Any thoughts on how long I should treat for? So, I will be tossing eggs for the treatment period plus 18 days. This vet said any residue after that would be very low. I still have to figure out the Oxine - I may get use both the activated (removing birds) and unactivated (on birds). The 2 Marans, providing they respond well, will need to be cleaned up. I don't know that it's a good idea to give them a full bath, but can I use a wash cloth on their feathers to clean up the dried snot and FF that is all over them without damaging their feathers?

@Lacy Blues good luck breaking your broodies!

Have a great day everyone!

You could just hard boil those eggs and feed them back to that pen. They're already on the medication so it isn't going to hurt them to get the small amount inside the egg. Even after you finish treatment, you could feed the eggs to that pen. At least the eggs would't go to waste.

Thanks, I hope she gets over it soon.

I'm eggcited to announce that after having my backyard flock now for four years, I finally have my very first broody hen! Her name is Willow and she's a two year old Black Sexlink. My neighbor had some eggs from his flock, as he has a rooster and I do not. I've put the eggs under her Monday night. And so far, so good. She gets up once or twice a day to stretch and do her business, then gets back to the nest. I'm hoping all goes well with her and perhaps we'll get some chicks in a few weeks.
We're building her a Maternity Ward in the coop so she can remain with the flock and raise her brood in a safe place.

I wouldn't make the maternity ward a permanent home for her and the chicks until she is finished being broody. She will protect the chicks from the other flock members. I would, however, keep them in there for about a week or so but then open the doors. That way, the chicks will get integrated into the flock without a tremendous amount of bullying.