The Old Folks Home

[ronott1]

I just came in from working with my chickens. The bantam males are so funny. Two or three at a time put in with standard roosters and they get along fine. But if you have 8 or 10 in with standard roosters they start ganging up on the standard roosters and beating them up. My only option at this point is to return as many of the healthy standard hens to the main coop and split up the boys littles from bigs and hope for the best.

Marek's disease. I have two standard hens and 1 standard rooster with Ocular Mareks that I just don't know what to do with them. I keep telling myself that everyone is exposed at this point whether they are in the same pen together or in separate coops but I just hate looking at a hen who is holding her own and seeing these obviously infected eyes.

I am sorry you are still dealing with Mareks! It has to get better for you right?

 

[microchick]

I am sorry you are still dealing with Mareks! It has to get better for you right?

I sure hope. I haven't lost a bird to true Marek's since October and that was a Welly hen that was extremely thin and fluffed up. I put her down as I do all the birds that show they are actively dying from the disease. One hen has a new Ocular Marek's that popped up this year. Now I suspect she has a tumor in the effected eye as it is bulging along with tissue around the orbit. She is holding her own though. Eating well, active and just a sweet little hen so time will tell. I have one hen who is almost 3 with ocular Marek's who is really doing well in spite of the disease as is a rooster. Although he is starting to show some really weird behaviors that I suspect is from vision loss. He has gained weight though and facing his second birthday in Feb.

That is my critical month. Last year I started loosing roosters and cockerels in February. Breeding stress? Possibly. That is why I'm trying to get the males out of the main coop and into their own bachelor pens with only 4 bantam cockerel's/roosters in with the hens as I do not want the standard sized roosters mating any of the bantam or healthy Buff O and Welly hens I'm putting in with the main coop.

So depending on what happens after this Feb with the roosters will tell me if the main infection of the disease has ended. I hope so. I dug a lot of little graves last years.

 

[Alaskan]

Needing POTS of the stuff to get started this morning

second time in a row, my child that is supposed to have the coffee ready in the morning, dropped the ball.

 

[microchick]

I'm spoiled. Unless DH sleeps in, I wake up to fresh brewed coffee every morning.

He knows not to expect too much coherence out of me until I've had a sip or two and smiled.

 

[ronott1]

I sure hope. I haven't lost a bird to true Marek's since October and that was a Welly hen that was extremely thin and fluffed up. I put her down as I do all the birds that show they are actively dying from the disease. One hen has a new Ocular Marek's that popped up this year. Now I suspect she has a tumor in the effected eye as it is bulging along with tissue around the orbit. She is holding her own though. Eating well, active and just a sweet little hen so time will tell. I have one hen who is almost 3 with ocular Marek's who is really doing well in spite of the disease as is a rooster. Although he is starting to show some really weird behaviors that I suspect is from vision loss. He has gained weight though and facing his second birthday in Feb.

That is my critical month. Last year I started loosing roosters and cockerels in February. Breeding stress? Possibly. That is why I'm trying to get the males out of the main coop and into their own bachelor pens with only 4 bantam cockerel's/roosters in with the hens as I do not want the standard sized roosters mating any of the bantam or healthy Buff O and Welly hens I'm putting in with the main coop.

So depending on what happens after this Feb with the roosters will tell me if the main infection of the disease has ended. I hope so. I dug a lot of little graves last years.

That would be so hard!
You are a trooper for hanging in with all of this.

 

[ronott1]

second time in a row, my child that is supposed to have the coffee ready in the morning, dropped the ball.

Maybe some coal in his stocking from Santa?

 

[CapricornFarm]

I sure hope. I haven't lost a bird to true Marek's since October and that was a Welly hen that was extremely thin and fluffed up. I put her down as I do all the birds that show they are actively dying from the disease. One hen has a new Ocular Marek's that popped up this year. Now I suspect she has a tumor in the effected eye as it is bulging along with tissue around the orbit. She is holding her own though. Eating well, active and just a sweet little hen so time will tell. I have one hen who is almost 3 with ocular Marek's who is really doing well in spite of the disease as is a rooster. Although he is starting to show some really weird behaviors that I suspect is from vision loss. He has gained weight though and facing his second birthday in Feb.

That is my critical month. Last year I started loosing roosters and cockerels in February. Breeding stress? Possibly. That is why I'm trying to get the males out of the main coop and into their own bachelor pens with only 4 bantam cockerel's/roosters in with the hens as I do not want the standard sized roosters mating any of the bantam or healthy Buff O and Welly hens I'm putting in with the main coop.

So depending on what happens after this Feb with the roosters will tell me if the main infection of the disease has ended. I hope so. I dug a lot of little graves last years.

Oh Micro, you never seem to catch a break!

 

[pennyJo1960]

@microchick I hope all works out for you and birds

 

[ronott1]

I'm spoiled. Unless DH sleeps in, I wake up to fresh brewed coffee every morning.

He knows not to expect too much coherence out of me until I've had a sip or two and smiled.

I made Moka pot espresso this morning and picked up coffee from the Memorial Union at work. Coffee is half price this week because it is Final!

 

[CapricornFarm]

@microchick I hope all works out for you and birds

Hi Penny! Love my strainer.