The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[babymakes6]

Come on Bruce!

 

[Beekissed]

Speaking of thin shells and egg eating, I have a question. Starting a few weeks ago, I suddenly had no-shell and soft-shelled eggs. Their diet hadnt changed, but I switched feeds to a higher protein layer ration. I also have sprinkled oyster shell on the ground in addition to their already free choice. I also grind up the egg shells (what I use myself-the rest are sold and don't come back) and mix with table scraps.
I have a few pullets new to laying, so I attributed the no shells to them. But then I noticed the thin and soft shelled(membrane only) eggs. This also happened in march. Is this the "time of year" when I'm starting to get these eggs because of the molt? Or is there something else going on?
Since I changed the ration and started sprinkling oyster shell on the ground, the no-shells have disappeared, but I still have one laying a thin shell. Will it take a while to get them situated again? I don't want to hijack this thread, so if you want me to edit this and copy/paste to the old timer thread I can do that.

No such thing as a hi-jack!

I prefer a thread to go much like the conversation on a front porch, rocking in the swing...sometimes conversations just take a gravel road but they soon meander back to why we are sitting out on the porch~just for good fellowship and good conversations about favored subjects.

Those are the time of year that hen's reproductive organs are recovering from a lull, a down time in the hormones, etc. When they restart, sometimes things sputter a little. Sometimes when they are gearing down for a low egg production time, they will also do this. This goes away in time and pretty soon the eggs are all good. Yes, this is the time of year and again in March when they are gearing up for peak laying season after their natural winter slow down. You'll also see this at times from a broody who is going back to laying.

Remember after having a baby and you have that dainty little menses flow and you think, "Gee, I sure hope that having a baby has corrected something in there and I will be having these again like I used to do when I first started!" ? But, then, the next month you get to sing the usual Slaughter House Blues in your jeans and that hope quickly dies? Same thing.

 

[Beekissed]

Some of y'all must not have ever met Bruce...er....bruce....in person. He does indeed have the physical traits that might be enhanced by an over the shoulder boulder holder. Now he ain't no EE, but probably a solid C. Personally, walking around as a "free boober", I think he looks like a hussy.... just sayin'.

Oh, so cold, cold, cold, LW!

This thread is a breath-holder to see what coming next. As I wait with bated breath I am picturing bruce staring intensely through and past his computer seeking the come-back of the century. I don't know you, bruce, but I know you can do it!

I can picture it too.....

Weeeeee aaaaaarreeee waaaaaiting, Bruce.....

 

[fishnet1971]

Bruce, just tell them it's not a mansiere, it's a double beer holder......and yea, it would be fermenting.....

 

[bruceh]

i am working on it but i ain't no holla back girl.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I just found this thread and have only ready through your first two days. I'm so glad I did. What an amazing ordeal ... I will definitely follow along!

 

[bruceh]

i am working on it but i ain't no holla back girl.

i actually have an A cup . i am very sensitive to the fact that my man boobs aren't large i have tried everything. i have done the " we must we must we must increase our bust " and still nothing.. i am at my end with them. i have broke down and saw the surgeon for breast augmentation. oh how i long for those perfectly formed boobies..
he said he will do the job in exchange for 2 blue copper marans, 3 welsummers, 6 silkies .2 show girls, all complete with chicken diapers and aprons , also he will do a rhino plasty for 12 freedom rangers and 10 cornish cross.

i told him i would do all but the 6 silkies and 2 show girls. they would have to wait til my DD's are done. i want to hatch them under my new boobies.

i am so excited i can't wait . it is not because of new boobies. i just want to hatch chicks under my boobs. i want to expirence motherhood.

now dang it leave me alone. i just want to eat some ice cream, watch a good movie and cry. if that's okay with you all. i am very emotional right now so please just be nice to me,

what do you all think about a butt lift? i think i am losing my high school figure..


here is me ( avatar ) in the florida sunshine

 

[Noncentzter]

OK, I'm a little confused on the fermenting feed thing...are you talking only grains or also layer pellets? I feed a mix of both. Can I ferment both or just one and if so, which one?

 

[Beekissed]

So glad you could join us!

Today's update on the Raggedy Flock: I'm glad to report that the flock is slowly warming up to my presence. Not as warm as they used to be but still walking towards me now instead of running away. They are consuming the fermented feeds well and I'm noticing more red combs and wattles with a slow color change coming back to beaks and legs.

I've noticed the rooster and the largest hen, Moby Dick II, are still occasionally digging at the lice and mites at their back end. I am currently cooking down a fresh batch of wood ashes to give them a deeper and better application for this. The rest of the flock are not showing any signs of this and are showing noticeable improvement in feather growth...and this only after a week since their arrival.

They have consumed 2 suet cakes and will receive a third one next week. When we kill some deer this fall, all the fat will be carefully trimmed and saved for feeding to chickens and dog this winter. Any meat scraps unfit for our consumption will be ground later and rationed out this winter. I don't normally act this careful about flock nutrition but, then, I've never had a flock in this poor of condition before.

Water with ACV and a sprinkle of epsom salts is still being offered. Only time will tell if the epsoms has helped with the gleet. The next examination of the flock will include combing vent feathers with a large toothed comb and clipping out any gleet clumps. Then a reapplication of NuStock will be applied.

Side Note: The last roost I placed in the coop was a 2x4 with the 4 in. side as the roosting surface. The chickens do not prefer this flat roost at all! They all want to crowd onto the round roosts on either side and only use the flat one for a bridge between the two. My birds have always had round roosts made from large saplings and I think they are spoiled at the comfort of these types of roosts. They definitely conform to the natural curl of the foot more than the square/flat roost. I'll have to put a round roost in its place soon.

 

[fishnet1971]

I just spit my coffee out all over my screen and keyboard laughing.......

just put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Most of us have to......