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

[aoxa]

I just had chicks hatch, and they won't eat the FF. They still like to peck the ground. Should I just give them dry until they get the hang of eating?

 

[Wax Myrtle]

I sprkinkled dry crumble over the FF and stirred it in until I had a very crumbly texture (think Reeses peanut butter) to get them pecking. After a day or two, I didn't need to any more. I also had trouble with <5 day olds tramping and packing the ff down and being unable to peck any up. Covered trough feeders helped with that.

 

[aoxa]

I sprkinkled dry crumble over the FF and stirred it in until I had a very crumbly texture (think Reeses peanut butter) to get them pecking. After a day or two, I didn't need to any more. I also had trouble with <5 day olds tramping and packing the ff down and being unable to peck any up. Covered trough feeders helped with that.

Know what really sucks? The last bag of starter I got is really coarse.. It's not ground as small as I like it.. I'm raising some bantam Ameraucanas, and the crumble is just too big. I wasn't going to start them right away on FF, but figured I had to feed them something that wasn't a choking hazard.

 

[Mumsy]

The Nu stock finally arrived in my mail box! I took Bee's advice and squirted it all into a spare picnic mustard container like she did so I can mix it easier when it separates and apply it more directly.
Johnny will get his first treatment very soon and then....Finally some relief for those pesky mites and his nearly constant itchy/scratchiness.

I do have a couple questions. His last dusting with wood ash from me was a few days ago. He used his ash/sand/dirt out door dust bath yesterday. It's under cover. I want to dust him with them again but do I do it before the Nu stock or after?
His black out sleeping box is going to get stripped of bedding today and I will spray all the wood parts with Neem oil as suggested.
I'm wondering if I should put new shavings back in there and let him sleep in there tonight after only one Nu stock treatment or should I just put him out in the newly set up old dove house where the deep litter is? It's been vacant two weeks. This is where his new girlfriends will be cooped too.
I am wondering how long it takes for mites to die off. I've never found one lice on Johnny. Just the mites.

 

[Beekissed]

You know Bee, you are so right and so valuable to this forum and people like me trying to learn. I feel so lost at times. Oh, I wanted to share this: my cousin who is 77yrs old called me yesterday. She was raised in Pennsylvania and her grandparents owned a farm and raised among other things, chickens. She was excited to hear about my chickens and told me some stories of when she was a kid. I can't tell you how intrigued I was. Anyway, she said her grandfather, knowing the grand kids would be coming to visit for Easter, would color the chicks that were going to hatch. NOT after they were hatched mind you, BEFORE they hatched. He would use a needle and syringe to inject dye into the egg before the chick hatched. When the chicks were hatched they would come out all different colors, blue, green and such. Then, of course, as they grew the color would be lost. Have you ever heard of anyone doing that? She talked all afternoon about her memories of her childhood and chickens. I was amazed at her experiences. And I found out, she killed chickens at the age of 7!! Why do farmers let such young children do that? When I asked her how she dealt with doing that at such a young age, she said, " I don't know. I just did it". My point to this, or one of them is, what a great gift it is to be raised in the country around animals, and be taught about life and death in such a natural way. Those experiences can never be taught from a book. So thank you Bee for sharing your knowledge and giving us that base from which to grow from.

Because teaching children about the facts of life doesn't always involve talking about sex!

Living and the solid fact that everyone and everything dies is an important thing to teach to children. If all they learn about dying is on the TV, they wind up with a skewed sense of reality, IMO. This is one of those things that parents overlook because it's hard to talk about and teach and many are afraid that their children are too young to comprehend it. I didn't kill my first chicken until I was 10 but I had watched Grandma kill chickens since I was big enough to walk. Her matter of fact approach to the necessities of killing animals in order to have food for the family was my first lesson in the fact that in order for us to live, something must die. It brings a new value on life and a person is much more aware of the moments they have on this side of the soil.

Thanks Bee I guess when you are new at something like the FF, I have been worried that I was doing it wrong and would end up growing mold I think I am getting it down now. Yes, you are right about watching poop, it can get you a little crazy. My chickens only sleep in their coop so they have tubs of sand under their roosts so I just scoop it out like cat litter. It helps keep their area clean and also enables me to be aware of any changes in their health.

I am having the same issues as Arkansaschicks. My chickens have been on FF for about a month, then I added the raw pumpkin and seeds about a week ago. I noticed (because I also have a poop board with sand) that some of the poop is soft with a water ring around it. At first it was just one bird, now it's several. And the amount of poop has increased. Could this be related to too much pumpkin?

That could be. When my chickens get their first watermelon of the season, they get a little more looseness to the poop. The bulk fiber and fluid in pumpkins could cause more liquid in the stool, I'm thinking.

 

[Wax Myrtle]

Food processor?

 

[Beekissed]

The Nu stock finally arrived in my mail box! I took Bee's advice and squirted it all into a spare picnic mustard container like she did so I can mix it easier when it separates and apply it more directly.
Johnny will get his first treatment very soon and then....Finally some relief for those pesky mites and his nearly constant itchy/scratchiness.

I do have a couple questions. His last dusting with wood ash from me was a few days ago. He used his ash/sand/dirt out door dust bath yesterday. It's under cover. I want to dust him with them again but do I do it before the Nu stock or after?
His black out sleeping box is going to get stripped of bedding today and I will spray all the wood parts with Neem oil as suggested.
I'm wondering if I should put new shavings back in there and let him sleep in there tonight after only one Nu stock treatment or should I just put him out in the newly set up old dove house where the deep litter is? It's been vacant two weeks. This is where his new girlfriends will be cooped too.
I am wondering how long it takes for mites to die off. I've never found one lice on Johnny. Just the mites.

I'd dust and then apply the Nustock. I'm not sure about mite life but the NS and ashes will certainly help and also the Neem on his roost will prevent them getting to him again.

 

[Beekissed]

Know what really sucks? The last bag of starter I got is really coarse.. It's not ground as small as I like it.. I'm raising some bantam Ameraucanas, and the crumble is just too big. I wasn't going to start them right away on FF, but figured I had to feed them something that wasn't a choking hazard.

I'd start them right away on the FF for the good probios they need and to help prevent pasty butt and coccidiosis. That's when they need it the most, IMO.

 

[Wax Myrtle]

We had Speckled Suzy Soup this evening....    Excellent flavor and tender when cooked in crock pot. 

 

Okay, any soup secrets? I collect recipes. My chicken noodle soup secrets are more garlic than you'd expect (somehow you don't really taste it) thyme and the tiniest touch of nutmeg. Oh, and commercial egg noodles cook at a quiver-simmer for an hour after the initial boil.

 

[texasmomma]

I just had chicks hatch, and they won't eat the FF. They still like to peck the ground. Should I just give them dry until they get the hang of eating?

My chicks took a while to get the hang of the FF, but they did eventually. I have mine kind of dry, but it gets pasty during the day. I just crumble it with my fingers and they eat it again. I will also put some on the ground for them to scratch at. They seem to love the FF. I wanted them to have it from the very beginning.

Found an opossum in the shed the chicks are in last night, so brought them back inside. I do not want chicks inside! The 'possum was eating my sunflower seeds, so we have to find a way to help it find a new home before we put the chicks back in there. I want them to be safe. Dh thinks maybe we can put a lid on the brooder, too. He needs to get some 22 shells so he can make sure that possum doesn't come back.

This may very well be the same animal that got my then 14 week pullet a few weeks ago. I don't need it around causing trouble.