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

[Pullet Surprise]

I think ACV would..it's remarkable the list of things it is supposed to help and I have found it beneficial for many things...it immediately soothes bee stings and itchy rashes caused by the unknown plants out there I contact in the woods. I don't know that the NS would be good for acne(I'd be worried about clogging the pores with the oil) or uticaria(hives or rash caused by an allergen) but it definitely soothed Jake's blanket~yes, the entire area of his belly was covered!~ of flea bites that were on his stomach and the redness and itching from them were completely gone the next day. It would be worth it to try, don't you think? It certainly couldn't hurt!

I can testify that ACV works fantastic on 'hot spots' on dogs... we had a problem with our corgi and I was getting sick of him ramming me in the shins wearing his "cone of shame" (dang thing hurts!)
had tried all the other OTC remedies, vet meds etc....nothing worked for long at all. One cotton ball soaked in ACV on the hot spot and NO MORE!!!! Gone, not even a hint. Now if the 'spot" in really open, then diluted ACV might be better. Wine was supposed to be good for acne....so why wouldn't ACV be even better?

 

[71stbrew]

I once read a letter to the editor in Mother Earth News written because a lot of people had been complaining about the mag discussing butchering.It went something like this. Even if you are a vegan for you to live something else must die. Killing an animal may seem worse than killing a cabbage but still yet something must die for you to live. We should all accept that.

 

[Beekissed]

I very much agree. And if you don't grow your own veggies, very often those commercial veggies were fertilized with the litter/manure from the commercial ag biz.

 

[maryhysong]

OK, caught up some of the chickens today for a look see and to goop them up with NuStock. A couple of crossbred Wellies had a couple of bugs on them but no nits that I could see; put a little NS around their vents and let them go. The old Wellie girl with the impacted foot gland, well it was packed full of crud again so cleaned it out and packed full of NS. She had some lice/mites so smeared more NS around her butt. Also rubbed it into her legs; the scales were looking a little rough. I'm not sure what scale mites would look like but figured the NS wouldn't hurt anything.

Poor ol Vinnie, the old Wellie roo. When I looked at him last time it seemed every feather shaft was covered with nits over his entire body, even all over his neck. I also discovered some rough skin on his keel and both of his legs are raw like this. I'm not sure what's causing it but I slathered on some NS.


This time I didn't see as many live bugs, so maybe the DE did something afterall. But still tons of nits, especially around the vent.

So I worked in a bunch of NS all around here and the base of his tail feathers. Also a lot of his neck feathers. Didn't see much of anything under his legs or wings. He's a sweet old boy and while he wasn't very happy about all this he didn't fight too hard.

Then I checked a couple of the old banties in the other pen; one had a couple bugs but I didn't see any nits; Smeared some NS on her anyway. Her feet looked good. Then I caught up the smallest one; She is laying and lays nearly every day. I thought it odd tho that it looked like she had a poopy butt. There was one small lump of poo stuck in her feathers, She has never seemed as fluffy as the rest and now I know why;

That's her keel there; whole parts of her with no feathers; doesn't even look like pin feathers coming in, just smooth skin. Also the feathers she does have seem very thin and brittle.

This is just below her vent after I cut away the lump of poo and washed her a bit. There was a whole herd of nasty bugs right around her vent and all the skin is red and tender looking. So she practically got a bath in NS, not just this area but all of the bare skin areas I saw. So hoping this will help these guys out and get them going again.

 

[Ashdoes]

I'm having a real dilemma, and just don't know what the right answer is. Dukes toe is not budging. The more I feel around, I'm pretty sure it was broken, and not a genetic thing. I've taped it three different ways, and it continues to move right back to under the other toes.
The newest way was my last resort. I pulled the toe correct, layed the foot on the sticky side of tape, then put another piece over the top and taped the toes apart. This evening when I went out to close up the coop, and put the Silkies away, his toe had slid back to it's bad placement.
I'm at a loss, and don't know what to do. I have two Silkie Roos, so even if Duke was the one to go, he can't just walk like this forever. I can't retape his foot everyday either. But do I kill him just because of A toe? That doesn't feel right either. I need help.

 

[Beekissed]

OK, caught up some of the chickens today for a look see and to goop them up with NuStock. A couple of crossbred Wellies had a couple of bugs on them but no nits that I could see; put a little NS around their vents and let them go. The old Wellie girl with the impacted foot gland, well it was packed full of crud again so cleaned it out and packed full of NS. She had some lice/mites so smeared more NS around her butt. Also rubbed it into her legs; the scales were looking a little rough. I'm not sure what scale mites would look like but figured the NS wouldn't hurt anything.

Poor ol Vinnie, the old Wellie roo. When I looked at him last time it seemed every feather shaft was covered with nits over his entire body, even all over his neck. I also discovered some rough skin on his keel and both of his legs are raw like this. I'm not sure what's causing it but I slathered on some NS.


This time I didn't see as many live bugs, so maybe the DE did something afterall. But still tons of nits, especially around the vent.

So I worked in a bunch of NS all around here and the base of his tail feathers. Also a lot of his neck feathers. Didn't see much of anything under his legs or wings. He's a sweet old boy and while he wasn't very happy about all this he didn't fight too hard.

Then I checked a couple of the old banties in the other pen; one had a couple bugs but I didn't see any nits; Smeared some NS on her anyway. Her feet looked good. Then I caught up the smallest one; She is laying and lays nearly every day. I thought it odd tho that it looked like she had a poopy butt. There was one small lump of poo stuck in her feathers, She has never seemed as fluffy as the rest and now I know why;

That's her keel there; whole parts of her with no feathers; doesn't even look like pin feathers coming in, just smooth skin. Also the feathers she does have seem very thin and brittle.

This is just below her vent after I cut away the lump of poo and washed her a bit. There was a whole herd of nasty bugs right around her vent and all the skin is red and tender looking. So she practically got a bath in NS, not just this area but all of the bare skin areas I saw. So hoping this will help these guys out and get them going again.

Wow!! Those chickens really needed that NS, didn't they? I know that it looks like those barren areas will never be right but the NS will eventually work. That last bird of mine with bare skin, Katy AKA Monkey Butt, is finally getting a wonderful new growth of fluffy, downy soft feathers over her naked nether parts. Finally!

I can't wait to see what the NS and ashes does to this group of yours...for sure they will feel better when they aren't getting chewed to pieces by these mites. At least it is the mites that live on the birds and not the ones that hide in the coop and are harder to find and eliminate, huh?

I'm having a real dilemma, and just don't know what the right answer is. Dukes toe is not budging. The more I feel around, I'm pretty sure it was broken, and not a genetic thing. I've taped it three different ways, and it continues to move right back to under the other toes.
The newest way was my last resort. I pulled the toe correct, layed the foot on the sticky side of tape, then put another piece over the top and taped the toes apart. This evening when I went out to close up the coop, and put the Silkies away, his toe had slid back to it's bad placement.
I'm at a loss, and don't know what to do. I have two Silkie Roos, so even if Duke was the one to go, he can't just walk like this forever. I can't retape his foot everyday either. But do I kill him just because of A toe? That doesn't feel right either. I need help.

I know you don't want to hear this but, if he were mine, he'd be culled for this. It's clear it will cause him discomfort and problems as time goes along and you have tried your best to correct it. Yes...I'd cull him just for a toe. If MS couldn't have been corrected on her glands becoming impacted, I'd have culled her for that ongoing discomfort she was experiencing. She didn't understand why she was hurting, she just had to live with it....like your poor fellow.

 

[delisha]

If you absolutely can't cull him- invest about $200-$500 and take him to the Vets to have the toe removed. He can't live like that. Infections will invade and the poor fella will suffer. If he does not die from infection now, he will eventually. The toe needs to come off. If you cull him now you can have a nice meal. If you wait, infection will prevent you from that. He will have suffered in vain. It will be a continuing battle. High stress on you and the flock. You have choices. I would cull.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I would dearly love to be able to tutor people in the home processing and I even advertised a workshop on it in my local area. Attempted to advertise in the free publication but they would not post the ad...too many "animal lovers" would be offended. I put up fliers, put it on Craigslist...one person called to see if it was a joke, said he wanted to learn so he could teach his son but wouldn't commit to coming. Not one person called to sign up for the workshop.

Man...if my husb and I had seen an ad like that we would have signed up! (And I probably wouldn't have seen it on Craigslist as i only look at it for stuff I'm looking for...it would have had to have been one of the fliers for me...)

But I wanted to tell you about an opportunity my husb. and I have. There is a guy and his wife that come to our church that came from Russia. They are in their late 20s. He told my husb. that he had contacted one of the area farmers that turn over their layers every year and the farmer either gives him the hens or sells them for a small price - like 50 Cents each. So every year he and his wife have been butchering them for the freezer - somewhere around 30 - 50 hens.

We missed it this year, but the next time we're going to get to be a part and learn hands-on. Then....amazingly...another guy was overhearing the conversation and said he'd like to join us..then another.

So, sometime next year, we're going to have a butchering get-together with a bunch of folks from our church.

I thought it would be interesting to submit a slide show for the Sunday morning service - you know...one of those that they play with all the photos showing what the small groups are doing in the church...

WOULDN'T THAT BE A NOVELTY FOR A SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO!!!

 

[maryhysong]

I'm having a real dilemma, and just don't know what the right answer is. Dukes toe is not budging. The more I feel around, I'm pretty sure it was broken, and not a genetic thing. I've taped it three different ways, and it continues to move right back to under the other toes.
The newest way was my last resort. I pulled the toe correct, layed the foot on the sticky side of tape, then put another piece over the top and taped the toes apart. This evening when I went out to close up the coop, and put the Silkies away, his toe had slid back to it's bad placement.
I'm at a loss, and don't know what to do. I have two Silkie Roos, so even if Duke was the one to go, he can't just walk like this forever. I can't retape his foot everyday either. But do I kill him just because of A toe? That doesn't feel right either. I need help.

If you absolutely can't cull him- invest about $200-$500 and take him to the Vets to have the toe removed. He can't live like that. Infections will invade and the poor fella will suffer. If he does not die from infection now, he will eventually. The toe needs to come off. If you cull him now you can have a nice meal. If you wait, infection will prevent you from that. He will have suffered in vain. It will be a continuing battle. High stress on you and the flock. You have choices. I would cull.

I have to agree with delisha.You have worked hard to get the toe to correct itself and it won't even go half way there. If there was some progress I would say wait a bit. But it doesn't sound like it wants to be fixed. I think the only other thing you could try would be to cage him up for a few days and see if you can keep the tape on. If there was progress after that then that would be alright. But at this point or if you try that and it doesn't work then yes, you should cull.

Shall we do a 'Bee's List'?
Pro:
The toe is not getting better despite treatment
The toe will eventually cause pain and possible infection, leading to miserable animal that wastes away.
He'll taste delish and his toe won't make a difference in the soup.
Con
?

 

[maryhysong]

Wow!! Those chickens really needed that NS, didn't they? I know that it looks like those barren areas will never be right but the NS will eventually work. That last bird of mine with bare skin, Katy AKA Monkey Butt, is finally getting a wonderful new growth of fluffy, downy soft feathers over her naked nether parts. Finally!

I can't wait to see what the NS and ashes does to this group of yours...for sure they will feel better when they aren't getting chewed to pieces by these mites. At least it is the mites that live on the birds and not the ones that hide in the coop and are harder to find and eliminate, huh?

I am sure hoping this turns the tide for them. Just wish I knew why Vinnie's legs look like that. Could it just be from the mites? They almost look scraped.

Just wondering, ya know, every time I handle them.... my head itches!

It finally froze and I've been making fires since Sat. night. Normally I'd go another day or two between clean outs but I'm cleaning out the stove tomorrow so the ashes should be cool enough to put out by Wed.

Bee, how soon should I reapply the NS? a couple days?