Trials And Tribulations Of Suburban Meat Bird Production

[Birdinhand]

Hi BIH! I found this while reading about paratyphoid/salmonella on the melbournebirdvet site and immediately thought of you and CSF @Sunshine Flock and Henry. I know it's off topic to this thread but thought you would be interested.

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Birds, however, (unlike mammals) have stem cells in their central nervous system, which gives them the ability to actually regrow damaged areas of brain. When in the joint, the infec
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thanks for thinking of me, that's very interesting. it seems that between the nervous system, muscles and skin, chickens have an extraordinary ability to heal! some of the things I've seen on this site are nothing short of miraculous. Henry's recovery comes to mind as well as some photos of huge missing pieces of skin that, with the incredible dedication of some caregivers, grow back, feathers and all with virtually no scar tissue.

 

[Kusanar]

thanks for thinking of me, that's very interesting. it seems that between the nervous system, muscles and skin, chickens have an extraordinary ability to heal! some of the things I've seen on this site are nothing short of miraculous. Henry's recovery comes to mind as well as some photos of huge missing pieces of skin that, with the incredible dedication of some caregivers, grow back, feathers and all with virtually no scar tissue.

Horses can heal like that too, I had one genius decide the straddle a barbed wire fence, 1/4 to 1/2 inch cuts all over the insides of his hind legs. When I found him, he was very sore, walking slowly, and caked in blood. I took him up to the barn, hosed him down to get all the blood off and see what I was dealing with, put some ointment on him, and let him back outside, I didn't mess with the cuts after that, within a week, scabs were starting to fall off, and within a month the black skin had thin spiderweb like scars all over it, in 2 months you couldn't find the scars.

Had another one bit in the cheek, it crushed the skin and some of the meat under it, it absessed and all of the skin on his cheek died and turned into hard leather. I got a scalpel and removed the dead skin so that it could drain (all nerves had already dried and I stayed well away from the healthy tissue), I removed a piece of skin about 4-5 inches square... I hosed it, put ointment on it, as it was summer and the bugs were out, I did clean and re-apply ointment daily, within a year, he had a ropy scar across there that unless you looked REALLY carefully or ran your fingers across, you couldn't even tell anything happened.

Then there was Papi who tried to cut his leg off.... He got vet attention and LOTS of care, but what was 2 deep gashes about 2 inches deep angling down into his hoof capsule is now a whirl in his hair and a scar you can't tell is there.

 

[Birdinhand]

the next batch of 37 CX are on their way, I have confirmation that they reached Portland OR last night and are "on their way to the destination"! somehow, this never gets old! I dusted off the mother heating pad and put it in place, plugged it in, hung up the nipple waterers, turned over the "forest floor" bedding to let it dry a little more. with each go at this, the question is pretty much the same, "can I improve yet a little more over last time on the quality of life for the birds, quality of product for my family and economy of resources for budget and planet?"

 

[Birdinhand]

and holly cow, I just got the call that they are at the post office, wow, that was fast! headed off to get the little fluff balls... cheep, cheep!

 

[Birdinhand]

well, all have arrived alive and kicking! with everything set up ahead of time, it was easy to get them situated quickly. within about 15 minutes they were all huddled under the MHP doing the sleep cheep, quieting down nicely for a rest. it's early enough in the day that I hope they get a good rest and still have enough daylight to get acquainted with the nipple waterers and feeders before a good solid nights sleep!

 

[biophiliac]

well, all have arrived alive and kicking! with everything set up ahead of time, it was easy to get them situated quickly. within about 15 minutes they were all huddled under the MHP doing the sleep cheep, quieting down nicely for a rest. it's early enough in the day that I hope they get a good rest and still have enough daylight to get acquainted with the nipple waterers and feeders before a good solid nights sleep!


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that soft peeping when they settle to sleep is my favorite!

 

[Birdinhand]

well, it didn't take long for a hiccup to occur. I was helping the in-law down the street with his new fence project and was noticing the temperature dropping so I asked the SO to go check on the chicks. she came back and said that two were dead, flat out, not moving. I rushed back and for some reason these two jokers thought it would be a good idea to stay outside the MHP and get cold. I've seen this sort of thing enough to not get too morbid about it, just scooped them up and ran them inside for a little warm up under a heat lamp and voilla, they came too and within about 45 minutes were back up and chirping away, so back they went. then a few hours later, I had the kids run down and check and perhaps the same too, had found their way away from the warmth of their surrogate mother and pooped out. so back inside they went, kept under our shirts for a good 1.5 hours till they were back up and running. gave them some feed and water and back out they went.

this is earlier in the season than I usually do a grow out, so I pondered the chill and whether some adjustments were in order. I remembered that part of the run has insulation on the under side, so I moved things around and made space for the MHP over the insulated part of the raised floor. I then added a second towel to retain more heat and brought out the temp gun to assess the internal temps to make sure the heating pad was working as needed. the temp was around 100f up against the pad, so I figured all was working as designed. I draped more of the towel around the edges. when I checked them just before bed, everyone seemed happy enough. fingers crossed I don't have losses over night, it's dipping into the mid 30's. last week it was -17f in Canada where I was, at least we don't have to deal with that craziness here... my eyelids were sticking together!

 

[aart]

for some reason these two jokers thought it would be a good idea to stay outside the MHP and get cold

That happens, it can take awhile for them to 'get it'.....glad you caught it in time.

 

[Lookin4GoodLife]

Seems like there's always "rebels", right?

 

[Birdinhand]

Seems like there's always "rebels", right?

indeed, and I woke up to perhaps the same two on the verge of leaving the planet via a cold induced coma. I set up my second MHP in the bathroom and made a nest with a blanket on top and left them there for an hour with it turned on high and voilla, they were back to chirping and moving about, so back out they went. I have gone out regularly today and made sure there were no more standing about in the cold with a death wish. most of them have gotten the hang of it. I thoroughly expect to lose a couple over the next day or so but I have my fingers crossed