uh oh-- my wyandotte hen sneezed and

[bellydancer]

Quote:
Uhhhh, you mean the EXTRA EXTRA CALCIUM in the form of oyster shell or whatever they gave us and told us to mix in her food-- we shouldn't be doing that, either?

 

[PeiTheCelt]

We all have oopses.. Don't beat yourself up so badly!! *hugs* You love them and are learning as you go, it's what we're all doing.

(and I have to ask based on your name, Turkish, Egyptian, American Tribal or other?? I am so out of practice, I haven't put on my coin belt in about 8 months, but tend towards Turkish (though I LOVE Rachel Brice's AT yoga/dance video for strength and toning work, that woman has disgusting muscles.

))

 

[dlhunicorn]

Quote:
Uhhhh, you mean the EXTRA EXTRA CALCIUM in the form of oyster shell or whatever they gave us and told us to mix in her food-- we shouldn't be doing that, either?

...look for a boxed mix...(it sounds as though they are selling their own mix and packaging it up?)
If you buy a brand like Purina or such (that is just the first thing that came to mind by the way) then it will state on the package what age the feed is meant for (or should)... you should probably get a "grower" >>>this is for birds up to 20 weeks old... the layer formulation is meant for laying birds and has 3-4 percent calcium in it that they need to make the eggs. Other mixes will have only around 1.5% calcium. I always think it is a good idea to supplement whatever feed you give them with something like Avia Charge 2000 which you can mix with their feed or water on a regular basis (you can order this online from Mcmurry or Strombergs >>> it one of the few complete supplements I know of for poultry). Do you have POLYVISOL or another brand of liquid childrens A-B-D vitamins? Give three drops of that in the beak once a day for a week then taper off the next week...vit A deficiency is often present with respiratory symptoms.

 

[silkiechicken]

If they are only like 12 weeks old, only give them a grower feed if you can find it. No extra oyster shells yet and no layer feed. Also, keep the scratch in moderation as it is like candy to them.

 

[DuckLady]

Can we know what feed store this is so we can avoid them?
or is that slander to post it on the internet?

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Your very welcome...All of us have gone thru some of what your going thru with your hens.......

Starter/Grower feed has all the proteins and calcium she will need at the moment, no need at all for oyster shell til she is laying age....

I would keep after this feedstore til they make it right with you with one dying and the other one ill...

 

[bellydancer]

Quote:
Egyptian-- I haven't performed in years and not currently teaching, but I have been taking classes in Egyptian style for about 10 years.

I tried to post this before-- sorry if it results in a double-post.

Anyway, thanks for asking!

 

[SpottedCrow]

My Aunt tried teaching me too and I got my one and only performance when the actual bellydancer that was hired for the "Feast of Nebuchadnezzer" flaked...and I was the only person available...oy

Sorry to hear about your birds..Most of us won't sell sick animals. I work at a petshop and there's no way that I would do that to anyone!

I'd be a burr in the saddleblanket to that store, even if it meant calling them every half hour until you got ahold of the manager.
And then if's there's no satisfaction there, does any of your local news channels have a consumer editor...the one down here kicks butt and they hate to see her come their way.

 

[speckledhen]

Besides them just sloughing it off as "that just happens", what does happen when they put more birds in the same cages where the sick ones were? They spread disease to someone else's flock as well. You can bet they don't disinfect cages if that's their attitude. I hope not, but your Wyandotte pullet probably has whatever the other one did.

 

[bellydancer]

Update on Wyandotte. On my way home, I stopped by a pet store and picked up some pelleted parrot food (best I could do on short notice-- living in the city, there's just no accessible feed & seed stores, only "pet stores") and some avian liquid vitamins. When I got home, the hen was in some distress-- she had not been eating or pooping much (maybe the tiniest little bit), and I couldn't tell if she'd been drinking much at all. She had stuff all over her beak-- I couldn't tell what it was-- it was dry and kind of hard to scrape off.

She was opening and closing her mouth and no sound was coming out (just exactly what happened to the Brahma that died the other day). My friend arrived and we attempted to get the chicken to drink by dipping our fingers in the water and dribbling on her beak. I cleaned a bunch of gummy stuff off of her beak. Then I took her water container inside, filled it up with fresh clean water, added 3 drops of echinacea tincture, 2 drops of viola tincture, and a squirt of liquid avian vitamins, plus a tiny capful of bragg's organic cider vinegar-- all to her gallon container.

I fed her the parrot pellets squirted with a bit of the vitamins. My husband said she ate and drank (I got busy inside feeding the humans, ya know). Then I filled up a syringe (needleless) with one drop of echinacea tincture, one tiny drop of aloe vera gel and a tiny drop of honey, and filled it with water and I did my best to feed it to her a drop at a time. She went to sleep in her nest box. When I checked her at 9:30, she was still asleep in her nest box, head tucked under wing. This morning, I did not have time to check her, but she was given another syringe full of water, one echinacea tincture drop, one drop of honey and a tiny drop of aloe vera gel.

Also, we got the name of a chicken vet to call today. He's not in Dallas, but maybe he can give us some advice. The manager of the feed & seed never called us back. We'll be calling him again today.