Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[KMHunter]

Quote: Thanks Stumpfarmer. Vitacost.com has cod liver oil at discounted prices if you are interested. I have used this company for years and they are very efficient and reasonable.
I have krill oil so that is what I used to help Betsy recently. It seemed to help her as I think she is fighting a persistent slight sour crop condition? Gurgles a lot in the crop after eating grain and have seen some neck stretching a few times. Do you know of a good treatment for this? Thanks. ~Dee~


BTW - I read a few articles on sour crop so now I am not sure if that is what Betsy actually has going on. The articles I read sounded like when the crop is sour it is impacted with matter. Maybe Betsy just needs some good probiotics since I did worm her last week. She would not eat yogurt though so I am not sure what to do other than try again. I may have to resort to putting some in a syringe and squirting it in like I did the worm med. LOL Also will add some Bragg's apple cider vinegar to her water tomorrow. If anyone has any other ideas please share them with me. Thanks. ~Dee~
I would definitely try the AVC first. You can make some oatmeal and let it cool down so it's just warm and add liquid probiotics. But I would try just the AVC first. There is a difference between sour crop and impacted crop. Impacted crop can require surgery if it's really bad. If her crop is soft and squishy instead of a harder mass, I would say sour crop.

 

[KMHunter]

Well howdy folks!!! Just marking my spot in the new thread so I can easily find it later!!

Welcome to all the newbies!

Want to give a big shout out to Chickadoodoo!!!!! How are the Orp girls doing for you? I sure miss their big fluffy butts!!!!

Speaking of Vitamin D, I remember a similar discussion about supplementing with it last winter. I think Chickielady used Broilermax, maybe she will post her thoughts onit? It is true, that when winter sets in here, there is not much natural vitamin D from the sun. I will be interesed in what Robin's take is on this subject.

We managed to hatch out 12 chicks the other day. 6 of our own BLRW as well as one of our olive eggers. The rest were from shipped eggs. We had two different shipped egg batches come in. One was the mixed assortment and we had 2 FBCM's, 2 Ameraucana (1 black/1 blue), 1 Barnvelder hatch. Then we had 11 very active Crele OEGB's at lockdown, but only one pipped and died in there. The other 10 didn't even pip! Was very bummed about that as they were for one of my girls 4-H project.

Drove to Ellensburg yesterday to check out CWU for my oldest DD who's a senior this year. She wasn't as impressed with it as she was with WSU which is her first choice. But glad we went before the snow came in!

Stay warm everyone!!!

I use Avia Charge for my flock. It has the most Vitamin D out of pretty much all of the other stuff. But I like the idea of mixing the contents of a few Vit D pills into the oatmeal or rice treats I like to give them.

FWJ- I think it was you that asked about Vit D dosage? Anyhoo, Stumpfarmer said 1000iu per bird. So it will depend on how many you have.

I have 2000iu pills so I think I will use some of those.

 

[Imp]

Just a drive by.

This popped up in my in box this morning. It told me to share. Maybe it'll be helpful to some of you. And the price is right.


South King County: Free Voucher for WHOPPER® Sandwich, Original Chicken Sandwich, or Real Fruit Smoothie with Purchase at BURGER KING® http://local.amazon.com/south-king-county/B009TC9F24?cid=share_em

 

[nikki1]

Okay, so here's my story. I have 3 "big girls" from my original group. They were hatched early March, and have been laying since late July. My 4 "little girls" were hatched mid-May, and have yet to lay, although their combs and wattles are coming along nicely. I've been feeding Payback Poultry feed, with oyster shell on the side to accommodate both layers and non-layers.

So next week I'll need a new sack of feed. Should I just keep on with Payback, or should I switch to Layena, or does it even matter? My feed store carries both at very similar prices, so both are viable options. Any opinions would be appreciated!

--Nikki (and 7chickens who are pretty sure they'll DIE if they don't get mealworms soon!)

(The smiley is from my little girl.)

 

[Imp]

Okay, so here's my story. I have 3 "big girls" from my original group. They were hatched early March, and have been laying since late July. My 4 "little girls" were hatched mid-May, and have yet to lay, although their combs and wattles are coming along nicely. I've been feeding Payback Poultry feed, with oyster shell on the side to accommodate both layers and non-layers.

So next week I'll need a new sack of feed. Should I just keep on with Payback, or should I switch to Layena, or does it even matter? My feed store carries both at very similar prices, so both are viable options. Any opinions would be appreciated!

--Nikki (and 7chickens who are pretty sure they'll DIE if they don't get mealworms soon!)

(The smiley is from my little girl.)

I think Purina recommends switching to Layena at 18 weeks. Either option would be fine.

For goodness sake, give them some mealworms. They're starting to look weak.

 

[VelvettFog]

Quote: Thanks Stumpfarmer. Vitacost.com has cod liver oil at discounted prices if you are interested. I have used this company for years and they are very efficient and reasonable.
I have krill oil so that is what I used to help Betsy recently. It seemed to help her as I think she is fighting a persistent slight sour crop condition? Gurgles a lot in the crop after eating grain and have seen some neck stretching a few times. Do you know of a good treatment for this? Thanks. ~Dee~

http://www.vitacost.com/productResults.aspx?ntk=products&ss=1&Ntt=cod liver oil

Sour crop --- the crop is smushy, that can be an indicator of sour crop. Isolate the bird and check the crop in the morning, It should be empty if things are working correctly. I've had good luck with using a few table spoons of red wine force fed with a syringe. The alcohol in the wine will help kill bacteria, and the acidic nature of the liquid helps to prevent regrowth.

 

[VelvettFog]

So...about vitamin D. I have both 5,000iu and 10,000iu gel caps of D3. Which one, and how many of those would I break over and mix in with some oatmeal for my dozen girls, and how often? I really want to help them, clearly if 2 of them have simply stopped laying while not being broody for the last couple weeks, there's a deficiency somewhere. It seriously happened right around the time the sun disappeared. I hope I can use what I have already, I've got TONS of D since I'm also very deficient and take so much through the winter. Thanks for the help!

Jess --

Not necessarily true. Some breeds are less likely to continue to lay through the winter - and even breeds that are considered good winter layers will have individuals who are an exception. It could very well be that the two who have stopped laying have just .. stopped.

ETA - Also if it was truly a deficiency, wouldn't you think that it would effect all your birds, since they all eat from the same table so to speak?

 

[Chickielady]

paint chip are good, especially the lead flavored ones.

Don't forget the all time favorite styrofoam and pink fiberglass insulation !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chickielady]

Mine is "GET OUT OF THAT POT!"

Almost 18 acres they can explore if they want and they prefer my potted plants for digging and dust bathing. I need to go cut out some chickenwire circles to put around the grapes. I picked up two of the little metal chicks from CR at the show and put them in with my lemon verbena. It's stopped the big hole they were trying to dig and the plant is doing better again.

Oh! Dealing with chickens and dogs. "Quit eating that!" and "You better not be rolling in chicken poop over there!"

They go roll where the deer and elk pee and poop too. So disgusting.
The dogs bring dead stuff back and leave it at the back door. Nothing they have outside is allowed inside so they drop it right by the door so they can get it when they come back out. The chickens help themselves to whatever they think looks good. Dogs will come back out and be looking for what they know they left right there.

Ours here it is:
Get off the porch !
with all this land they ALL want to be on the porch !
They know Mom is just inside and treats come from this place !

DH calls them Porch Poopers.

 

[Chickielady]

Another for chickens: "DO I NEED TO GET THE HOSE?!"

My young ones have been wreaking havoc on the garden we're trying to fix up in the back. They half dig up day lilies and rhododendrons and move to the hostas to shred the leaves. Once, when I caught them shredding the hostas, I got the hose and said "HOSTA LA VISTA, BABY!!" as I sprayed them.

We put bricks around the bases of vulnerable plants so that we don't lose everything to those pests.

I set up a sprinkler by plants I do not want the birds in, and turn it on when ever they get close...scatters the birds everywhere and gives us a good laugh.