Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[beausonge]

Well- we figured out what killed my layer last weekend. A hawk. And it struck again today, killing 2 of my Bantams who were in a secure cage, with a top, and with my mom and sister home. We drove up the driveway and saw it flying from the scence. We thought they'd be fine as we were home and keeping a close eye on them- but we were wrong.

So sorry you lost your chickens. I had no idea hawks would try that! I have two big roosters and two cockerels. My biggest and oldest rooster, Mystery is a huge 2 year old cochin. He will alert the others even when he sees a jetliner way up in the sky. I have lost 3 pullets/hens in the last two years. Every one of them were ones that strayed from the main group or did not run under cover when Mystery gave the alert. My last loss was in December when I lost a young Buff Orpington pullet. I unfortunately had to work very late and DH put them to bed. The Buff Orpington would not go in the coop so she was left out. The next morning I let them out around 8am and she was not in with them. I found what was left of her on the open hillside near the coop - a pile of buff feathers.

Again so sorry for your loss...

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Where I live, you can't have roosters, which is very frustrating. I too was shocked at what the hawk(s) did. The cage was very secure, one of those large black ones with latching on both sides, thick wire, and a top, with a removable bottom. Right now, on the cage, there are dents in the wires from where we assume the hawk first tried to get them. The *hawks* as I mentioned earlier, there are 2. They were circling over the free-ranging layers who were hiding before I went and got them. My girls did put up quite the fight though. By how much feathers there were, vs. last weekend when it got the one in the open, was a lot more. It decapitated them too, which was shocking. Them animals are vicious, so beware.

 

[TerrorBird]

We found out a few days ago that George has a tiny bit of bumblefoot. I get to do a bit of surgery on her very soon to fix it. I'm really not looking forward to it, but it's for her own good.

 

[Imp]

We found out a few days ago that George has a tiny bit of bumblefoot. I get to do a bit of surgery on her very soon to fix it. I'm really not looking forward to it, but it's for her own good.

There is another treatment for bumblefoot that doesn't require the surgery. Some people swear by it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303829/vet-suggestion-for-non-invasive-bumblefoot-cure

Russ

 

[KMHunter]

Quote:
I have Frontline I can use if this doesn't work. I already put one drop on the really bad cockerel. He's sleeping inside tonight. Just bathing him got rid of so many of them (he fell asleep during the bath). He doesn't have any real scabbing from them. I was really worried about him. It was just a coating of them on his saddle feathers.
Just be aware that if you are planning on using him for fertilizing eggs, there are some studies that say frontline can cause at least temporary infertility in roos. I have Freedom 45 Spot-on treatment for horses for my boys. That said, if the spot on didn't work I would use Frontline anyway because you are right, it works great once you have an infestation. I also like Sevin dust, but I try to be careful and not over use it.

 

[KMHunter]

Quote:

Quote: I was able to get rid of a moderate case of bumblefoot without surgery with the solution in the link above. I also scrubbed the bottom of the foot with Chlorhexadine wash and soaked it in Iodine and epsome salts to reduce inflammation. I actually didn't soak it in the antibiotics until about 2-3 days in. I also put topical antibiotic ointment and then bandaged it with something like vet wrap. The swelling went away and later the scab fell right off. If you take care of it earlier and not let it get really infected you should have good luck with non invasive treatment.

 

[Sudsy Chick]

I'm sorry to hear about everyone that has has losses from hawks. From what I understand, rodents are very limited this year and they are going after more pets and birds.

Here's an update on Frodo.

Here she about mid-way through the healing process. You can really see the bruising in this photo.



Here she is now. I cannot keep her inside anymore without her yelling for me to let her out.







Her wound is closed, that is a hard scab on top.

The other girls are being pretty nice to her, considering.

And yesterday she was looking for a place to lay an egg! And she has been squatting for me for a couple weeks.

Here's hoping I find a tiny egg today!

 

[Mumsy]

Thanks. Yep. I don't worry about frozen water in my barn. Not only does the Thermo Cube go on and off so I save electricity, I can hook up heat tape to it if I needed as well. My electrician hubby told me these work in old well pump houses too. My sister told me they also work on keeping engine blocks from freezing in the home garage in Alaska.

Another thing I do to keep water from freezing is I put UN-ACV in the water for my chickens daily. It helps my chickens health and the water stays ice clear.
I like to save time in the barn on cold mornings and I'll use these Thermo Cubes to help myself with that endeavor.

 

[CarolynF]

Woodinville Area Folks:

Free on Craiglist this morning:
Link Here

 

[Hinotori]

Just be aware that if you are planning on using him for fertilizing eggs, there are some studies that say frontline can cause at least temporary infertility in roos. I have Freedom 45 Spot-on treatment for horses for my boys. That said, if the spot on didn't work I would use Frontline anyway because you are right, it works great once you have an infestation. I also like Sevin dust, but I try to be careful and not over use it.

The shear amount that was on him made it worth it to Frontline him. He went from his perky dancing talking self on Saturday to this pitiful creature that didn't want to get off the roost on Sunday. I didn't want to lose the friendly goofball. He walks right up to me and asks to be picked up or begs for treats. Infertile for a while doesn't matter since the silkies are just coming off broody so I have about a month to month and a half. I'd need to separate out to a breeding pen as well since I've seen the other boy cover every one of the laying girls.

He's feeling much better today. Been talking up a storm to me this morning. I took the lid off the carrier so he could stand all the way up and he's standing in there eating and drinking. I still see moving mites along his tail feathers and around the saddle, but I only see dead ones up around where I put the Frontline on. I don't think he's moving around enough to get it to spread very fast. I may put another drop on him in the saddle area.

It's just weird how he was coated with them and all the other birds were just a few if any.