What can I do for Chloey? Eye bleeding..pic UPDATED POST SURGERY PICS

[NYRIR]

Yep, looks like i'll have to set aside a bird emergency fund in the future. I had thought about doing that with the money i get from eggs, selling birds, etc. Just putting it aside and "forgetting" about it and let it build up.
200.00 just to come to the house...wow....that's expensive! I can see why you get it all done as much as possible when he's there...Don't get me wrong, I know it's needed but sheesh...that could hit your wallet and drain it FAST. Do you have a large production?
Right now, we are WAY in the hole from starting this. We've built 5 coops in a year and a half....I never expect to MAKE money from this. I want to "cut the feed bill" and sell eggs, Poults, Ducklings, Chicks and Goslings so I can afford to keep my hobby is all. Right now my feed bill is about 100.00 a week. I'll be happy if I can cut it to 50.00.... I also want to help the heritage breeds i decided on so they continue on. This coming spring I hope to be able to offer Ancona ducklings, Narragansett Turkey Poults, Delaware chicks, and Toulouse and Pilgrim Goslings.We'll see how it goes.
I'm in this strictly because I love them...I don't expect them to give me a profit....if I did, i certainly wouldn't be buying them all the treats I do

The kids laugh and tell me I give "all the good stuff" to the birds

 

[rainplace]

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There's a long story about how I ended up where I am now, but to make it super short, I ended up taking my initial pet flock to a certified organic farm where I ended up with a full time job. I don't like managing people, and don't like farming veggies, but I love animals. Trying to etch a place out for myself on their farm and generate some extra revenue for them, while at the same time learning all I could and generate some income for myself, I became their partner in poultry production (they didn't have poultry prior to me being there) and own part of the beef herd.

Currently we process 100 chickens every 5 weeks, have a laying flock of chickens and ducks, and butcher beef 2x a year. I tried slaughtering geese, but I can't do it so our geese mow the yard during the growing season and help get the weeds and seeds out of the crop fields during the off season. The geese don't take a whole lot of feed and what they do for the farm is intangible. The ducks and chickens are let loose into the fields during the off season to get bugs under control and they do a fabulous job, requiring very little feed during those months. The meat chickens go through the cow pastures, but require a lot of feed regardless. Soon we will be taking the laying chickens through the cow pastures also. This should reduce the feed bill. We also do some muscovy for meat and they live in the pasture duck house and mostly fend for themselves. I feed them enough to keep them tame. I did not hatch out enough this year to make money on them.

I'm not making very much money now that I don't actually work for the farm anymore (didn't make much money then either, but it was more than now). There's not a lot money to be made in sharecropping which is sorta what I am doing. I skimp on a lot of things to be able to do things like build infrastructure or have a vet come out. I spent a few months looking at everything I spent money on and stopped doing things that weren't necessary, buying less, and when buying, buying less expensive alternatives.

I make money on the meat chickens and was making money on the eggs until I had a few egg eaters. Now there is egg hiding going on and there are some days where I cannot find the new stash in time to meet health regulation requirements so they go to my fridge instead of into my coffers. We make a little money on the beef, but as we are changing our pasture management style we should be able to make more. It's a lot of work for a little money, but I love it.

 

[NYRIR]

Rainplace...that's a cool story. You sound like me as far as "managing people" and veggies aren't my forte either. Lol...I currently have 1 tomato plant with no tomatoes on it....2 zuchinni plants with nothing growing but flowers... and one strawberry plant that grew 2 strawberries...lol...I'm too busy with the birds to really do veggies right now. Not to mention I am very limited on space. I do have some nice flowerbeds( thanks Mom for weeding today

)
Maybe by next spring i will have things figured out enough and a system down and will start to grow some veggies, but right now I'll stick to my berry bushes...easier to grow...
I got chickens a year and a half or so ago and fell in love with it. I have expanded to Ducks,Turkeys and Geese...I love them all. I think any kind of animal farming is a passion, not a money maker if you truly love the animals. My desire to have some cows and goats and a horse for my daughter will have to be just that...a desire. *sigh* You must love it having so much space.

As for slaughtering geese, what was it that made you not able? Just curious as I have 7 and am downsizing to 4. I don't want them overcrowded, I don't need more than 4 for my purposes( even that may be more than i need), and the grass?? They mow extremely well and I want to be able to support them with enough grass. I may even end up down to 2-3. I have to see how the grass holds up next year with 4.I still want enough for my chicken flocks and I clip some for my ducks and turkeys too.We are going to be giving them more access as well to more area. My mom laughed at me when I told her there would be birds in the front yard too next year

I have a good sized front yard that nobody uses except when I mow...so i figure why not give it to the geese and chickens? Why waste good grass? Funny, every time I drive by an open field I think, "Man, that's a lot of goose feed!"

We also process our own meat but cannot sell it unless it is live. I do have a couple of customers from the Philippines that buy my live birds every so often and butcher them themselves at home.Really what i have is for my own family and when i have extras, i try to sell them. I hatch my own meat birds from all 4 species except i am hoping the geese will set on their own.From what I have read they are pretty good at it.

I just started this spring with the Turkeys and Geese so I have 6 Turkeys to butcher this fall and I will still have 6 left for breeding. The geese I really didn't think too much about butchering but I wanted just 2. I ended up having the guy I was buying goslings from give me 2 adult Pilgrims free.I bought 3 goslings because there were only 3 left and I cannot leave just one on purpose.

Then a girl on here had 2 Toulouse for free. I had originally wanted Toulouse so i picked up those two.They quickly became my favorites.

The older adults are not human aggressive but are not friendly either. The 3 goslings are not sociable because I made the mistake of letting the adults "babysit" during the day.The Toulouse are extremely friendly (well, until now....now poor Chloey acts terrified of being touched) I don't blame her a bit!

It's all a process I am learning. You have to figure out the right balance for your situation and space. I think once all the butchering is done it will be easier to tell what those numbers are going to be. Everyone has enough space outside but I want to give them more and keep my property healthy.I still have grass, but I can see that 7 full grown geese will take a heavy toll which is why I will butcher some.

As for your egg eaters...

nothing makes you madder than seeing a hen with an eggshell in her beak! I have one hen who lays a soft shelled egg almost every day...always has...and it's the only one that gets eaten.Sometimes i will see an egg with a "peck" in it but typically they are "pullet" eggs.Well, so far anyway!

 

[NYRIR]

Chloey update...she has eaten a small amount today and drank some water too. She is in a smaller crate for overnight and will be back in the brooder tomorrow.She spent a lot of time sleeping today but she is still alive tonight.

 

[NYRIR]

Chloey is eating/drinking well this am.

Tomorrow I will change the bandage to see how the eye looks.

 

[Denninmi]

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Oh, that's good news.

Did you put antibiotics on it, or are you giving them to her orally? I think infection is your biggest risk of complication right now.

 

[pete55]

Best of luck with her

 

[NYRIR]

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Oh, that's good news.

Did you put antibiotics on it, or are you giving them to her orally? I think infection is your biggest risk of complication right now.

I put neosporin on it after we cauterized...and sterile cotton under the vetrap.
Oh man I am so happy! I just saw her eye without the bandage and it's looking great! She can see out of it!! And she ate out of my DD's hand tonight....she is acting like her old self

What kind of antibiotic would be best? She looks a slight bit swollen around her eye so I want to start her tomorrow on something ...would Duramycin work? I have that on hand.

 

[NYRIR]

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Thank you! I will post pics tomorrow of her eye and see what you guys think of the swelling... man I love that goose!

 

[rainplace]

It's good to hear good news about Chloey!

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