What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

I was a little shocked myself and really wonder where they came from. Guess more research...

Anyone else having troubles with this site pulling up today?

Congrats PJ, looking forward to photos.

Well, @kurby... I'm sure you will walk by some auction or something and find some more silver birds ♡♡♡

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Hey gang. Good posts. @kurby sorry about your pullet but congrats on the 2 newbies.
You too @PJ. I don't know what you were thinking either but honestly I don't get to make fun of anyone as I seem to have the same problem. think I am 10 days away from a hatch. Babies are still here running around and I may have 4-5 pullets and 5-6 roos depending on the light and breeze and time of day... ugh.

My Buff cockerel (Kea's brother) has not been feeling well lately and I have been going through the gambit trying to get him over the hump. He got whalloped by Spider awhile back and I thought that may have something to do with it. I had checked him over pretty good and no wounds or bugs... this morning I noticed the bruising on his comb and above his eye had gotten a little bigger so got out my 250 readers to check and to my surprise it moved. Stick fleas!View attachment 3060763
So I slathered his comb in Vaseline and he felt better pretty quick with their suffocation. Yippee! They arnt called stick fleas because they look like sticks, I think it is because they stick on the chook and are hard to pluck off. Well, BC has been a willing patient who sits quietly while I tweeze them off. I re-slathered him and will work on him again in a bit. Poor baby. Who would have though ?View attachment 3060778View attachment 3060771

Oh no! Poor guy, stick fleas are the worst! It looks like you caught it pretty quickly. The Vaseline is a good idea. Did it suffocate them all, or do you think you’ll have to reapply it?
I hope none of your other birds have it.

Oh @fd! Honorable mention with the multiple surgeries! Sorry, site froze up on me and I got sideways. Bravo on your courage and knowledge! You are an inspiration! Terrific ♡ I hope, I hope, I hope all is well and stays well

Thank you!! He got to go outside today, but he’s still having issues with stairs/high places. I think it’ll get a lot better once the hole starts to close up, but as of right now he’s still sleeping inside. He was running after the girls, so I’m taking that as a very positive sign, lol.

Poor boy!! Those make his comb look like a misshapen strawberry I’m glad you discovered the problem!

My incubating eggs are rapidly dropping out of the running for hatching. :-( My bantam EE eggs have done surprisingly well and I have 6 that made it to lockdown. But the d’Anver eggs that took eons to arrive have dropped off one by one. So 8 eggs are down to 3…and the buff Brahma eggs have been at 3 out of 6 from day 2…so we will see if I get any by Day 21!

Oh well, guess if they don’t make it they weren’t meant to be for me!

I’m sorry to hear that. I hope the remaining eggs hatch.

 

[kurby22]

I was a little shocked myself and really wonder where they came from. Guess more research...

Anyone else having troubles with this site pulling up today?

Congrats PJ, looking forward to photos.

Well, @kurby... I'm sure you will walk by some auction or something and find some more silver birds ♡♡♡

Yes, I gave up using it last night because the site kept giving me error messages. There was clearly an issue!

And yeah, I am sure I will do alright with things. I am mainly just annoyed at the money spent for the amount that hatches

 

[TropicalBabies]

Yes, I gave up using it last night because the site kept giving me error messages. There was clearly an issue!

And yeah, I am sure I will do alright with things. I am mainly just annoyed at the money spent for the amount that hatches

I'm not sure what you spent but you have some pretty amazing little creatures added to your flock ♡♡♡
Your hatch rates sound very much like what I hear on this site with shipped eggs. Like if you get 50% and upward you are golden.
It makes me understand people nail polishing cracks a little more...
I guess if you want certain breeds and that is one way to find them then what can you do right? Wait and hope?
Well, you have a bunch of cuties on your hands and much to be grateful for. I do wish you more luck on top of your good luck♡♡♡ Hopefully you can make up some cash with selling any extra boys you may have. and then try again hehehe

 

[TropicalBabies]

Thank you!! He got to go outside today, but he’s still having issues with stairs/high places. I think it’ll get a lot better once the hole starts to close up, but as of right now he’s still sleeping inside. He was running after the girls, so I’m taking that as a very positive sign, lol.

Oh yes! That is a good sign!

Did it suffocate them all, or do you think you’ll have to reapply it?

Yes and yes Honestly I have never seen or heard of this bug b4 seeing and googling it yesterday so I am def at a learning curve/stage. Vaseline and plucking were the only 2 solutions I read and also makes sense though the plucking is crazy. The Vaseline worked pretty quick and I am happy to get him the relief as he has been a little off for a week but long term... I gotta admit, it makes me nervous. I just laid down fresh mulch and just not sure what I am dealing with. I hate fleas. I may go all out chemical warfare. I may need to. Hoping if I have to I can wait till it warms a bit and take flock up Koke'e, sequester kitties and then broadcast spray a malathion. I do not want this to be a common problem. It is a bug.

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have never been faced with the stick fleas?
Hope to heck they do not show up here..
We seem to have gotten a handle on the regular fleas .

 

[TropicalBabies]

I have never been faced with the stick fleas?
Hope to heck they do not show up here..
We seem to have gotten a handle on the regular fleas .

I read they are more tropical/sub tropical and temperate zones so with your cold you are probably safe.
Well, the Vaseline is golden for killing them and I am feeling much better about the whole thing. I will def be able to control outbreaks.

My cockerel had lice too where my flock has none so obviously dustbathing in his coop is inadequate. Gave him a spray and a dust. After I treat his coop I will provide him a nice bathing area.

 

[kurby22]

Hey all! Just checking in!

Glad that you are on the right track with those icky stick fleas @TropicalBabies! We took Miyuki in for her first check up on Friday and learned she was crawling in fleas and we had NO idea. HOW did we miss this? Sooo gross so now we are cleaning all the things, bathing the dogs, spending money on flea meds…and also tapeworm meds for her. Poor baby I had no idea! The vet said she was shocked Miyuki had such a healthy coat given all the fleas and that she must not be allergic to them. She said she likely has had them since we got her

How are the pigeon eggs doing @FrankieDoodle? What day are you on? I’m so hoping they hatch so I can see baby pigeons

How’s your hatch doing @pennyJo1960? I keep losing the HAL thread you started! I hate how easy it is to lose threads.

I have missed getting updates on things with @GoatsandGuineas! Her name didn’t come up as a tag either—I need some new baby goat pics!

The first of my eggs I set hatched today! One day early. Out of the 10 eggs I got 3 that made it out. I’m a little bummed because I had 6 still alive only 3 days ago and I’m always sad when they can’t make it to the final day. I also put 3 d’Anver eggs into lockdown this afternoon…so fingers crossed they all make it to Saturday/Sunday.

As for the rest of the gang, my two OD hens are both rather sick (thinking they have what the one that died had) so they are inside getting meds twice a day and staying out of the wet weather. And the rest of the gang is doing okay. Tomorrow I will have to look over everyone and probably start them on Denagard again. The past few days have been cool and wet—rained all day today! And that usually triggers their MG issues. They really hate Denagard though, so I’m gonna need to sweeten the water really well this time! Picky birds! I hope they were able to stay warm and dry enough though. Without his OD ladies, Little Dude joined the silkies and my other sweet little ladies in their Banty coop so hopefully they bundle up together enough to stay warm! It was pretty cute seeing them all piled together Speaking of LD, I popped a few fresh OD eggs in the incubator since it’s running so I could do a fertility check. Since they are rather rare I’d like to see if they will make babies! I’m going to be adding some quail eggs soon too—a local person is wanting some quail babies! Birds are keeping me busy!

 

[kurby22]

How did I miss this? This is such awesome news! YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

Where did you go Goats and Guineas?? We miss you!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey afternoon all the 12 I have had no losses amazin even to me ..... Hard to see the dark peeps...