What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

My dmv appointment was yesterday and I am happy to say I aced my 🏍 test with 100%. I'm legal

well done! That sounds like so much fun! I hope you find a good pet sitter so you can do more then dream about it!

Yesterday I made the horrifying discovery that my Beigie-girl has/had flystrike. She’s been acting a little off the past few days, but she was still eating, drinking, hanging out with the flock as much as she normally does, etc. so I didn’t really think much of it. Plus, she has ascites and egg issues, so it’s pretty common for her to have an off day, especially when it’s hot like it has been.

Well, when I let them out yesterday, I found her laying in a weird spot. Preparing for the worse (but still not expecting this ) I checked her butt to see if there was a visible egg or something. Instead I saw a million maggots crawling around.

At that point I called room out, and we bathed her, twice, in a permectin solution. And by “we”, I mean I got everything set up and watched Room do it, lol. I don’t do maggots (yet), and she’s better at bathing birds. I can handle most things, but bathing maggot butts isn’t one of them.

After that, I wormed her, although after two days of researching I don’t think that was necessary, and then set up a cage inside for her. I also spent yesterday scrubbing out two coops, the main one and the Polish coop, just in case. She doesn’t go in the other two often, so I didn’t bother with those.

I’ve been keeping an eye on her, but so far no signs of any more. I’m really hoping the permectin killed off the eggs and we won’t have to do this again. I put Neosporin on her wounds, but starting tomorrow I want to do it at least twice a day.
I’ve been feeling bad about not catching it sooner, but after seeing the other pictures, it doesn’t look like they’ve been there more than a day, maybe two at the latest, so that’s made me feel a little better.

Beigie is normally really bad about captivity, but she’s been pretty chill the last few days. It’s both a good thing, and a little concerning. She’s still eating and drinking, and I’ve been pumping her full of anything she’ll eat so she’s been pretty happy, but I still worry. This bird has been through waaaay too much to die because of some stupid flies. She’s been perking up a little today, so I don’t think she will, but I don’t want to curse it. Plus I don’t know how she’ll do with them plus the ascites.

At least they weren’t there long enough to tunnel through her. The wounds look awful, but I don’t see any actual holes or anything. Which isn’t to say they’re definitely not inside her, buuuut. . .
She’s a trooper. If any of my birds could survive this, it’ll absolutely be her. XD

I hope Beigie recovers well. I've always used hydrogen peroxide for maggots, followed by antibiotic ointment. Is the permectin something you read about for treatment?

On a different, less disgusting note, Toad has started to come after me when I go outside. I don’t know why it started, but I’ve been ready to send her to the neighbors house, lol.
She’s 2yo so it’s seems so late to go aggressive, plus it’s been a few months since I let her free range, so I have no idea why she’s starting now.

She’s one of my Poles, and she’s got a massive comb and spurs. I’ve honestly been waiting for her to start crowing. I’ve seen her lay before, so I know she’s a hen, but ugh. She’s been creeping up on me everytime I sit outside, and at one point she attacked me, spurs and everything, with no warning. I’ve grabbed/pushed passed her/“pecked” her enough times that she’s finally getting a little scared of me, but it hasn’t really helped much. Really not happy with this. :/
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I've never encountered an aggressive hen! Sounds like her little devil horns go well with her personality

 

[pennyJo1960]

well done! That sounds like so much fun! I hope you find a good pet sitter so you can do more then dream about it!

I hope Beigie recovers well. I've always used hydrogen peroxide for maggots, followed by antibiotic ointment. Is the permectin something you read about for treatment?

I've never encountered an aggressive hen! Sounds like her little devil horns go well with her personality

Throw away the hydrogen peroxide kills bad but also good bacteria plain old alcohol.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

well done! That sounds like so much fun! I hope you find a good pet sitter so you can do more then dream about it!

I hope Beigie recovers well. I've always used hydrogen peroxide for maggots, followed by antibiotic ointment. Is the permectin something you read about for treatment?

I've never encountered an aggressive hen! Sounds like her little devil horns go well with her personality

Thanks, I hope so too.
No, I haven’t read about anyone using it for this before. I admit, I panicked a little and just grabbed the first thing I found that could kill bugs, and it worked like a charm. They were all dead in under 30 minutes. I’d definitely use it again, just maybe with a little more thought in it.
This stuff is great. I’ve used it on other things before, and it’s really good at wiping whatever I’m dealing with out.

They do!! I’ve never seen a Polish hen with a full comb until her. I honestly didn’t think they could get one, lol.

 

[FrankieDoodle]

Frankie believe it or not before I decided to ear a DVM degree one horse had that .. My Dad "showed me" how.
Maggots really should not be on earth even today.
I am picking up 2 frizzle tomrrow for postal bud here.

You have a DVM degree? That’s cool!
I definitely agree with you on the maggots. Those things are awful.
What color frizzles are you getting?

 

[ChicksnMore]

So I did get the main painting done today! Tomorrow I'll add some play perches, move the ducks into a temporary pen while I get their new house ready, and hopefully move the chickens at bedtime. I'm so excited
I have a tree stump in the dwarfs current coop so I can just hang out with em, but it's not the same as letting them out to play. We get a lot of hawks here so I still won't let them free range...but I'm always outside in the evening and can let them have some playtime while I'm out there. Here's where the coops at tonight.

Next I'll have to redo the dwarfs current coop to fit the ducks. It just needs all the chicken stuff torn out and the dirt turned to freshen it up. We used to have the ducks in the garden area and I just loved having them running around there. They'd follow us around and quack at us til we offered them tidbits from the pond buckets I have scattered all over. I hope they still do that.

When I'm done with that, the next project will be to tear apart the 5 mini coops my daughter made me right after I got the dwarfs. I tried keeping them separated into 5 little flocks like my friend kept them, but I just really didn't enjoy that. The mini coops and runs felt too small and I didn't have the heart to ask my kid to build me something better...bless her heart for being willing to though. I spent more time worrying about them then enjoying them. So anyways...I'll tear them apart and rebuild it as one or two small coops for isolation, culls or whatevers needed at the moment. Yay because I think I can do it now!

And somewhere in there I'll get the roof on my other two pens...once I have shade there I can start work on adding coops to them so I can get my yokos moved nearer to the house. And do the work on the horse area that's been neglected for two years...and and...lol.

Well...that's all going to take a while eh.

Can't tell you all how good it feels to be getting stuff done again though. I still can't run or walk fast...but I'm getting there and I'm overjoyed

 

[ChicksnMore]

Thanks, I hope so too.
No, I haven’t read about anyone using it for this before. I admit, I panicked a little and just grabbed the first thing I found that could kill bugs, and it worked like a charm. They were all dead in under 30 minutes. I’d definitely use it again, just maybe with a little more thought in it.
This stuff is great. I’ve used it on other things before, and it’s really good at wiping whatever I’m dealing with out.

They do!! I’ve never seen a Polish hen with a full comb until her. I honestly didn’t think they could get one, lol.

That's good information!

 

[kurby22]

So I did get the main painting done today! Tomorrow I'll add some play perches, move the ducks into a temporary pen while I get their new house ready, and hopefully move the chickens at bedtime. I'm so excited
I have a tree stump in the dwarfs current coop so I can just hang out with em, but it's not the same as letting them out to play. We get a lot of hawks here so I still won't let them free range...but I'm always outside in the evening and can let them have some playtime while I'm out there. Here's where the coops at tonight.View attachment 3195362

Next I'll have to redo the dwarfs current coop to fit the ducks. It just needs all the chicken stuff torn out and the dirt turned to freshen it up. We used to have the ducks in the garden area and I just loved having them running around there. They'd follow us around and quack at us til we offered them tidbits from the pond buckets I have scattered all over. I hope they still do that.

When I'm done with that, the next project will be to tear apart the 5 mini coops my daughter made me right after I got the dwarfs. I tried keeping them separated into 5 little flocks like my friend kept them, but I just really didn't enjoy that. The mini coops and runs felt too small and I didn't have the heart to ask my kid to build me something better...bless her heart for being willing to though. I spent more time worrying about them then enjoying them. So anyways...I'll tear them apart and rebuild it as one or two small coops for isolation, culls or whatevers needed at the moment. Yay because I think I can do it now!

And somewhere in there I'll get the roof on my other two pens...once I have shade there I can start work on adding coops to them so I can get my yokos moved nearer to the house. And do the work on the horse area that's been neglected for two years...and and...lol.

Well...that's all going to take a while eh.

Can't tell you all how good it feels to be getting stuff done again though. I still can't run or walk fast...but I'm getting there and I'm overjoyed

That’s awesome that you are getting so many projects done! It really does feel amazing when you can check something off the to do list that nags you every day! The ODs are gonna love their new spaces!

Thanks, I hope so too.
No, I haven’t read about anyone using it for this before. I admit, I panicked a little and just grabbed the first thing I found that could kill bugs, and it worked like a charm. They were all dead in under 30 minutes. I’d definitely use it again, just maybe with a little more thought in it.
This stuff is great. I’ve used it on other things before, and it’s really good at wiping whatever I’m dealing with out.

They do!! I’ve never seen a Polish hen with a full comb until her. I honestly didn’t think they could get one, lol.

Ugh, I have briefly read about flystrike and get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! *shiver* I think it’s amazing Beigy has made it thru all that stuff! And I can’t believe your hen turned on you, but I agree—-she has the look that makes it believable

I completed integration with my 9-week 'Bravo' group of chicks today! Hooray! It's like graduation day, the completion of a multi-step process.

Two weeks ago, I moved these six chicks from my "schoolhouse coop" into the big coop, in a separate area where they can see all the activity and talk with the big birds. They got used to roosting on top of the scratch barrel. After several days, I moved them out to the run, loose with the others, and as expected, they found a thicket of weeds in which to hide. I put food and water in the weeds for them, and of course they were visited all day long by an endless string of big birds and the seven 13-week 'Alpha' chicks.

At bedtime, big birds and 'Alphas' went in through the pop-door, but of course the little 'Bravos' refused to go in. They clustered and cried by the big door near their scratch barrel inside. I hate chasing and scaring chicks, so I couldn't *make* them go into the pop-door. I relented for several nights in a row, and opened the big door so they could hop up on their barrel. Then I picked them up and moved them to the roosting area in the big end of the coop, with the big birds. Scared little balls of fluff, they huddled. Did this for three nights in a row.

First morning, I found them all with their heads crammed into a corner. Might've been some manners being pecked into them. Second morning, a little better but still in a corner. Third morning (today), they were lined up at the far end of one roosting bar, but no one was bothering them at all.

Then tonight, I tapped my rattly stick to shoo them away from the big door and toward the pop-door instead; and repeated, "Go to Bed!" They grudgingly wandered toward the ramp, then slowly went through the pop-door, but THEY WENT IN on their own!!! I watched the process from inside as they hopped from bar to bar and found a comfy spot on a middle bar. One brave little pullet hopped up to the top bar (prime real estate) and snuggled in-between two accommodating large hens. Good girls!

I'm always so happy when integration goes smoothly and they become one with the flock.

Next, in about three weeks, the 'Charlie' group gets their turn. I have 17 in this bunch! And more on the way soon!

Well done!! Integration always stresses me out! But it sounds like your flock is doing well with it! I will be doing my own soon and it stresses me out already!

Yes it's hard for kids to understand but part of pet ownership is protecting them from harm just like being a parent to kiddos.
I'm glad you killed them personally they carry rabies.

Totally agree! I never realized all the things my parents shielded me from as a kid. I feel sad for the raccoons and totally get where you are coming from @racyfamily and your daughter! It’s a tough part about owning outdoor pets. We have rats and my daughter doesn’t want any killed Also gets very mad when I sell or rehome roosters

 

[kurby22]

Quick update! Honey is starting to mend, Ruby never got sick, just a few sneezes, and Axel is still with us. Yesterday he couldn’t use his right side wing but today he has been moving around a lot and more vocal. He’s gotten vitamin E and B complex vitamins for about three days now and I may be delusional but I am hopeful it’s progress.

Other big news—Marshmallow and Chocolate both laid their first eggs I think! They’re small first eggs, but they are beautiful

 

[ChicksnMore]

@kurby22 three cheers for Honey, Ruby and Axel!

 

[FBMcrazy8]

She’s so cute!! How’s she doing today?

Oh wow, I’m glad your birds are okay! I hope you’ll be able to get the others/big one.

Thank you! She’s in desperate need of a bath. Whenever that gets done, I’m going to make sure I’m far, far away, lol.

Oh yeah, you’re right! XD

Thank you! Me too…or not see it again. But another night and not a sign