Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[babylady4]

DrH handles his roos and I think they are always nice to him..... My DH will flip them upside down for a bit, and then carry them around for a while in front of the hens. Usually about 20 min or so. I bet you have to do this a few times to get it through their pea brains. The one my kids raised was always a sweetie, and they handled him all the time.

Angie I would be at that school giving the teachers a good ***** chewing! They have no RIGHT to treat your daughter that way when she has health issues! What is she was developmentally disabled and she was treated this way???? Reports to the school board would be good too! What if she ended up making herself a mess because the teacher did not let her out of class????

As far as the attendance goes, I would tell them to shove it. Grandpa is much more important.

I have had issues with our school this week so I am a little on edge about the Public School System. After jumping through their hoops so my son could take an antibiotic at the school, the doorknobs FORGOT to give him a dose. I know it is just an antibiotic, but what if it was insulin? My poor DS came home apologizing for not taking his medicine since he forgot about it! It is not a 9 yr old's job to remember such things!


I see Bf4 is not around tonight....... maybe she has another 'date'.


One last thing. Incubation temperature DOES NOT determine the sex of the chick! The sex is determined by gene, not temperature.

 

[Dr HaHa]

Geez Angie quit being such a woosie and go pick him up and tuck him under your arm for awhile and tell him that he's handsome and pet him on the breast and rub your finger nail under his beak. Kripes he's not gonna go for the jugular. You'll feel him relax after a bit then he'll be puddin in your hands. Just don't let go of him then he'll know that your the boss and you mean him no harm. Was just perusing the breeds section. TO has gifted me with some really neat birds!

Without a doubt I have some B Australorpes, dang it now I gotta go back and look again. Writtin them down this time. L's makin me imbibe.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

I'm here stalking... Doc told me to take a break... Stop posting... Apparently his old eyes are tired from all the reading... Poor thing...

 

[Celtic Chick]

Oh sure, blame it on L! A likely story. Then again, maybe she's trying to get her 2 minutes............

 

[MustLoveHens]

Evening all!!

Wow lots to catch up on here! Spent the morning shoveling the driveway to get the truck out so we could go to the dump. Then ran some errands and came home.

TO-That sucks about your fencing. I hope that guy does fix the one he broke. Glad the chicks are doing well!

Ang-I hope your day gets better!
Don't show fear or be timid when your by Wally. I have to say, if I had a truely mean rooster he was done. I had to many to deal with that crappy attitude. I would work with him a little bit to see how mean he really was then determine the best course of action.
I have never heard that handling a young rooster can make them mean. It's been my experience that it is just the opposite. I don't think that treating Wally's eye caused him to be mean.
Listen to FT and DrH they are right on the money. The act of kicking (even gently) or swatting at him (again gently) to a rooster is a sign of aggression. This turns their On Switch to the ON postition and the only way to calm them down is to either leave (he won) or catch them and hold them until they are calm (you won). It may take some time for a rooster to finally give in. But once he does he rarely if ever go back to being a mean bird. There are exceptions but I have only had one or two. I used to hold the meanish or wild roosters while I did my chores that only needed one hand. Filling feed buckets and such. Eventually they learned that they got nowhere by being mean so the holding was not so bad and they were not let go of until they calmed down. They usually got treats for being a good bird.
I had some the would walk up to me for "therapy" and wanted to cuddle a bit. I hold and handle all of my roosters and pullets from day one. I also handle roosters as much as possible as they age.

BF4-cute ugly chicks! Venus is such a rooster!!! You look like your one for two....

Apyl=Were your chicks vaccinated for Cocci? If you had them vaccinated for cocci, immediately take them off of their medicated feed. Also check your bag of feed. If it is more then six months old then there is a chance the vitamin pack has broken down and they are not getting the correct vitamins and minerals they need.
This might sound strange but are they actually eating and drinking? Are they wasting a lot of feed? If you are feeding a crumble, grind their feed into a mash or meal. The course of the crumble grind may be too big and they cannot not eat enough to get proper nutrition. While I have heard people say that if a chick gets hungry enough it will eat the feed, that can be an incorrect statement. If the feed grind is too big for the chick, no matter how hungry the chick gets it simply cannot eat it. It's like me handing you an apple and telling you to eat the whole apple in one bite.
I always give my chicks filtered water. I have horrible well water so all the babies not matter what they are get filtered water for the first week or two. Then they go on tap water. If you are not already, you might want to try filtered water with some sugar in it and see if that helps them.
If you see blood in the poop, hit them Sulmet. Corrid is not ideal in your case because you are feeding a medicated starter. The medication in the starter is corrid aka amprolium. This is used in feeds as a preventative and is not the true dosage to cure cocci. All amprolium treats is cocci whereas Sulmet treats cocci as well as other diseases so you are hitting a broader spectrum of possible causes.
Honestly with they way your chicks are going you would see blood in the poop if it was cocci. I don't think your dealing with cocci I mean you maybe be but not likely. When I asked DH he said the first thought that came to mind was that they are dehydrated. How is the temp under your lamp? The temp on your waterer? If the water gets too hot (for them) then they will not drink it.
HTH

 

[Celtic Chick]

Ang, take DrHs advice. At the bash, he calmed down a sassy roo in under a minute flat. It was quite impressive, IMO.

Out of my bigger chicks, I've noticed that the ones that I suspect are the roos are the friendlier of the bunch. They will go out of their way to fly over to sit on my lap. And they camp out too.

 

[WIChookchick]

Thanks for all the advice-I am looking up the articles now. And just to clarify-I would NEVER hurt the roos with my boot-its more pushing them back or out of the way. Or when one of them was mounting a hen in front of me-I would push them off. Just sad as these were some of my first chicks and trying to figure out what to do with them. I am crossing my fingers that as they mature they may calm down a little, is this just wiishful thinking? They are 7 months old.

Tiki: I had 3 (Out of 8 chicks I bought when starting out). I re homed one (Hansel). And Wally has been a total sweetheart-he had an eye infection or something and was very sick-had to hold him a lot to get antibiotics in his eyes etc-afraid he lost some of the respect for me through that-maybe too much handling?

Apyl: Thanks-this letter last night was stating that it was just informative-and they are required to send out when a child has missed 11-15 and 20 days-and that at 20 days there are further steps: Parent meetings etc. I will definately contact both her local Dr and Childrens Hospital to get a letter. It bothers me because some of the teachers are understanding others not so much. Example: When her blood sugars are high, she has to use the bathroom frequently-couple times the teacher wouldnt accept the pass for being late, or told her she needs to go between classes or when she asked to be excused, told her she needs to try and wait. With diabetes it can sometimes mean needing to go several times an hour. I emailed and explained this and it helped for awhile. The one comment I always receive about my DD is that she is so sweet and respectful and a joy to have. Yet she needs to be more assertive and speak up for herself-hard to teach that when she feels like shes being disrespectful. I will talk to the school and find out about the missed hours/needing to make them up.

Not sure if I mentioned this previously, but her state tests came back pretty high-she has issues with getting make up work in, her name on papers, or being late with turning things in-frustrating. We are working on a plan now to have her write each class down whether homework or not, and go over it each night, I may even see if I can get the teachers to initial whether she turned it in or not. Its a matter of being organized, Tough though when I leave in the morning at 7 and return at 6:30 and she has after school activities (these should be winding down in the next couple of weeks)

At her previous school, they had several kids with diabetes (larger school in the cities) and they monitored, sent home a note each day with her BG's, etc. This school expects her to come in and test and to write her numbers down in case there is every any questions. I understand she is getting older and needs to take more responsibility, however, its a lot for her on top of normal stuff and teen hormones etc...to try and keep track of what her body is telling her-go test (and miss out instructions in class) and if she gets gluten ( from Celiac) in her system the symptoms can be awful. Usually Ive kept her home for the first day but you can feel like you have the flu for 4 days-foggy thinking/hard to cocentrate, upset stomach and aches and pains.

Ok-whew! Thanks for letting me vent and lending me an ear!!!

BBP Congrats on the hatches-cant wait to see pics!

Apyl: Sorry to hear about the babies-hope you figure this out soon. I've lost one chic from my original batch last yr-at a day old and its so disheartening!!! Have you been able to tell if they are drinking enough water? Not sure if someone else mentioned this but electrolytes always worked for me with the parrots to give them a little extra energy boost.

Angie, I am sure that your school does not have a full time nurse, but some one must be in charge at school for when a child has to have shots, or pills right... I would contact the nurse AND your DD's doctor and have written instructions for EACH teacher, or a copy handed to them, have THEM sign another copy and have it in your daughters school file that they understand the side affects of diabetes.. such as having to use the restroom more often, and that as a growing child, making her hold "it" in, can cause bladder issues later in life, or possibly an infection.
You can also talk to the PTA, perhaps they can help.


For issues with roosters.. I throw out treats like popcorn, bread, scraps and stuff they like. I have several feeding stations so that everyone can get food, I mix together the corn/scratch, crumble and lots of other stuff. I come in and call to the whole flock, "chook chook"... I move quietly and fill each feeder, and then get eggs.
I always thank the chickens with a "Thank you for the eggs ladies!, or Thanks for the effort".
Although Joan had an issue with one rooster, and she would put her boot under him and would send him flying more than a few feet... he hardly ever gave me grief, now an again he would though...
The only time my chickens run from me, is if I come in with a net...

 

[Angiebubs]

YES I AM A WUSS! LOL there I said it. I remember how nervous I was of getting pecked by a hen the first time I reached into a nestbox-after once and you realize your hands intact and it didnt hurt-then the fear is gone. I have not been bit yet (other than memories of my parrots who I developed a very healthy respect). I was able to handle the roos just fine a week ago-its just been this week. And I totally agree that the booting them away just antagonized them-lesson learned. I was shaking out there-not from fear but just the realization by baby was attacking me

I am thinking of treats tomorrow (have some sprouts just about ready) and figuring out a way to get a hold of Wally without him attacking me Once I have him things will be fine-just how to corner him long enough to pick him up without the feet flying at me. And just to clarify-this is the first time he has ever attacked me and his aggresion has just been the past few days-so there is hope!

BabyL: I am planning on talking with the school asap. I feel at a disadvantage with her grades slacking...but am sick and tired of trying to defend her and hearing the constant "She has to learn to live with her diabetes-so how is she going to handle this in life?" from all sides. I hear this in relation to her gluten as well. For the most part people are understanding.....

 

[Celtic Chick]

MLH & WCc,

Awesome advice.

Ang, you can do this. On all fronts. You are Woman! What did Bf4 tell me? Suck it up, buttercup!

You can deal with this, Angie. All of this.

You've gotten some solid advice here from these people, your friends.

 

[WIChookchick]

I wanted to add on a new reply I finally got a new egg from an EE bantam cross (she has no muffs) but OH my GOODNESS.. she laid the purdiest blue eggs!!
I am just about 90% sure that the one young hen/older pullet that I thought was a Jaerhon/maran cross. is a Maran/EE cross.. so that means I have a no cheek muff, full sister to KristiP's Solo.
I started getting a very nice slightly off white egg, each one since the 1st one I found has gotten more green, so I think I have a true olive egger in my flock.
I took pics so I could show everyone the HUGE variety I am getting (keep in mind 2 hens are KristiP's)

,
The upper row has eggs from two different pens, and the typical brown on the end has the olive egg next to it,
and a jumbo white on the other side. On the lower row starts with one of my serama's , the one next to that is from
a Welsummer I got as a chick frrom H&R, then another blue from the hen that finally started laying...


The egg in the upper left is the "olive" egg, the first one was very close to white.. it gets darker and darker...
The white one in the upper right is a jumbo white from a hen i got from Kristi.
The egg in the lower left is one from my english cuckoo maran hens, and the blue one in the lower
right hand corner is the new blue one.