Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[chikenscratch]

 

[Hens and Roos]

for those of you talking about bee keeping- here is a link to Back Yard Herds- other animals

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=24684

 

[Jelinek11]

I have another newbie question....

How old should the chicks be before I can put them in an unheated garage? I will still use a heat lamp if need be.

Thanks!

 

[Celtic Chick]

Vicki, having a hen with a bloody anything is only going to get worse if you cannot isolate her from the rest of the flock. The others will peck and peck at the blood and make it far worse, not to mention cause pain and unnecessary stress to an already stressed bird. I think the kindest thing you could do for her would be to isolate her with a little extra warmth and some vitamins/electros in her water for at least a few days. Having her in a darker location would also help keep her body from being stimulated to produce eggs, which will also help her to heal. Can you put her in the basement?

 

[Celtic Chick]

I have another newbie question....

How old should the chicks be before I can put them in an unheated garage? I will still use a heat lamp if need be.

Thanks!

I like to wait until they are feathered out. Even with the heat lamp at these temps. But I'm sure you will get many varied responses. The chicks will tell you if they are too cold. They will huddle together and give out distressed peeps if they are uncomfortable.

 

[Hens and Roos]

I like to wait until they are feathered out. Even with the heat lamp at these temps. But I'm sure you will get many varied responses. The chicks will tell you if they are too cold. They will huddle together and give out distressed peeps if they are uncomfortable.

x2

 

[judge]

I have another newbie question....

How old should the chicks be before I can put them in an unheated garage? I will still use a heat lamp if need be.

Thanks!

Mine went out to the unheated porch at 4 weeks with a heat lamp, and are doing great

 

[vickiw]

Vicki, having a hen with a bloody anything is only going to get worse if you cannot isolate her from the rest of the flock. The others will peck and peck at the blood and make it far worse, not to mention cause pain and unnecessary stress to an already stressed bird. I think the kindest thing you could do for her would be to isolate her with a little extra warmth and some vitamins/electros in her water for at least a few days. Having her in a darker location would also help keep her body from being stimulated to produce eggs, which will also help her to heal. Can you put her in the basement?      

Thank you Cindy (and Delisha too!) For your knowledgeable input. First an update. The bleeding has stopped but just to be safe I sprayed her bottom with blucote so nobody (aka Soup) would be attracted to the "red" should the bleeding start again.

Really wish I could put her in the basement BUT we don't have one :-( few houses in our area do. The water table is just too high. Since the bleeding stopped, at least for now (hopefully for good) I am going to try to set up a spot in our extra bedroom and put her in there in a large dog carrier we have. I really hope she doesn't try to lay anymore before I can get her where I can control her light.

 

[vickiw]

oh, and I forgot to add that we are having a really LOUSY weather day today with rain/sleet/ice. Just basically damp, cold and nasty. I have a radiant heater in the coop that is on a timer to turn on at night @32o and kick off @ 4oo at floor level which means the nest boxes and the roost above them is warmer. However, since Crockpot always shivers when it's damp and cold anyway, this morning I took the heater off the timer so it was nice and toasty in the coop (the girls have been in lockdown because of the freezing rain today anyway).

Delisha; I applied the lubricant like you suggested, just in case. Hopefully she won't lay tomorrow. It is already unusual for her to lay 2 days in a row and tomorrow would be 3 which I can't remember for certain her ever doing and I hope she doesn't now!

ok, hope I don't sound too dumb but you meant an EXTERNAL flush with Betadine, right???

silly side note~~~ I had snuck up on her with the BluKote while she had her beak in the supper dish and she gave a quick "what the h_ll" and gave me a SERIOUS stink eye!!!

( I usually set her up on the roost to work on her which she normally is really good about but seemed really touchy yesterday when I went to apply the NuStock for her skin/feathers which was my first hint something worse might be going on this time.)

 

[Hurley]

Ahhh, back in to warmth and dryness. Woke up to sleeting and rain, so delayed my coop cleaning plans this am. Got the layer pen coop all scooped out and the snow battled back for walkways, rebedded and the girls spent a good long while dust bathing in the fresh shavings. They were quite proud of themselves.

Miss TO came to visit today, dropped of some teensy eggs (bobwhite quail) for the incubator, took the grand tour, visited the dogs, the snakes, the chickens, and my boys very happily showed off the entire time. She brought me a starter kit for mealies, too, woot! Need to go get some substrate for them and move them into a nice bin to grow and replicate.

After the visit (and a round of pancakes for the boys), back outside to tackle the grow-out shed. Man, those ducks can make a mess in a hurry. Rebedded down, added some pine pellets for extra moisture absorption (scowls at the ducks) and to give them more to dig in. They unloaded the whole big feeder that I filled 2 days ago. Made some adjustments there as they seem intent and mixing their own substrate concoction. We'll see if that cuts down on the spreading of food for fun. LOL

Ahh, now to get myself some dinner before my Iowa Blue Standard Committee meeting tonight.