YO GEORGIANS! :)

[amandarc]

Already got bloody poo with a few, on Corid now. But all are eating drinking well. My husband got them from mj hatchery in Marietta. They are around 3 weeks she said.

 

[Oldmomma]

Im an animal lover too but yes even I had my time with various animals but we all understand losing our hard work to big varmint. Relocation would be me but yes if I was at wits end with a critter they might end up as a rug or cap too. I had a momma squirrel get into my roof area and they would scurry around keeping my husband awake. I found a hole in the soffit and 4 little babies were looking out at me. Soon as they got big enough to climb out I sealed the hole. I was getting my roof repaired after a hail storm and told them I wanted a ridge cap vent, no turtles or turbines. And make sure to fix all holes and make sure all animals were out. Well they didnt listen and put the turtle vent back on and tar papered over a large hole in the roof. Well 2 days later momma and babies were back. I used brillo pads coated with tabascco sauce stuffed in the vents, used 3 layers of wire mesh and sealed the openings and it kept them out. Also we got over 250 ducks in our backyard every year that we fed scraps to as they passed through on migratory flight paths.

 

[valleychicks]

Wow! Really bad storm here! Had straight line winds go through now a downpour. Power keeps flickering. Hope it doesn't go out I have week old chicks in the brooder.

 

[ChickDancer]

Wow! Really bad storm here! Had straight line winds go through now a downpour. Power keeps flickering. Hope it doesn't go out I have week old chicks in the brooder.

If you do lose power, put a comforter over their brooder to help hold heat in. They should be okay through the night that way.

 

[ChickDancer]

Already got bloody poo with a few, on Corid now. But all are eating drinking well. My husband got them from mj hatchery in Marietta. They are around 3 weeks she said.

Wow, bloody poop already?

Unfortunately, that does make me concerned about their hatchery. Cocci is transmitted through the poop of infected birds. ALL birds will probably get it, because it can live in soil for a good while. But the difference between simply getting it, and getting an infection, depends on the health of the birds, and the amount they are exposed to.

I have had bad outbreaks of it before. Back when my chicken pens would get muddy and stay that way all spring, and I never cleaned it out or treated the soil with anything, I had bad outbreaks. The chicks that I have that stay up off the ground (in a wire enclosure) almost never get it at all. But once I started to properly clean enclosures, all Cocci outbreaks just seemed to fade away. ANYTIME a chick seems to have issues related to it, I treat them for it. But usually it ends up not responding to treatment with Corid, because it's something else causing the problems, and it's not a Cocci infection at all. Actual Cocci infections, and bloody poop, are almost non-existant here now.

I've also started trying to do early exposure to low levels of the protozoa that causes the infection. Since it can live in the dirt for ages, I find a clean LOOKING area to let the chicks run around on for a little bit every day. My free-range EE's were all over the yard, so I'm certain it's in the soil here. As long as it doesn't look like the area has fresh poop, that means the levels should be low enough to introduce the chicks. By doing this, I purposely expose them to low levels so their immune system can learn how to deal with it, much the same way a vaccine works. But the levels aren't high enough to cause an infection that their immune system's can't keep up with.

So that makes me wonder if chicks are too crowded over there and/or left in conditions that are too damp - where Cocci will breed and multiply like a wildfire.

 

[ChickDancer]

Im an animal lover too but yes even I had my time with various animals but we all understand losing our hard work to big varmint. Relocation would be me but yes if I was at wits end with a critter they might end up as a rug or cap too. I had a momma squirrel get into my roof area and they would scurry around keeping my husband awake. I found a hole in the soffit and 4 little babies were looking out at me. Soon as they got big enough to climb out I sealed the hole. I was getting my roof repaired after a hail storm and told them I wanted a ridge cap vent, no turtles or turbines. And make sure to fix all holes and make sure all animals were out. Well they didnt listen and put the turtle vent back on and tar papered over a large hole in the roof. Well 2 days later momma and babies were back. I used brillo pads coated with tabascco sauce stuffed in the vents, used 3 layers of wire mesh and sealed the openings and it kept them out. Also we got over 250 ducks in our backyard every year that we fed scraps to as they passed through on migratory flight paths.

I have one good squirrel deterrent. I have two cats. Three, technically - because my sister and her family have one they don't take care of, and I live with them right now. So when I buy food for my cats, their cat eats too.

However, cats don't always keep things OUT of the house. Sometimes, they bring them in. Apparently my cat, Spirit, brought in a chipmunk yesterday. But it wasn't dead! I guess my nieces and nephews had to chase a chipmunk around the house until they got it back outside, all while I was at work yesterday. That's one thing I'd be tempted to keep as a pet though. They're just so tiny and cute! Minus the biting part....

 

[ChickDancer]

So nothing to report from here today. Still got a possum in the big trap - everyone seems too busy to help me haul it off to release it (and that huge trap wouldn't fit in my car if I had a genie to shrink it down for me). Since I can't stand to see an animal die of starvation, and since we don't kill possums anyway (haul them off about 10 miles and release), I gave him a bunch of cat food and a bowl of water until we can relocate him. In the meantime, we can't try to catch a fox or coyote in the trap, since it has the possum. But my spring trap will be here on Wednesday - as long as FedEx delivers on time.

All birds are mostly okay though. Lost another two McMurray Hatchery chicks. Still can't wait for that necropsy report, so I can find out WHY and maybe treat it before I lose the last 3 I have from them. But I have lost every other McMurray chick that showed up here, so I'm not too surprised at that loss. All chicks from the school hatching project are still doing great though. No losses there.

And I'm doing okay too. It has been exactly one week since Skeeter disappeared, and I feel like I'm making progress with secure pens and new traps to stop the issue from happening ever again.

Tomorrow I have Royal Palm turkey eggs due, and the remaining 5 (out of 6 that I received) are still alive and kicking, and all five have shadowing inside (but no internal pips yet).

So everything is calm here today. I'm hoping it stays that way for a bit. I'm just going to hatch the rest of the eggs I have in the incubator, and replace what I can out of those until next spring.

 

[amandarc]

Wow, bloody poop already?


Unfortunately, that does make me concerned about their hatchery. Cocci is transmitted through the poop of infected birds. ALL birds will probably get it, because it can live in soil for a good while. But the difference between simply getting it, and getting an infection, depends on the health of the birds, and the amount they are exposed to.

I have had bad outbreaks of it before. Back when my chicken pens would get muddy and stay that way all spring, and I never cleaned it out or treated the soil with anything, I had bad outbreaks. The chicks that I have that stay up off the ground (in a wire enclosure) almost never get it at all. But once I started to properly clean enclosures, all Cocci outbreaks just seemed to fade away. ANYTIME a chick seems to have issues related to it, I treat them for it. But usually it ends up not responding to treatment with Corid, because it's something else causing the problems, and it's not a Cocci infection at all. Actual Cocci infections, and bloody poop, are almost non-existant here now.


I've also started trying to do early exposure to low levels of the protozoa that causes the infection. Since it can live in the dirt for ages, I find a clean LOOKING area to let the chicks run around on for a little bit every day. My free-range EE's were all over the yard, so I'm certain it's in the soil here. As long as it doesn't look like the area has fresh poop, that means the levels should be low enough to introduce the chicks. By doing this, I purposely expose them to low levels so their immune system can learn how to deal with it, much the same way a vaccine works. But the levels aren't high enough to cause an infection that their immune system's can't keep up with.

So that makes me wonder if chicks are too crowded over there and/or left in conditions that are too damp - where Cocci will breed and multiply like a wildfire.

I'm a newbie, but I knew as soon as I saw bloody poo that it was most likely Cocci, may not be, but I treated for it anyway.
So, I emailed and called her as soon as I saw the bloody poo, just a few hours after I bought them. She said she has a 24 hr guarantee. Well, guess who never responded, still hasn't.
I bought Corid, nutridrench, electrolytes, probiotics and blu kote to have on hand. I just don't know what else may happen.
Anyway, she said she stopped vaccinating for Mareks bc she doesn't think it's necessary unless there are outbreaks nearby??? She said she also stopped letting ppl come to her farm bc they were cross contaminating her birds. Ok, I can see that point, but not being able to see the conditions in which these chickens live made me feel weird.
Despite, the red flags, we bought the chicks and now I'm taking really good care of them. Cleaning their water consistently and bedding. They are not acting sick, less bloody poo today. I thought it strange, but the lady said I could put them in the coop at 4 weeks, but I just can't imagine them out there that small. Any thoughts?

 

[RoboDuck]

Ok, I am home after 8 hard hours at the farm. I am tired and I hurt. The pasture is bush hogged and 1/3 of the coop we bought is in place and leveled. It is sitting on bricks to keep the wood from having direct contact with the ground. The raccoon had to sit in the trap while I worked. And then I took it several miles and released it. I simply can't shoot an animal in a trap. At that point it's not a threat and it's certainly not sporting. If I catch something in the act, I wouldn't have a problem killing it. But in a trap.... nope.

I have separated the Light Brahmas and SLW's I am keeping. $5 bucks a piece for the rest of them. The odd thing about the SLW is that what are certainly roosters, have different kinds of combs. GAM should share a picture later.

 

[amandarc]

I was also concerned about my run, it's fairly shaded and just dirt, no grass. Sounds like a great breeding ground for Cocci. What can I do to avoid it occurring once they are old enough to go out to the run? I bought construction sand for inside coop floor. Thought about adding to the run, but that would be sooo much sand!!!! $$$