fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[1muttsfan]

When my mother was having chemotherapy she had terrible painful sores under her tongue, which made her not want to eat or drink. The mouthwash they gave her didn't do much good. So I went down to rite aid and bought a small tin of Bag Balm. Applied it under her tongue with a cotton swab. Within 2 days her sores had almost completely resolved

I'm sure Bag Balm is not labeled for oral use, but you only use a tiny bit for a day or two.

Ointment should not be used on wounds all the way through the skin, as they are a foreign material and the body has to eliminate them. Biogel sprays and dressings are great for deeper wounds, but perform best under a bandage where they stay moist.

 

[fuzzi]

Battening down the hatches in the Southeast...

Watch:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Huge fan of Chlorhexidine here.

Haven't tried the other items mentioned, but worth looking into those too!

I can't decide if we'll get snow/ice or not. The temps are going to drop. Bet it will be windy, it's always windy. Well...windy sounds like a breeze - let's say gusting winds at probably -20F. Yay

 

[fuzzi]

Local forecast went from 1-3" of snow Tuesday evening to 3-5"

and now back down to 1-3"...so they don't have a clue

 

[NanaK]

.so they don't have a clue

Seems they never do. I recall many times they called for 3+ inches and we got nothing. Also times they called for 1-2" and we got 8.

Snow is pretty but not looking forward to the temps in the teens, possible low teens. They are talking about us staying below 32f for a couple days.
This can cause problems here for many folks.

If it has got to snow I think 28-30f is plenty cold.

I've got a few hens that have never seen snow. It's usually interesting to watch them that first time.

 

[fuzzi]

Seems they never do. I recall many times they called for 3+ inches and we got nothing. Also times they called for 1-2" and we got 8.

Snow is pretty but not looking forward to the temps in the teens, possible low teens. They are talking about us staying below 32f for a couple days.
This can cause problems here for many folks.

If it has got to snow I think 28-30f is plenty cold.

I've got a few hens that have never seen snow. It's usually interesting to watch them that first time.

Aside from the sleet last week, none of my flock have seen snow. If the wind blows they'll be walking in what snow drifts into the hoop coop.

The last snowfall we had was 3 years ago, January 22, 2022.

 

[Molpet]

Local forecast went from 1-3" of snow Tuesday evening to 3-5"

and now back down to 1-3"...so they don't have a clue

Their crystal ball is cloudy.

 

[1muttsfan]

It only takes a low pressure system sliding a tiny bit north or south to change the local results, so they probably can not do much better than they do now.

2 degrees this am. I looked out and the chickens were outside, briskly scratching in the straw and sunning on the outside roost.

 

[fuzzi]

Checked on the flock after church. Esther still has the open sore, it didn't appear obviously worse. However, another pullet, Prissy, has a similar open sore in the same location. As suggested by someone here, I think it may be rooster related. Joanna looks fine, and I didn't notice any wounds on the other hens, including Tamar. She's bottom of the pecking order so I would think a hen related issue would involve her.

I'll treat both their wounds after dark.

The flock got fresh straw, and the waterers were rinsed and filled, including the rubber tub. Snacks included some crumbled unsalted crackers and more cudweed from the yard.

One egg

Then I directed my storm/cold weather preparations towards the felines. I have two outdoor "feral" cats that I feed, but other strays show up for the leavings. I dumped the old straw out of the styrofoam cat shelters and added fresh, dry straw. Those are located on my front porch, which faces east. But there's a big Tom who's been hanging around, crying, eating the food I provide, but not letting me get too close. According to a neighbor that cat's owner moved out of his house to move in with his girlfriend and abandoned his cat .

So I made him a shelter with a dog house top/roof, a kennel tray, and dry straw.

It's a little big but he can burrow down in the straw to stay warm.

And I made this impromptu shelter as well:

I'm a sucker for animals...

 

[fuzzi]

It only takes a low pressure system sliding a tiny bit north or south to change the local results, so they probably can not do much better than they do now.

Yep.

Current predictions.