Thistlewick Smallholding - Chickens & Sheep (for now)

[wrathsfarm]

Notifications stopped... Need to catch up here.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Great thread... Beautiful coop and flock you have!!

 

[thistlewick]

Thank you wraths

update on Maryanne - she's still kicking. Yesterday I gave her some corid water solution in a dropper, she drank it up - she must have felt better because she went to a nest. She didn't lay or anything and then later that afternoon she went out to the hedge to be with everyone.

But she didn't have the strength to come in for their usual pasture forage for 1-2 hours before bedtime. My flock has a whole routine of where-they-go and what-they-do every day with very little variation -- so I can always expect them at certain spots on my farm at particular times of day.

So we flushed Maryanne out of the hedge and I gave her some Poultry-Drench in a dropper, which she LOVED but she still will not eat.

Her crop is completely empty and not inflamed, so it is not a crop issue.

This morning she was just on the roosts again, trying to sleep.

I am kind of a hardass in some ways; these are my pets, yes, I love them yes, but they are also livestock and there are costs involved. Did I take Little Wing to the vet to xray her wing? Yes, but that was almost a learning experience for us instead of necessarily helping Little Wing. Ended up being absolutely useless because the help they recommended (wrapping her wing up against her body) only put her wildly off balance where she couldn't walk. She learned to walk with a bum wing. So it dangles and she manages. She will probably die to misadventure some day, but until that day she can be a chicken. Now we know not to bother with vet visits for stuff like that.

So, while Maryanne is having some mysterious issue - she's gotta kick it or not, I just am not gonna fuss over her that much. If she doesn't want to get up and eat, (and I made her scrambled eggs and she put her beak up to it and didn't want a thing to do with it) then she doesn't eat. I'm not gonna force feed her.

So, it's just kinda sit and wait at this point.

I did put the mild solution of corid in the waterers just to make sure for the rest of the flock, it can't hurt.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I gave her some Poultry-Drench in a dropper, which she LOVED but she still will not eat

Nutri-drench has thiamine which is vitamin B1, it cancels out the amprolium in corid, so one of the other, but not both at the same time.

 

[thistlewick]

Nutri-drench has thiamine which is vitamin B1, it cancels out the amprolium in corid, so one of the other, but not both at the same time.

Yep, I realized that later.

It doesn't matter, that was yesterday and today she wouldn't even drink. Prob wake up to a dead bird tomorrow :/

She isn't breathing heavy, or labored. She has no bumps or lesions or anything visibly wrong, it's like she just gave up.

 

[thistlewick]

Maryanne matured SUPER late - didn't begin laying until 31 or 32 weeks, unlike her other Jersey Giant gals that I got from the same bin at Tractor Supply. She has light eyes, compared to the other two's dark/black eyes. Her behavior was always less friendly and very remote compared to Jane and Ginger. I was never certain she really ever laid regularly at all, as I barely ever witnessed her sitting a nest. Jane and Ginger both LOVE sitting a nest and even my spry and nimble efficient layers I have spied on nests. But not Maryanne -- not really ever.

But she must lay, because I have had 2 days where I got the right amount of eggs for the # of chickens I have.

Her poop looks very loose, but there are no worms, in fact it looks eggy/yolky and poop mixed together.

I'm guessing we will be down to 14 mature ladies tomorrow.

I candled my eggs in the incubator, day 11, all but one look fantastic, we removed one that looks like a quitter - there was a dark bit but no veins.

Some were quite busy moving around

circle of life

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Yep, I realized that later.

It doesn't matter, that was yesterday and today she wouldn't even drink. Prob wake up to a dead bird tomorrow :/

She isn't breathing heavy, or labored. She has no bumps or lesions or anything visibly wrong, it's like she just gave up.

 

[thistlewick]

Tilly has gone broody AGAIN

So, this time, I'm going to let her sit some eggs and see what happens in 3 weeks.

After today - she needs to graft, this will be her second day.

I'm just gonna be completely 100% hands off and only check for extra eggs laid in the nest once a day. Gonna see what happens, how she does. She's been trying so hard - this will be her fourth time going broody. I've put a bunch of fake eggs under her last night to help her graft well and start the broodyness.

My incubator is doing well - lockdown is coming up Friday and hatch in a week \o/

I will collect eggs for Tilly today and tomorrow -- probably do 6-8 and just finally leave her alone and see what happens.

I think one of my EEs from Tractor Supply is a cockerel; 5 weeks old:

Sorry for the blurryness of this last one

But yeah, Tamago -- I'm thinking it's a cockerel ( I don't need this one.

I don't need Cracker or Falcon (the two I hatched myself) either. Cracker is a f1 Olive Egger cockerel though, could be useful BUT I have Oscar, my FCBM Cockerel who I am use amply to make as many OEs as I want.

I could use Cracker to back cross over his mama and my 3 other FCBM girls to make even darker Olive eggs...

Anyway Tamago looks beautiful, Blue/Splash with red leakage.

Hard to think about getting rid of any of them but the time is coming soon!

 

[WingItRanch]

Fingers crossed for Tilly!

That EE is 100% a cockerel!

How is Maryanne doing? Did she make it?

 

[thistlewick]

Fingers crossed for Tilly!

That EE is 100% a cockerel!

How is Maryanne doing? Did she make it?

No, she passed a couple days ago, just fell asleep and died peacefully. You know it's bad when they won't even take water. I knew that it was over then.

Ginger is sitting on a nest as well all day today - but she loves sitting a nest, I don't know if she's thinking about it. I won't let her be broody.

Husband and I were discussing what to do with our Drake, as he is gonna be sexually mature soon and he isn't about to kill any of my hens with his lil corkscrew peen.

So, what we're thinking is that in 2 weeks, we're gonna cart up Hurricane (the boy runner duck) our cockerels we don't need and 1 Rooster (George) and sell them at the small animal auction nearby.

We are considering adding Sarge to the flock -- but I kind of want to sell Sarge too and just have the cockerels that are raised in the flock. They will be better cockerels. But my husband doesn't read this forum so he hasn't done all the due diligence I have and reading that I have. However he does listen to sense. So I don't know where we will come out on this one.