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The Chicken Thread.


phoebejo

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When some of mine were coughing and sneezing they were prescribed Lincospectin. I'd wanted an antibiotic that could go in their water instead of dosing each one individually twice a day with Baytril. The downside is the 28 day egg withdrawal period :rolleyes: But they were only laying one or two eggs a day so it wasn't too bad, we ate our eggs again just before Christmas and now they're back up to 6 or so a day. Anyway, Lincospectin can be bought online without a prescription here but it would seem they're closed at the moment. It's similar stuff to Tylan only cheaper. I would've gone for Tylan if this hadn't worked.

 

Norty Forrest!!!!!! If he's aggressive I suggest a date with the oven. I've got a six month old Speckled Sussex cockerel if you fancied a change :cool:

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When some of mine were coughing and sneezing they were prescribed Lincospectin. I'd wanted an antibiotic that could go in their water instead of dosing each one individually twice a day with Baytril. The downside is the 28 day egg withdrawal period rolleyes.gif But they were only laying one or two eggs a day so it wasn't too bad, we ate our eggs again just before Christmas and now they're back up to 6 or so a day. Anyway, Lincospectin can be bought online without a prescription here but it would seem they're closed at the moment. It's similar stuff to Tylan only cheaper. I would've gone for Tylan if this hadn't worked.

 

Norty Forrest!!!!!! If he's aggressive I suggest a date with the oven. I've got a six month old Speckled Sussex cockerel if you fancied a change cool.gif

 

 

It was Tylan that I used and it doesn't seem to have had much effect. The sad thing is that apparently even if they survive they remain carriers and I'm told that the only way to truly get rid of Myco is to cull the whole flock which I'm not going to do so I suppose I'm going to have to get used to this.

 

laugh.gif we could do a swap cos I can't see me eating Forrest but he's much bigger now so you could do the deed??

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I knew Mimi was special and now I realise just how special she was, because of her, three girls will be saved this weekend :wub: I saw an appeal on a chook forum from the BHWT who desperately needed homes for 500 hens in the south west this weekend. If Mimi were still alive I wouldn't have enquired, I'd always said I'd have more ex-batts after my original three had gone but losing her made me enquire about adopting a few from this weekends rescue. It's all very last minute, those girls left behind this weekend will die.

 

I then had to overcome the fact that when my hens will be at Gordano services on Sunday morning, I will be visiting my friend in Brackley collecting fertile eggs followed by a parental visit :rolleyes: I couldn't get out of it so I had to find some kind willing volunteer who would collect my hens for me and keep them overnight. I've found someone mad enough to help out so I'll get my girls on Monday :biggrin:

 

I now need to persuade several chooks to vacate my spare coop and make the big leap into sharing with the hybrids :wacko: Not easy!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did you ex-batts arrive safely Phoebejo?

 

One of my ex-batt girls has been off colour for a few days now and there was a bloody poo in the coop this morning. From looking on the ex-batt forum I think she might have coccidiosis so I'm treating all three with Coxoid and sending some poo off for analysis. I'm a bit worried about her, I hope I haven't left it too late. I thought she was just moulting and feeling a bit fed up of the cold.

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not been on here for ages so a quick update... All the girls are pottering around happily. They were NOT impressed by the snow but did like having warm mash every morning. I cut up a coldwater tank jacket and insulated the nest box for them. There were no eggs for weeks before Christmas but suddenly they started laying again - only 2 eggs at a time but there most days. One chicken had part of the tract come away while laying in autumn, and think I saw the same a couple of weeks before that but they saw it the same time and ate the evidence (yuk)..... so possibly 2 not laying but still enjoying themselves pottering around. They may lay again, they may not but does not matter either way. They have been here nearly a year now. China still stands at the gate barking at them and trying to get in while I poo pick and sort out the food - she managed to get in the other day!!! Far from killing the chickens she sniffed around and ignored them, then when she was back outside went back to the ferocious "I'm going to chase you and GET you" act at them.

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Did you ex-batts arrive safely Phoebejo?

 

One of my ex-batt girls has been off colour for a few days now and there was a bloody poo in the coop this morning. From looking on the ex-batt forum I think she might have coccidiosis so I'm treating all three with Coxoid and sending some poo off for analysis. I'm a bit worried about her, I hope I haven't left it too late. I thought she was just moulting and feeling a bit fed up of the cold.

Yes I did get them :biggrin: They've been here for two weeks now and have settled in really well. They were in much better condition than I'd expected, almost fully feathered because they've just had their second moult so they're almost two years old. They spent a week chilling out in their coop & run and have been free ranging with the rest of the gang since last Monday. They don't venture far, they hang around together under some trees just yards from their coop. They seem to enjoy just watching what everyone else is up to, they don't join in yet but they seem happy enough. I'll have to put some pics up.

 

Day 14 for some eggs I've got in the incubator. A mix of frizzle and cuckoo Silkies and some gold pencilled Hamburgs, all from my friend Luci. Day 21 is next Monday but as they're bantams I guess we might see them over the weekend :pinkie: I'm very excited about the Silkies because the cuckoos will be easy to sex and Luci has learnt that all the frizzle Silkies that hatch black with gold highlights are boys so I'll know soon enough which ones can stay and which will go. I've made the decision that we'll not grow on anything that we're not going to eat because it gets far too upsetting getting attached to them. I recently had to cull Boris the black Orp and Nymphadora, Daisys black Silkie, because they were boys that we loved too much to eat. I'm not letting us get to that stage anymore, so it ought to be easier to get rid of the Silkie boys quickly, certainly by three weeks I should know by their colouring. We've only got two Silkies, the white one Tiger Lily and a tiny blue bantam called Nelly and I've promised Daisy we'll keep at least one of the new ones we hatch to replace Nymphadora.

 

Quite a few cockerels have departed in one way or another these past couple of weeks but I am very pleased to say I found a home for one of the Polands who turned into a boy. He's gone to live with my friend Tasha who had a Poland hen on her own since her Pekin chums went off to form a breeding group so it'll be nice for them to have each other. So from the Polands Tiger Lily hatched in September, only one was a girl :rolleyes: She's one of the silver laced and we've called her Doris :wub:

 

Hows your ex-batt? I've been lucky enough not to lose many in this cold weather, only Mimi but on Saturday Lily Pie died at my friends stud farm where she'd gone to live so she could be as noisy as she liked. She'd been off colour for a few days but keeled over and died instantly while eating breakfast Saturday morning :( It would've been her birthday today, it's exactly a year since my first chicks hatched. Poppy, Robin & Egeltine have had extra hugs this morning although Egeltine did not appreciate it :laugh:

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She is great thanks Phoebejo. Running about bossing the others about and yelling at the squirrels so situation normal. I was wrong about the Cocci, she turned out to have Pasteurella but Baytril has sorted that out very quickly.

 

I can highly recommend Retford Poultry's services if anyone has a poorly hen and needs poo analysing. They tested it, identified the problem and sent out the stuff to treat it in a two-day turnaround. Brilliant service.

 

I'm sorry to hear Lily Pie has gone :( but I'm glad your ex-batts have settled quickly :flowers:

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Well done Retfords! When Mimi was ill last year a blood sample was sent to DEFRAs lab for testing. It took 3 blooming weeks! By which time Mimi had been prescribed two different antibiotics and was on the mend. Good job it wasn't life threatening :rolleyes: If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost? The blood test was £30 and I must've spent £60 on antibiotics.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Introducing some of my newest additions, two gold pencilled Hamburgs and, I think, a partridge Silkie that may or may not be frizzle too. I had frizzle Silkie & cuckoo Silkie eggs and think I must've got them muddled up because this chick certainly isn't cuckoo. Another Silkie hatched last night that was labelled frizzle so I thought it'd probably be cuckoo but it's not, it's blue :huh:

 

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wub.gif Gorgeous chicks.

 

 

Mine seem to have settled down healthwise at the moment, surprising really because they're running around again in the snow today! The only one who concerns me is a little Wyandotte hen who has a closed eye (and it's been closed for a while). I've dosed her with Tylan, tried to clear her ears with a cotton bud, all the things that you'd do, but there's no improvement. I think I'm going to take her up to the chicken farm to see if they'll inject her with Tylan or help her in some other way In herself she's bright as a button and eating well.unsure.gif

 

I lost my new Barnevelder hen, a light sussex hen (youngster), my Amber star hen and a couple of other young birds when the virus was bad but I'm glad it seems to have stopped.

 

I have a surplus of cockerels so if anyone is interested please shout. They are obviously free to good homes. I've got a Rhode Island red bantam, a gold spangled something bantam (!), a Light Sussex cross (looks like a very stunning Light Sussex) and an Amber Star/Black Orpington x. Shortly they'll be on their way to the chicken farm (for sale) although obviously if they don't sell, they'll probably be culled. Just thought I'd try here (and a few other places) first.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've just come home to find my beautiful ex-batt Tilly dead :mecry:

 

She'd shown no signs at all of being poorly. The only thing I noticed this week was that she had chosen a new roosting spot in the coop for the past few nights. Can they just keel over without warning :unsure:

 

It was such a shock to find her dead in the corner of the run :(

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