What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

I finished my beer can chicken Didn't quite manage to use up the caulking gun of liquid nails left from my kitchen work. So thinking of making a hen to go with my goofy roo.View attachment 3447366View attachment 3447368View attachment 3447370
I shoulda cropped the pictures eh! Tried to go for a mottled dwarf look ... doesn't really look like a dwarf but I had fun and kinda like him.

Incredible!!! Your somethin' else @chicks, a creative genius! I also love him and his contrast with the desert landscaping. I wish you many happy years together. Would love for him to have a gal if you still got it in you

 

[kurby22]

Ooh, it's making me wonder if your soil is leaching something neuro-toxic after very heavy rain. Or, because of the heavy rain and damp soil, mycotoxins are forming in the feed and bedding. That could explain the broad spectrum of symptoms you're experiencing and mortality rate as there's few direct treatments for mycotoxins, it's all just supportive care. I'm thinking specifically egotism, it has both gangrenous and neurological forms and the ergot is not always visible to the naked eye. Might be worth checking out the pages in Poultry DVM on ergotism specifically and mycotoxins in general? The supportive actions you took for Elinor would be perfect in 'treating' mycotoxins.
Not sure about the hard lump, could be many things. Have you injected her with anything recently? Grace gets a hard marble sized lump every time she has her boosters. If you've injected anything, it could just be her body reacting to it. Usually takes 6-8 wks for it to subside.
Keel bone deformities are common in birds who don't roost as chicks or whose mother has had certain nutritional deficiencies. Having said that, Ferdy has always slept in his bedding at night, he's never roosted on bars but his keel is perfectly formed, so go figure!

Gorgeously cute photos! Your d'anvers is so blissed out, it looks dead And Miyuku! Such a good cat, patience of a saint! Sending all my healing thoughts and prayers for Chloe, hope she recovers soon.

How is Nohope doing?

You are always such a wealth of information! There’s a very good chance you are right and it’s a mycotoxin…things get so wet on such hard and dry soil that I could easily see a microscopic mold showing up somewhere. Gonna get the Death Coop out asap. Elinor is a really big girl, and generally doesn’t roost with everyone else, but usually sleeps on top of the nest box. She’s an English Orpington and weighs at least 8 lbs if not 9. I checked on her today and she seemed fine today aside from the DOWNPOUR SO wet again. No more rain

Nohope seems a bit better than he did yesterday. He’s not gasping for air today and he ate a bunch.

 

[TropicalBabies]

16 eggs today. Joy is back to laying her beautiful green eggs. I sure missed them as they are the prettiest out of my bunch forsure.

Another exciting day without dh. Cleaned the fridge, the pantry, then scrubbed the shower in total uninterrupted peace and quiet.

All the cats moved back into the house too. Hard to find a seat around here now.

Rode up to Koke'e checked on the boys.

Chickens bonused out with the fridge cleaning. Bread and meat!

 

[Shetland lover]

I'm at work, but yesterday I found lots of pill bugs under a piece of cardboard next to the compost pile. My 4 week old bantams now know what "Chick-chick-chick" means!
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And "Blue", who has been acting like a snotty-nosed roo this past week decided that maybe my lap wasn't a bad place to be. He fluttered up on his own, preened, and took a nap.

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So cute Love the photo bomber chick!
Mine are so spoilt they won't eat pillbugs. Centipedes on the other hand...

 

[Shetland lover]

Aww sweet, love those shoulder snugglers

Here's my heavier shoulder snuggler, Romeo.
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Had a big scare with him the past few days. I still don't know if he had a seizure of some sort or was bitten by a poisonous spider. He is recovering in the bathtub now along with little Misty Violet. 1st saw him in distress, outside 5 days ago, he was hunkered down where they dustbathe, all by himself. I was walking by with a handful of fresh chickweed. Usually at the sight of that he will jump up, but he just looked up at me & did a pitiful, moaning crow sound. I swear it looked like he was just looking up at me with sad eyes saying "Mommy, Help me!"

I immediately threw the chickweed to everyone else, scooped my poor boy up & brought him in the house, trying to figure out what was ailing him. He couldn't even stand up & was trembling. I could not find any indication or symptom of illness. Eyes, nares, ears & throat perfectly clear, breathing normal, poop looking normal, no apparent injuries... he did have some mites which I addressed. I gently cleaned him & set him up alone, but then he wasn't eating or drinking, unless I held the food & water for him. For 2 days I fed & nurtured him, along with activated charcoal, unflavored pedialite & Sav a Chic probiotics, easy to digest Hentastic pellets made with vitamins, mealworms & oregano which he loved, & live mealworms I breed. He finally could stand up a bit, so I gave him a warm oatmeal & Lavender shampoo & hair dryer while on my lap, he loved it, then put him in with Misty Violet. Both of them pecked at food & drank (1st time he did so, without me having to hold it for him) then they snuggled up together & slept the night. 2 days together & then thank goodness, yesterday, Romeo stood completely up without leaning on something. This morning he let loose a sickly crow, but a crow is a crow! He has been walking gingerly in the tub, eating & drinking on his own, preening & crowing whenever my Roos outside crow. I've been fortunate to be able to work from home mostly the past few days, to check on them often & clean poo, change their snuggle towels, etc. So far so good. I still have no idea what happened to this sweet boy, but I'm grateful he is on the mend.

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Update on Misty Violet, wound is looking good!
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Wow! Misty Violet has healed beautifully! Go girl!

Romeo is so handsome He looks just like my friend's roo, Brian. I had a full-size Swedish Flower roo shoulder snuggler, he was pretty heavy and prone to launching himself off me if he saw something interesting - like the time I was carving a ham for Sunday lunch and he decided he quite fancied some of that! Needless to say, the animals were well fed that week and we had a meatless lunch

Poor Romeo! Good job he has you to notice when something is wrong and nurse him back to health. Sounds like he's well on the road to recovery.
My ex-batt, Peggy, had a stroke at 3 yrs old and it did look like a conventional seizure. She recovered well, just a drooping wing and a bit of a limp afterwards. She was an old girl by ex-batt standards - they've been deliberately line bred to live only 2-3 years - and had a few health problems. How old is Romeo? Hopefully whatever happened won't happen again and won't have any lasting effects.

 

[Shetland lover]

I finished my beer can chicken Didn't quite manage to use up the caulking gun of liquid nails left from my kitchen work. So thinking of making a hen to go with my goofy roo.View attachment 3447366View attachment 3447368View attachment 3447370
I shoulda cropped the pictures eh! Tried to go for a mottled dwarf look ... doesn't really look like a dwarf but I had fun and kinda like him.

I love your goofy roo! He's adorable. Definitely think you should make him a hen or two

 

[Shetland lover]

16 eggs today. Joy is back to laying her beautiful green eggs. I sure missed them as they are the prettiest out of my bunch forsure.

Another exciting day without dh. Cleaned the fridge, the pantry, then scrubbed the shower in total uninterrupted peace and quiet.

All the cats moved back into the house too. Hard to find a seat around here now.

Rode up to Koke'e checked on the boys.

Chickens bonused out with the fridge cleaning. Bread and meat!

I got 100% eggs yesterday! Sounds impressive until I tell you I only have 4 hens

 

[Shetland lover]

You are always such a wealth of information! There’s a very good chance you are right and it’s a mycotoxin…things get so wet on such hard and dry soil that I could easily see a microscopic mold showing up somewhere. Gonna get the Death Coop out asap. Elinor is a really big girl, and generally doesn’t roost with everyone else, but usually sleeps on top of the nest box. She’s an English Orpington and weighs at least 8 lbs if not 9. I checked on her today and she seemed fine today aside from the DOWNPOUR SO wet again. No more rain

Nohope seems a bit better than he did yesterday. He’s not gasping for air today and he ate a bunch.

Good to hear Nohope had a good day yesterday and Elinor is better.

There's a great page about mycotoxicosis and possible supportive and preventative measures here:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/mycotoxicosis

I totally empathise with your rain woes . We're clearly not on the same scale as your terrible flooding and other issues but we've had 30% more rain this month than in an average March and i swear it's all fallen on our garden! Don't get me wrong, it's much needed after last year's drought, but I'd have been grateful for it to have been evened out a bit.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I finished my beer can chicken Didn't quite manage to use up the caulking gun of liquid nails left from my kitchen work. So thinking of making a hen to go with my goofy roo.View attachment 3447366View attachment 3447368View attachment 3447370
I shoulda cropped the pictures eh! Tried to go for a mottled dwarf look ... doesn't really look like a dwarf but I had fun and kinda like him.

Love it!!!

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Wow! Misty Violet has healed beautifully! Go girl!

Romeo is so handsome He looks just like my friend's roo, Brian. I had a full-size Swedish Flower roo shoulder snuggler, he was pretty heavy and prone to launching himself off me if he saw something interesting - like the time I was carving a ham for Sunday lunch and he decided he quite fancied some of that! Needless to say, the animals were well fed that week and we had a meatless lunch

Poor Romeo! Good job he has you to notice when something is wrong and nurse him back to health. Sounds like he's well on the road to recovery.
My ex-batt, Peggy, had a stroke at 3 yrs old and it did look like a conventional seizure. She recovered well, just a drooping wing and a bit of a limp afterwards. She was an old girl by ex-batt standards - they've been deliberately line bred to live only 2-3 years - and had a few health problems. How old is Romeo? Hopefully whatever happened won't happen again and won't have any lasting effects.

It's a mystery, no one else has any symptoms. It's either a stroke, seizure or perhaps poison spider bites...maybe he pecked a nest of baby spiders, we have Black Widow, Brown Recluse & Hobo. My sweetheart was bitten by Hobo spider last April & it made him sick for a week. I don't know...just hope he will be ok.