A new journey into homesteading "pic heavy"

[Chic Rustler]

ya know I'm starting to wonder if they are even sick at all.

Today I got home and gave them some scratch. Then I noticed about 5 of them started sneezing. Then I realized every time I give this scratch (new brand) they sneeze.

I was all bummed and turned them out on the yard so they could enjoy it a bit and the sneezing stopped. It's been 2 hours and I haven't heard one of them do it since.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Well - you might have just solved your mystery! Hope that's what it is and that you can change feed and change the issue!

 

[baymule]

Those black spots are fowl pox. Mine get it. It comes from wild birds and mosquitoes. The link says to put up mosquito netting to keep them off your chickens......'effin' stupid...... like I'm going to drape my hens with skeeter nets?

I had some chickens die after eating dropped bird seed from the bird feeder. But ALL of the hens ran to the bird feeder to eat the bird seed, only 3 of them died. That's the only thing I could think of that might have caused them to die. They were kinda slow for a few days, then died.

I wouldn't worry about the fowl pox. Mine seem to break out, heal up and then they are fine. This article says they then become carriers, but what brought fowl pox here to start with? So if they are carriers, I don't care, they are ok, they still lay.

http://animals.mom.me/chicken-comb-spot-disease-2116.html

 

[Chic Rustler]

Well I'm going to stop feeding them scratch for a while and start putting their pellets in a feeder for a while and see what happens.

Fowl pox huh? That sux! I don't suppose any of this stuff would effect the edibility of the chickens, I mean we cook them right? I imagine if we treated the meat like that from the store (just assume it's contaminated with salmonella and all that) we would be fine.


Idk. For now I'm going to keep giving them the vitamins and start free ranging them more on my land. At least if they all croak they will be happy for a little while first

 

[baymule]

I eat my chickens and I'm not dead.....

 

[Chic Rustler]

I eat my chickens and I'm not dead.....

 

[Chic Rustler]

my daughter put a small scoop of laying pellets in the feeder this morning. I didn't feed them this afternoon as usual but turned them loose on the bte garden instead to scratch threw the wood chips. No sneezing. No sick acting birds.

So far so good.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Great to hear!

 

[Chic Rustler]

A litter of two makes fat babies

 

[frustratedearthmother]

They are cute....and FAT!