Motherhood

Ah, motherhood.

One of my original game hens, who by the way is about 18 months old now, has decided she is ready to hatch some eggs. I caught her laying in the nest box late Friday evening - much too late to be laying an egg. Sure enough, she huffed up like a puffer fish and made this weird noise, then peck the heck out of my hand! Little hussy!

Of course, there were no eggs in her nest, since I had collected them all earlier in the evening. So, I quickly grabbed a couple of game eggs, and quickly popped them under her before she had time to strike me a second time. She took her wings, and tucked the eggs underneath her, and then settled back down.

In the year that I've been a chicken-keeper, I've learned so much about life, and faith, by watching these amazing birds. They are fearfully & wonderfully made, just as we are. The Lord took such care and planning when he created animals, and plants, just as He did with us. Animals don't have to be told what is correct and what they should do - they just do it. It's natural to them.

I cannot wait to watch this game hen hatch out these eggs and raise her babies. It's going to be a wonderful experience!

Loss, Learning, and Love

Sunday I discovered one of my Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks was sick. She was rasping for air and could not breathe. I quarantined her and used a dropper to administer ACV water. More than 24 hours later, she did not improve, and grew worse. After spending hours researching the issue, I found she had some sort of respiratory disease. The only treatment is antibiotics.  

Let me start by saying one of the reasons I wanted to raise chickens was so that I could have meat not “infected” with pesticides or antibiotics. I know what commercial poultry farms do to their birds, and I have stopped buying commercial meat altogether, including beef. I stopped eating pork a long time ago. The only fish I buy at the store is wild-caught salmon. The rest of our fish is supplied by our fishing excursions to streams & spring-fed lakes. Our diet mainly consists of venison, salmon, crappie, trout, bluegill, and bass. We also do not eat catfish. But I digress.

I decided, when I first got chickens, that I would not treat them with anything that wasn’t 100% natural. So antibiotics were out of the question. This poor girl was so bad, and I wasn’t going to watch her suffer. Monday, when I got home from work, and I saw there was no improvement, I humanely put the chick down. I hated to do it. Killing something you are going to eat is different. I don’t like to see animals die for no reason. It was such a difficult thing for me to do. But it had to be done, and there you have it.

Wednesday I found another sick chick in the same pen. This time it was one of my Light Brahmas. Her eyes were very puffy and she had fluid coming out of her eyes and nose. She did not show any labored breathing or wheezing like the first chick. She is now in quarantine, along with another Silver Laced Wyandotte showing similar symptoms. After doing even more research, here is what I have found. It seems to be an outbreak of Infectious Coryza. It’s very common, and has no cure. Once a chicken catches it, they are a carrier for life, if they survive the illness. From what I have read, it shows its ugly face when new chickens are introduced to a flock, and one of the new chickens is a carrier. It also seems that combining chicks of different breeds and different ages can trigger it. I recently combined my SLWs and Brahmas in the outdoor pen.

Again the issue comes up: should I use antibiotics??

After much prayer, lots of research, and a long discussion with dad, here's what I came up with:

     A) Antibiotics only stay in a chicken's bloodstream for about 5 days, depending on the drug used
     B) I can save my flock by spending a little money, instead of letting them die and waste all the time and money I put into them
     C) I have to ensure these chicks do not infect the rest of my healthy flock

I chose the safest antibiotic I could find: sulfadimethoxine. Not only does it treat infectious Coryza, but it also treats Cocci, and E. coli - both of which may also be existent in my little birds. I only have to treat them for up to 5 days, so I will take it one day at a time, and let the Lord show me what to do.

The great news is that the chick showing the worst symptoms has healed a bit already. Only one side of her face is swollen now, and there is no discharge in her eyes. Praise God!

I will write another post in a few days once I see the results of the treatment. Prayers are welcome! :)

First Hatch

I just realized I never posted any pictures of my first ever hatch!!

Of course, the hatch was done by my neighbor, but the eggs were mine. J 16 out of 18 hatched, which is a fantastic rate! She gave me 2 of her chicks, so I ended up with 18 after all!!

Of those 18, only one didn’t make it. It was very small, and ended up being squished by the others. Poor baby! :(

Here are pictures of the hatch: March 23rd, 2014.

New Arrivals

(Originally Written Friday, March 14th)

So Monday Dad & I decided to build my chicken tractor. It was a lovely day outside, warm with lots of sunshine. Long story short, we spent ALL DAY working on this thing & it's still not done.

That night, dad, exhausted from the day's work (as I was myself) says to me, these chickens are beginning to be too much. We just have too many chickens, and we can't expand anymore, etc.etc. Well I completely agreed, I was tired to building things for these chickens.

Today I was talking with a coworker, and telling her how dad would kill me if I brought home any more chicks. After I got home this afternoon, dad calls me from Tractor Supply, and asks the following question:

"Would you like some Silver Laced Wyandottes? They have some chicks here."

((You could hear my jaw dropping to the floor))

I told him that OF COURSE I wanted them, but I really shouldn't. And that was the end of the conversation.

Later that afternoon, when Dad came home - Lo! And behold: He brought me 6 Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks!! Oh, I was fairly dancing with excitement! I've been wanting that breed, and now I have them! They will do very nicely with my Light Brahmas, I'm sure.

I just love being a chicken mom! :)