─ ─ ─ ─ ─ Hello, Welcome to my channel! Here I share fun facts about chickens, tips for poultry keeping, and remedies that have worked to help cure sick chickens. I currently have not only chickens, but also parrots and a bearded dragon . I am also the author of the book "Clucks & Chaos ", available on Amazon .
I have taken in rescue birds in the past, which led me to experiencing many different diseases, issues, illnesses, and injuries. By sharing what I've learned, I hope to help others learn about poultry keeping too!
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE, Comment on videos, and SHARE the Channel!
Oh this was so long ago now, but if I remember correctly I used Baytril. It is my top choice usually because it treats gram negative and gram positive bacteria and is useful for many things. A prescription is required...but if you do enough digging on the internet, you can still find it. I order the generic brand now. If you can't find it send me an email... sarafharvey@gmail.com.
I'm in the middle of it now! I love your story. You are very similar to myself in many ways as far as chickens, rescuing, and caring. I see myself in your words, and it's refreshing to know I'm not too crazy! 🤣
Thank you for the nice comments. Sales were fantastic at first but not so great now. There are 30 million books on Amazon, and a new one published about every 5 minutes. So showing up on searches is a problem. When I posted this video announcing my book, I LOST subscribers... not exactly what I was expecting. Proceeds go towards my animal feed costs, toys for the rescued parrots, etc. If you could share the book, and write an Amazon review I would appreciate it so much. I will be working on a second book about chicken keeping and chicken health. I'm glad you enjoyed this one so far. Thanks again!
The best dewormer on the market is valbazen, because it pretty much kills every type of worm. Second best is Safeguard. The rest of the dewormers are only effective for certain types of worms.
Thank you for the information. Started using it and was worried about over doing it. Bottle said 1 ounce per gallon. Their laying again and thinking of doing what you said, 1/2 teaspoon per gallon twice a week for maintenance
Thank you❤ the vet thinks one of my chicken have marek disease first he said she have a infection to her uterus she never give eggs she have 9 months, her belly is like water belly🥺 I want to save her i love my chickens she eat , drinks and poop and walk and run , she want to live . I will try what you said tanks 🫶🐓
Thank you ❤my neighbor have a fantastic dog a border collie he is very protective whit the chickens and we have a friend he have the same kind of dog and for sure those dogs do a great job they love protecting and they stay all time whit the chickens until they go sleep in the coop🐓🐔
I prefer bantam cochin, or silkies. Some people keep tiny chickens like seramas indoors, but if they're anything like my bantam game birds...they can fly well, which can make being indoors a challenge. Silkies and cochins with their stubby wings and short legs can't fly well at all.
It appears TiaGard is geberic for Denagard, correct? I am in Michigan and we have had crazy weather with lots of rain instead of the usual snow thus December. I'm not complaining for me as I like a white Christmas but get really sick of dealing with winters around here. This is also my first winter having chickens so it's all new to me. I used Duramycin upon duscovering respiratory signs (rattled breathing & sneezing) based on the advice of an employee at TSC who raised, showed and bred chickens for 30 years - she apparently developed a new color of a breed and is recognized in the UK for that as well. But after discovering and watching a bunch of your videos tonight, I'm thinking that the reason I lost 4 chickens and am still seeing some yo-yo symptoms (seem fine one day & struggling the next few days) is perhaps the antibiotics didn't work well enough? Or is it because it's a viral illness so antibiotics won't help? I commented/replied on another video tonight explaining the details but basically, it all started with rattling in the breathing of my two Black Diamond chickens and some sneezing on December 18th. I called TSC and got the Duramycin and started on the 19th. On the night of the 20th, I went out to find 2 chickens dead that I had not seen/heard symptoms in yet but I hosted a Christmas party on the 20th so perhaps I may have missed something in my distracted/hurried state at that time. I have never seen any discharge whatsoever from any of my 18 adult chickens, no eye bubbling, no swelling anywhere that I can tell. There has been some diarrhea. The 7th day of Duramycin was Dec 25th and although my Black Diamond hen and rooster both seemed 80-90% better on December 24th, my rooster didn't come out of the coop and was lethargic on the afternoon of the 25th and died just before sunset. I also lost our Light Brahma rooster suddenly on the afternoon of the 22nd. Three of my six Americaunas developed the breathing issues and have been struggling to get better. For a good 5-6 days, I wasn't sure our gray girl "Owl" was going to make it. She finally has been much better the last 3 days but one of the other three Americaunas that was doing better has gotten a bit worse in the last 2 days. It's very up and down with them. I started putting apple cider vinegar in their warer 5 days ago, started adding garlic to the water 2 days ago, just bought and added Rooster Booster Poultry Cell to their water today (instead of the apple cider vinegar and garlic) and started them on a few drops each (all of the chickens regardless of symptoms/status) of colloidal silver on a piece of bread. So far, they aren't happy about the Poultry Cell as they apparently don't like the taste. I believe I mixed according to treatment directions on the bottle and added 15ml to 2 liters of water. Perhaps it's too strong but for now, it's going to be their only choice of water. Three days ago, one of my two Barred Rocks was bright and chipper but yesterday she was quiet and not moving a lot. Today she seemed much better (which was before adding the Poultry Cell and colloidal silver). When I went out this afternoon though, a Light Brahma hen was sticking close to the coop and retired early compared to usual. She did eat some feed & a few pieces of bread & a few pieces of diced ham this afternoon but didn't want a few diced ham pieces I offered her while in the coop (that she went crazy over earlier in the day). The 2 LB hens had so far never shown any issues and seemed to be some of the more resilient chickens in the flock. During all of this, egg production dropped from 8-11 eggs per day to 0 for about a week and for the last 5 days, I have gotten 2-1-2-2-1. Unfortunately, I didn't know to get a necropsy and the rooster that died on Christmas wasn't preserved properly to do so and swabs would probably be unreliable now that I used Duramycin, correct? Would you suspect Microplsma or Infectious Bronchitis or something else? Would you advise that I start Denagard or Tiagard asap? Have you used Tiagard or aouod tiu be comfortable with that as a more cost effective option to Denagard? Thank you for creating such helpful content and for being so generous with your time to assist us newbies who are trying to figure things out in stressful times! 🙏💖
I'm sorry you are having these issues. I have not used tiagard, but it COULD BE similar to Denagard. I always have to order Denagard online as I can't find it locally. I order from Twin City Poultry Supply or Valley Vet. According to the owner of twin city Poultry Supply, Denagard is THE BEST product for respiratory. I have never had any positive results when using Duramycin. I find it to be useless. Yes the Poultry cell amount is too strong. It's a great product, but I only use about 4 to 5 drops per gallon in their water. I agree you need to have a necropsy done. You're right though, if the body is frozen the tests might not be accurate. It is cheaper to send out yourself versus having a vet send it. I'm from Wisconsin so I have a contact at UW Madison for this. I am unsure of where you would send a chicken in Michigan. I have mycoplasma in my flock. I usually see bubbles in their eyes when they are symptomatic. Over the years it sometimes reoccurs in the spring and fall when the temperatures change and their immune systems are down. But the Denagard has a preventative dose... so when I give that, it stops it from happening usually. I'm sorry I cannot pin point what ailment your flock has, but I don't like making guesses. Keep in mind also that any time a chicken has one issue, it lowers their immune system, and then you could be actually dealing with multiple issues. I would also rule out any harmful fumes in the coop like cedar , mold spores, or fungus causing the sneezing.
She lived another 2 years with no issues. She died during winter due to an unrelated infection, and it was single digit weather at the time. I had brought her inside but she didn't survive. She was around 5 or 6 years old.
Only certain products can be used at the same time. There is a product available online from All Bird Products that is premixed that I have used though. It's called Tri S. However, they label it as not to be used in chickens if you eat the birds later.
We have a cross beaked Salmon Faverolles hen. She's a bit of a runt, but her personality (chickenality) is larger than life! She has tons of energy and seems to be getting along fine, despite being smaller than her sisters. The person that I got her from was feeding her fermented crumble and I think she might have been having a hard time with it sticking to her beak rather than "going down the hatch." We decided to give her a dry grind crumble from our local feed mill fortified with a little extra cracked corn. She devours it, but spends more time at the feeder than the others in order to get enough to fill her crop. She makes a bit of a mess, but gets the job done. Her name is Gracie and she is one of our "Favorite Faverolles" and has just stolen our hearts!
Good info ! Thank you. I take care of all my animals holistically. This is right up my alley. I dewormed my bird and she came back to life. She has a Will to live. So I will treat her with the herbal remedies now.😊
Thank you for sharing your beautiful examples of hybrids. There is a lot of controversy about hybridization amongst the "purists." Genetically, they are stronger, but for some, they lose the initial purpose of the F1 generation (meat or egg production.) We were quite poor in my youth, and my grandfather raised large dual-purpose birds (Rocks, Orpingtons, etc.) commercially. The broody hens were of no use to him because they stopped laying, so he gave them to us. We had a large, eclectic flock of broody hens, so never had to buy chicks, and never worry about genetic regression due to inbreeding. As a child, like you, I loved to see what we would get every time a hen hatched a clutch.
You gotta toss them out like scratch. Or come out of the house with them on a flat plate. I have a similar reaction any time I feed something new in deep containers. Hell I broke the watering bowl one day and tried to give them water in a regular bowl. Took a while to figure it out. But if I come out with food on a flat surface, they all come running. Every time.
Awesome video. I’ve been working all week with a red leghorn that has the pendulum crop. I started a week ago massaging the crop every two hours. I’ve always used apple cider vinegar in my girls’ water, but have now added the probiotics and that vitamin & mineral mix that you mentioned here. The crop at first had lots of solid and firmness to it. After days of massaging, I have it down to a small water balloon. I now massage it at least four times a day. I’ve been told that the pendulum crop is terminal and I should cull her. No way. She’s very active, lays eggs every day, and does all the things the other girls do. Why would I do that? Anyhow, I haven’t tried the bra as yet, but I will massage it every day if that’s what saves my girl. Thanks again!!
Ok, i have used sure guard and my chickens r losing weight, wat do i do, i dont live close to a vet so i cant find out which worm it is, im desperate to get rid of these worms
I have an Easter Egger crossbeak, have had her just over 2 wks now. I went to the place I get my chickeys, was picking up 1 Welsummer (as the Mottled Houdans that I had reserved didn't hatch so that was a replacement). I asked if they had any chicks that ppl hadn't picked up and they said a cross beak. She was the same age as my original 3 chicks I got there, 3 wks old. She was in a brooder with 5 or 6 other Easter Eggers her age. She was very lightweight, skin and bones but she was feisty and so sweet. She is a tad worse than this pretty roo. So I said I would take her. I couldn't bare to think about taking her and her dying but also couldn't bare to leave her there knowing no one was helping her get food and she cannot or hasn't figured out how to, eat dry food. She is getting bigger, though she is smaller than the others her age. I wet her food. I add the wet chick crumble to the kitty gravies, kitty lickable treats, applesauce and various baby foods. I check her crop and she definitely gets it full now and she does finally get content but it takes her a while to eat. I was just thinking today that she may not be able to stay outside in the winters bc her food would freeze up. And she makes such a mess of herself and everything around her that she would be wet and cold. But it's ok. I have an indoor disabled Olive Egger that just turned 2! She has her own large area and I take her outside on nice days, until its nice day and night, then she has a little coop she stays in for the summer but I let her out to hang out with me during the day (she does NOT like being around other chickens). I will make the crossbeak an area of her own if needed! It breaks my heart though, that she will never be able to scratch and peck, I mean she does peck at things and tries so hard, but she won't ever be able to eat anything that way. Im planning on trying to grind up scratch when she's older to give to her mixed in the soft foods as a treat daily like the other chickens will get. I hope she will do ok and live a happy life!
How far do you insert the needle? I watched so many videos yesterday. I had a hen I thought was eggbound but after three days inside getting the spa treatment, she did not lay. I researched and found she might have water belly. Had husband run out and grab supplies yesterday. Last night brought her in and cleaned everything. Got set up and used an 18 g with syringe from TSC. Drained one cup. The needle I believe was too far in but I did not put it that far in. My husband was doing the draining because I was holding her and he did not want to stick her. But I think while he was draining and removing the tube part to get rid of yellow stuff, he might have pushed the needle all the way in replacing the syringe portion. We did not want to stick her over and over again. After one cup she still had plenty in there but I read don't drain all at once that it could send her into shock. I did this on the right back side about 1/2 inch from the middle of her behind under vent portion and then to the right. I read left side has all the organs. After she was done she seemed fine. Made her scrambled eggs with vitamins, blueberries, and some vitamin water. Came back into the room and she was coughing and fluid coming from her nose. Then all of a sudden the yellow stuff began pouring through her mouth. Then she convulsed around trying to breath. Then she died. I tried to get the fluid out of her lungs and give her mouth to mouth but she was gone. She drowned in that yellow fluid and I don't know why. Someone said the needle went in too far and hit an airsac but then I read where the organs are on the left. Is there an airsac on the right in that area? If so, then I killed my hen. I need to know if there are air sacs on the right so if I have to ever do this again, we do it right. I am so sad I lost my little Hobble. She was 2 days old and had a limp and 3 vets told me it was a slipped tendon and to cull her. No way. I drove 2 hours oneway to an exotic bird vet who said she had a sprain. Got some Metacam and she was good after a few days. I do have to wonder if that was the start of her issues because she was laying far before the others. Too young. Her first egg was so big. She ended up with prolapse that day. When she turned a year, she was the smallest of all. I could put my hands around her entire body wings and all and pick her up. Her sisters, nope. They were very large RIR's. Since the big egg she had prolapsed a few times. Now the water belly and she is gone. She was shy of her 3rd birthday. I am just so sad because I remember that little tiny 2 day old life in my hands. Cupped in the back seat of the truck keeping her warm and next to my heart as we drove to the exoctic bird vet. I rememeber the day I got her. So little sweet and innocent. RIP my sweet Hobble.
I am very sorry for your loss. When draining a hen, yellow color fluid is egg material. It is the worst color to find, even worse than Grey or green. Atleast with infection green or Grey shows...you can try antibiotics. Her oviduct was not working right and that is very difficult to fix. I lost one to it a couple of years ago too. No you should not need to insert the needle that far. But for the egg materials to be coming out her other orifices, it meant her body was very full of it. I do not think she was curable. I am very sorry.
I just realized that one of my polish chicks (9 weeks old) has a cross beak. It seems fine as baby chicks. Is that possible that the cross beak only shows after a certain age?
They need special care and mash, wet helps. If they are underweight and you have harsh winters you may have to bring them in during cold snaps. My 2 died when the weather dropped over 20 degrees one night.
