Devonviolet Acres

Baymule · Mar 9, 2015

Flash flood warnings! Be careful.

Devonviolet · Mar 19, 2015

It's been a while since I posted. We have been busy with buckets of rain, which led to lots of mud, and now I picked up a bad cold. UGH!

Following is something I posted on Backyard Chickens, but didn't get a response, so am hoping someone here can guide me . . .

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At 2:00 AM, last night, I was awakened from a dream, about the Guinea Keets making a loud peeping noise. It turned out one of the Keets WAS making a loud peeping noise!

I tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but it just kept up the ruckus. So, I got up and looked in the spare room, where they were all laying in clusters, like they do when they are resting. The noisy one stopped when I opened the door. But, then it started up again. I couldn't tell which one it was, so I walked in the room, knowing they would get up and move away from me, and hoping the noisy one would stop.

When they all started moving, I noticed that one of the Keets was limping - favoring it's left foot/leg. So, I cornered it and picked it up, to get a closer look. Of course, it started peeping loudly, but stopped after a minute. So, I examined its feet, and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. There was no redness, swelling or abrasions. The toes all seemed to bend the same as the right foot, and it didn't seem to hurt, as it didn't squawk when I was examining it.

I read one post, here on BYC, about a lame hen, and several of you discussed the possibility of Mareks. I'm not positive if the vaccine was given to our birds. But, they did come from Ideal Poultry, to our local Farm Store, in Sulphur Springs, TX. They shipped 250 birds the day we got ours, so I'm thinking they may have vaccinated them. But, then maybe not.

I also saw the suggestion to put the bird, with the sore foot, in a separate cage, for rest. We have another dog crate, that we could put the Keet in. However, it is in the barn, which we haven't run electric to yet, so we don't have any lights out there yet, and it is pitch dark. I'm not going out there in my nightgown! So, in the morning, if it is still limping, we will get the crate and put the Keet in it, to see if that helps.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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This morning, I checked on the limping Keet, and sure enough, it is stil limping. I checked its feet, legs and hips, and both were the same, with no swelling, redness or swelling. Once I held the Keet on its back, it quieted down. When I palpated its legs, feet and hips, it didn't seem to have any pain.

So we got the crate, some fresh wood chips, food and water, and put the Keet in the crate. It wasn't happy, and was trying to get through the spaces between the wire. But, it's body was too big. So, we left the room, to allow it to calm down.

I would really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions y'all might have.

Devonviolet · Mar 19, 2015

To catch Y'ALL up, here are a couple more posts I made on BYC.
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Posted one week ago:
Our 8 Buff Orpington, 2 Cornish X chicks, and 7 French Guinea Keets are growing up fast! They were 2 weeks old on Tuesday.

Yesterday I had to separate the Cornish X from the rest and each other, because they were all picking at the red places showing under the skin, back by the tail feathers and above the wings.

After doing some research, I went out and bought some BlueKote Lotion, to put on the sores. I read that the purple color didn't look like a sore, so chicks wouldn't peck. Some said they pecked anyway, so I put the BlueKote on a cotton pad (after using a Q-Tip to apply to the sores) To spread the BlueKote over all the top feathers, so I didn't have spots of color. Over night, I'm keeping them together in a wire dog crate, in the middle if the brooding area, so they still get warmth from the heat lamp.

The meat birds are getting big fast! They are easily double size and weight of the others. I am taking food away 12 hours a day to prevent heart attack or broken legs later.

The others are growing fast too, and putting on feathers fast. They spend the day running fast and flapping their wings. Several have flown to the top of the dog crate, and when I had the 2nd Cornish X in a plastic box, several kept flying into the open box.

I was just ready to go to bed tonight and as I was leaving the spare BR room where we have the birds, one of the Keets tried to fly over the top of cardboard circle we have for the broader rung. So, I got DH to help me use a roll of heavy Brown contractor's paper (I'm guessing it is 35" wide), to increase the height of the walls, SO they can't get out and die of dehydration overnight!

So, now we don't have to worry about them flying out of the ring over night, and hopefully they won't peck each other, and I can put thethem back with the others tomorrow
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Posted last night:
Our chicks and Guinea Keets are now 3 weeks old. We kept the Cornish X in the dog crate until the sores healed and let them out with the other birds. Within a day, they were being picked on again. So we set them up in the crate and are just leaving them there.

All the chicks and Keets seemed to be testing their wings, and flying and/or running close to the ground. Then the Keets began to fly up on top of the dog crate, which is the same height as the cardboard brooding ring. Eventually, we started seeing a few chicks up there too. It was at that point we decided to put the 35" contractor's paper extension on the brooding ring.

Hens and Roos · Mar 19, 2015

Not sure about your limping Keet- at this point I would keep an eye on it.

You will probably want to keep the Cornish X's separated from the others like you are going forward, as they are slower at getting around and seem to get picked on(easier target).

yep you will now have the chicks and keets testing their wings....once we hit that stage we end up housing in an area with a cover(dog crate or kennel with cover)

Enjoy your group!

Devonviolet · Mar 19, 2015

Hens and Roos said:
Not sure about your limping Keet- at this point I would keep an eye on it.

You will probably want to keep the Cornish X's separated from the others like you are going forward, as they are slower at getting around and seem to get picked on(easier target).

yep you will now have the chicks and keets testing their wings....once we hit that stage we end up housing in an area with a cover(dog crate or kennel with cover)

Enjoy your group!

Thanks Hens and Roos! I'm not sure if it is going to help. But for the time being, we will leave the lame meet in the dog crate. It sure doesn't like it, and is squawking it's head off! But at least it is sitting still, and if it IS injured it will be able to rest and heal.

We have definitely had a steep learning curve! In the future, if we brood keets, or chicks, we will build a modular unit, of panels (with chicken wire AND a top), that we can screw together, for east assembly and storage.

The other thing we will do differently, is to have isolation cages with hinged tops, for easier access!

Devonviolet · Mar 19, 2015

Oh, BTW. Here is the revised brooding space.

Southern by choice · Mar 19, 2015

in your house?

Hens and Roos · Mar 19, 2015

I'm guessing you gave them a room in the house! We bought used dog kennel panels off CL here and that is what we can set up and take down as needed. We always need more space in the spring and summer as the kids are growing out birds for fair and then in the fall we cut back on the numbers.

Devonviolet · Mar 19, 2015

Southern by choice said:
in your house?

I KNOW! We felt this was our best option, since We don't have much for a barn. By keeping the baby's in the house, we can keep them warm, without running the heat lamp 24/7 - especially now that their heat requirements are going down. Right now the heat lamp is off and the room temp is 73 degrees. Outside it is in the 50's which is too cold, So would require the headlamp to still be on, adding to the cost.