Australorps

In all the tough times and bad news regarding the chickens, I should take the time to write about something awesome. This is my ode to the Australorp.

The Australorp is a large black chicken that originated in Australia. They are known to be hardy, meaty, friendly, good mothers, and prolific layers. The world record laying hen (at 364 eggs in 365 days) was an Australorp. They are a great dual purpose bird because while they lay phenomenally, they still pack on enough meat to be worth butchering.

When we ordered chickens we ordered three Australorps. They are the best. With this infection sweeping through the flock, they never got more than a bit sneezy. We’ve lost three birds of three breeds to various ailments… not one Australorp. Their combs and wattles are much larger than any of other the other breeds, meaning they’ll be the first to lay. We still have some chickens whose combs haven’t even turned red let alone grown any. They’re much meatier than the others… I believe they’ll be very hardy in the cold.

Rog and I recently took a homesteading class. The man who taught the class owns a goat farm and chicken hatchery. When asked what his favorite breed of chicken was, he said Australorp. He said he would keep only Australorp if they weren’t so plain looking.

So, for anyone thinking about getting a few chickens for their backyard flock, get Australorps. Seriously. You’ll thank me.

Botulism

It was 50 degrees this morning and it was so cold! I got my first taste of what it’s going to be like to stomp down to the barn and feed the chickens in the morning when it’s cold. It’s going to be particularly terrible when the days get so short it’ll be dark, cold, and wet. The chickens are usually up and running around at 7:45 when I get out there, but this morning half of them were still sleeping. I don’t blame them.

So another horror story. (This has just been a bad few weeks!) So, remember the bird that had botulism? Well, after I dispatched her, I left her way out in the field under a bush. Frankly, it’s way too much work to continue to bury everything that dies. Dia reaaallly wanted to eat it, but we have a rule based on what other people have suggested who have chickens: dogs can eat chicken as long as it doesn’t look like a chicken. No drawing correlations between tasty food and hens in the field. Anyway, so I put her in the backyard and went to work. I got home and THE GATE WAS OPEN. She was in the backyard, but as we have learned by now, when she lets herself out she explores and goes back in before we get home. I hadn’t tied the gate shut because after a few weeks of tying the gate she stopped trying to open it. So I walk down in the field to where I left the chicken and… all that’s there is the head. Sans flesh.

I am horrified.

I continue to walk around in the area and find the rest of the bird. (Thank God.) I roll her over and inspect her and she’s all in one piece. You know, except for the head. No bite marks. This makes me pretty sure it wasn’t Dia. Dia’s a bit of a pig when it comes to eating animals in the field… freshly caught or rotting. I know, it’s gross. I really wish things would stop dying in the field.

So I go back up to the house and start thinking about it. I wonder if something that ate an animal that had botulism could get sick? I internet research. Yes… yes they can.

Fortunately, dogs and cats are apparently very resistant to botulism. Probably an evolutionary thing, because birds seem to get it easily and eating dead birds is tasty for wild predators. All the same, dogs can get it and apparently always get it from eating something dead. Symptoms (weakness and paralysis of legs) are supposed to show up in 12 – 48 hours. We spent a worrisome 48 hours, and now it appears we are out of the woods. Dia is just fine.

I’m not convinced at all Dia was the one that ate the bird’s head. But it is odd that something found it in the 4 hours I was at work. In the middle of the day. It makes me wonder what goes on in that field when we’re not there. I know we have lots and lots of snakes out there. The snakes are pretty bold too… one of them just showed up to a neighbor’s bonfire in the middle of the night… just slithered on into the middle of the party. We also have lots of mice and therefore, lots of owls and hawks. We also have coyotes, but I can’t imagine a coyote would have showed up in the middle of the day. Also a handful of feral cats. Still, I don’t know if a cat could have dragged the bird as far as it went.

It’s a mystery.

A sad day on the farm

One of the large, non-sick chickens has been acting drunk. She started stumbling around yesterday, but was still able to walk. This morning, I found her draped over the roosting pallet like she had literally passed out. I picked her up and she was unable to hold her head up. I tried to get her to drink but she couldn't seem to swallow. I put her in a sunny spot in the grass and went to work, believing she would be dead by lunch.

I came home at lunch and she was not dead. She hadn't moved at all, but was still breathing. I picked her up and she had no control of her muscles. Her head flopped around. I tried again to get her to drink by dunking her head in the waterer. Still wouldn't swallow. She was also really really hot. I carried her around and thought about it. She was completely unable to move except for her eyelids. I decided it would be the kindest thing to end her suffering before she died of dehydration. It was the first time I'd killed one of them myself without help from Roger. I walked out to the back of the field with her and sat down with her. I sat beside her for a long time before I got up the nerve... I really wanted to just leave her and let her die... but she was counting on me to put my own squeamishness aside and help her. I'll spare you the details, but I did the right thing and she's gone.

I've done a lot of reading trying to figure out what it was. I believe it was botulism from some moldy corn from the garden I fed them. She must have been a hog and eaten way more than the rest of them. A link to the Merck Vet Manual and botulism symptoms is here:

http://merckveterinarymanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/205400.htm

Interestingly, before it was called botulism it was called limp-neck. Which was definitely the predominant symptom she had.

Dia learns 'Stay'

Infectious Coryza

We have a diagnosis for the chickens. I am 100% positive we know what the 'cold' is. It's called Infectious Coryza. In mild forms it causes some sneezing and in severe forms it causes massive sinus and eyelid swelling. Luckily, in the large birds, only Two-Face got hit severely. Now the babies have it and 3 of the 10 are on the 'severe' boat. Bad news is, Coryza causes a drop in egg production and beginning of laying, so that's most likely why we still don't have eggs. The good news is that it's only transmitted from chicken to chicken, so wild birds, humans, and other animals are unaffected, and it isn't transmitted from chicken to egg.

Good news: Two-Face's eye is opening! I never thought it would happen! I actually saw her, and then thought maybe it was another bird getting sicker and not her getting better because it was such a big difference. I ran around and checked all the other birds that looked like her just to be sure.

Go little immune systems, go!

Will it survive?

Ever see David Letterman's segment 'will it float?'... they take strange, random objects and toss them in water and see if they float. There's also a YouTube spinoff of this called 'will it blend?', where they take random objects and put them in an industrial blender.

Well, here, we play a game called 'will it survive?' Not that we intentionally put anything in harms way, but often there are those moments when something goes wrong. For instance...

An infection sets in a creates a bulb the size of a tumor on a chickens face that does not respond to antibiotics. Will it survive? (yes... she's strange looking, but fine.)

A chicken runs away and spends 48 hours living in the woods with coyotes. Will it survive? (she sure did!)

A chicken is caught and squashed by the dog but is rescued without outward trauma. Will it survive? (no... it didn't.)

A baby chicken is accidentally doused right in the face with organic pesticide. Will it survive? (yup!)

The 'cold' spreads to the baby chickens and 3 of the 10 have it so bad their eyes are crusted shut and can't see at all. Will they survive? (unknown.)

I've been flushing the crusted eyes with warm water and wiping them and trying to get them open enough so they can see... I worry that if they can't see they'll just lay around and get dehydrated. I also gave the really bad ones a tiny tiny shot of tetracycline.

Still no eggs. Three of the larger flock have all the signs of being ready to lay. Their faces are red, their combs are large... just no eggs. Not that I don't go out there and look three times a day.

IDSnews.com | Assembly Hall stages disaster drill

This is totally unrelated to the Gnome, but it was how I spent the day yesterday and had a great time. I played the hostage. Thanks to the SWAT team, I was rescued unharmed! Although SWAT apparently doesn't take any chances and treats the hostage as a 'bad guy' until all bad guys are detained.

IDSnews.com | Assembly Hall stages disaster drill

Ugh, respiratory virus

The older birds have finally transmitted their virus to the baby birds. I can't remember if I've explained this situation before... basically, unlike humans, chickens will usually carry their respiratory viruses (colds) with them all their lives even after they've recovered. So they are always contagious. We knew the baby birds would get it eventually. We didn't lose any when it went through the original flock, so we're hoping this will be the same situation.

The baby birds have snotty eyes that they keep itching on their necks, so then their neck feathers are snotty. It's pretty gross.

Two Face's swelling has gone down A LOT, but we don't think she'll ever go back to normal. Instead of it being a huge red tumor on the side of her face it's a flat white blob. Like when someone loses a ton of weight and their skin didn't shrink? Like that. She must have gotten something stuck in the cavity because this morning it was filled with goo and I worked a really gross glob of what looked like cottage cheese out of the cavity. Now, I have held the still warm heart of a chicken in my hand and not even blinked, but this was gag inducing. So I've gone back to the routine of filling the cavity with polysporin.

Lord, I do not need more than one bird with only one eye. Let this virus run through the babies quickly and without facial tumors.

I read somewhere that chickens like watermelon and it's good for them when it's hot. I had a half watermelon in the fridge that we never ate and it started to get too ripe, so I just tossed it in the fence. This morning there is nothing but rind left, and they're picking the rind apart bit by bit.

Preserving

Onions in stockings, dried tomatoes, dried herbs, and a Dia guarding the path.

Roger makes a path, large produce prizes

Roger has mowed us a path back to the end of the property. He then mowed a large area under a tree and dug a fire pit. We have chairs and tiki torches out there now. It's the best place in all of Indiana to sit, I swear.




We are drying tomatoes from the garden, tiny apples from the neighbor's trees, and chili's to make crushed pepper.



We also have some really large produce! I took pictures of these... a huge pink tomato and chili and jalepeno peppers.

Woodchucks

We have gone an entire day without catching a woodchuck, so we MAY have gotten them all. But we're not convinced yet. A brief scan of the internet says that woodchuck litters range from 2-9 babies. Nine? NINE?? We shall see.

Why don't we have eggs yet? It is now week 18, and according to my calculations based on our breeds and other people's experiences, we should at least have some tiny eggs by now. I've noticed more urgent digging in the barn lately as well. So I set up an experiment.

I set the live trap next to a hole in the chicken coop. (We've done this many times before without success using our previously successful baits: broccoli and lettuce) I baited the trap with an egg.

WE HAVE CAUGHT TWO WOODCHUCKS IN TWO DAYS. Both times the egg was devoured.

There you have it.

These are probably the babies of the woodchucks we caught in March as they are smaller and have really small tails. The theory goes that they were babies and were not doing much digging and just hanging out under the barn and coming out to eat grass and such. But now they are big and digging and at the very least, eating chicken feed, and at the worst, EATING MY EGGS.

How many woodchuck babies are in a litter? I will google this and report later.

Dustbathing Chickens

Why do chickens dustbath? They seem to do it during the hottest parts of the day, so part of it might be to stay cool. I've also heard that it suffocates the mites and lice, so they do it to relieve itching. Here's videos of both adults and babies bathing.

Garden

We've had a good onion harvest this season. Also, we introduced the baby chicks into the barn. We put up a chicken wire fence across the lean-to and are keeping the chicks on the back wall with their own food and water. We're doing this in hope that everyone will get introduced and not fight when we take down the fence.

Roger is working on mowing a path to the back end of the property. See the tiny tiny white dot in the picture? That's Roger.