Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[polskichickens]

I had two amazing Polish Chickens, 14 weeks old, Hammy and Lulu, they came from a large muddy garden with around 30 ducks and chickens and a few dogs, I bought them purely as pets, feed them chick crumb and then layers pellets, oyster shell, fresh water every day, cleaned out thoroughly every three days, small woodshavings and straw in nest box, very sadly Hammy died a week ago, such a good looking boy, vet said must have just been heart attack or stroke, I managed to obtain Hammy's brother from the lady I got him from and so now have two polish, a white girl

and a white crested boy (Hammy the second).

 

I feed them layer pellets, fill up the feeder and they take what they want, they also have spinach leaves and tomatoe and grapes, I chop it up really small and feed them as I'm worried about choking!

They currently have a small coop

 

but I want to buy this

As you can see the actual aviary will be a quarter bigger as I'm having an extra section added in and the two middle sections will be roofed and the a and b panels will be boarded up to offer the chickens somewhere to go no matter what the weather and a canvas cover to use when necessary for the end panel roof.

 

They come into my house every other night, I go and get them when they are sleepy around eight in the evening, they sit on my lap on their blanket and usually cuddle up to me and go to sleep.

 

They never get let out into the garden, this is why I'm buying them this large aviary (21ft x 4ft x 6ft high), the little girl spent the first two weeks of her life running around half an acre of garden, the new Hammy spent all his life (15 weeks) running around the same garden until I got him last week. I'm worried now he may not be as happy as he used to be, although now he gets personal attention (which he never had) nice food and a clean coop and coming into the house every two days.

 

His left eye was stuck shut when I got him and so I took him to the vet and I now apply two drops per day of fusisomething (active ingredient is fusic acid). He sometimes has his eye open during the day, sometimes not and I've already finished the 5 day course (and exceeded by two days) I'm worried it might not be getting better, but it was stuck tight before and now he sometimes has it open first thing in the morning.

 

They have not had any vacinations (although I will be starting the flubevent worming stuff but decided to wait for his eye to heal a bit first.

 

Am I doing anything wrong?

 

Many many thanks in advance.

[Lewis]

All looks good to me!

 

Maybe take him back to the vet - Redwing posted about eyedrops from Boots being good, hope she'll pop along soon

 

Just nit picking. Straw can sometimes harbour mites so you could use shavings in the nestbox.

You seem to know they'll be a bit more fragile in the cold with getting the covered run, so thats sorted

[Egluntyne]

The eye drops from Boots are **Not licensed for use in Poultry in the UK.

 

If the eye seems no better, I would take him back to the vet.

 

I would hesitate to continue giving the prescribed medication beyond the stated number of days.

[Daphne]

Welcome!

 

Your polands look lovely - you have 2 quite unusual colours there

 

You are looking after them just fine. Ideally you would have been feeding them growers pellets at 14 weeks not layers, but this is not the end of the world and very unlikely to be anything to do with your cockeral dying. As Lewis says, maybe change from straw when you get to the end of the bale to something like aubiose. I would keep treats to a minimum and only feed late afternoon, they need the goodness from their pellets to build up strong bodies. Green veg are probably the best 'treat'. Your housing set up is fine as they are small birds. They will take a while to adapt from free-ranging, but free-ranging for polands can be dangerous as they don't always see predators. The 3 most important things are to provide cover from wind, cold and particularly rain (they have thin skulls); to give them narrow lipped drinkers so they keep their crests dry and to check their crests/bodies for lice and mites regularly - they hide in the crests. Personally, I would not have bought a bird with any visible health problem - in the future I would thoroughly check the stock before handing over the money. Assuming you are a novice keeper, and given the bird has a crest which makes getting at the eye slightly more difficult than in non-crested breeds I would take the bird back to the vet to see what they suggest next; and I might ask them if they thought regular bathing of the eye would help between treatments. As you say, I wouldn't start worming till this problem has been cleared up. Just be aware that you will be waking the birds up to bring them indoors, which maybe isn't the best idea. I know its nice to spend time with them, perhaps do this earlier in the day? Good luck with your birds, I hope you are able to enjoy them even more soon!

[Plum]

They sound lovely and hope the eye clears up, I'd get it checked by the vet again as well or at least ring the vet.

 

You could provide a dustbath in the new run. It's lovely and big so there would be plenty of room and perhaps create different areas in the run. Putting logs to climb over and perch on, perhaps a screen so they have to walk round it, some twigs or leaves on another bit of the run and that sort of thing. A chair for you to sit on would double as perch.

[polskichickens]

Thank you so much for your replies, the loss of Hammy really hit me bad, I am now so worried about them all the time, I want to post these pictures of Lulu as she has something strange with her skin on both sides of her head and maybe it's normal but better safe than sorry.

 

 

and here

 

 

Thank you so much. Please also tell me, where can I buy growers pellets as opposed to layer pellets? One poultry farm near me sells a feed that actually come in "dusty form" instead of pellets. Should I put grit in there coop?

[polskichickens]

...also, I know this question keeps coming up, and I have read through previous posts but, bearing in mind my Chickens are only 16 weeks and are Polish, will they be ok in these freezing temperatures or should I provide some form of heat?

 

Again, Many thanks.

 

And please, someone tell me about the skin condition as seen in the photos above.

[Daphne]

I'm sorry but I can't see well enough to know whats wrong. I suppose we aren't looking at her earlobes which will be a sort of grubby white at this time of year, its hard to see from the angle? Its not normal to have bare patches on the skin so its possible one bird is pulling feathers out (seems unlikely to me, not the usual place this happens), or you have something called feather depluming mite (which isn't that common) or ?? If you are going back to the vet get him/her to have a look.

 

Re the food, normally you feed chick crumb up to 6-8 weeks, growers from then till 18 weeks or POL (some people feed growers till the bird lays its first egg - this can be 9 months!), then layers. Boys tend to be fed whatever the girls are having. Different stages of food contain different proportions of nutrients - with more protein in crumb/growers to help the birds' growth. Feed comes as mash or pellets - pellets are best for polands as mash can get in their crests (birds tend to fling it about) and also it can be wasted as they search for the best bits. You should be providing non-soluble grit (flint grit) to help them grind their food. When they come into lay you need to provide mixed grit (non-soluble and soluble grit also called oyster shell) which also helps them make egg shells as well as grinding.

 

Re the warmth - I didn't realise they were still so young. I've not had youngstock over the winter, my birds are always mature by this time of year so I can't advise you from direct experience. I know some people put their young birds into a shed/garage overnight (you can use a box with airholes and lots of nice bedding/hamster cage etc) and/or use something like a snugglesafe in the coop. If it was me, I would start off by making sure their house is free of drafts and I'd put lots of bedding in the nest box in case they want to sleep in there (I'd let them for now). I'd probably be giving them a warm pellet porridge as a late afternoon feed (ie pellets moistened with hot and cold water, not too hot for them!) and I'd monitor them well. If they show signs of distress/moping or if it was going to be especially cold then I might bring them in. But I need to stress thats just me - polands are toughies, but then (with respect) I've been keeping them a while, I know my stock and its normal behaviour and I work from home so they get a lot of attention. In your situation, perhaps be a bit more cautious and bring them in, particularly as your birds don't seem to be 100% right now.