The Newbies Arrive!!

 The gang of six has arrived!

Did I tell you the details?  I posted in a local chicken group that I was looking for 2-3 girls, breed not important.  Anna replied that she had six 3-year old girls (her entire flock) to re-home and she'd give them to me.  Now three years old is a bit past their "prime" but still plenty young to be with us for a while.  So I happily said OK!

They arrived on Friday and are segregated from our hellions in the same area Stevie was recently in. That's why I had to wait for Stevie to be integrated before I could pick up the newbies.  Anyway, of course, the girls were stressed for the first couple of days.

Here they huddled in a corner when I entered the coop.

   Aren't they beauties?

To be honest I'm not up on chicken breeds except for the basic couple so I'll need to do some checking on their heritages. 

In the last two days they have calmed a bit and don't cower when either Rick or I enter.  But we're waiting a few days to fully integrate them -- the thought of trying to corral them after free range time is a bit scary.

I must say Sharone is very  interested and talks to them frequently.

I'm still working on names so if you have any suggestions, toss them out.

 

Stevie Responds to Meds

 So much to tell so I'd better get to it.

We took a mini-vacation just before Labor Day and wandered up to Mackinac City. 

See the tip of the middle finger, just south of Mackinac Island?  That's where we were.
You non-Michiganians may not be familiar with the Bridge connecting the two peninsulas of our beautiful state.

And then we turned east and stayed on Lake Huron.  Fabulous.

However, the news is not all roses.
Nowadays we hire a house/critter sitter to take care of all the menagerie and I left sick Clara in her hands.  She died while we were gone.

Upon our return Stevie started showing signs of illness.  What the double heck??

I only have three chicken vet names in "the area" (all just under an hour away) so I called one and was told, we're leaving the office soon, how quickly can you get here.  Stevie and I drove as quickly as possible to the vet clinic where she was diagnosed with an infection delicately described as "in her reproductive area".  She's on antibiotics and segregated from the other girls.  I was told she'd have a 50/50 chance of recovery, but the good news is she's definitely improving.

However I was not particularly impressed with this vet.  One example:  I was asked what I'm feeding the girls and I stated Kalmbach organic.  Oh, no no no, not a good idea, it's not nutritious because it's organic.

What?!

Just one example of things that were a red flag for me. (home remedies were poo-poohed -- I've seen them work).

BUT, Stevie is getting better.

Note: I actually called the feed store the next day and asked if they'd ever heard of such a thing.  Of course they said no and suggested I call Kalmbach directly.  I ended up speaking to a Ph.D. nutritionist at the company and feel assured the chickens are getting their nutritional needs met.

I do need more girls to fill out the ratio of Sharone to hens and have found a woman who is disbanding her flock and will give me her six 3-year olds.  However, I have to wait until Stevie is no longer segregated so I can give the new girls their own probationary space.

Hopefully more on that to come soon.  :)