When It Rains...

Hey teeny tiny farm gang
To be honest, I'm really beat and have to get up early tomorrow to work the election -- a loooong day.  So I'm going to sum this up relatively quickly.

It's been a week.

We went out of town for a long weekend the end of October and, of  course, Gabby came up lame again just before we left.  My farrier, who has known the donks for many years, said she'd swing by while we were gone and take a look.  Found nothing.  I asked the housesitter to keep soaking Gabs in the epsom salt water. When we returned she was looking good, and then she came up lame again... (wait for it) on the other foot.  Farrier out, but this time to trim.  A little heat but nothing else.  Again with the soaking.  Oh yea, and a terrifically weepy eye appeared with a tick on her eyelid.  Rick removed the tick, I gave her some warm compresses and waited a day to see if we needed a vet visit.  It cleared up nicely.

Farrier's advice --  just keep soaking.  

Round 1, after less than 5 minutes Gabs dumps the bucket.

Round 2, I set the bucket down to grab the halter and lead line and found Sugar drinking the epsom salt water.  A wee bit left.  Phooey, we're doing it anyway. 

A couple of days later I take a good look at one of the chicken's feet.  Crap crap crap.  Scaly leg mites.  Chicken feet should be smooth, not scaly and bumpy looking.  Keep looking.  Five of the six new hens are looking bad.  Could we have brought them home like this?  Could I have not noticed?  I'm guessing yes since our original crew look fine.  So now we're treating them.   For 2-3 weeks.

See a trend here?

To conclude here's Pippi (for whatever reason I now call him Pippi poops) showing off his newfound skills. 

Let's hope the election results do not decimate the country, AND, let's hope there are no more critter surprises.

Peace out.  

Are You Kidding me???

 It's happened all over again.

We now have another roo!  And it's Pippi!

I said to Rick a couple of weeks ago, do you suppose Pippi is a boy?  Based on his large size (hardly a pipsqueak anymore) and his feather features. Sure enough about a week later after morning chores, Rick came in and said you could be right.   Pips had been exploring crowing sounds.

OK, I just got six more girls so Sharone wouldn't be picking on one or two girls and now we've got another rooster!  Plus he's minorly aggressive with his ankle/foot pecking.

I just sent the Michigan Humane Society a message today, explaining the situation.  I asked if he (weird to refer to him as a boy) gets more aggressive or becomes antagonistic to Sharone, can he be returned to them.  Someone asked today if I wanted to try to rehome him through FB and I replied with an emphatic "no!"  Roosters are a dime a dozen and although he's getting annoying I don't want harm to come to him.  I don't think she understood my point of view...

Gabby Gets Owwie

 The saga began last Tuesday.  Gabby looked a bit off at breakfast but I wasn't terribly concerned.
Until later that afternoon.  She was head-bobbing lame.  Of course I picked her hoof and felt for heat.

Damn!

I talked to my farrier.  She suggested epsom salt soaks for a few days before calling the vet. 
Not knowing how cooperative Gabs would be, I dragged Rick out with me for the first soak.  Afterwards he was  able to pick her hoof better and out popped a stone.

Aha!  Stone bruise, not an abscess?

Keep soaking the farrier advised.
I kept at it through Friday and thought Gabby was walking close to normal.

And then we went out of town for the weekend.

I forewarned the house sitter she might be a bit off, but I did not ask her to continue the soaks.  Perhaps a mistake.

Last night upon our return when feeding at dusk she looked pretty owwie.  Well great.  So today I resume the soaking and she looks better.

What the heck!

I'll continue the soaking for the week.

Meet the New Girls!

 It's time to meet the new girls!

The transition was easier than I anticipated and they now follow the daily routine well -- let me knock on wood as I say that.  Well, I should clarify -- the first few minutes of togetherness was quite the hubbub.  Chest bumping (literally), much squawking and bully pecking, even from miss scaredy cat, Pippi!

Sharone has been in heaven from day 1.  More girls!
And because he has more girls to canoodle with, we've got better damage control, so to speak. 

Little Stevie's feathers are starting to grow back from Sharone's "harassment".  We're now at a good ratio with 10 hens to the big boy roo.

I've got names, but there's one I may need a little help with and would like your suggestions.

Let's start with Ethel (Merman).  So named as she was quite vocal early on.

Next we have Riley Rose.

But this is where I need help.  She's a little road runner, so I attempted to find two "R" names.  I started with Rhoda but wasn't happy with that.  Any suggestions?

Fluffy(2) is a beauty.  And this pic does not do her justice.

Fluffy, Olive, Ethel

Sharone, Olivia (Newton John),  Olive, and Ruby Dee(2)

I swear I almost called Olivia and Olive Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, but didn't want to be disrespectful.  You've got to look at their backs carefully to tell them apart..  And the difference between Storm and Riley Rose is all in the tip of their tails as is with Ruby Dee and Henrietta.  Also I can tell Henrie because she's always in my face jumping for treats.

Let's get a better look at Ruby Dee.  Here she is with Ethel.

So, for this brief moment, all is right with the world.

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.  :) 

Chicken Antics and Ailments

 After publishing the last post, Henrietta not so kindly reminded me she is not two years old, but is three. 

I stand corrected.

A couple of days after I refreshed one of the nesting boxes with new shavings, the little devil sat there and carefully plucked pieces of shavings out and threw them over her shoulder to the ground.  Now that's a new one around here.  Leave it to Henrie!

 
Pippi is getting big, matching the other girls in size.  But her bravado does not match her size. 

And now for the bad news.
Clara is sick and I've tried all the tricks in my bag.  I've wormed her, re-established  ACV in one of the waterers, put DE in the feed, given her an epsom salt soak, dusted DE under her wings for mites, and most recently given her three doses of colloidal silver (anti-bacterial).  This last trick came from the moderator of a local chicken group who has had chickens for 30 years.  Nothing seems to have an effect.
She's lethargic, moves slowly and rests while the other girls are frolicking during free range time.
But her comb is a nice bright red.
Louise -- any ideas?
I'm stumped.

. And to make matters worse, we're going on a mini-vacation and I'm leaving Clara in the hands of the housesitter.  A wonderful housesitter, but...