Morning provided a nice surprise. All the new hens who spent the night outside were alive, only because the coons and foxes haven't figured out yet that I bought some stupid, uncooperative chickens. :( They may figure it out tonight, so I am not getting my hopes up.
Morning also provided a sad blow. My largest older hen, a gorgeous buff orphington was dead on the floor of the coop below the roosts. No blood, no wounds, no physical trauma was visible but her neck was floppy. Supposing there was a struggle and she broke it somehow?
New hens that were in the coop didn't want to come out. Caught a few of them and introduced them to the nesting boxes. Hope they figure that out because they just layed eggs all over the place last night. Even found one egg in the water bowl.
Another strange thing. Most of these hens are spending a lot of time standing on one leg. What's that all about?
I didn't realize how blessed I was with my first batch of hens. This new batch, my first attempt to increase my flock, may make me decide that store-bought eggs are just fine.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
New hens October 20, 2010
How huge is this mistake I have made? Bought 13 hens, sight unseen, from a total stranger, based on a Craigslist ad. Supposed to be young, healthy, immunized good-laying red sex-link hens "retired" from Tyson due to moulting.
Went to pick them up today. Dozens of cages, piled 4 or 5 layers high, jam- packed with 1,000 hens. Feathers everywhere. Strangely quiet.
They were supposed to have arrived yesterday.... so does that mean they spent an extra 24 hours in those cages without food and water? On top of how many other hours since they were picked up at Tyson?
But the "guy" in charge just started carrying birds to my vehicle and I didn't stop to look at them until I got them home. Big mistake.
What a pitiful sight they are. Beaks have been clipped (I hate that!), some nearly featherless from self-picking and them all picking each other, not just moulting I'm sure. Combs and wattles are very pale, not a red one in the bunch. I carefully lifted each almost-comatose bird from my carrying cage and set each one on the ground. They acted like they were in shock. Acted like they had never seen dirt, or grass, or daylight. I brought out a short bucket of water. They had to be thirsty!
None drank. So I caught one and dipped its beak in the water. Then it drank like crazy. I caught most of them, one at a time, repeating the beak dipping. The last few were too fast for me to catch, so I just hope they will learn from the others.
One hen, drank, then sat down, then fell over on her side. I set her back up, she plopped over again. "Here's one that won't make it throught the night" I thought. I brought food out to where the new hens decided to huddle together behind the chicken house. Some ate pellets, but they wouldn't even try the tomatoes, cucumbers, or bread.
When my older 7 hens went to roost, the new ones didn't follow, so one-by-one, I cornered 8 of the new hens and put them into the coop. The others were NOT going to cooperate and by now it was dark. So counting the one that was falling over on her side, I plan to find 6 new hens either dead or missing in the morning.
Went to pick them up today. Dozens of cages, piled 4 or 5 layers high, jam- packed with 1,000 hens. Feathers everywhere. Strangely quiet.
They were supposed to have arrived yesterday.... so does that mean they spent an extra 24 hours in those cages without food and water? On top of how many other hours since they were picked up at Tyson?
But the "guy" in charge just started carrying birds to my vehicle and I didn't stop to look at them until I got them home. Big mistake.
What a pitiful sight they are. Beaks have been clipped (I hate that!), some nearly featherless from self-picking and them all picking each other, not just moulting I'm sure. Combs and wattles are very pale, not a red one in the bunch. I carefully lifted each almost-comatose bird from my carrying cage and set each one on the ground. They acted like they were in shock. Acted like they had never seen dirt, or grass, or daylight. I brought out a short bucket of water. They had to be thirsty!
None drank. So I caught one and dipped its beak in the water. Then it drank like crazy. I caught most of them, one at a time, repeating the beak dipping. The last few were too fast for me to catch, so I just hope they will learn from the others.
One hen, drank, then sat down, then fell over on her side. I set her back up, she plopped over again. "Here's one that won't make it throught the night" I thought. I brought food out to where the new hens decided to huddle together behind the chicken house. Some ate pellets, but they wouldn't even try the tomatoes, cucumbers, or bread.
When my older 7 hens went to roost, the new ones didn't follow, so one-by-one, I cornered 8 of the new hens and put them into the coop. The others were NOT going to cooperate and by now it was dark. So counting the one that was falling over on her side, I plan to find 6 new hens either dead or missing in the morning.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Morning Fairies
I exaggerate just a bit when I say I saw zillions of flittering glittering fairies out my kitchen window this morning. Poured my 2nd cup of coffee and by chance glanced out the window to see the garden and chicken yard all aglow and sparkling in the morning sun. Like a fairy tale scene filled with dancing fairies moving too fast to really see, but reflecting the sun so as not to be missed.
Must be butterflies I concluded, but have butterflies ever sparkled like that?
Should I have just clicked the shutter on this incredible moment to seal it in my memory? Was it foolish to slip on my shoes and head out to the field to fellowship with the fairies?
Cautiously, so as not to scare them off, slipped thru the gate and into the pasture. Stood still and looked around in amazement. Just as my adult self said, not fairies at all. Just as my rational self said, butterflies don't sparkle like this. But just as the child inside me oooohhhed and awwwweddddd, there were a zillion (give or take) dragon flies darting about me, going nowhere it appeared, merely there for my amazement perhaps, the sun glinting and splitting on their transluscent prism wings.
Thank you God.
Must be butterflies I concluded, but have butterflies ever sparkled like that?
Should I have just clicked the shutter on this incredible moment to seal it in my memory? Was it foolish to slip on my shoes and head out to the field to fellowship with the fairies?
Cautiously, so as not to scare them off, slipped thru the gate and into the pasture. Stood still and looked around in amazement. Just as my adult self said, not fairies at all. Just as my rational self said, butterflies don't sparkle like this. But just as the child inside me oooohhhed and awwwweddddd, there were a zillion (give or take) dragon flies darting about me, going nowhere it appeared, merely there for my amazement perhaps, the sun glinting and splitting on their transluscent prism wings.
Thank you God.
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