Attack (part 4)

Sadly, our hen didn’t pull through. She wasn’t eating or drinking, and so we had to force a bit of liquids in. She wasn’t moving around, either. Exactly a week after the attack, we lost her.

The kids were getting ready for school when it happened, and both had come in the room to see her before they left. She died right in front of them. They weren’t too upset, but they did have some questions as to why she was in the position she was in, why she isn’t breathing, will she get back up, etc.

R.I.P.

While the kids were gone, I cleaned up the set up and laid fresh paper. We decided we were going to get chicks! We need to replace our layer, but we also thought it would be nice to have some started chicks to offer to others if they have a similar situation. You can’t just buy a singular chick from a store, and even if you could, they need a companion. That makes it difficult to replace a hen when you only need one.

It will also be a great learning experience for all of us since we’ve never had chicks, so stay tuned to follow us on our chick adventures!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Attack (part 3)

One thing I didn’t realize about chickens is that they should be fully healed before putting them back with the flock. That means separation for around 2 weeks. Those two days inside weren’t enough.

After a few days of not spraying Blu-Kote on her wounds, she wasn’t doing as well. I don’t think it’s because she didn’t have the spray to help her heal so much as to mask the wounds and bare area from the other hens. She was getting picked on a lot, and we had to separate her again. Her wounds were looking in poor shape again, her comb was darkening, and she was limping if we got her to move. All in all, not so hot.

Our weather has been dipping back into some winter habits, and we’ve had a couple snows and quite chilly temps the week this happened to her, and part of it is quite likely the featherless areas making her get too cold. The rest would be the wounds being visible to the other hens and they started picking at them.

I wasn’t in town for a couple days, but my friend was going to check on them and noticed her looking quite poorly, so she took her home with her to keep her separated from the other girls. My spoiled little hen was getting to sleep indoors again and offered fresh berries. At first she wasn’t interested in food or water, but as she warmed up her comb started turning red and she started taking food.

I do regret not leaving the Blu-Kote out for her to get sprayed while we were gone, but that wouldn’t have fixed the really cold temperatures. She’ll just have to be a house bird for a while. I’m sure she won’t mind that too much… as long as the cats stay away!

TO BE CONTINUED

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Attack (part 2)

Last week I mentioned that one of our hens was attacked by a dog. This week I’m going to show you the setup we had for her, and how we cared for her.

The children were both very concerned with what happened, and wanted to inspect the hen’s wounds. I showed them the puncture marks and bare spots, and then explained how we were going to watch her inside for a few days to make sure she is okay before putting her back out with the flock.

We were very thankful we hadn’t gotten rid of our octagonal baby gate, as that was the perfect enclosure for her to still be able to move around yet be confined. Our only other readily-available option was a small cat carrier, and she wouldn’t have been able to stand up. I wouldn’t like that very much, and I’m sure she wouldn’t!

We put plastic down on the floor, then newspaper roll across the top of it. The baby gate was placed atop that, and we covered it with a large piece of cardboard to keep her in. I really disliked the cardboard part because it made it much darker in her area than it really was, so we put a lamp on the floor nearby and took the lampshade off of it (but only turned it on during daylight hours).

We made a makeshift nesting box with a produce box (one side removed) stuffed with straw, and a little makeshift roost from another produce box and a piece of wood. A small bowl with food and water was placed in there, but she was spoiled with fresh produce (more than usual, mostly because she didn’t have to share it or fight over it).

The kids asked about why we cleaned the wounds (a little soap and water, then spraying with an anti-fungal/anti-bacterial spray called Blu-kote), so we mentioned germs and explained how we want to keep them out of the wounds so she doesn’t get sick. They got to watch her eat and just her general behaviours a lot more while she was inside (for obvious reasons), and got to observe our cats in full predator mode, too. (It was tricky keeping them out of the room!)

We assumed she was going to be fine when she was eating and drinking like normal that evening, but decided it was a pretty safe bet when she laid an egg for us. If you’re curious, no… it wasn’t in the makeshift nesting box. She determined that it was of inferior quality and instantly kicked all the straw out of it and across the enclosure, and laid her egg on the floor. I tried.

We put her back outside in the fenced (but open) part of the yard that is just for the chickens, and then let the other chickens out, and scattered a bit of scratch grains for them. We were worried they might pick on her while she was injured, but they all went right back to normal immediately. Well, except the fact one of them has naked spots!

TO BE CONTINUED

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Attacked (part 1)

Chickens are an amazing addition to our family, but they have brought a host of other learning opportunities for our children aside from learning how chickens live. The concept of predators is one of those examples, and one that is visually available for the children quite frequently.

When we first got chickens, I worried mostly about the neighborhood cats preying on them. That fear was quickly put to rest when my chickens matured and started charging at cats when they got near, effectively scaring the cats off. We still have to watch out for hawks, however, and I have run outside to scare off a hawk that was on its third swoop down, and just feet off the ground.

This has been a very real experience for the children. They understand that lions, for example, eat other animals. Just hearing about it on a show or reading about it in a book is very different than trying to protect your own animal from becoming another animal’s dinner. They have started asking questions about all sorts of animals to see what might be a danger to our hens and what might not.

Living in the city limits, however, comes with more of these learning opportunities than anticipated. We had someone come up to our door a few days back to let us know his dog got loose, chased a cat, saw our chickens and went for one of them instead. There were feathers everywhere, but I saw no blood. He said the chicken walked away, so he thinks she might be okay, but I had to explain to the children what happened.

The hen only had minor puncture wounds (and quite a few feather-bare spots). It really could have been so much worse. Thankfully the owner was actively chasing the dog before the dog got to our chickens. From the looks of it, he probably grabbed the dog as soon as the dog successfully grabbed our chicken, forcing the dog to release her. The result was puncture wounds exactly at the teeth, but no tears along the skin.

At the time of this writing, our hen was back outside with the rest of our flock, and not at all intimidated by her experience… which she had proven by instantly flying out of her safe area (fenced in, but not covered) as soon as she was put back outside.

TO BE CONTINUED

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.