Alot of the people on BYC know my late, great flock rooster Hawkeye who passed suddenly last year. I wanted to use him as an example of what proper nutrition can do, even when applied later in life. Though the formative weeks are critical in making a chicken live up to its full genetic potential, it's not too late to correct nutrition when you learn about what that entails.
I bought Hawkeye October 2006 after trying to find an adult Barred Rock rooster for months. It felt more like a rescue to me. He was kept in a muddy, dark pen in the woods with a huge turkey, who did some damage to one wattle(full of scar tissue) and his comb. My friend Kate called it his "Art Deco Comb", LOL. No sun could reach the pen, his water was in a large tub and black and dirty. Hawkeye was about 10 months old at the time with brassy feathers, lice and favus, a fungal infection of the comb and face. His face was almost white, it was so pale. He looked anemic.They fed him only corn. Poor boy. He was filthy. The kid had to catch him with a fishing net!
He was in quarantine over a month while he got proper food, yogurt, ACV and garlic in his water.He was dusted with DE for lice and his favus was treated with anti-fungal cream.
In three weeks, all brassiness was almost completely gone. He stayed in quarantine for five weeks. Soon he was spending his days in the sunshine guarding his girls, freeranging and taking lavish dustbaths in red clay dirt. He was perfect in my eyes despite his battle scars. So, here is what proper nutrition and care can do for a chicken. First pic is just after his first bath.
This is Mid-Quarantine:
This is Post-Renovation-Freedom & Women at Last!
I bought Hawkeye October 2006 after trying to find an adult Barred Rock rooster for months. It felt more like a rescue to me. He was kept in a muddy, dark pen in the woods with a huge turkey, who did some damage to one wattle(full of scar tissue) and his comb. My friend Kate called it his "Art Deco Comb", LOL. No sun could reach the pen, his water was in a large tub and black and dirty. Hawkeye was about 10 months old at the time with brassy feathers, lice and favus, a fungal infection of the comb and face. His face was almost white, it was so pale. He looked anemic.They fed him only corn. Poor boy. He was filthy. The kid had to catch him with a fishing net!
He was in quarantine over a month while he got proper food, yogurt, ACV and garlic in his water.He was dusted with DE for lice and his favus was treated with anti-fungal cream.
In three weeks, all brassiness was almost completely gone. He stayed in quarantine for five weeks. Soon he was spending his days in the sunshine guarding his girls, freeranging and taking lavish dustbaths in red clay dirt. He was perfect in my eyes despite his battle scars. So, here is what proper nutrition and care can do for a chicken. First pic is just after his first bath.
This is Mid-Quarantine:
This is Post-Renovation-Freedom & Women at Last!
