A Journey Through a Different Way - Funny Story Pg. 69

[hcammack]

I would set up rules about allowing people in your brooders or pens or even pastures. Will Marrow has very strict biosecurity as he lost a ton of birds and $ when someone introduced something into his flock by visiting. When I visited I showered and wore clothes and shoe's that had never been out with my flock. You have to be very careful about this type of thing with birds. I am sorry about big boy and hope things staighten up for you soon.

Good Luck,
Henry

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Oh crud I was hoping that no news was good new. Will keep ya in my prayers. Sure hope that the chick is a fluke but ya never can be too sure of anything where animals are concerned.


Beckie

, I sure will be keeping you and yours in my prayers.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm so sorry, Monique. My own Velvet died in my arms while choking on stuff coming up from her crop-she had suddenly developed sour crop during her hard molt and just couldn't recover. I agree with Henry, that you can walk things in on your shoes or others can. Feedstores are probably a source of contamination since people with ill chickens are shopping there, touching feed bags, etc. I have instituted a practice where everyone must spray their shoes, at least, when they come off the driveway toward the house and coops. It's not perfect, but at least I'm trying to head something off at the pass. Shame for all of us who like to show off our birds.

 

[hcammack]

The first time I visited Will Marrow had me do a foot bath and I still did not go into the coops or pastures just looked at the birds. The second time I was asked to bring new shoes and clothes that had never been with the flock. I then was allowed the full and amazing tour. There are probably some type of foot bath products or I could ask Will what goes into it for you. Would you like that?

I really hope that things come together because I love the way you are farming and really admire it and I hope you are able to overcome all of the problems you have faced. Oh and the chicks are outside now in the chickens tractor with their new friends and the little silkie monster

 

[ruth]

Thanks all for the encouraging words.

I had to face the hard truth and do the deed and put the little chick down. It's only the second time I've ever had to do this. I was hoping against hope that when I checked it late this afternoon that somehow, miraculously, it would show signs of improvement. But it couldn't close it's beak because the top of its mouth was a giant swollen hard mass and the side of its face was so swollen and when I tried examining it, bloody puss came out of its eyes. It was making sounds similar to the choking that Big Boy was making and I knew it could not eat or drink the way the mouth was swollen. So I ended it for him. That's the hardest thing I've had to do. Had to do it to a three day old chick that hatched last month. It could not walk, both legs deformed, and it kept falling over on it's back and having seizures. If I uprighted it, it just flopped on back again and seized. I think it was a Japanese Bantum, the only one that hatched out of that batch of assorted chicks. It was very tiny and so cute. I'm not cut out for the "ending" of it. I'm more of the "try everything and never give up" type. Maybe it will get easier some day but right now I'm pretty tired and worn out.

I didn't post the events from earlier this week. Scarlett killed 4 Mallards over two days that flew out of the coop. She had already begun eating the first two but we caught her in the act with the second two and we had duck for dinner. Pretty good by the way if I say so myself since I've never cooked duck before. Maybe some day DH can work up to doing the hatchet job (since that's what the extra drakes were intended for) and we don't have to wait for a dog to kill one or one to break it's neck - which by the way we had chicken for dinner the other night.

One of the RIRs was sitting in nest box when everyone came running back into coop. It's always a wild time because roos start jumping whatever girls they haven't seen all day. Anyway, I was in there and she hunkered down in the wooden box. A lot of them roost on the edge of the nest boxes so they all started jumping up there. A few minutes later I noticed she's still hunkered down. I go check on her and darn it if she isn't dead with a broken neck. One of them landed on her and her neck/head got wedged down in wooden box and broken. So we had fresh chicken for dinner.

But the most serious issue is that Scarlett caught and mauled two of my peacocks on Friday morning - the large male and Penelope, my purple pet. They are both o.k. now. The male was looking pretty iffy with blood coming from mouth, nose and ears. The female had a small tear on her back. I put both of them in my laudry room for two days and now there's poop everywhere. So, of course, Scarlett has been restrained for the past two days. I may have to send her to Covington to live at our house there with my son who has been wanting her anyway. I can't trust her and ever since she discovered that the ducks taste pretty good, she may not stop. She's just a giant puppy but she definitely knew what she was doing. The hurricane knocked down the trees around all fenced areas and we have yet to rebuild the fences so I don't have a means to fence her in.

Well, like I said the past week has been really trying. DH is out of town and I'm frying myself a big skillet of hot fried okra and I'm going to have the whole pot full as my dinner. Southern comfort food - always makes the journey a little better.

 

[Reinbeau]

Oh dear, poor Prissy is going to miss Scarlet, isn't she? Too bad, but you can't have a chicken eating dog around

 

[hcammack]

I am sorry scarlet has not learned yet my scarlet who is a basset hound is turning out to be quite the little Rex imitator she watched the chicks all day today ! I really hope that good comes from this horrid series of events.

Henry

 

[speckledhen]

I sure hope things look up from here through the rest of the year, at least. That's disappointing about Scarlett. She is such a beauty and seemed to have the potential to become what you needed her to be.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
She may yet. She's just still young and has all that GSD hyper energy and size. I'm not sure what Rex would have done around chickens when he was a puppy. He was 4 or 5 years old when I got them and already settled down. But I do remember when he was also 8 months old and like Scarlett had more energy and power and size than I could handle. There were times when I would cry and wonder what I had gotten myself into. He was just so big and energetic and would jump on me and demand to play and never got tired. Scarlett is exactly the same way. Has started jumping up on me and everyone else, not minding, just generally going through the equivalent of the "terrible twos" - she's about 8 months old.

By the way, Cyn, Velvet's boy, who I call Black Velvet chased and flogged me Friday. Also chased DH around the yard. I have 14 older roosters and none have ever challenged me in any way. In fact, I knock them off the girls daily and chase them out of the coop every morning. Most run when they see me. But Friday I went in the yard looking for the hurt peacock and at first he just kept running around my legs and into them. I couldn't quite figure out what he was doing. Then as I was leaving he started chasing me. At first I tried to stand my ground but he kept charging at me and finally he flew straight at my legs - crouching tiger style and flogged me. Luckily he doesn't have any spurs and I was wearing jeans. I was too busy and worried about finding the peacock to do much of anything but I know I ran out of there terrified of a rooster - who by the way, now probably weighs about 15 pounds. He's bigger than the Big Boy who just died. Then, on Saturday morning I'm filling the duck pool when I got that creepy sensation of someone staring at me. I looked back and there he was, standing just behind me, giving me the evil eye. I turned and sprayed him with the hose. Today he didn't bother me at all but there were a couple of times where I could tell he was thinking about it - just the way he kept lurking around me. It's funny really because he's always been the low roo on the totem pole, being one of the youngest but I guess he's moving up in rank. But if he doesn't straighten out, he'll be moving out. I have a bunch of B/B/S Orp eggs from Tuffoldhen in my bator now and I'm hoping to be able to hatch him his own little flock but for now he's laying claim to some of the older roos' girls.

 

[speckledhen]

Jeepers, Monique! Just by sheer size, they can be intimidating, can't they? And you just dont know what a rooster will do when he gets to the raging hormones stage. Usually, the temperament is inherited, but there's that one that just doesn't act like the stock he came from. Suede is a big baby. Most of his sons are very sweet, just like he is. My rooster, Dutch, Hawkeye's son, is an absolute sweetheart. Zane and Mace, also Hawkeye's sons, are great, but there was one son that started out skittish and eventually turned aggressive awhile after I found him a new home, opposite to what almost every other son of his was. He lost his life over it, too. You really dont want a rooster as big as your boy to turn evil! Move that bad boy on out-you dont have time to spend watching your back. I refuse to do that-life's too short and there are too many great roosters. In the spring, if you want, I'll send you more eggs. Suede has Skye, Dusty and Smoky now (Velvet is gone, as you know) and should be producing some fine offspring with them.
I hope Scarlett's behavior can be adjusted. She's just so beautiful and I loved the idea of Rex teaching her the ropes.