I can't imagine any wise person culling for poor feathering during molt. Not really a good example and nor have we ever gave that advice.
Well, I think that particular bird looks bad but I also think she has spirit. In the oulander blogs, before BYC for me, a lot of people have noticed that the imperfect birds in their flock have other qualities that are superior. More adaptable, more social, best brooder, etc. So I am still on the fence. When I inherited the chicken with the deformed legs/feet I was astonished at how the rest of her "Cori's kitchen" flock babied her. It gave me a huge insight into the way these birds are and that they have sensitivity to each other. She had a constant companion and none of my other chickens ever pecked her. Her little parade stayed with her and missed out on really great chicken stuff just to be with her.
When she died, I was a little sad because in the few weeks we had her she stood out. She tried to brood a pile of eggs and pecked me so hard I have a scar, (when I tried to reach under her), she was confident when I put her outside, she demanded her own respect. I have a very young PR that has been trying to sit eggs and she pecked me today and it was so soft and timid, like a baby birp.
My little old crooked leg, princess Diana, was a fighter and she lived her whole life in squallor and then less than a month in a regular chicken world she died.
She was looked up to by the other chickens and maybe she was the oldest of the bunch but she wasnt low on the totem at all. Another chicken sang to her, even the roosters were hanging near her at the end. I know all of this might seem like me being all weird and sentimentalizing but my roosters are my original flock and they were near her that last day all day long. They hardly knew her.
(Sorry, I just heard my son tell my husband that if he check mates him one more time he'll quit.)
Her little parade of friends, for lack of a better word, are now out and about with all of the others. The one with the bald head is definitely a survivor. She got an apple today and was fierce to eat it alone. Her head feathers are finally coming back in, yeah! And the other one is more subdued but still a rank holder in the flock. These arent the land of misfit toy chickens they are worthy chicken spirits in imperfect bodies and they carry on. I think at the end of the day, for me, a chicken population is like a human one and the imperfections are the interesting parts of them and how the others deal with it is fascinating and maybe makes them all better for having known each other.
Of course this is silly but if you have the time and money is 2nd or third or lower on the list what is the harm in taking a little special care of an unusual spirit among a flock of darlings?
I havent really confessed to the following here yet but I do have a friend (lol) and she has had a sick chicken for a month. It laid a monster egg and then all heck broke loose. Blood, pecking, feather loss, cracked and cemented opening, not eating. All bad. I have a nice utility sink so I invited her to come over and bathe her sick chicken. We have bathed her I think 5 or 6 times now. She has been in a large kennel in her coop seperated and she has also been allowed in the yard without the other chickens. She has been living off of grass for a couple weeks. She wont eat regular food. My friend gave her general antibiotics a few times but I honestly thought she was a gonner from day one. We bathed her in organic puppy shampoo, soaked her in olive oil, at one point her discharge turned cement like and we used DAWN dish soap. We poured hydrogen peroxide on her area. We did everything we read about. Over and over again. Her discharge has been like a yolk for weeks. Somethimes like cement.
Anyway, Lord am I wordy, She is on the mend. Last week her area looked healthy for the first time, no scabs etc. This week her poo looks healthy and she started eating regular food again. Her feathers are growing back. We plan to bathe her her again on Sat if it is warm and then re-enter the flock next week. The whole time her eyes have been bright. She is an EE or Americauna and she is very pretty and my friend's sons' chicken. He is 6. These are the reasons we went to the trouble I think. It didnt cost money though because my friend had the antibiotics already and we just tried with plain old time and soap.
It was gross. It was smelly. It was sometimes surreal. My friend jokes that I am the only one she knows that would touch her chickens hootchy cootchy. lol. So I dont know what makes you fight for a chicken, its probably different for everyone, but I think at some point it will dawn on me why on earth I would fight for a chicken's life.
