Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

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Among the Missing

I am spending the weekend with Eve celebrating Christmas finally. I will be an infrequent visitor the next two days. I didn't want anyone to wonder.

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BY Bob said:
Among the Missing

I am spending the weekend with Eve celebrating Christmas finally. I will be an infrequent visitor the next two days. I didn't want anyone to wonder.

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She is such a cutie. I even think she looks a little bit like her poppy...
 
Shadrach said:
Well, it has all gone horribly wrong.:he
I'm working on getting the foot pad right. It isn't easy. Gloria said the wrapping holding it on shouldn't be very tight. Fortunately the bump is so large that just having it in the hole helps to stop the pad moving.
I fixed Cillin up this morning and let him out. Within 15 mins Notch picked a fight with Cillin. Nobody won as such and Cillin held his ground. A bit later Treacle chased Cillin away from the hens. Every time these two meet now Treacle attacks Cillin. Cillin puts up a brief fight and then runs.
To be fair Treacle has put up with similar from Cillin for over a year now.
The problem is, the hens will not at the moment at least, follow Treacle.
A further problem which at the moment is working to Cillins advantage is Treacle is scared of all the other roosters apart from his dad Cillin. Cillin isn't scared of any of the other roosters.
What Cillin managed today was to pick a patch by the bamboo where Notch hangs out with his hens. Treacle wont go near Cillin there. This afternoon Link thought he would have a go at Cillin. Cillin drove him off easily.
So, Cillin got some time with some of the hens.
The bad news is when he went to roost in the tribes coop Treacle drove him back out. This happened three times and eventually Cillin made his way back to my house. I now have for the forseeable future a house guest at night.
From past experiences I do not think this situation between Treacle and Cillin is repairable.
I believe that Moon and maybe Tap and Hurry will follow Treacle. That would leave Fat Bird, Fudge, Tackle and Mel with Cillin....maybe. In order for this to work I will have to divided the coop and provide a back entrance. Ideally I need another coop a bit away from the current one. That may be possible later.
I'm okay with Cillin sleeping in the house. He's very good and as long as he's out and about during the day, where he sleeps while he has no hens and is recovering from his foot problems doesn't matter.
I'm finding watching the whole business heartbreaking. I'm hoping as has happened in the past that once both of them have at least one hen, referably two the fighting will in general stop.
Cillin this morning before he left the house. Mel came to visit. I'm not quite sure why. She's not laying eggs yet.
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Cillin by the bamboo. The hens came down to join him while Treacle stayed at the sheep shed with the rest.
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It looks a bit loose but was still in the right place when I checked at roost time.
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A very tired Cillin.
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Poor Cillin! It will sort out eventually, though. This is where I usually start to meddle in The affairs of my chickens, though I do respect your decision on letting it mostly play out on it’s own. If he keeps losing the footpad you might want to try another thin band looped under the pad with the ends coming up and gently crossing the top of the foot, then crossing again between his back toe and spur then ending under the foot again. Sort of like tying a shoe or scrappy sandal on. I know, easier said than done, especially if he’s a wiggler or decided to kick while you’re trying to wrap it. I am lucky that Roostie is such a patient and tolerant guy.
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Shadrach said:
That looks like Fowl Pox to me. Clean the affected areas with betadine, be careful around her eyes, and take some more pictures.
Fowl Pox, both wet and dry are not normally a major problem. I think it's viral rather than bacterial. Sever cases are treated with antibiotics.
You need to look inside her mouth to see if there are any lesions.
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I will go and get some Betadine today, thanks for the advice.
 
Hazel broken beak report
I don't have pictures of her beak yet, sorry, the wind today made them all quite jumpy and it was hard enough to get her quieted enough today to get a good look at her beak. I'll try tomorrow, when I check both her and Peanut.

It's been 5 days since I examined her with a magnifying glass and smoothed it with the fine side of an emery board nail file. It seemed to work well and I went really slowly and talked softly to her. Interestingly, the other hens gathered round together on the litter to the left of my feet and faced Hazel. She could see them sitting down there preening and making happy noises while this went on. She soon let me file on one side while I kept her beak from moving much with a finger on the other side, and she didn't fight it. I didn't read this anywhere but I filed in motions that only went towards the tip, like you would doing human nails. I only smoothed the rough bits and jags, wasn't trying to reshape it, but it didn't seem to need much reshaping. It ended up smooth to the touch. From what I had read and researched (there is NOTHING in my new Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow about this that I can find!) this seemed to be a pretty minor case. I thought I'd check her again in a few days.

Unfortunately she has now a thin short crack on her upper beak, a little less than 1/8" long, in the middle of her upper beak tip. It wasn't there before. I didn't file enough perhaps? but I wanted to not do very much at a time then. It seems to end about where her lower beak meets it. What do I do about this, if anything? Is it likely to lead to something worse, and if so is there a way to stabilize it before it does? I can try to get a pic tomorrow.

This situation was sidelined because I had a cat emergency the last three days, poor Big Boy was in a lot of distress, it is crystals in his urine, and he had a bout of something intestinal on top of that. After a long trip and 2 nights at the vets, subcutaneous fluids, an antibiotic shot, new food and pain meds, he is doing much better today. We've been tracking his every move, and now he is acting much more like himself. He's drinking on his own, going to his litter box without too much encouragement, and peeing more each time he goes.
 
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