Growing my little flock

[DonyaQuick]

So I finally realized my phone can do slow motion LOL

 

[DonyaQuick]

Sad and kind of grizzly post warning...

I lost Joker last week, Thursday the 5th. About 3 weeks prior she seemed very slightly off, so I brought her in, and out of nowhere she started projectile vomiting fluid with blood in it. After a few panicked hours, she turned out to have the avian version of pneumothorax, which is when air is leaking out of somewhere in the respirtory system (whether lung or air sac) and seeping into places where it shouldn't with no place to escape, which in turn puts pressure on the lungs and air sacs making breathing progressively harder. The air eventually materialized in a place near her crop where I could feel a bubble that didn't belong and I was able to extract it without harming any organs. I removed about 3ml of air. That act bought her the rest of the time that I had with her, and she recovered rapidly and went back to being her mischeivous, bouncy self with her flock for a couple weeks. She was so active she seemed to really long for the outside rather than being stuck in the house. But then eventually the same thing...she seemed a bit slow, I separated her...but this time she developed a rattle and when it became clear where to remove the air, I removed over 30ml and it didn't seem to stop. It was enough to let her breath easily again and let her rest with me for another few hours...and then she had a heart attack and died in my arms.

Joker was a very special hen to me. I am really going to miss her jumping on my shoulder, and when I ask "who's that?", her giving me a little boop on the head as if to say "you know who it is!" RIP my sweet girl. This is the last photo I have of her from when she was recovering from the first round. She was happily eating mash and kicking it all over the floor.

She is survived by her enormous goof of a son, Speedy. Although I initially had a hard time believing he was her offspring because of his gotta-go-fast obsession as a chick, as he has matured he really has gotten a lot of her personality and continues to get a bit more like her every day.

 

[DonyaQuick]

This big fluffy man, his ladies love him so much. They fawn over him. But I feel like I will be lucky to get another fertile egg from his flock! I don't know if it's just the never-ending winter...maybe I'm just hoping for fertile eggs too soon after such a long and nasty cold season. Mr Vanilla Bean seems plenty spunky and healthy, just not that interested in certain activities. 3.5 years old is not too old to do the manly thing right?? Surely not. Anyway, in about 10 days I will be rounding up as many clean eggs as I can get from bean flock and putting them in the incubator, just in case I can get a lucky one again...and in case it is just one in order to line up with some mail order babies in April.

 

[fuzzi]

This big fluffy man, his ladies love him so much. They fawn over him. But I feel like I will be lucky to get another fertile egg from his flock! I don't know if it's just the never-ending winter...maybe I'm just hoping for fertile eggs too soon after such a long and nasty cold season. Mr Vanilla Bean seems plenty spunky and healthy, just not that interested in certain activities. 3.5 years old is not too old to do the manly thing right?? Surely not. Anyway, in about 10 days I will be rounding up as many clean eggs as I can get from bean flock and putting them in the incubator, just in case I can get a lucky one again...and in case it is just one in order to line up with some mail order babies in April.

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He's a pretty boy!

 

[DonyaQuick]

Another sad post warning...spring is being the season of giving and taking away again.

I burried Raven today. Unlike with Joker, I expected this death. Raven was one of only two from my "olive egger" cohort that actually did lay green eggs. She had never-ending health issues for a long time, starting with skipping what should have been her first regular molt when she had graduated from pullet to hen. She looked like some kind of frazzle turkin for a good half a year because of that, all whilst being followed around by the gaggle of Ameraucana babies that somehow still identified her half-naked self with a singular scratty beard feather as "one of us." Last fall, she finally did a proper molt and got her good looks back along with some surprise white highlights, but then she still had one health issue after another in other departments, and her metabolism was all over the place. She has been a house chicken for several months because winter would have taken her much sooner if left outside. I believe it was some form of cancer that got her in the end. She passed very peacefully in her sleep early this morning. Given how early in her life her health problems started, she had a really good run of it, and I know she was a very happy bird right up to the end.

 

[lightm]

Another sad post warning...spring is being the season of giving and taking away again.

I burried Raven today. Unlike with Joker, I expected this death. Raven was one of only two from my "olive egger" cohort that actually did lay green eggs. She had never-ending health issues for a long time, starting with skipping what should have been her first regular molt when she had graduated from pullet to hen. She looked like some kind of frazzle turkin for a good half a year because of that, all whilst being followed around by the gaggle of Ameraucana babies that somehow still identified her half-naked self with a singular scratty beard feather as "one of us." Last fall, she finally did a proper molt and got her good looks back along with some surprise white highlights, but then she still had one health issue after another in other departments, and her metabolism was all over the place. She has been a house chicken for several months because winter would have taken her much sooner if left outside. I believe it was some form of cancer that got her in the end. She passed very peacefully in her sleep early this morning. Given how early in her life her health problems started, she had a really good run of it, and I know she was a very happy bird right up to the end.

View attachment 4315131

I am sorry. How old was Raven?

 

[DonyaQuick]

I am sorry. How old was Raven?

She was 2 years and 9 months I think. I figure making it to almost 3 is pretty good for a hen whose problems started just after the first year.