Hector's World: Adventures and Mayhem at Mountain View Poultry (or Sequel to The Evolution of Atlas

[speckledhen]

So sorry Cynthia. Seems fall is a common time for birds to succumb around here if they have something going on. A lot of stressors here with shifting temperatures and migrating birds.

Thanks, Lisa. I don't think this had anything to do with migrating birds, but that is a valid point for this time of year , that plus changing up and down temps. Thankfully, there was no respiratory component here, but then, that has never been an issue in the flocks. That is one thing that makes an occasional death a little mysterious, though most are due to just plain old age. Naturally, Jane being so young, recently laying and with no clues other than the molt, makes this one of those rare mysteries. But, now my numbers look like this:

26 Total Chickens (21 Large Fowl, 5 Bantams)

( 18 large fowl hens, 3 large fowl roosters / 3 Bantam hens, 2 Bantam roosters)

 

[speckledhen]

I just discovered another issue with Tiny. She has been losing weight and recently began to sort of gasp when you'd hold her. Today, I discovered that she is very much bloated. Her abdomen is like a baseball. That happened within the last couple of weeks, I know, because I have picked her up many times and never noticed until today. She has been laying within the last few months this year so this has to be age related. She would be 11 yrs old around the same time in February that Georgie turns 12. So, she got famous in a magazine as the Tiny Terrorist and I guess it was too much for the crazy old hen.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Poor Tiny. Your chickens live longer than mine do on average. The oldest I have ever had was 10. You take great care of them all.

 

[speckledhen]

Poor Tiny. Your chickens live longer than mine do on average. The oldest I have ever had was 10. You take great care of them all.

I do my best, but I've said to more than one as I lay them in the grave, I'm so sorry, but there's no cure for old age (or bad genetics, of course). I wish there was. If so, I'd still have Isaac and Suede here.
You know, Cetawin (my friend Ladyhawk) had a blue Orp rooster, Lancelot, that she got because she fell in love with my Suede. Lance was 10 years old in July! I can't even believe a huge rooster can live that long, but Lancelot is an exception to every rule there is. He's battled predators, bullied a goat (literally, he attacked it repeatedly, on a daily basis until they sold the goat) and still, he's ticking. She had to rehome him a long time ago due to serious personal health and other issues and I know she misses him terribly, but that's a super long life for a huge rooster, IMO. My little ones live longer than my big ones. At 6 yrs old, Atlas is my longest lived BR rooster.

 

[1muttsfan]

My only named hen, a big pet Speckled Sussex named Freckles (or Blackie as Jimmy calls her for some reason), has had a big belly for almost a year. Her comb is usually a little purple, and if she has to come all the way across the yard to get back to the coop it gets really dark and she gasps and nearly swoons. Usually I pick her up if she is up by the house and carry her back. I keep thinking she is going to keel over right in front of me, but she is still chugging along. I will miss her a lot though when she goes!

 

[speckledhen]

@1muttsfan , Mary, they can go a long time with that bloat, for sure. My big Buff Orp hen that I got from Jody Hinkle years ago went for 3 years bloating up and easing off and she was the one where we found two giant tumors in place of one side of her liver. But she was HUGE, biggest Orp frame I'd ever seen, very tall, a true giant. Should have seen her with chicks in the grow out pen. She looked like their mother, LOL.
I think Tiny won't last that long with this because she is so old already. Georgie has a mass in her crop that feels fibrous so I think it's a tumor, but she is still chugging along after quite some time with that in there. I am not sure if it's grown much or not. When these super old hens molt, I fear that will be their last because of the strain it puts on their systems.

 

[1muttsfan]

Cyn it looks like hurricane Zeta is going to head right towards you

 

[speckledhen]

Cyn it looks like hurricane Zeta is going to head right towards you

So I see. We are in an odd little pocket, a small mountain surrounded by taller ones so we are often skipped by the worst of things, but we'll definitely get some wind and rain. Tom is getting the groceries this morning prior to actual payday because of the bad weather coming in starting tomorrow.

 

[speckledhen]

Hector is harassing Maddie so much that she wants to escape his pen any time she gets a chance. Today, he jumped at her as they were being herded back into the barn, so she ran off and I had to go get her. When she and that stubborn Jill went in, I let Atlas outside. Later, I went to put Atlas in and was met by Maddie at the gate. Apparently, somehow she did some voodoo magic and materialized outside the pen after I herded her in and shut the door, so she was out with Atlas. Now that her sister is gone, she has no one and is clinging to me like a scared puppy.
Makes me wonder if Hector hurt Jane somehow since I have no explanation for her demise. I think I should make plans to remove Maddie from Hector's bunch, or remove Hector with the two hens he prefers, his Jill and Athena, and let the others stay together, but that could be tricky. I have one free pen and it's small and next to Atlas. He and Atlas are mortal enemies and would be trying to fight at the divider fence all the time. Ack, Hector tries my patience! He's never been nice to any new hens. Wendy and Zara also avoid him. Athena seems to be fine with him, but I hate to separate the sisters, Athena and Zara.

 

[Cryss]

Divider fence battles. I’m planning on trying a new rooster in spring. I have one rooster in a bachelor pad because he’s human aggressive. It has a divider fence keeping him separate but close to the flock. Don’t want him lonely now do we? But now I worry about the future rooster introduction.