- Jan 25, 2011
- 18
- 2
- 24
I was a member on here I'm sure, previously spangleyt, but it's telling me no, so I must have lost the plot.
Anyway, so here I am as bpirockin, the bpi being a brachial plexus injury acquired in a road accident and meaning that my right arm pretty much no longer works.
I have personally been keeping chickens for about two years now, having fallen in love with the idea after spending time on my Nan's farm in my younger days.
Initially I had two silkies / chinese bantams - supposedly both hens. One then started doing this thing with its throat and I thought it was choking, but it kept doing it periodically
and didn't lay even though the other one had started to do so. Then this same 'hen' appeared to get an eye infection so I took it to the vet and got some gunk for it.
However, it got worse, the neck/throat thing continued and I took it back to the vet, who thought it had a cyst. He suggested I have it put down but I could not make a decision
on the spot and went away and decided that the poor thing deserved a chance so asked him to operate. He did and discovered it was tumour, told me that it was likely there
would be more and said it would be kinder not to bring it round. It seems the bird was actually a cock and this 'cancer' or whatever it was had caused an inability to crow, and that
was what all the neck stretching was about.
So then I was left with a lonely silkie. Couldn't find any others available at the time so I bought three hybrids, and they all settled down right away. Smoky, though the smallest
holds her own and the only time there is any disturbance in the ranks is after she comes back out after being broody. I've found the best way is to put her in a little run on her own and
feed her separately for a few days. This seems to elevate her status and she then joins them (sneaking out through a deliberate hole in the corner) once they've watched her eat the
goodies and then had to share their own. Since I've done it this way I've not had to witness all the bullying/ostracising that was occurring previously. I have thought about getting her
a couple of smaller companions, but to be honest she seems quite happy with things as they are, and if I did that I know I'd only be worrying about whichever little one was at the bottom of
the pecking order, and I'd rather they had more space.
So, I have
Smoky - a blue grey silkie bantam - big on character
Maggie, a copperhead cross - great layer and very friendly and fast - she's always trying to sneak out of their pen
Etta - a light Sussx cross - big bird who really wants to fly and flaps her way across distances like a plane too heavy to take off, fairly reliable layer, loves fruit and veg - has odd pupils at the moment
Bluebell - gorgeous great Bluebell chicken, has hormonal problems and is not a great layer as a result, have had 3 eggs in one day, 1 hard and two soft, watched the third slide out as she
walked around. I love her for this, poor thing, but she is the only one I regularly see chasing little Smoky - maybe it's her hormones!. In the old place they often lay together sunbathing, or in the cold
Smoky used to snuggle almost under her.
So that's them.
I also have two parrots - African greys, one boy, one girl, who started plucking about 4 years ago after laying eggs. The female has since stopped plucking herself but still has a go at his feathers and he
does his own now, though they are growing back at the moment they are 'baby' and fluffy feathers rather than good ones. They are still living at my old home, but will be across here in the next few
weeks where life will be much better/more interesting for them so hopefully I will be rid of my oven-ready freddys very shortly. They're not all that bad now, just rather scruffy, but they really were.
I also have a Hungarian Vizsla called Amber, who's great. If the chickens make a fuss she wants to chase them, but generally speaking she just wants to stick her nose right in there and have a lick.
She's very good really, and though she would not hurt them with her mouth I try and keep them apart because obviously she could do damage just by treading on them wrong in her delightfully excitable
manner.
I was absolutely astounded when my brother's staffy cross decided to jump the fence into the pen, I was ready to pounce, but he had no interest in them whatsoever, just wanted to be in their area and found a way in.
As far as we know he'd never even seen a chicken before, and he presumably thought them rather dull! I got him out of course because the chickens were unsurprisingly rather wary, but at least that's one
thing I don't have to panic about when he visits again.
I now live in Sandhurst in Kent, not sure it's for me, lovely though it is. During the summer there aren't enough places to let the dog run without first getting into the car, and with the price of fuel I'd rather not.
Anyway, that's them and me.
Hello (again?) everyone.
Tricia
Anyway, so here I am as bpirockin, the bpi being a brachial plexus injury acquired in a road accident and meaning that my right arm pretty much no longer works.
I have personally been keeping chickens for about two years now, having fallen in love with the idea after spending time on my Nan's farm in my younger days.
Initially I had two silkies / chinese bantams - supposedly both hens. One then started doing this thing with its throat and I thought it was choking, but it kept doing it periodically
and didn't lay even though the other one had started to do so. Then this same 'hen' appeared to get an eye infection so I took it to the vet and got some gunk for it.
However, it got worse, the neck/throat thing continued and I took it back to the vet, who thought it had a cyst. He suggested I have it put down but I could not make a decision
on the spot and went away and decided that the poor thing deserved a chance so asked him to operate. He did and discovered it was tumour, told me that it was likely there
would be more and said it would be kinder not to bring it round. It seems the bird was actually a cock and this 'cancer' or whatever it was had caused an inability to crow, and that
was what all the neck stretching was about.
So then I was left with a lonely silkie. Couldn't find any others available at the time so I bought three hybrids, and they all settled down right away. Smoky, though the smallest
holds her own and the only time there is any disturbance in the ranks is after she comes back out after being broody. I've found the best way is to put her in a little run on her own and
feed her separately for a few days. This seems to elevate her status and she then joins them (sneaking out through a deliberate hole in the corner) once they've watched her eat the
goodies and then had to share their own. Since I've done it this way I've not had to witness all the bullying/ostracising that was occurring previously. I have thought about getting her
a couple of smaller companions, but to be honest she seems quite happy with things as they are, and if I did that I know I'd only be worrying about whichever little one was at the bottom of
the pecking order, and I'd rather they had more space.
So, I have
Smoky - a blue grey silkie bantam - big on character
Maggie, a copperhead cross - great layer and very friendly and fast - she's always trying to sneak out of their pen
Etta - a light Sussx cross - big bird who really wants to fly and flaps her way across distances like a plane too heavy to take off, fairly reliable layer, loves fruit and veg - has odd pupils at the moment
Bluebell - gorgeous great Bluebell chicken, has hormonal problems and is not a great layer as a result, have had 3 eggs in one day, 1 hard and two soft, watched the third slide out as she
walked around. I love her for this, poor thing, but she is the only one I regularly see chasing little Smoky - maybe it's her hormones!. In the old place they often lay together sunbathing, or in the cold
Smoky used to snuggle almost under her.
So that's them.
I also have two parrots - African greys, one boy, one girl, who started plucking about 4 years ago after laying eggs. The female has since stopped plucking herself but still has a go at his feathers and he
does his own now, though they are growing back at the moment they are 'baby' and fluffy feathers rather than good ones. They are still living at my old home, but will be across here in the next few
weeks where life will be much better/more interesting for them so hopefully I will be rid of my oven-ready freddys very shortly. They're not all that bad now, just rather scruffy, but they really were.
I also have a Hungarian Vizsla called Amber, who's great. If the chickens make a fuss she wants to chase them, but generally speaking she just wants to stick her nose right in there and have a lick.
She's very good really, and though she would not hurt them with her mouth I try and keep them apart because obviously she could do damage just by treading on them wrong in her delightfully excitable
manner.
I was absolutely astounded when my brother's staffy cross decided to jump the fence into the pen, I was ready to pounce, but he had no interest in them whatsoever, just wanted to be in their area and found a way in.
As far as we know he'd never even seen a chicken before, and he presumably thought them rather dull! I got him out of course because the chickens were unsurprisingly rather wary, but at least that's one
thing I don't have to panic about when he visits again.
I now live in Sandhurst in Kent, not sure it's for me, lovely though it is. During the summer there aren't enough places to let the dog run without first getting into the car, and with the price of fuel I'd rather not.
Anyway, that's them and me.
Hello (again?) everyone.
Tricia
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