My girls have been asking for silkies, polish and cochins. My husband has an interest in turkeys and guineas. I saw a note pinned up on the co-op board so I jotted down the number, gave the man a call and off we went to see what he had to offer.
When we arrived we immediately saw squallor. I almost put the truck in reverse and left immediately. Too late, he saw us. So we get out our truck and had the meet and greet.
He begins showing us what he has to sell. Lots of pens and coops averaging in size about 3x5 and LOADED with birds ranging from guines, doves, chicks, turkeys and I can't name what all is there. A 2x2 pen with several RIR. An 8x8 house filled with brooders loaded with turkeys, ducks and chicks all mixed together. In he house he lives in a room filled with rubbermaid tubs and heat lamps with one day old birds. Free ranging ducks, pea fowl, turkeys, guineas, etc. The place had a stench that made me feel ill.
I almost left several times but when I looked at the birds I kept having this feeling of 'save me'.
I know I can't save the world. I know we have limited space for what we want to do. But I had to do something.
We came home with:
2 turkeys @ 4 weeks old - Red Bourbon crossed with something, he said bronzes but those huge toms and hens he had where in no way bronzes.
4 black silkies @ 4 weeks old
6 polish @ 4 weeks old - 2 white, 2 black w/ white top, 2 silver laced
6 guineas at 5 weeks old
and 2 little ducks @ 3 days old
There was no feed that we could see in any of the coops/cages.
There was no bedding of any kind. Just hard packed dirt.
No roosts.
No runs.
Just old pots and pans filled with disgusting black water.
And more stench.
We got the new birds back home. Quarrentined them. Gave them a vitamin supplement. Fed them rice and yogurt. Offered some wet cat food. Lots of clean water. Plenty of starter/grower crumbles. Fresh sweet smelling hay for bedding powdered liberally with DE. They do not like to be held much. They are afraid of us.
We will be working on the friendliness thing and hoping to jump start their nutrition.
The new birds are supposedly 4 weeks old.
Our birds we raised from 1 day old are 5 weeks old now.
Can you see the difference in their growth compared to the new ones in the photos above?
My white wyandotte roo. The kids call him King of the Chickens.
One of my buff orpingtons.
One thing I can't wait to rid of is the stench we brought home with us. Our birds do not smell. Our barns do not smell. I use DE and fresh bedding hay. Our birds eat well. We offered them some of the yogurt and rice with a side dish of wet cat food and they attacked it leaving empty bowls in 10 minutes or less.
We felt bad that the new birds didn't realize the offerings were food.
I can't shake the feeling that I wish we could have brought home more.
When we arrived we immediately saw squallor. I almost put the truck in reverse and left immediately. Too late, he saw us. So we get out our truck and had the meet and greet.
He begins showing us what he has to sell. Lots of pens and coops averaging in size about 3x5 and LOADED with birds ranging from guines, doves, chicks, turkeys and I can't name what all is there. A 2x2 pen with several RIR. An 8x8 house filled with brooders loaded with turkeys, ducks and chicks all mixed together. In he house he lives in a room filled with rubbermaid tubs and heat lamps with one day old birds. Free ranging ducks, pea fowl, turkeys, guineas, etc. The place had a stench that made me feel ill.
I almost left several times but when I looked at the birds I kept having this feeling of 'save me'.
I know I can't save the world. I know we have limited space for what we want to do. But I had to do something.
We came home with:
2 turkeys @ 4 weeks old - Red Bourbon crossed with something, he said bronzes but those huge toms and hens he had where in no way bronzes.
4 black silkies @ 4 weeks old
6 polish @ 4 weeks old - 2 white, 2 black w/ white top, 2 silver laced
6 guineas at 5 weeks old
and 2 little ducks @ 3 days old
There was no feed that we could see in any of the coops/cages.
There was no bedding of any kind. Just hard packed dirt.
No roosts.
No runs.
Just old pots and pans filled with disgusting black water.
And more stench.
We got the new birds back home. Quarrentined them. Gave them a vitamin supplement. Fed them rice and yogurt. Offered some wet cat food. Lots of clean water. Plenty of starter/grower crumbles. Fresh sweet smelling hay for bedding powdered liberally with DE. They do not like to be held much. They are afraid of us.
We will be working on the friendliness thing and hoping to jump start their nutrition.
The new birds are supposedly 4 weeks old.
Our birds we raised from 1 day old are 5 weeks old now.
Can you see the difference in their growth compared to the new ones in the photos above?
My white wyandotte roo. The kids call him King of the Chickens.
One of my buff orpingtons.
One thing I can't wait to rid of is the stench we brought home with us. Our birds do not smell. Our barns do not smell. I use DE and fresh bedding hay. Our birds eat well. We offered them some of the yogurt and rice with a side dish of wet cat food and they attacked it leaving empty bowls in 10 minutes or less.
We felt bad that the new birds didn't realize the offerings were food.
I can't shake the feeling that I wish we could have brought home more.
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