Is it better to let them die?

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I don’t see why not. The thread is quite old, but I’ll post as the chicken casualties as they come and go.
I became interested in earth bermed building when I was doing a degree.
I designed this building having discovered that contrary to my expectations it got very cold here in the winter. I didn’t come to Spain to be cold.
The ground work and the shell was built by some local builders and me.
I did the woodwork, windows, door, ceiling, kitchen, some of the electrics and plumbing and the all the interior. The electricity comes from the main house to the cupboard outside which also stores the butane for cooking and hot water. The hot water is a mixed system, part solar, part butane and butane fired water heater.
The log burner provides heat in the winter.
The exterior is very well insulated and the building gets morning solar gain through the windows which face East. It’s very cheap to run.
The pictures are dated and when the chickens started coming into the house the rugs had to come up.
Surprisingly the chickens don’t go in the bedroom unless I put them there, they don’t go on the work surfaces either. They seem content on the floor, the nest box and the chairs. The door is always open and they come and go as they please. It’s the safest place here.

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There are couple of pictures of the lamps I make. I shall probably start a thread for these one day.
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That is awesome!
Thank you for sharing!
And, yes, you should start a thread for the lamps.. those are beautiful!

 

[Shadrach]

Very interesting, Shadrach!

I'm pleased you found it interesting. It's a bit different.
It would male a lovely chicken coop

 

[Shadrach]

That is awesome!
Thank you for sharing!
And, yes, you should start a thread for the lamps.. those are beautiful!

Thank you. I probably will start a thread for them.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Thank you. I probably will start a thread for them.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm pleased you found it interesting. It's a bit different.
It would male a lovely chicken coop

It’s not as dark as I would have expected, being built into the ground.

 

[Shadrach]

A rather scruffy looking Mel and her chick went home this evening. She’s got feather stems growing at all the wrong angles around the wounds in her chest and semi bare patches around her neck and chest. The hole at the apex of her stitch lines which I was concerned about has filled in leaving a small pink patch partially skinned. I’ve had to remove one stitch that had a new feather growing through it, but apart from that, Mel is as fit as my efforts can make her. She’s a bit underweight, but I don’t expect that to change until she stops feeding her chick which could be soon; she’s already eating most of what I feed her by hand and letting the chick have the occasional piece.

Cillin (Mels father and the father of her chick) brought Tribe 1 down to my house this morning; they haven’t all been down since Mel got attacked.
Mel’s sister Fudge wasn’t pleased given she’s had a lot of attention from Cillin in Mel’s absence. Fat Bird, the senior hen in Tribe 1 sauntered over to mel and gave what for Fat Bird was a friendly peck on the head and sat down in her favorite place in front of the cooker. Ruffles, Mel’s mum walked straight past Mel and the chick heading for Mels food bowl which she promptly emptied and then settled beside Fat Bird. The two youngsters, Block and Tackle, hovered at the door looking slightly nervous and discretion being the better part of valour, took refuge in the maternity unit outside in case any unpleasantness kicked off.

Cillin looked immensely pleased to have Mel back and when they all departed to sit under their favorite bush, Cillin sat right next to Mel and wouldn’t even get up to go and answer Fudge’s escort calls from their coop where she had gone for a sulk.

By mid afternoon Tribe 1, minus Mel and her chick, moved off to the bamboo clump and then back up to the hay rack in the sheep field. Mel and the her chick hung around the car port possibly considering following the rest of the tribe but eventually returned to my house and had a short nap under my chair.

This evening after the seniors had gone into the coop, Cillin appeared at the edge of the roof of my house making nesting noises and Mel went out to meet him. I watched them both walk together up the bank on the South side of my house heading for the coop with the chick cheeping madly behind. Of course I’m there to watch. I’ve had Mel in the house for over two weeks now and much as I care about her, she’s not overly fond of funk music moans if the lights don’t go out around 10 pm.

It all looked good as Cillin went up the ramp first. I thought maybe the chick would show some reluctance but not a bit. Mel followed the chick in and two seconds later Fudge, Block and Tackle jettisoned out of the door in a rush of feathers and squawks; Mel was back! There are long standing issues between Mel and her younger sister Fudge. There isn’t anything I can do about it. Mel was very jealous when Fudge hatched chicks first and Cillin much to Mels’ irritation spent more time with Fudge than he did with her. It took half an hour to get everyone in and on to a perch. Mel attacked all three at every attempt to get in; not a lot wrong with Mel’s spirit obviously…

I eventually persuaded Mel that the best place for in the short term at least was in one of the egg boxes and that it was unreasonable to expect to have a whole perch to herself. A few bum shoves later a very pissy looking Mel settled with her chick and the rest crept in like a bunch of guilty teenagers after a late night out.

Today Cillin hasn’t left Mel’s side and poor Fudge hangs around out of strike distance. Block and Tackle left them to it and went into the cool spot in the woods. Fat Bird and Ruffles, the tribe pensioners, arrived at my house early this morning apparently disgusted by the whole affair.

It will calm down in a few days. Mel is looking for egg laying spots so that will be the end of intensive chick care shortly. I don’t know how much learning experience the chick has missed by being confined to the house for so long. I just hope she realises that she needs to

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Oh the mental image of the goings on at yer place...
Im really glad Mel has done so well. I guess there'll be a few more nights of pouting from Fudge..but like you said, they'll settle down in time and all will be as peacfull as it can be, in a tribe..

 

[PattyNH]

.

It will calm down in a few days. Mel is looking for egg laying spots so that will be the end of intensive chick care shortly. I don’t know how much learning experience the chick has missed by being confined to the house for so long. I just hope she realises that she needs to

What a lovely happy end to such a scary, sad story I am so glad life is making its way back to normal for you and your flock. The love you have for them is so evident by not only how you care for them but also in how you know them and speak of them. You're doing a wonderful thing and I'm sure they can sense and truly appreciate that... xo

 

[Shadrach]

This is Hinge. She got attacked by a hawk.

I heard the alarm call and recognised Mag’s (2nd rooster in Tribe 2) voice, so I knew roughly where the tribe was likely to be. The two dogs here are getting better at responding to the alarm calls and would, if their owner would leave them outside instead of letting them spend their days on the sofa, help prevent a lot of predator attacks; both were at the compost heap when I arrived, the hawk having flown off, I assume when the dogs showed up.

I found Hinge wedged against a section of wooden fence in the second compost bin at the base of the pile of compost. She had managed to get partly under the horizontal bar of the fence and this probably saved her from more serious injuries.

Hinge was in shock when I picked her up and I initially thought one of her legs was broken. I examined her wings and body and apart from having a sizeable potion of her back plucked the only serious injury was on her chest where the hawk had tried to take a bite. While this looked unpleasant, a one and a half inch flap of skin hanging off and muscle with a quarter of an inch deep wound in showing, heartless though it may sound it was a mere scratch compared to many of the injuries I get here.

I carried Hinge up to the terrace, had a better look at the wound, felt along her wings for any breakages, or other damage and tried to examine her leg which she had tucked close to her body. Not wanting to force the leg straight I placed her on one of the terrace tiles to see if she would stand and in an attempt to jolt her out of her shock. She stood for a moment. Shook her head, took a couple of tentative steps as I assured her she was indeed still alive and just as I bent down to pick her up again someone came out of the main house and Hinge panicked and ran.

The relationships I have with each tribe here are different. The bantams took a long time to get used to me and are very untrusting of humans. They all hate being picked up so I haven’t unless absolutely necessary. Usually, if I need to handle them I wait until they’ve roosted and take them off their perch in the dark. The last time I handled Hinge was when she was a chick and given she was running that ruled out a broken leg at least. I probably could have caught her if other people hadn’t arrived all hyped up at the drama and generally getting in the way, Hinge after all had often perched on my leg and taken walnuts out of my hand.

When the rubber necking had subsided and peace was restored I went to look for Hinge. She had found a safe spot under a bush and while not looking perky by any means she was alert and safe.

I was standing there watching her when Mag showed up. Mag went over to Hinge and inspected her. I can’t describe his actions any differently. He walked around her, had a very gentle peck at the bare patch on her back, bent to look at the hole in her chest and then sat down on the ground a couple of feet away from Hinge. Every time I checked on Hinge that day there was one of her tribe’s roosters close by; not bothering her, just close.

I had already decided that I was going to coat the wound in her chest with Stockholm Hoof Tar. I did consider stitching the flap of skin back but this would have hidden the wound and created an environment in which bacteria would thrive. I hoped, as it had in the past, the Stockholm Hoof Tar would seal the wound and time would heal the damage. I wasn’t then and I’m still not sure what to do about the flap of skin hanging from her chest.

That night I took Hinge off her perch and made a reasonable job with the tar. Hinge had one small cut above one eye which I applied a drop of betadine to, another beside the bare patch on her back which got the same treatment and I gave her a dose of Metacam which I had left over from Mel’s treatment and placed her back on her perch.

I looked in her coop later that night. Hinge was perched tight up against an end wall, the wound closest to the wall and Nail (youngest rooster) was perched tight up against Hinge. Nobody else was on that perch which isn’t the norm.

It’s day three now. Hinge has been with her tribe constantly. None of the others are bothering her; in fact at feeding time she is normally the last to be allowed to eat. This morning even Blue Spot her mother who is super strict regarding hierarchy let Hinge eat first with her. Hinge is eating solids and drinking. She stays with the tribe while they are in safe zones but wont venture far to forage and still, every time I look there is one of the three roosters close by. As long as the wound doesn’t get infected it looks like Hinge is going to survive her attack.

What I find interesting about this and other injured chickens I’ve dealt with is ask what to do on various forums and even some vets, you get told to isolate the chicken, pump them full of this substance or that and keep them away form the rest because they’ll pick on an injured chicken and possibly kill it. Gloria, the lovely vet here who takes care of what I cannot, gave me this advice years ago. Do not if you can possibly help it separate an injured chicken from the rest of it’s tribe.

If you have to separate them during the day then put them on their perch with the others at night so they have chicken company for some of the 24 hours. Gloria says, chickens will pick on sick chickens and drive them away but they understand that injuries are not a threat to the tribes health.
As long as there is no blood dripping chickens tend to leave the injured alone.

I have in the past and will again if I feel it’s necessary separate an injured chicken from the rest, but it’s not because I believe the rest will attack it. It’s easier to keep wounds clean in a better controlled environment and some of the injured I’ve had couldn’t walk enough to keep up with a snail. In every case, there has been a noticeable improvement in the injured chickens attitude and consequently health when other chickens are present to a point when keeping them confined was actually hindering their recovery.


You can just see the bare patch on Hinge’s back and the loose flap of skin.

This is Hinge today surrounded by her family. Mag keeps pecking at the little blobs of tar that have stuck to her feathers and are not covering the wound.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

This is Hinge. She got attacked by a hawk.
View attachment 1544196

I heard the alarm call and recognised Mag’s (2nd rooster in Tribe 2) voice, so I knew roughly where the tribe was likely to be. The two dogs here are getting better at responding to the alarm calls and would, if their owner would leave them outside instead of letting them spend their days on the sofa, help prevent a lot of predator attacks; both were at the compost heap when I arrived, the hawk having flown off, I assume when the dogs showed up.

I found Hinge wedged against a section of wooden fence in the second compost bin at the base of the pile of compost. She had managed to get partly under the horizontal bar of the fence and this probably saved her from more serious injuries.

Hinge was in shock when I picked her up and I initially thought one of her legs was broken. I examined her wings and body and apart from having a sizeable potion of her back plucked the only serious injury was on her chest where the hawk had tried to take a bite. While this looked unpleasant, a one and a half inch flap of skin hanging off and muscle with a quarter of an inch deep wound in showing, heartless though it may sound it was a mere scratch compared to many of the injuries I get here.

I carried Hinge up to the terrace, had a better look at the wound, felt along her wings for any breakages, or other damage and tried to examine her leg which she had tucked close to her body. Not wanting to force the leg straight I placed her on one of the terrace tiles to see if she would stand and in an attempt to jolt her out of her shock. She stood for a moment. Shook her head, took a couple of tentative steps as I assured her she was indeed still alive and just as I bent down to pick her up again someone came out of the main house and Hinge panicked and ran.

The relationships I have with each tribe here are different. The bantams took a long time to get used to me and are very untrusting of humans. They all hate being picked up so I haven’t unless absolutely necessary. Usually, if I need to handle them I wait until they’ve roosted and take them off their perch in the dark. The last time I handled Hinge was when she was a chick and given she was running that ruled out a broken leg at least. I probably could have caught her if other people hadn’t arrived all hyped up at the drama and generally getting in the way, Hinge after all had often perched on my leg and taken walnuts out of my hand.

When the rubber necking had subsided and peace was restored I went to look for Hinge. She had found a safe spot under a bush and while not looking perky by any means she was alert and safe.

I was standing there watching her when Mag showed up. Mag went over to Hinge and inspected her. I can’t describe his actions any differently. He walked around her, had a very gentle peck at the bare patch on her back, bent to look at the hole in her chest and then sat down on the ground a couple of feet away from Hinge. Every time I checked on Hinge that day there was one of her tribe’s roosters close by; not bothering her, just close.

I had already decided that I was going to coat the wound in her chest with Stockholm Hoof Tar. I did consider stitching the flap of skin back but this would have hidden the wound and created an environment in which bacteria would thrive. I hoped, as it had in the past, the Stockholm Hoof Tar would seal the wound and time would heal the damage. I wasn’t then and I’m still not sure what to do about the flap of skin hanging from her chest.

That night I took Hinge off her perch and made a reasonable job with the tar. Hinge had one small cut above one eye which I applied a drop of betadine to, another beside the bare patch on her back which got the same treatment and I gave her a dose of Metacam which I had left over from Mel’s treatment and placed her back on her perch.

I looked in her coop later that night. Hinge was perched tight up against an end wall, the wound closest to the wall and Nail (youngest rooster) was perched tight up against Hinge. Nobody else was on that perch which isn’t the norm.

It’s day three now. Hinge has been with her tribe constantly. None of the others are bothering her; in fact at feeding time she is normally the last to be allowed to eat. This morning even Blue Spot her mother who is super strict regarding hierarchy let Hinge eat first with her. Hinge is eating solids and drinking. She stays with the tribe while they are in safe zones but wont venture far to forage and still, every time I look there is one of the three roosters close by. As long as the wound doesn’t get infected it looks like Hinge is going to survive her attack.

What I find interesting about this and other injured chickens I’ve dealt with is ask what to do on various forums and even some vets, you get told to isolate the chicken, pump them full of this substance or that and keep them away form the rest because they’ll pick on an injured chicken and possibly kill it. Gloria, the lovely vet here who takes care of what I cannot, gave me this advice years ago. Do not if you can possibly help it separate an injured chicken from the rest of it’s tribe.

If you have to separate them during the day then put them on their perch with the others at night so they have chicken company for some of the 24 hours. Gloria says, chickens will pick on sick chickens and drive them away but they understand that injuries are not a threat to the tribes health.
As long as there is no blood dripping chickens tend to leave the injured alone.

I have in the past and will again if I feel it’s necessary separate an injured chicken from the rest, but it’s not because I believe the rest will attack it. It’s easier to keep wounds clean in a better controlled environment and some of the injured I’ve had couldn’t walk enough to keep up with a snail. In every case, there has been a noticeable improvement in the injured chickens attitude and consequently health when other chickens are present to a point when keeping them confined was actually hindering their recovery.


You can just see the bare patch on Hinge’s back and the loose flap of skin.
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This is Hinge today surrounded by her family. Mag keeps pecking at the little blobs of tar that have stuck to her feathers and are not covering the wound.

So glad she's recovering well and able to stay with her tribe.