Larkwell Valley (2023)

[fluffycrow]

I'm so sorry, so many hard losses . Hoping the best for the Spanish

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Spanish ended up passing last night. Looked about as peaceful as I could hope for though. Devastated, but she was almost 12, so I knew it was coming sooner or later.

Put the two little pullets in the mini barn. Scalpie had no issues once she warmed up a few days ago, her buddy had some foot complications. Hoping that being able to move around more might help the swelling and remaining blisters to heal with little loss. Might throw weirdo in there too today, her feet aren't much better.

Cuzco.... well, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him to be honest. His feet aren't swollen, he's just having a very hard time keeping them clean. He's always had foot issues though since Las winter. I'm trying to keep him from losing much more, but if he can't heal enough to have a quality of life, then there's no point in making him stick around longer.

 

[Canadian Wind]

I'm so so so sorry to hear about poor Spanish. She had a long long life, and she passed away warm and loved.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm so so so sorry to hear about poor Spanish. She had a long long life, and she passed away warm and loved.

I think she was just ready too. Her two flock members passed away about a year ago, and after that she was always just a flock of one in her new flock.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Poor girl. Getting old is hard.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Brought Petunia, the white Phoenix in. One foot was pretty close to being frozen solid, the other was fine.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Petunia is in with my cornish/Phoenix pair now. Was hoping she would teach them how to roost, but those silly birds still have no clue.

Weirdo is still iffy. I'm thinking she will probably lose one of her feet. It was frozen curled, so it probably took more damage while she was walking than a flat frozen. Still soaking it in Epson and keeping her clean though.

Cuzco.... well, I think he's going to be put down. His feet are slowly (far more slow on both of these birds than I'm used to, honestly), dying a bit. Not enough that I know he wouldn't be able to handle it, but he also has started to lose weight, his heart is faster than normal and I saw yesterday while I was soaking him that he has a tiny cataract in the front of his left eye and he can't see his food and water bowls easily now. If I kept him alone in a breeding pen, it might be okay, but I really wasn't planning on that. I adore the bird, but he now has 3 things against him amd even if I could get him to stop losing weight, he still has 2 rather big things going on. He's not a small framed bird either. My 3 that have severe toe and foot damage from last year are all very light framed. Wes, the one with the most toes of the 3, is still like ⅔ Cuzcos normal size. They're pretty similar now with the weight loss though.

It makes me sad though, that bird is so silly amd so calm. He loves being picked up and handled, neck and back scritches, he soaks it all up.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

Petunia is in with my cornish/Phoenix pair now. Was hoping she would teach them how to roost, but those silly birds still have no clue.

Weirdo is still iffy. I'm thinking she will probably lose one of her feet. It was frozen curled, so it probably took more damage while she was walking than a flat frozen. Still soaking it in Epson and keeping her clean though.

Cuzco.... well, I think he's going to be put down. His feet are slowly (far more slow on both of these birds than I'm used to, honestly), dying a bit. Not enough that I know he wouldn't be able to handle it, but he also has started to lose weight, his heart is faster than normal and I saw yesterday while I was soaking him that he has a tiny cataract in the front of his left eye and he can't see his food and water bowls easily now. If I kept him alone in a breeding pen, it might be okay, but I really wasn't planning on that. I adore the bird, but he now has 3 things against him amd even if I could get him to stop losing weight, he still has 2 rather big things going on. He's not a small framed bird either. My 3 that have severe toe and foot damage from last year are all very light framed. Wes, the one with the most toes of the 3, is still like ⅔ Cuzcos normal size. They're pretty similar now with the weight loss though.

It makes me sad though, that bird is so silly amd so calm. He loves being picked up and handled, neck and back scritches, he soaks it all up.

Wow, is it that cold there? How long were they exposed to the cold for that to happen? That's scary.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Wow, is it that cold there? How long were they exposed to the cold for that to happen? That's scary.

The high one day this year was below -30F. I've had it happen warmer though, and all it really takes is over night amd an unlucky bird. Last year I had far more birds with foot issues (the 3 I mentioned were just the lucky ones who didn't need to be put down).

It's happened for a few years now and I cannot find out why still. These birds have access to draft free roosting, places out of snow, flat areas to sleep so they don't need to curl their feet, don't stand in their water, different breeds, different ages, different pens. Sometimes I'll have a bird just fine one year that has issues the next, sometimes the birds with issues last year do just fine the next.

If they're small enough that they can handle losing a foot or most toes (Knuckles the Phoenix has no toes except for one back toe and One Leg the araucana has well, one leg), they it is just waiting for the dead limb to auto amputate, which is the least traumatic part in my experience. Often the bird will just be walking and all of a sudden I have to pick up a foot that came off. No blood or open wound typically, which is great for all of us if I'm being honest. The main issue comes when both feet completely die or the bird is too heavy framed to be supported on one leg. One Leg herself is a small bird, can't be more than 4 pounds, and her foot structure already changed drastically this year to support her whole weight.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

The high one day this year was below -30F. I've had it happen warmer though, and all it really takes is over night amd an unlucky bird. Last year I had far more birds with foot issues (the 3 I mentioned were just the lucky ones who didn't need to be put down).

It's happened for a few years now and I cannot find out why still. These birds have access to draft free roosting, places out of snow, flat areas to sleep so they don't need to curl their feet, don't stand in their water, different breeds, different ages, different pens. Sometimes I'll have a bird just fine one year that has issues the next, sometimes the birds with issues last year do just fine the next.

If they're small enough that they can handle losing a foot or most toes (Knuckles the Phoenix has no toes except for one back toe and One Leg the araucana has well, one leg), they it is just waiting for the dead limb to auto amputate, which is the least traumatic part in my experience. Often the bird will just be walking and all of a sudden I have to pick up a foot that came off. No blood or open wound typically, which is great for all of us if I'm being honest. The main issue comes when both feet completely die or the bird is too heavy framed to be supported on one leg. One Leg herself is a small bird, can't be more than 4 pounds, and her foot structure already changed drastically this year to support her whole weight.

Chickens are strange creatures. -30... I can't even fathom that. I've never even seen 0 degrees.