I just wanted to share the story of two of my birds, who I think have turned out sort of special. They were both victims of a fox attack on the 19th of May. I had given up both of them for dead when they came hobbling up, Morticia an hour after the fox and Lurch over five hours later. Morticia had nasty puncture wounds down her back and right through her chest (I could peer inside the hollow space in her chest.) Lurch had bites too, and his leg was one giant bruise. After I had Lurch cleaned up, he joined Morticia in the brooder-turned-sick-ward. They settled down together immediately.
For the next ten days or so, they each had to endure taking a trip inside to get washed off and have antibiotic ointments applied to their various injuries. Morticia's feathers hadn't fallen out yet, but you can still see some of the damage:
Lurch found the whole thing a bit overwhelming, given his fragile mental state.
But, eventually their wounds healed and their feathers began to grow back, and so they were reintroduced to the flock in their new makeshift run. Lurch proved to be Morticia's loyal defender as the other pullets attempted to knock her down to the bottom of the totem pole. Every time he saw a pullet making a beeline for Morticia, poor Lurch would hobble his way between them and fluff himself up real big. He still does it when I get a bit close to his ladyfriend:
And you'd think that once they were members of the flock again, they'd start seeing other birds once in a while. However, it seems like every time I look up, those two are glued together at the hip. They sleep next to each other, eat together, and wander around together. Sometimes they come hang out with me on the porch while the others are out scratching.
Of course, this is just making my life more difficult, as Lurch is by far the smallest of my three remaining roosters, and I can only keep one. Right now my planned keeper is this guy:
One is big and beautiful and mild-mannered, and I need him to make me big, beautiful, mild-manned babies. Unfortunately, I think keeping two roosters for nine hens may be asking for trouble. Still, I'm going to feel pretty bad culling this guy just weeks after nursing him back to health. Obviously I need to just get more hens, right?
For the next ten days or so, they each had to endure taking a trip inside to get washed off and have antibiotic ointments applied to their various injuries. Morticia's feathers hadn't fallen out yet, but you can still see some of the damage:
Lurch found the whole thing a bit overwhelming, given his fragile mental state.
But, eventually their wounds healed and their feathers began to grow back, and so they were reintroduced to the flock in their new makeshift run. Lurch proved to be Morticia's loyal defender as the other pullets attempted to knock her down to the bottom of the totem pole. Every time he saw a pullet making a beeline for Morticia, poor Lurch would hobble his way between them and fluff himself up real big. He still does it when I get a bit close to his ladyfriend:
And you'd think that once they were members of the flock again, they'd start seeing other birds once in a while. However, it seems like every time I look up, those two are glued together at the hip. They sleep next to each other, eat together, and wander around together. Sometimes they come hang out with me on the porch while the others are out scratching.
Of course, this is just making my life more difficult, as Lurch is by far the smallest of my three remaining roosters, and I can only keep one. Right now my planned keeper is this guy:
One is big and beautiful and mild-mannered, and I need him to make me big, beautiful, mild-manned babies. Unfortunately, I think keeping two roosters for nine hens may be asking for trouble. Still, I'm going to feel pretty bad culling this guy just weeks after nursing him back to health. Obviously I need to just get more hens, right?
I sense some emotional blackmail coming!
