Well, I think what I am going to do is however many hatch, half are being taken away, the other half are staying with mama. These are eggs brought in, and to my knowledge not exposed. They will all be vaccinated x2. Mama is being good, she had removed all her breast feathers and sits diligently. I have to carry her outside, she hates to leave those eggs. And I hate to say this, almost because it sounds dumb. But her right eye is normal now. No longer does it look like her pupil is bleeding into the iris. Her left one still looks the same. I am sure there is no reason for this, but it is happening. We are having hot hot weather here atm, so I am trying to take her off the nest 4-5 times a day. Boy is she angry lol.
The girls all got some crickets yesterday after our day out fishing. They loved them! We made a point to give EE and mama extras, but it was difficult lol, chickens and turkeys everywhere.Then mama caught a mouse, she was instantly bombarded and bits of mouse was being ripped from every angle I think almost all the chickens got part of it lol. It was the most comical point in our day yesterday. Fishing was so relaxing, heck, not even the fish never bothered us. Brought home only 4 and small ones at that. They swallowed the hook and would not have lived, so the girls got them too!
Our turkeys have been staying in the coop with the girls. Well when we added the poop board the roost changed somewhat, went a little higher. The turkey hen can get up and down just fine, the turkey can not. What we were gonna use for the turkeys didn't work out, they hated it and went back in the coop with the girls every night. So now we built a covered roost for the turkeys to use outside, with a lower roost for him. I think it sets at around 36" high. They won't use it, they want inside the darn coop. He get so frustrated trying to get up, I'm afraid hes going to hurt himself. Any ideas what I can do? I have no problem with them in the coop other than them getting hurt, or hurting the chickens in the process. We have about 13-15' of roost and board which sits about 48" high, and all the birds stay on the 8' part. So the turkeys would be on the lesser end. Well then he cant get down, not enough room to just jump down safely. He about broke my nose the other night, I was trying to put him outside on his new roost and his wing got loose. Well let me tell you, you do not want your face that close to a turkey wing when said turkey is alive and well and scared! I think hubby wanted that wing in his face with some gravy on it! Man he was mad. So we've been booting the turkeys out at night, the female will roost, the male will not. He sleeps on the ground. And is not happy about it lol.
As far as my ee goes. We think we are going to cull her. We want healthy birds in our flock. She is not healthy. I don't see anyway of making her healthy. I don't want her to suffer, and I am sure she is. She really doesn't do the things that chickens do. The rest of the flock, if it is mericks, their immune systems for what ever reasons are dealing with it atm. I am not one to watch anyone, person or animal, suffer. I just can't see letting her try to be a chicken, when she really can't. Hubby and I still have some talking to do about it. For the most part he agrees. Just not enough to do it now. Well me either for that matter. She walks a few steps at a time, and most times her right foot is turned in. Then sits on her hocks. Picks at the ground with her beak. She doesn't scratch the ground with her feet, only beaks it. She literally has to fight for her food daily. Shes one of the last ones to eat, so I normally put her in the coop with her own stash to eat. When we do cull her, I will have a necropsy done to see. Hopefully I won't have to pay for that one. But if I do, well then I do.
So many ups and downs. Raising chickens is supposed to be fun, and for the most part easy. Learning chicken husbandry, however is not easy. And that is what we want to learn. We want to do more of the natural way of things. Not lots of meds. If I didn't care about what my food consisted of, I would still be buying eggs and meat from the store. We want a more healthy way of life. And raising chickens is just a part of that. So I do believe, she will be culled. Everyone else is doing fine. Even mama, who has the ocular change. And if we see a decline in her, she will be culled as well. We didn't get into chickens so we could have more pets. We live in the country on our couple of acres of heaven. We want to have the best food available to us. So I garden organically, can and freeze it, buy our meat from our neighbor who only lets his cows graze. They have 50 acres, and raise 10 calf to butcher 2x a year. They get no corn. We will be doing meat birds in the spring. We wanted to do them this fall, but dh will be going to Florida to work soon. And I really don't know if I can process 15 birds by myself, since I have never done it. I do however, feel I need to do this, whether my hubby is home or not. So I may still do this. If I find I can't process them, there are many Amish in my area who will for a price.
Anyway, now that I have bared my soul to all of you this fine early morning, I am off. I have a kitchen that needs cleaning, tomatoes that need canned, and animals to feed. (and a few more posts to read. I have 30 more minutes to myself!
Have a great day everyone, I truly hope your day is a fine one!
Deb
Now to decide on necropsy, husband mad at me about considering that.
