Precious..the blind Barred Rock hen

[vantain]

Precious is almost 17 weeks old. She will hit that milestone on Thursday. As of yesterday, she weighs 3lbs. 8oz....which puts her ahead of the other two Barred Rock pullets we have by 10oz. Of the three Rocks, she also has the biggest and most red, wattles and comb. She continues to be Precious in more than name.

Tonight I took her out of the run to have a little free time in the yard without the others. So here are some pictures of her little adventure. She really enjoyed the fresh grass, and even flew a few feet...maybe by surprise..not sure. She does act a little paranoid outside of her safe environment, but also seems to love the grass under her feet.

 

[BudgieKing15]

I really appreciate that you're documenting her life. It's wonderful to see her doing so well! I have a nine day old chick right now who appears to be blind in one eye, and to have limited sight in the other. The first few days she was home were harrowing. She just kept circling the feeder but never eating. We finally realized that she could hear the other chickens eating but she couldn't figure out how they were doing it.

It was so heartbreaking to watch, but once we figured that out we put her in a separate box with one other chick and after a lot of struggle we eventually taught her how to use the feeder. Wow did she eat a lot! She was so excited and now she is gaining weight. We are definitely going to keep her, she's such a sweetie and we have a small flock and can give her a good life.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack Precious' thread, but I will be following it with great interest.

Awwwwwwwwww!!!

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

Supervise her very closely out there. Pretodores such as hawks will snatch her up in an instant, and she literly can't see them coming. Amber stays close to me, so I guess that's good. She looks to be near POL!

 

[Madhouse Pullet]

Love your story! Thank you for sharing her story

 

[vantain]

Supervise her very closely out there. Pretodores such as hawks will snatch her up in an instant, and she literly can't see them coming. Amber stays close to me, so I guess that's good. She looks to be near POL!

Oh...I was there the whole time!

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

Good! She is way 2 cute to be eaten by a hawk.

 

[vantain]

So, there has been a change in flock dynamics. I mentioned before that Precious often hangs out in the coop to get away from the other birds, and just relax. Well, that has changed. Pari, our young cockerel, has started “offending” the ladies. I first thought something was different on Friday. The flock was all together on one side of the run, seemingly just acting normal. This is with Gwyneth (the mean hen) in their midst, and she wasn’t chasing anyone, and no one was running away from her. That is NOT normal. But again, everyone seemed fine except for that change. On Saturday, I witnessed the same behavior, and everyone was calm.

Since Friday, Precious has been out in the run, hanging out with everyone, including Gwyneth. Except for going to roost at night, I never saw her in the coop during the day. Again, not the recent normal.

And then, I think I discovered why things changed. I was viewing my run camera late on Saturday, and saw Gwyneth with her face in one of the feeders, with her fluffy butt up in the air....and it happened..Pari the cockerel rushed in and took advantage of Gwyneth. Gwyneth pecked him back after the very quick deed was done, and he ran off. I can only surmise that Pari’s deeds has changed the flock dynamics. And for some reason, there seems to be more peace out there. At one point, I saw Precious standing right beside Gwyneth, not running away from her.

In the attached picture, Gwyneth is in her normal place on the roost tonight...far right of the long roost bar. And in front of her, on the shorter bar on the right, is Precious!

 

[vantain]

So I know that a rooster can be a good peace keeper, and take care of his ladies. But, my cockerel is only 17 weeks old, and nowhere near mature yet. Could he have put Gwyneth in her place already? She has certainly changed her attitude in the last few days. The other 7 young pullets are nearing point of lay, so I know pecking order will be changing. I can see some strong wills in the upcoming bunch.

Here is Pari...

 

[vantain]

And of course..the star of this thread...Precious!

 

[vantain]

So I know that a rooster can be a good peace keeper, and take care of his ladies. But, my cockerel is only 17 weeks old, and nowhere near mature yet. Could he have put Gwyneth in her place already? She has certainly changed her attitude in the last few days. The other 7 young pullets are nearing point of lay, so I know pecking order will be changing. I can see some strong wills in the upcoming bunch.

Here is Pari...
View attachment 2303694

Poor guy...our Minnesota winter won’t be kind to those big points on his comb...or his gigantic wattles.