Precious..the blind Barred Rock hen

[BY Bob]

She got up to the roost via the ramp! It only took her two tries to get it figured out. She walks up the ramp slowly, feeling her way with her feet. The first time, she walked off the edge. The second time she was more careful, and made it up there. Yay!

Outstanding! Good job!

 

[BY Bob]

You can also do it yourself... I will do it with my new chicks and use my finger like a beak and “peck” at the food going ... buk,buk,buk,buk... I will also do it to get them to come to me... they come running every time .. Precious may be a little old for this.. I don’t know...

Video of you clucking like a hen might be useful to teach others, just saying.

 

[vantain]

Well..an update on Daisy and her mothering. She is now defending Precious from Gwyneth. She won't fight Gwyneth, but whenever Precious gets into a scuffle with Gwyneth, Daisy comes running, all fluffed up, and stands between Gwyneth and Precious. She then walks her to another area of the run, away from Gwyneth.

It's cool to see, but I wonder what is going to happen when Daisy decides not to be mother anymore.

 

[jsr5]

Sounds more like she is just being Cheif Hen and keeping peace in her flock My lead roo does the same thing with fighting hens or roos he considers His Flockmates rather than competitors. So hopefully she will continue to keep peace in her flock

 

[adwil21]

What a wonderful story, thank you for sharing, I really enjoyed reading about this little girl!!

 

[vantain]

Nothing really new to report. Precious is doing much better without Gwyneth being part of the flock. I spent some time with her yesterday, trying to get her to use a horizontal nipple waterer. Right now, this seems impossible. She just doesn’t understand what to do, and where to peck. I try tapping at the spot, but she just pecks everywhere else. It’s frustrating to me, because it is so much easier to heat the nipple waterer in our extremely cold Minnesota winters. The thought of dealing with a fount waterer in the winter just intimidates me. I really need another waterer right now, and have avoided buying another one, because I’d prefer the cleaner nipple watering solution.

I will keep trying with Precious. I have some ideas to try out, and I do have many months to keep trying. As she gets older, she is getting smarter about things, so that may help in time.

 

[NightFury06]

Oh, I forgot to mention, we have a very short roost bar in the brooder. It stands about 4" high, and Precious has managed to get onto it several times today. She appears to get stuck on it though, as she is afraid to jump off, due to her lack of vision.

Try putting a ramp there for her

 

[vantain]

Precious definitely responds to her name now. When I visit them, and call her name, she stops whatever she is doing and comes over to me. She has a few missteps on the way, due to her blindness, but I keep calling out her name and she finds me. When she does, she now wants to be picked up and cuddled. It's cute, but I have to be careful with her. Since she cannot see, she is very inquisitive of me, and uses her beak to explore me. I'm afraid she might poke someones eye out if the person handling here isn't careful.

Yesterday, we worked on the nipple waterer again, but like before, no luck.

She loves the new ramp in put on their side of the coop. It helps Precious get up and down from the roost. She normally uses the entire ramp, but occasionally walks over the edge and has to try again. Maybe I should put a railing on it just for her.

Gwyneth continues to be a jerk, but she is penned alongside the littles, and cannot get to them. They are all so much happier this way, and it keeps Precious safer.

Oh, and yesterday I observed a little pecking order challenge between Precious and one of her chickmates, a RIR. The RIR (Green Beans) did the chest bump, standing tall thing in front of Precious. Precious stood tall, which she does anyway when she is unsure of what is in front of her, and just stared down Green Beans with that blind stare. It worked for her, since Green Beans stood down and walked away. Ha Ha...now hopefully she can muster that "blind" courage when she is bigger, and can maybe face Gwyneth straight on. She does this same stance when she approaches a wall, which is what makes it so funny. I find her staring down walls and objects quite often. I think it is just her response to something that startles her and isn't expected to be there.

 

[vantain]

Here is an updated photo of Precious. She’s the one at the feeder.

 

[WhoDatChick]

Here is an updated photo of Precious. She’s the one at the feeder.
View attachment 2203046

This is so great! And your coop is lovely...