The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[1muttsfan]

Maybe at her age a quick death was not such a terrible thing.

 

[speckledhen]

I don't know what was wrong with me last night but I did my closing up the chicken chores backwards and because I didn't follow the routine, I forgot to close up one of the coops. So this morning I went out to a dead hen - one of my old Wellsumers. I'm so upset with myself! It's bad enough to lose one to a predator at any time but when it's my own stupid fault, it makes it so much worse! She was one of 2 Wellsumers that I had left from a long time ago. Funny, I never wrote down in my chicken diary when I got them so I can't quite remember how old they are but it was a long time, 8 to 10 years. They haven't laid eggs in a couple of years now but even so, I feel guilty. The one killed was in the best shape, the other one has arthritis and is kind of curved around to the side. She was very sad today, missing her last sister.

I'm so sorry, Robin. Seems like guilt is as much a part of keeping chickens as it is raising children sometimes. I have nightmares about forgetting one outside. It's happened, though not in awhile. And we've forgotten to latch doors, forgotten to even close a pop door on occasion, though we don't have pop doors now, only the main door and the roll-up door. We've had issues with the latch on the entry door to the steel barn and one morning, it was hanging open, locked but open. Since then, we stretch a very strong rubber bungie across it from frame to frame, just in case.

I hope your hen doesn't grieve too badly. My two blue girls are like bookends. I fear whichever goes first, Alice or Neela, the other will be so lonely. They'll be 9 yrs old in the early spring.

Maybe at her age a quick death was not such a terrible thing.

Hopefully, it was very quick. At least she won't go downhill slowly at this advanced age. Not a lot of comfort when you feel you're at fault, but still...

 

[getaclue]

I'm sorry you lost your chicken.

 

[robhuncor]

Thanks for the kind thoughts everybody. It's helpful to "talk" to like-minded folks who understand feelings. Even though my DH helps a bit with the chickens, he just doesn't get the feelings I have about it and just tells me it's not my fault, get over it. He hates it when I, as he says, "go on and on about it"
She may have been very old but I appreciated how beautiful she still was and how she had her little rituals, with her sister, sitting in the same place every night on the roost and going to bed at a certain time, etc. Last year when they both were suffering from multiple bouts of bumblefoot, she was so good about letting me wash and wrap her feet. Luckily we had no problems with that this year. There were just 4 old ladies living in that coop (my last 2 Barred Rocks were with them) and I loved going in there and chatting with them at close up time. I was distracted by something, I can't even remember what and it was the wrong night for that. I have on rare occasions forgotten to shut a pop door before but always "lucked out" - not this time.

 

[speckledhen]

She may have been very old but I appreciated how beautiful she still was and how she had her little rituals, with her sister, sitting in the same place every night on the roost and going to bed at a certain time, etc.

I know exactly what you mean. Neela and Alice are inseparable. But, they are so up there in age now and with Neela have one blocked nare (cyst) plus super thin and semi-crippled with an arthritic hock joint, no idea how long she has. She still manages to hobble around with Alice anyway and when young cockerels will spar, she'll thump over to break it up and give them a piece of her mind. Yes, I know just how it all is. People who never really see their birds really miss out, don't they?

 

[speckledhen]

I am at a loss. MaryJo just went through her first big molt. She is on the upside, mostly feathered in. She had a brief bout of sluggish crop and was off her feed. But, she's still off her feed. She is a carcass with feathers. Also, Bailey, my very dark-colored partridge Brahma is a bag of bones and she refuses to eat. We even made pancakes tonight, which she would never turn down, but she just takes a bite and drops it. Her crop won't empty, though it is not impacted, just semi-doughy. And she weighs nothing. This is about her 3rd crop issue in the last year.

WTH is going on with these hens? I've done all I can for these girls and I'm about to the point that I am going to say if their bodies cannot handle a molt without breaking down, then maybe they are not strong enough and just need to go. They have the same feed and routines as everyone else. MaryJo may rally because she was all over those pancakes tonight. Remember, we don't know if MJ carries a dwarf gene or not, either. I'm still not really sure what bearing that has on their longevity, being a carrier. Isaac was and it sure didn't hurt him. Bailey won't touch a thing, not even yogurt or scrambled eggs. I'm perplexed.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry you are having troubles. This time of the year is always stressful on chickens. Between the weather, the molt, and young birds sexually maturing I often see more deaths in the fall. Last week I lost 2. One dropped dead, and another had a crop problem. Second one I've every seen in my birds so I have no clue why. She was culled when it was apparent it wasn't gonna resolve. I have one other young hen not looking very good as well. The sudden shift from hot and humid to cold and damp here can take a toll.

Wish I had some helpful advice. We don't treat here, and I'm not familiar with crop issues.

 

[speckledhen]

Sorry you are having troubles. This time of the year is always stressful on chickens. Between the weather, the molt, and young birds sexually maturing I often see more deaths in the fall. Last week I lost 2. One dropped dead, and another had a crop problem. Second one I've every seen in my birds so I have no clue why. She was culled when it was apparent it wasn't gonna resolve. I have one other young hen not looking very good as well. The sudden shift from hot and humid to cold and damp here can take a toll.

Wish I had some helpful advice. We don't treat here, and I'm not familiar with crop issues.

Usually, the crop is an outward sign of inward trouble, not the main issue, but a molt is a natural thing. It shouldn't kill a young, healthy bird. I think MaryJo will recover, thin as she is, because she has some appetite as long as she is offered something she really wants. Bailey is not acting right at all. And this is not her first crop trouble, either. Now, Bonnie is full-on molting, too, so I have to check her crop daily for awhile to be sure she is okay.

I cut both Atlas's and Bash's spurs today, just over a 1/2" trim each so they wouldn't be tripping over their own feet. Atlas has super thick, tough spurs. Bash's are like thin stilettos, but both roosters had 3" long spurs. I saw Atlas walking over his which stick straight out at each other, and he already has enough trouble with his stiff joints so I felt it was time. He's had his done before, but this was Bash's first time ever. I need to trim Aubrey's, my porcelain D'Anver, but if I try, he will die in my arms. He turns dark purple at the least little stress so I'll just let his go. They're long, but very curved backward and already blunt on the ends from the last time we did them. Almost lost him then.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We did spurs a few weeks back. My oldest buff Orpington turns purple if held too long too. Get them done quickly. Hopefully your girls do okay.

 

[speckledhen]

We did spurs a few weeks back. My oldest buff Orpington turns purple if held too long too. Get them done quickly. Hopefully your girls do okay.

Aubrey turns purple just dustbathing, or if he thinks I'm going to touch him. He's crazy skittish, hasn't learned in going on 8 years that I'm not going to hurt him. What did I tell you? Dumb as a box of rocks. At least, his son Spike has a tiny bit more smarts, but he doesn't even have spurs, some spur-less gene or something that was floating around in that line, I'm told. Wish Aubrey had gotten the gene instead of Spike. Spike hates to be handled, but he is less likely to keel over and die when I catch him and he'll fly to my arm if he thinks he can eat scratch above the head of his daddy.