The New Flock 2021: Back to Basics

[speckledhen]

Adding that Bonnie will not go outside more than a few steps, peck around on the ground and go back to her pen and lay in the back corner. I cannot get her to go outside. She is fine with Axel in there and he isn't even attempting to molest her, seems very subdued. I looked at the wound, some of it still seems a bit raw after a month. If I can remember to take my camera to the barn, I'll snap photo of it somehow, difficult spot to photograph. I'm not sure if this is healing properly, but it was a very bad tear so....She will not dust bathe! I'm going to have to use some Ivermectin pour on to make sure she doesn't pick up any nasties.
I'm about to put Axel back in the back pen, closed off from the main one, with a few little hens and try to get him on the way to getting back into the flock (if possible). He almost had his left eye taken out, scabby right on the lower lid, but the eye itself seems okay though it could be scratched and I just can't see it. Dane, on the other hand, though he was the "victim" of Axel, is almost completely healed from their battle. Those little goobers, ack.
Bash seems okay, but two nights ago, he was panting very heavily though the hens weren't and he seemed a little unsteady on his feet. I expected him to just fall off the roost overnight, but the tough old guy is still kicking. I can't believe he survived that mystery illness in 2019 when the only thing that fit the symptoms well was lead poisoning without any known lasting effects so he must be a very strong, healthy guy for his age.
People don't really understand sometimes why I love my roosters so much, mostly non-chicken folk. To me, they are heroes, unselfish and self-sacrificing, though it seems when they are old guys, they can get a bit more stingy with the hens about stealing their food from under their beaks. Hector was like that as was old Atlas. And now, I see Bash doing more of the "hey, wench, that's mine!", LOL. They deserve it, though.

 

[speckledhen]

Here is Axel now. He's a real mess of his own making, that goof. He almost lost an eye. Dane is almost healed.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Axel does have a lot of battle scars. Hopefully he behaves. You have had a lot of luck with long lived birds Cynthia. I used to have some show bred ones long ago and they definitely lived longer than my hatchery stock.

I love the roosters best around here too. Probably why I keep so many of the little monsters.

 

[speckledhen]

Axel does have a lot of battle scars. Hopefully he behaves. You have had a lot of luck with long lived birds Cynthia. I used to have some show bred ones long ago and they definitely lived longer than my hatchery stock.

I love the roosters best around here too. Probably why I keep so many of the little monsters.

I do love my roosters. Ladyhawk (Cetawin here, as most know) would always say that if roosters laid eggs, she'd have only roosters. She'd say if there was a brooder of chicks and she didn't know the sex of any, the one who came right up to her for attention first was always a rooster, guaranteed, LOL.
I wasn't all that fond of Axel and Dane at first, they were so skittish like many broody-raised chicks can be, have been trying to rehome them. I'd even would give up Wren to go with Axel if that made the deal (and keep Dane, who is just gorgeous, IMO). She's a grouchy little thing. Now that we've had to handle them both, they're less skittish about being held. Guess they figured out that humans are not the enemy, especially when they're hurt.

 

[getaclue]

I find that some of them go through phases regarding attention, and being held.

 

[speckledhen]

Wren has always hated that kind of attention, silly thing. She is not at all like Dove and even Phoebe isn't too skittish about being picked up. Wren will bite. She's sort of like Iris was in her "I hate everyone" stage.
Seems that Axel is going to be a permanent addition to Bonnie's orbit. I put him in the main flock overnight, roped Dane and three girls into the back pen so the brothers could not get at each other. This morning, I let them out together and immediately, they started up their match again so Axel went back to Bonnie. Apparently, Magnus and Axel got into it overnight-both had dried blood on them so Axel is Bonnie's man. And if I lose Bash, I'll put Bonnie and her little man in with Brandy and Cora, but Bash seems more energetic as his feathers are coming in. The marble is still in his throat, whatever it is.

 

[speckledhen]

@oldhenlikesdogs Lisa, how long do your little bantam Cochin roosters generally live? This group will be 3 yrs old the first week of April. My guy from Ideal, Xander, lived to be four and a half and my little lavender hen lived to be the same age (purchased awhile apart).

I know you have a much more harsh environment than I do. Do you ever put a heat spot in there for your bantams? We do occasionally get into the single digits and have been as low as -2* since we've lived here. Isaac got frostbite on two of his toes on a 2* night because he fell off the roost and slept on the floor-that coop was raised off the ground so the floors got a lot colder than our current barn and Ike had bad circulation/arthritis in his hocks so that prob influenced it some. His huge comb was not even touched the same night.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Most of my bantam cochins live anywhere from 4-8 on average. I had a few make it to 10. The ones I got from the show breeder guy years ago lived longer on average.

My bantam coop is insulated so the coop is a bit warmer than outside. When it's bitter cold I often leave them inside. We now cover their run with plastic roof panels so the run stays a bit cozy too now by Wisconsin standards. I do not provide any extra heat. Too many fires happen for me to be comfortable adding heat.

Since my bantams are less likely to bicker they will sit close and share heat.

Any bantams that stay in my big shed do okay too. They sometimes end up with frostbite on their comb tips and occasionally a toe. Most lose their comb points their first winter and are fine the rest of their lives. They are as hardy as any of my standard breeds in my experiences.

I have lost a few bantam cochins this year myself. Most had crop problems for some reason. I have a bunch so it's easier not to get attached to them, but it still hurts to have to cull them or have them die, so I get more attached to them than I realize, or care to admit to myself.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks for that, Lisa. I just wondered since you live in such a cold climate. Fires scare me, too. The big group on the roost emit a lot of body heat and share it so I'm not too worried about them unless it really gets super cold. My older ones are the ones I worry about, but that barn is insulated and has no drafts and a high ceiling so moisture doesn't really build up in there if the window are cracked a bit.
I think it really does surprise folks how attached they can become to their chickens. I sure was. And when I see that they are smarter than people believe, it endears me even more to them.

 

[getaclue]

For years I've been drooling over the Sweeter Heaters, but they're so dang expensive. Last year, I finally got 3 of them, one for each coop that I normally use. They are safe, and are not power guzzlers. For the record, they do NOT heat the coop, but they do heat the birds. The way you test to see if their working, is to hold your arm under one for a minute. Your arm should warm up, but not the surrounding area. It's kind of nifty how it works. We've plugged them into a thermostat, like a thermal cube. When it drops below 50, they will turn on automatically, then turn off when the temps reach 52. I'm still waiting for it to get cold enough to actually test them out.

We put them in early. My birds don't LIKE it when we make major changes to their set up. I didn't want them to be afraid of the "boogie man heater", and stay on the other side of the coop. Now, they are used to them being in there, so it won't be a problem when it gets cold.