The Secret Life of My Flock

[Callender Girl]

Ohmigosh! Poor Meg. It's good you found her in time and were able to get her some help. I hope she feels much better today.

 

[MegsEggsx]

Update on Meg:
She is feeling so much better today, eating and drinking and pooping a lot. The colour is back in her face and she is talking to me. I am thinking that if it is not raining a lot tomorrow that I will release her back with the flock. Hay-Hay spent the whole day searching for her, the poor thing! I couldn't figure out how to give her her antibiotics, but she doesn't look like she needs them anyway (the vet gave us a syringe and the antibiotics and told us to put it along the side of her beak, which I did, but I couldn't give her the whole amount), maybe I will try again tomorrow when I have more time. I am still a little shocked to see how calm she is inside the cage, without her friends. I guess she is probably still recovering from her exhaustion and hypothermia. She didn't have the heat lamp on today (because it is the middle of summer in Australia) and I figured that if her body temp wasn't normal by now she would be dead or at least still very sick, so I am not going to put it on tonight either. Outside (where it is raining) is 25 degrees Celcius and it feels about 33 inside, do you think that would be ok?

Update on Everyone Else
They spent the entire day in the run today, because (you guessed it) it was raining again ! And apart from Hay-Hay trying to find Meg they were pretty happy I think.

 

[Callender Girl]

I have struggled to get oral antibiotics into my hens' beaks, but my girls LOVE grapes, so I started injecting the medicine into the grapes. My vet gave his blessing to this approach because it does get the antibiotic into the hens -- spoiled as mine are!

Glad to hear Meg is on the mend. Sounds like Hay-Hay will get her friend back soon.

 

[MegsEggsx]

I have struggled to get oral antibiotics into my hens' beaks, but my girls LOVE grapes, so I started injecting the medicine into the grapes. My vet gave his blessing to this approach because it does get the antibiotic into the hens -- spoiled as mine are!

Glad to hear Meg is on the mend. Sounds like Hay-Hay will get her friend back soon.

That is a good idea, I will try that tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[MegsEggsx]

I introduced Meg back into the flock today. When Hay-Hay saw her she got so excited, it was so sweet. For about 5 hours, whenever Meg got out of Hay-Hay’s sight Hay-Hay would screech and run around frantically until they found each other!

I also build 2 automatic feeders today. Previously I just had plates I had put the food on. They were pretty simple and easy to make and I would recommend them to someone who wants a simple and easy feeder!

 

[Callender Girl]

I'm happy for you, Meg and Hay-Hay.
Nice feeders; good work!

And, it's nice to see chickens outside with greenery around them and on the ground. More than six inches of snow fell here Tuesday and more may be on the way. Although I open the coops every day, most of the chickens refused to step outside, even after I shoveled their runs. And NOBODY wanted to leave the runs and free range.

The geese and ducks have no reservations whatsoever. I've seen penguins (on TV) kind of slide across the ice on their bellies. Quinn, my runner duck queen, decided not to walk along the path I shoveled. Instead, she performed a "penguin" move and slid along the top of the snow. It was hilarious and earned her a handful of scratch feed.

 

[DustyDivas]

Great photos & love the descriptions in their bio's

 

[MegsEggsx]

I'm happy for you, Meg and Hay-Hay.
Nice feeders; good work!

And, it's nice to see chickens outside with greenery around them and on the ground. More than six inches of snow fell here Tuesday and more may be on the way. Although I open the coops every day, most of the chickens refused to step outside, even after I shoveled their runs. And NOBODY wanted to leave the runs and free range.

The geese and ducks have no reservations whatsoever. I've seen penguins (on TV) kind of slide across the ice on their bellies. Quinn, my runner duck queen, decided not to walk along the path I shoveled. Instead, she performed a "penguin" move and slid along the top of the snow. It was hilarious and earned her a handful of scratch feed.

No snow here! Not even in winter. The lowest temperature it has ever been where I live was 6 degrees Celcius, but the lowest I can remember was 12. I want ducks, actually I want duckings, but I can't have them! I can't believe your duck did a 'penguin', my mental image is hilarious so I am sure it was even better in real life!

 

[MegsEggsx]

Some pics from yesterday:

I also found a nest of 13 eggs in a bush! But 10 of them were rotten and 1 was cracked so we only got to keep 2 of them!

 

[Callender Girl]

You've captured a lot of personality in those photos -- from the little one's adorable face close up to the curiosity of "what's that on the ground in front of me?"

Too bad about the eggs.

I always feel badly when I discover a clutch of eggs somewhere unexpected and have to toss them out. I have learned that behind the furthest bale in the back of the hay shed where no human-sized searcher can possibly reach is one of the best places ever, according to my girls. Now I stack the hay so I can at least wedge a grabber stick back there and "fish" for eggs.