Owning poultry can be so hard. This afternoon I went out to let the chickens out and saw a giant hawk on the grass. I automatically flipped out and rushed over. The hawk flew off and I was left with the freshly killed carcass of my last female call duck hen. I was literally late by maybe 2 minutes...she was missing tons of feathers and had a huge gash in her neck. I could hear her mate calling for her from the safety of the goat's pen as if to say "The danger's gone, Love, come out!"
I feel horrible. He lost his other mate about 2 months ago...she just didn't come home one night. So I decided that I guess I have to keep everyone in the run until it gets later in the evening from now on.
I went near the coop to call everyone out into the run again (they were all freaking out because of the hawk) and saw my Sultan hen COVERED in egg yolk, which I'm assuming broke an egg while she was trying to lay her own. She was trying to eat it off of her and the others soon tried to do the same.
So I decided to do something I never did: which was to give her a quick bath. I set up my 3 tubs, did the soap thing, took her from the coop and plopped her in. When I got her nice and wet, I saw that our mite situation was not as clear as it could be...I thought they were more under control but saw a bunch of mite dust in areas I didn't notice before. So I did what I could with baby shampoo, dried her off, and threw her in the basement under a heatlamp. I then rushed outside and decided to dust all of the birds.
Now I have a chicken in the basement, a confused and lonely drake, and a whole bunch of exhausting days ahead of me. I hope my little guy doesn't change because of this mess, I hope that the animals don't start killing each other because they're all in the same run, I hope my two little boys (rooster and drake) don't start fighting, I hope my drake doesn't look to make any of the chicken hens his own, I hope...I hope alot of things.
RIP Yodel...You brought so much joy and love to your owners' eyes...and you made a drake very, very happy.
Owning poultry can be so hard.
I went near the coop to call everyone out into the run again (they were all freaking out because of the hawk) and saw my Sultan hen COVERED in egg yolk, which I'm assuming broke an egg while she was trying to lay her own. She was trying to eat it off of her and the others soon tried to do the same.
Now I have a chicken in the basement, a confused and lonely drake, and a whole bunch of exhausting days ahead of me. I hope my little guy doesn't change because of this mess, I hope that the animals don't start killing each other because they're all in the same run, I hope my two little boys (rooster and drake) don't start fighting, I hope my drake doesn't look to make any of the chicken hens his own, I hope...I hope alot of things.
RIP Yodel...You brought so much joy and love to your owners' eyes...and you made a drake very, very happy.
Owning poultry can be so hard.
