I have 2 roosters. One is a WCP and the other is a Salmon Favorelle. Each rooster has their own girls, the SF has 1 girl, however.
Yesterday, I had decided to let all groups outside since we had a rare sunny day where the temperature was above 0 degrees. The groups of my babies also include 3 ducks and their BR hen and 6 assorted bantams including Molted Cochin, Silkies and a Millie.
All birds are fenced in and have cover.
I was in the house all day doing odds and ends until I had to leave for about 45 mins.
I returned home with my teenage sons.
My 16 yr old knows to automatically go to the birds and do chores.
He came running inside yesterday around 4 pm, saying that 2 hens are " not where theyre supposed to be and Bobby, ( the SF roo ), looks like hes dying )!
OMG. ! My stomach sunk and I got that same sick feeling, the same as when my son found his other BR hen had tragically drowned .
If youve ever lost any of your pet chickens, Im sure you know the feeling.
I had on a light shirt , warm up pants and clogs.
We ran outside and I promptly found myself in knee deep snow with No shoes by this time...I lost them along the way.
There was Bobby...my Special Needs son"s beloved chicken, laying on top of the snow, bleeding from an unknown location at the time, and
Literally , Frozen and stuck to the ground.
There was blood and feathers from him and his hen, Lucy, circling their coop indicating a heck of a chase from Some unknown predator that
was pulling out feathers mostly from his backside, and a few from Lucy, who by the way, was one of the misplaced hens.
We STILL can not figure out how she and my Blk Australorp hen from the flock containing Her roo, ended up in with the ducks and BR..
It took me a few mins to get Bobby's feet and belly ,un stuck from the ice.
He was barely conscious and was covered in snow and ice.
We ran him into a section of my house that is quite large, non carpeted and was set up to be a " Birdy Hospital", complete with a dog crate
with straw , water and feed dishes AND, and stocked with BLUKOTE and a BLOOD CLOTTING POWDER, which I KNOW, Saved
him....Personally, I believe ALL pet chicken owners, or any chicken or poultry owner, who loves their birds enough to attempt to save them
WHEN, ( and I say When because ALL poultry animals Are going to have incidents where we will lose a bird or some, to ANY type of
mishap ), MUST have on hand in cases such as mine.
I held Bobby , wrapped in a big towel , and we sat in front of a space heater I also had set up.
We did our best to clean his head with warm bowls of water and clothes, trying to locate the source of the bleeding.
It came from a cut below his left eye, a few on his comb and wattles, so , once we cleaned him, we carefully applied the Blood clotting powder
on and around his head which stopped the bleeding in moments!
A careful application of BluKote, and Viola....I have a LIVE, yet Purple, rooster who continued to defrost.
We brought in Lucy so he can see that she was OK, although missing a few feathers.
He promptly stood right over her when she layed down, and began " Cooing" softly.
This brought tears to our eyes as we began trying to figure out what went after them but caught Bobby.
We STILL cant determine what got him, but we believe it was some land predator that somehow got into their fence.
All birds are Alive and well , although we Still cant figure out how his girl and the other rooster's girl, ended up in with the ducks and other
chicken.
This rooster DOES NOT care for me, however, hes still my baby and my feelings are not hurt.
I know alot of chicken owners dont like or want roosters and either give them away or kill them for being who they genetically are
programmed to be...a protector of his flock.
I firmly believe that owners who may have young children , for instance, should try to keep the child Away from the bird and
not kill it for being who he is. This is MY belief...some of you may disagree and I respect that.
So...as the title of this post reads, " Who needs roosters ? "...Your hens do....
Yesterday, I had decided to let all groups outside since we had a rare sunny day where the temperature was above 0 degrees. The groups of my babies also include 3 ducks and their BR hen and 6 assorted bantams including Molted Cochin, Silkies and a Millie.
All birds are fenced in and have cover.
I was in the house all day doing odds and ends until I had to leave for about 45 mins.
I returned home with my teenage sons.
My 16 yr old knows to automatically go to the birds and do chores.
He came running inside yesterday around 4 pm, saying that 2 hens are " not where theyre supposed to be and Bobby, ( the SF roo ), looks like hes dying )!
OMG. ! My stomach sunk and I got that same sick feeling, the same as when my son found his other BR hen had tragically drowned .
If youve ever lost any of your pet chickens, Im sure you know the feeling.
I had on a light shirt , warm up pants and clogs.
We ran outside and I promptly found myself in knee deep snow with No shoes by this time...I lost them along the way.
There was Bobby...my Special Needs son"s beloved chicken, laying on top of the snow, bleeding from an unknown location at the time, and
Literally , Frozen and stuck to the ground.
There was blood and feathers from him and his hen, Lucy, circling their coop indicating a heck of a chase from Some unknown predator that
was pulling out feathers mostly from his backside, and a few from Lucy, who by the way, was one of the misplaced hens.
We STILL can not figure out how she and my Blk Australorp hen from the flock containing Her roo, ended up in with the ducks and BR..
It took me a few mins to get Bobby's feet and belly ,un stuck from the ice.
He was barely conscious and was covered in snow and ice.
We ran him into a section of my house that is quite large, non carpeted and was set up to be a " Birdy Hospital", complete with a dog crate
with straw , water and feed dishes AND, and stocked with BLUKOTE and a BLOOD CLOTTING POWDER, which I KNOW, Saved
him....Personally, I believe ALL pet chicken owners, or any chicken or poultry owner, who loves their birds enough to attempt to save them
WHEN, ( and I say When because ALL poultry animals Are going to have incidents where we will lose a bird or some, to ANY type of
mishap ), MUST have on hand in cases such as mine.
I held Bobby , wrapped in a big towel , and we sat in front of a space heater I also had set up.
We did our best to clean his head with warm bowls of water and clothes, trying to locate the source of the bleeding.
It came from a cut below his left eye, a few on his comb and wattles, so , once we cleaned him, we carefully applied the Blood clotting powder
on and around his head which stopped the bleeding in moments!
A careful application of BluKote, and Viola....I have a LIVE, yet Purple, rooster who continued to defrost.
We brought in Lucy so he can see that she was OK, although missing a few feathers.
He promptly stood right over her when she layed down, and began " Cooing" softly.
This brought tears to our eyes as we began trying to figure out what went after them but caught Bobby.
We STILL cant determine what got him, but we believe it was some land predator that somehow got into their fence.
All birds are Alive and well , although we Still cant figure out how his girl and the other rooster's girl, ended up in with the ducks and other
chicken.
This rooster DOES NOT care for me, however, hes still my baby and my feelings are not hurt.
I know alot of chicken owners dont like or want roosters and either give them away or kill them for being who they genetically are
programmed to be...a protector of his flock.
I firmly believe that owners who may have young children , for instance, should try to keep the child Away from the bird and
not kill it for being who he is. This is MY belief...some of you may disagree and I respect that.
So...as the title of this post reads, " Who needs roosters ? "...Your hens do....
