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Those Fall Chicks and Treating Resperatory / Sinus Infections
In September, we picked up five new pullets of various breeds. The following Saturday morning, one began crowing, and we promptly drove down to the Selma Tractor Supply to swap him out for another pullet. Our Chicken Man (I don’t mean that as an insult, it’s just what role this kind gentleman has played in our lives), didn’t have any unusual breeds on hand like our Pavlovskaya Roo, so his buddy in the next parking spot offered us an Apenzeller Spitzhauben, whom we named “Spitz”. Quick disclaimer: I’m not a vet, and I’m still new to chicken keeping. Take this post as a recounting of how we handled sickness and…
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Nursing Our Silkie Back to Health
Miss Betty White has been a house guest for a little over a week now. She’s a Silkie pullet, and we think she is about 10 – 12 weeks old. She and her sister, Vader, fell ill before New Year’s Eve. Vader didn’t survive, but Betty is on the mend. When we first brought her in, she was lying on her belly in the run and was limp. There was no peeping, no walking, and her head was caught in this turning pattern which the boys said looked like she was reading a book. She kept her eyes closed most of the time. We think a combination of lice, cold…
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One Silkie Down
As a newbie chicken mama, I’ve been very lucky to not face tragedy for over eight months. Though we live in downtown, we have our share a predators — hawks, foxes and raccoons are all regularly spotted. Our coop and run are pretty well protected, but I let the ladies free range for extended time most days. Typically if I am home, the birds are in the yard. Though they tend to stay in our backyard, sometimes I have to hunt them down and chase them out of neighbor’s yards. We really should get a fence, but talking to my back neighbor, I think he’d rather have the occasional chicken…
