So these little biddies have caused a bit of drama. Theres a thing called chicken math in the poultry world that occurs when one becomes an owner of a chicken.. it goes a little like this..
See a chick, buy 1, but can't have one because they are a flock animal, so grab 3 more. One dies, replace with 2. These were from the straight run bin so 3 of the 5 are roosters. No roosters allowed, so the three go, replace with 2 more per roo. Now we have 8. Coon gets in, kills a chicken. Replace with 2 Bantam (mini) chickens because 2 Bantams=1 standard sized chicken. Coop becomes too small for 9 chickens. Coop addition is 3 times as big so that means.. 3 times the chickens........
See where Im going with this???
Chicken Math at our house goes like this:
He said 3, I said 5, bought 4. Wanted a fancy chicken so bought one more. One chicken was not what it was supposed to be so it was gone, and to replace it I got 2 more. Another turned to be a roo and off the the farm he went as well. Stop in to look at some chicks, and, well we got rid of 2, need 2 more. so now we are at 7 once again (unless anyone asks and then we only have 3..shhhh).
Yep, Lucy the Roo had to go to the farm, he was a little too manly to stay around here. His crow would give him away. Brent has a wonderful bartering technique called.."sure! go ahead and get more!" all with the sinister tone in the background, knowing fully that I cannot say a peep when its his turn to aquire something. It all evens out in the end.
So on the way home from vacation, we stopped and picked up 2 more hens. These are a little smaller and younger than the ones we have already and I knew there might be some problems. And problems there were. After I let the girls out of the coop this morning everyone looked great. Bridget checked on them and came in saying she thought the little one was dead. I rush out there and sure enough.. her head was all bloodied, but she was walking around when I got to her and I could tell it was an ugly situation.
I isolated her and seeked information on the great www and doctored her up quickly. After giving her food and water she perked up a lot and I felt hopeful she would make it. I set up the playpen and brought her friend in to be with her and she was a lot more content and her head was looking so much better by late afternoon. Poor thing had gotten pecked so hard they pulled feathers out and pierced a hole in her head and pecked at her earlobe.
Tonight, after work I moved her and sister to the dog kennel outside as it is so hot and they dont tolerate heat too well. It was much better outside where there was at least a breeze. So I think our chicken little is going to make it. Once she heals up I will integrate them back into the flock. As for now.. a fence is in the planning phase. The girls are going to need more space so more space is what they are going to get. I am at terms with the fact that we have more than enough chickens now. I think the Chicken Math will stop here.
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