Chandlers Grove Farm: The adventures of a sick chicken

About three weeks ago, shortly after I posted about how healthy all the chickens were, I found a hen all but dead on the coop floor when I went out to water them. We were going out of town that day so I really didn't have much time to do anything with her. Just as damage control, I put her in the big brooder pen I have in the workshop. If she had something contagious, I didn't want to give her more time to infect the rest of the flock. I also didn't want the other chickens picking on her in her weakened state. She looked so bad, I probably would have put her out of her misery had we not been traveling that day.

When we got back that night, she looked a little better, which was encouraging so, we left her alone in the brooder for a while seeing if she would continue to get better. In time, she slowly improved. It is amazing how healing intense rest can be. I began taking her out each morning and putting her in a temporary pen during the day to let her get some fresh air, sun, and grass. At night we would put her back in the brooder for protection. I was hoping she would put on some weight since she was amazingly thin when we moved her out of the normal chicken run.

After a couple weeks of that routine she was strong enough to go back in with the other chickens...or so I thought. As soon as I put her back in the big pen, she was immediately attacked by the alpha hen and her cronies. They were vicious, the lead hen, Henrietta (no, not a very original name), would grab her by her comb and drag her all around the pen. The other hens picked on her so bad that she couldn't move, she would just go and stick her head out of the pen so that the hens couldn't peck at it. I thought that was quite dangerous because I could imagine some neighborhood dog (or other critter) coming by and chomping off this head sticking about 3 inches out of the fence so, I grabbed her and put her back in the brooder until I could figure out a next step.

I searched on the 'net for information regarding reintroducing a hen to a flock and, from the plethora of available advice, it seemed to be a common problem. The simplest solution was to remove the alpha hen, Henrietta, and put the sick hen back with the flock. There was a bit of tussling once we did that from the other hens close to the top of the pecking order but no where near as violent a beating as the sick hen was getting before. After a bit of pecking and the reintroduced hen running away, everything seemed to have been worked out.

I was putting Henrietta in the big brooder box during the night and in the temporary pen during the day. The only problem was that she was flying out of the five foot fencing of the temporary pen and trying to get back in the chicken run. I left her in the brooder box for a couple days since I wasn't ready to put her back with the other chickens.

Her attacks on the sick chicken wasn't the only reason I wanted to separate her. Why she has a name when the other hens do not is that she is easily identifiable by her huge comb, as big as the roosters. I was reading Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderrad and he mentioned that large female ducks that showed some drake characteristics were usually androgynous. I began to wonder if that was the case with her and I was wasting food on a non-laying hen. She never laid in the brooder box, but I could chalk that up to a combination of stress and lack of light. The sick chick never laid an egg either, but they typically do not when sick.

Yesterday, we moved the mother hen back in with the rest of the flock and moved Henrietta to the small pen she was in. Henrietta has a week to lay an egg or else I think she will have to go to freezer camp.

Interestingly enough there was a bit of fighting when we put the mother hen back in with the flock but she did a good job of standing up for herself. Once again things seemed to have been smoothed over.

Speaking of naming chickens, I finally gave the sick hen a name, Penny. I was calling her henny, but changed it to Penny because of already having a Henrietta. I had dealt with her so much I can recognize her comb, but it also helps that when I go in the run she is constantly underfoot trying to get me to pick her up. She is the only chicken that lets me pick her up.

I intially gave the name of Big Mama to Henrietta, but Krystal vetoed it and went with Henrietta. Our roosters have also been named, as has been shown in pictures in a previous post. The white rooster is named Butthead since he likes to attack people. The darker rooster is named Beavis to go along with Butthead.

I am planning to replace Butthead in the near future. I am thinking about getting a different breed in hopes of having a bit of hybrid vigor in the offspring since we plan to continue hatching eggs from our own flock for meat birds. Right now I can't decide between getting a Buff Orpington, Cuckoo Maran, or a Colored Broiler from JM Hatchery. I would like to find a mature but young BO or Maran rooster so I don't have to wait for a chick to mature before I replaced Butthead. The Colored Broiler is a possibility because I would like to order a batch from JM to see how growth rate and feed conversion compare to our BR chickens. The problem is that I would prefer to order just 25, but that makes them $2.00 a piece. There are price drops when you order 50+ or 100+. It breaks down to where 25 chicks is $60, but for $30 I can double my order, and for another $30 I can get 100 chicks! That is a pretty good deal, but I would able but pressed to find room for 50 chicks, but no way have room for 100. So if someone in the Jacksonville area wants 50 colored broilers I would love to split an order. >.>

Since I really don't have any pictures to go along with the post, here are some random doggy/chick pics.