Gnarly Bunch - 11/11/2012 Update with Before and After Photos!

Click HERE to see the beginning of this amazing story!

11/11/12

Here are some pics of the Gnarly Bunch taken today... just the ones that I've noticed have made more progress in the past couple of weeks:

Raggedy Ann at 1 week and Raggedy Ann today at around 7 weeks out of the bad place.

The Partridge Rock hen, Mildred, at 1 week and Mildred today.

This is Black Betty, a BA mutt, not of my original flock and I'm not sure of her age. She is still in molt in this pic but showing more gloss and feathering here today.  I've been kind of worried that she would be my next cull as her feathers have been looking dull and separated for a bit, but they are starting to take on some fullness and gloss just this week.  I'll keep watching her.   

By now you all are pretty familiar with the pic of Middle Sister at 1 week... it's pitiful even yet to look upon it. And here she is at 7 wks out, a little dirty but still looking great.  Take a look at those feet!  She is moving and looking like she isn't in pain any longer, holds herself tall and proud and her eyes are sharp and bright.  Most combs are still pale but I'm taking that as the time of year... legs and beaks have brightened up in color and feathers are in high gloss.   

I still can't get over how pretty and filled out Mildred is at 7 wks so I'm putting a another picture of her in here... completely different looking bird.  Solid and fully feathered. 

Click HERE to see the beginning of this amazing story!

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Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 31 - 10/21/12

10/20/12

That's the whole fun of these chickens, isn't it?  Figuring stuff out and solving those little problems...it's a never ending, but albeit gentle, challenge.  I'm 31 days into figuring out how to help the Gnarly Bunch and have just about cracked the code on bringing every bird back into good health.  I like to take time and watch things sometimes...sometimes time takes care of all of it for me, which makes me grin like a mule eating briars. 

It brings some level of satisfaction when it's all working like a smoothly oiled machine again but I do enjoy the occasional challenge.... just not the kind you often.

Today I'm adding some light to my coop by incorporating some heavy, clear plastic and lifting one side of the tarping to let in the winter sunlight.  I'm just not used to a dark coop and I don't particularly care for one.

Also taking the designated lounge spot that the chickens have chosen and am going to try to utilize the droppings they are leaving there.  We have a log structure outbuilding with a porch area that has a soil floor with black plastic overlay (The Bat is a neat freak and doesn't like dirt tracked into her outbuildings...yes, in her outbuildings). 

Unfortunately, the chickens have chosen this little sheltered area in which to lounge and groom.... and poop.  Drives the Bat a little batty, so I've proposed to turn this spot into a "run" of sorts.  I've raked a goodly amount of leaves into the space so that the poop can just go ahead and exist there, will attract bugs under this leaf cover and the whole thing will get broken down by chicken stomps, bug life, bacterias and yeasts until those leaves are fit to place on the garden come spring. 

It will keep the smell and the appearance of the poop lessened, it will be more pleasant for the birds to have the leaves underfoot instead of plastic and it will, hopefully, compost enough to be tilled into the garden come spring. It sure as heck looks better than black plastic with bird dandruff and poop piles smashed by chicken feet... pretty leaves hiding the mess just might satisfy the ol' Bat, ya think? 

Gnarly Bunch Daily Update:  Three good eggs, 2 very large, 1 med.   Middle Sister is gaining new ground each day and you can almost SEE her putting on weight and her feathers getting more sleek and smooth. 

I never really got to experience this going from bad to good thing in a flock and it's purely a revelation to me...I'm really liking this feeling.  Maybe that's a woman thing also....I used to love to iron, getting those wrinkles out and making things smooth and pretty.  This holds some of the same satisfaction of running your hands over the newly ironed clothing and reveling in the softness. 

I added a "solarium" feature to the hoop coop today...rolled up one side of the tarping and applied heavy, clear plastic to the wall, fastened with zip ties.  I can bet that I have a couple hundred zip ties in this coop!  I don't know what the human race ever did before zip ties and duct tape...

Anyhoo, the new "window" sure lets in more light and I may get around to doing the other side before it gets blue cold.  I like the natural lighting and the chickens having some place to sun while still being inside.  This small coop is rather limiting for me, but I'll work out the kinks as best I can. 

This coop most definitely will never win the Coop of the Year contest..... 


Gnarly Bunch - Update 11/11/2012 with Before and After Photos!

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Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 30 - 10/19/12 One Month

10/19/12

Well, the hay that the Bat brought home was moldy...bad moldy.  It was free, so one cannot complain..but the mold got Katy Chicken to wheezing and sneezing again, poor thing. 

To economize and make do with what we have, I will be encasing these bales in heavy duty leaf bags and using them for insulation anyway.  It won't look as pretty but it gets the job done and will make the bales easy to clean, while still sealing in the mold and providing an insulator for this open air coop. 

I found that I don't need as many bales to make this coop snug but will hold a few bales in reserve in case the cold gets more bitter this winter and I need more oomph in the coop.  I doubt I will....

Pics of Middle Sister, AKA Stumpy, and her now normal feet.  She was soaked with epsom salts for these impacted glands in her feet and resulting inflammation, 2 nights in a row, and the impaction was relieved some days before that.  I think the epsom salt soaks finally turned the tide for this chicken and she is now on the way to filling out and getting a better overall appearance and health. 

From left to right on the three WR sisters:  Raggedy Ann(no longer raggedy), Middle Sister(no longer Stumpy) and Bertha AKA Moby Dick(the only one that looked like a chicken when this all started). 

Middle Sister's feet...no longer puffy, swollen and tender...you can still see a residual redness but her scales are shiny, no more evidence of scale mites and the swelling is down.

From this pic, it's almost hard to tell which hen is the Middle Sister now(she's the one in the middle, naturally)....look below to see what she looked like at  Week 1, a mere three weeks previous. 

Pics of the new leaves added to the bedding today....and the chickens who love them.  I try to get leaves that are good and dry, after the dew has dried and the winds have done their job.  Then the open air coop will continue to let off humidity/moisture as these leaves dry out and deteriorate.

 

I have one more chicken that needs reconditioning and is not catching up with the others.  She is a little BA or a BA mutt that still looks pretty scraggly, dull feathered and kind of skinny.  She is the other chicken I found with enlarged and impacted glands in the feet, though not as bad as the WR, Middle Sister.  This bird doesn't have a name other than That Other Black Hen...we'll have to work on that.  She is not one of my original flock and I do not know her age, she is molting and she is not laying.  I'll try to get pics of her tomorrow to show her general condition right now. 

For now, I think a good soak in the warm Epsom salts may make a difference in this bird's feet, maybe dig out any debris in those glands...it just may help her gain some ground.  It sure worked for Middle Sister.  When a creature is in discomfort, you can often see it in their general condition....they won't have a healthy, bright appearance and movement and they will stand out from the rest, if the rest of the flock are doing well.  That is what is happening with this little bird...she's the last one that seems to be needing some sheen and gloss to her feathers and some pep in her step. 

After that one, I think they will all be out of the woods and moving towards good health for the winter.   Most of the legs are showing new, glossy scales ~ I don't know when they lost the old ones but there is new, lovely and supple scales now showing on most birds.  Toby still has some old scales to shed, Turkey has some and a few of the others but for the most part, most legs are new and pretty.  I'll try to get pics of the new legs/scales/feet soon. 

Winterization of the coop is done for now. I'd like to add a few features to let in more light but will have to work on that a little.  This is a weird style of coop, so the tweakings are possible but not as easy as on a wooden coop.  I just feel like natural light is so important for winter as the birds will be in the coop more and need some sunshine.  This coop is pretty dark for my liking. 

The coyotes are howling close again tonight and about in the same location.  They must have a kill down there that they are returning to and eating on. 

Soaked a chicken's feet tonight and removed some stinky stuff out of the foot glands, applied more NuStock to the scales and massaged in some bag balm.  Miss Ruby got a butt check, a wash and some more NS applied to her vent.  Her vent looks great except for ulcers at the corners of her vent.  I applied bag balm to these as well.  She lays an enormous egg and this can't be helping the healing of those corners.  The gleet looks like it is gone and she is no longer swollen and prolapsed at all. 

Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 31 - 10/21/12

Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 29 - 10/18/12

10/18/12

Funny report on the Gnarly Bunch and the Extra Rooster:  I got to see the first encounter this morning between Ol' Tobe and Extra Roo and it was quite comical.  As Toby has no spurs, no roosters were injured in the filming of this movie.  It was a complicated dance in the coop floor that sent hens scattering for the great outdoors and left me the sole witness to the stitching of the britches on the new guy. 

A brief time of hopping and posturing, followed by Toby grabbing the upstart by the neck and throwing him like a WWF wrestler across the coop floor.  Extra Roo decided to find the door or make one all by himself at that point and, after pinging off the walls a bit, found freedom and daylight....lots of it.  He pouted over by the brush pile for awhile and crowed his "you crusty old fart!!!!"  comeback to Toby from a safe distance. 

A little while later, ER decides to sneak in and grab a hen by the head...through the mesh of the coop.  Now, picture this...hen inside the coop, being held by the head by a rooster outsidethe coop.  Hen is screaming and Toby comes thundering across the yard to save his damsel in distress!  Oh, how I love to watch the social interactions in a flock...such entertainment!

Toby kicks the ER and then the big dog steps in....Jake breaks up any further fighting and stands between the two roosters.  Later we see the same action as the ER approaches the flock and Toby gets ready to rumble, Jake deliberately gets up from his usual resting spot and intervenes.  Jake doesn't like flock discord any more than do I, so he is just keeping the peace.  He's such a great dog!!! 

Poor ER doesn't know whether he is coming or going and is now standing lonely outside the coop.  Life is all about learning and adapting, isn't it? 

Put some hay along the walls of the coop today as the final touches to winterization.  With being able to open the side flaps for ventilation on warm days, it was just enough insulation at floor level to keep the coop cozy but not stuffy.  The coop has many points of ventilation, so the hay shouldn't impede air flow.  If I find it does, it's the work of seconds to remove a bale for more air.  This, however, makes the floor space less, though they can still get up on hay bales for the same area.  I've never had a coop this small in my life, so this is a new experience for me. 

I think I will be placing a nipple waterer in the coop even if it is winter and seeing how it all turns out.  I'll insulated it with bubble wrap and see if it will stay thawed enough for good water flow.  The nipple waterer clears up floor space and keeps the hay and bedding from dropping into the water when they all do the BOSS shuffle in there.  I've currently got it up on a pedestal but it won't be effective. 

I am going one step further and getting a hard sided 1 gal. bucket from the hardware and placing poultry nipples in the bottom and using this watering system until it is no longer feasible, then I will place THAT bucket down into my heated dog bowl.  The nipples don't stick out much and will not hinder the placement of the bucket and come spring I just use the same bucket for warm weather watering. 

I use the hard sided bucket instead of the more flexible bucket as I have found that hanging the flexible sided buckets for the nipple watering causes the sides to buckle a little and the handles on those buckets don't hold up well under the weight of that hanging water...plus it all causes some kind of vacuum action that causes the soft sided buckets fitted with the nipples to leak whereas the same nipples mounted into a hard sided bucket do not normally leak. 

I wrapped the FF bucket in hay, which should keep the feed from freezing but I'll have to wait and see. 

Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 30 - 10/19/12 One Month