JUNE 10, 2023...... Not More Chickens...... it's illegal .......... no it's not LOL
Last Saturday we went on a rescue mission. If you've been reading along with us you know that we love Speckled Sussex hens. We previously bought five from "My Pet Chicken" and they've been a real joy, mellow, cute, not flighty, gregarious and so much more.
We found one of our neighbors had five Speckled Sussex pullets that are about three weeks younger than ours. After bantering back and forth we agreed to pay $20 each for the hens, the fee was to account for the cost of feed they've eaten.
As it turned out they are not very vibrant and healthy, the product of eating unclean food and water.
Mary to the rescue. One of the five new female chicks was very listless and we quickly felt like we'd bought sick chickens (which makes us very sad). We started a round of antibiotic on the sickest one (we named her Z, sort of an acronym for "Sleepy"). Her sister (we named W, that's Dub-U) also got a dose of antibiotic along with some semi-forced water drinking.
Three days of hand watering, dosing with drugs and lots of love has all five of these young chickens looking like new birds. We're thinking they were severely dehydrated and one (Z) was half starved, she weighs practically nothing. The tails on these hens are almost gone, a sign of over dominance by the others in deciding pecking order.
While nursing them along we've had a chance to hold them, they are SOOOOOO soft and fluffy. Chickens look so round and meaty but they are really just a lot of feathers until they completely mature.
We will continue praying for them and nursing the weak ones back to vibrancy and good health.
Mary found that they love whole milk, it's cold and cooling to hot little birds and it's a great source of protein for under nourished babies.
I think these five new additions bring our total chicken population up to 66, nine of which are roosters.
Total birds in residency here is 70 if you include the four wild Muscovy living here (2 babies, 2 moms).
There is never a dull moment here at P2. Alligators, chickens and wild ducks.....oh my!
