It's been a rough bird week. So, yah.... the chicks are five weeks old, and these are the most traumatized and stressed-out brooding flock I have ever worked through. I'm hopeful, as they get older, that they will settle down, but that may simply be wishful thinking considering we are five weeks in and they are hyper sensitive to sounds, lights, and each other. They are quick to attack one another for the slightest of offenses... I have one chick that developed vent gleet which I have to assume is due to the amount of stress she feels. Some of the chicks have no tail feathers left because of the bullies... It's not just one bully, it's a lot of bullies.
I have put the one with gleet in an isolation box inside the brooder which takes up precious floor space, but I don't know how else to tend to her extra needs. I have been adding probiotics to her food and giving her a dose of extra vitamins every day. She has grown back six of the tail feathers that was just a "nub" a few days ago. I have ordered some yeast infection treatment from a homeopathic source because getting antibiotics through a vet is nearly impossible around here. Plus, the cost of the bill would be, to say the least, cost prohibitive. I think I would be dis-owned for paying $200 for a vet and antibiotics to care for a $25 chick.... So..... Big Sigh.
We have the Gimpy Hen, who twisted her leg trying to pry herself under the water fount. We have her isolated in a small pen situated next to the main laying flock. She can get around, but is stiff. She's still determined to lay an egg everyday, even though she really should just be resting. What's a Mother to Do?
Then, tonight, Diego, the duck, escaped the pen and got herself stuck IN the netting trying to get back in. Don't know how long she was stuck there, but as soon as we were able to get her unstuck and back inside the fence, she went straight to the pond for a big, long drink of water. So I'm guessing she had been there for more than a few hours.... UGH!
Earlier in the day, I went out to clean out one of our "transition" quarantine coops only to discover that the floor was covered in mold and mildew. A leak in the roof that I didn't realize was there. I had the floor covered with rubber mats, but obviously, the leaking roof had been dripping full tilt in this very wet spring we are having. I washed/bleached everything down, but the flooring, being a chip board, is fully degraded. So we need to get that fixed by this weekend. I will need a place for the forty pullets that will be six weeks next week. That transition coop was going to be our option for the two Gold Comets that we keep in isolation from the rest of the flock, since they are bratty and bossy, and I want to sell them in the next month or so. The 2 Comets are in our Large Summer Grow Out pen that can easily hold 25 full sized hens or 50 pullets. So, yah, the Comets are using WAY too much space for their actual needs. Their accommodations need to be downsized.
19 of the pullets will be going to their new homes in two weeks, leaving us with 21 pullets for another five weeks to figure out which ones to keep for ourselves. All the left overs from the 21 are already spoken for at 10 weeks. It is amazing how easy it is to sell chickens this year! I keep getting contacted by previous customers from the past four to five years, asking if we have birds for sale!
Have another 30 pullet chicks reserved for the first week of May. Hopefully, that brooding flock will be much less stressed on delivery.
The first photo below is the pullet in quarantine, and the rest of the photos are the 19 that are reserved for people in the area wanting young pullets.
