No Names Yet
None of the new kids have chosen names yet. They’re thinking about it. Sometimes it takes some time. Be patient. We don’t need suggestions. They pick the names themselves. Don’t ask me how. 🙂
Baby broiler roo is doing okay. I definitely think he’s a broiler chicken because he looks like all the photos I can find of them. They’re missing feathers, they’re too big for their legs and they can barely get around. Baby broiler roo is a sweetheart and loves his turkey friend. When he hears me wake up in the morning he peep peep peeps for me and we snuggle for a while before getting up.
Baby turkey is doing well and growing fast. S/he has a bit of slipped wing on both wings, and her leg is still a little twisted, but she gets around okay. She is super sweet and snuggly, just like the baby broiler roo. They love to sit with me in the mornings and late at night. Turkey runs around pretty well outside, but has been getting into trouble by challenging the chickens to a duel. Every time turkey challenges a chicken, she runs back to me when the chickens attack. It’s pretty cute. She’s going to be bossy, I can tell already.
Both baby broiler roo and baby turkey spent their first full day outside today. They did well and should be able to stay outside most days while the weather is warm. They still come in at night.
The puffy butt-less hen is doing great too. She is only about 3-months-old so she’s still a kid. She has to keep her distance from the hens, especially Janet who seems to want her dead. We now call her “The Janet Monster” and whenever she is chasing puffy butt-less hen, the hen runs to me and jumps up on me for safety. At least twice a day, puffy hen comes when I call her and hops up on me to settle down for a nap. It’s nice to have a lap chicken around, and I hope she never grows out of it.
Everyone else is doing well too. Here O’Malley and Gus hang out together in a rare moment of peace. Usually Gus is chasing the lady muscovies and O’Malley is chasing Gus. Lester is hopping better than ever and seems to be a happy little bug.
That’s about it for today’s update. Keep on quacking and clucking and we’ll share more soon. Hopefully we’ll share NAMES for the new kids soon, too!
New Kids Update
Baby turkey and baby chicken are doing pretty well, considering they had a rough start. The chicken is probably a broiler chicken, which means it won’t have a very long life. Just google “broiler chicken” and read up on what humans have genetically done to chickens.
Having a little baby broiler chicken in my house is sad, and it leaves me with the very strong belief that we are terribly wrong as a people to genetically engineer suffering into baby animals. But baby chicken does his (or her) best to get around, and he does okay.
Turkey and chicken go outside each day for a bit, but it’s been too sunny to leave them out very long. Chicken has big bald spots and we don’t want him to get sunburned. They do enjoy sprawling out on the grass and eating some dandelions though.
Isn’t baby turkey beautiful? S/he has slipped wing on both wings and a slightly twisted leg, but so far she’s getting around okay. Turkey makes a sweet trilling noise and also kind of vibrates her whole body. Baby chicken and baby turkey speak different languages but they do talk to each other a lot. It is very sweet to see them go their different ways in the pen and then come back together for a nap and a chat.
The new permanent kid, this here lap chicken, is adjusting pretty well. The other chickens still pick on her, so she stays in a separate area during the day, and sleeps in a protected area where everyone can visit her at night. That way the chickens get to know her without being able to hurt her.
Lap chicken was very lucky that her raccoon bite was between her oil gland on her tail but above her vent where waste comes out. A big chunk was bitten out of her, right down to the bone, but it looks like some of her tail feathers are growing back, so she might not be tail-less forever.
She is a very sweet young chicken. We hear she is only 3-months-old. Hopefully the other hens will accept her before long so they can all hang out together. Until then, she is lounging out of their reach on my knee, which is just fine with me.
Lastly, we’re out of town for all of 27 hours, so all the kids are locked up in their spots. They were pretty bummed about it, but they can’t really tell time, so it’ll be over before they know it. Also, they got extra treats.
In fact, we’re posting this blog update from the airplane, at 30,000 feet. Isn’t modern technology wonderful? Back soon! And in a few days, we’ll also have these new kids tell us their names.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff
INCOMING: Two… er… three… things?
Today we received a text that two baby chicks were at the Seattle Animal Shelter and needed foster care and medical care. So we met them at the vet’s office this evening to bring them home for care. Meanwhile, this cute Rhode Island Red hen was also there, recovering from a very bad raccoon attack. Her entire rear was eaten away, all the way down to the bone. But the vets were able to stitch her back up and she has recovered well. Her owners couldn’t afford her care, so they surrendered her to the vet. The vets cared for her with their own time and money and nursed her back to health. Whenever I’m at the vet to pick up chickens, there’s always an extra one. “Since you’re already taking two anyway… what do you think?” I’m a sucker, so she came home with us. She will probably be a forever family member, but we’ll make sure she fits in with the flock first. I figure she and Carol and Janet all basically look the same, so they only really count as one chicken anyway, right?
Anyway, back to the baby chicks. Here they are. As soon as I saw the dark one, I said “that looks like a turkey, are you sure it’s a hen?” Everybody was sure they were both chickens, but I kept asking “what makes you think it’s a chicken.” It just looked like a turkey to me. The white one looked like it could be a chicken though. I left slightly confused.
At home I found clarity. This is most definitely a turkey, not a chicken. But I still wasn’t sure about the white one. Then I found this photo online…
It’s a turkey. And it looks EXACTLY like the “white baby chick” we now have, see?
So both of these new baby chicks are actually baby turkeys. Cool! They’re really messed up, but hopefully they can recover. The larger, dark one has a slightly twisted leg. The smaller, white one has a partially missing toe. Both are missing tons of feathers and they were starving. They ate like monsters and then sat on the couch with me for a little quality time.
Here we are snuggling and getting acquainted. Baby turkeys are pretty awesome. We’re happy to help them grow up strong and healthy if we can, but we’ll sure be sad to see them go.
Please, if you’re anywhere near Seattle, pass this post along to anyone who may be interested in two turkeys for pets. “FOR PETS” is a key factor. We can deliver them anywhere within 30 miles of Seattle.
P.S. We also saw these guys at the vet and were very restrained in not bringing them home. Birds only, preferably ducks. But chickens and I guess turkeys and the occasional goose and injured pigeon are okay too.
UPDATE: Well now I’m not so sure that white one is a turkey. The similar photo we found could have been misidentified. Guess we’ll know soon enough. No doubt on the other one being a turkey though.
Lessie Checks In
Lester Leroy wanted to check in and say “quack.” He is doing really well this week. He had a few rough weeks when Gus arrived and started picking his feathers, but he is doing great now. Gus came to us with a nutrition deficiency that made him pluck and eat his own feathers. When we placed him with Lester, he decided it was easier to pluck and eat LESTER’S feathers so he could keep his own feather intact.
To protect Lester from Gus, I kept Lessie separated during the days and in his own kennel near Gus at night. Lester did not like being alone during the day and I think it made him depressed. But now that Gus has stopped plucking, Lester is back with the flock during the days and enjoying the summer sunshine.
Lester is also hopping around really well this week, and he has been maintaining his weight for months now. When he wasn’t doing his best, I wondered if he really had a quality of life that was worth living. But right now he is definitely showing how much he loves his life.
It’s great to see Lessie happy and as healthy as he can be. He loves his routine every day and he even still loves Gus.
So quacks from Lessie. Keep on hoppin.’
Tough Day: Warning, Graphic Images
Friday was a tough day. I saw a post on a Seattle urban farm message board about a very gravely injured hen who had been without help for 2-3 days. The owner wasn’t asking for help, they were actually responding to a post about another injured hen and giving advice to just let it be.
This is her. Isn’t she beautiful? She had been attacked by a raccoon and another chicken had died in the attack. The people who had her knew she was very severely injured, but they weren’t thinking clearly. I can’t even guess why, but they didn’t end her suffering quickly and they didn’t get her any veterinary help either. They described her as having exposed bones and innards hanging out. They still have other hens and a rooster in a coop that isn’t predator-proof. Basically that means they have a raccoon feeding station.
This is her injury. The yellow-ish part in the middle is her spine. Those are her exposed vertebrae. She sat like this for 2-3 days before a note was posted about her being injured. Can you imagine how painful it must be to have your flesh and muscle torn open down to the bone and then sit untreated for days? The hen was isolated from other chickens and given food and water. I would think it is obvious but I will say it out loud anyway: Isolation, food and water do not magically close gaping wounds with exposed bone.
I am writing a few tips here for all people to follow, whether you have hens for pets or hens for food. These tips apply to everyone, regardless of your values. All humans must prevent unnecessary suffering to animals in their care. Please share this with anyone you know who has hens or ducks or is even pondering a backyard flock.
Basic Rules for Injured Chickens
1. If your chicken has a wound larger than 1/2″ it likely needs antibiotic ointment and/or further treatment. If you cut your finger, do you just roll it in some dirt and see how it goes?
2. If your chicken is listless, not eating, keeping to herself, etc. she needs help too. These are all bad signs. Birds hide their injuries and illnesses instinctively because they are a prey species.
3. If you eat your hens, you are fully within your right to kill an injured chicken. Do it quickly and as humanely and painlessly as possible.
4. Even if you don’t eat your hens, a seriously injured hen can be killed quickly and humanely to prevent more suffering. Suck it up, delicate urban flower. End the needless suffering.
5. If you do not know how to quickly and humanely kill a hen, and you are unwilling to take an injured hen to a veterinarian, you STILL MUST FIND HELP for that hen. It is NEVER okay to let a hen suffer for days with a serious painful injury.
6. No responsible farmer would ever let a hen suffer needlessly. If you are “playing farmer” in your suburban back yard, learn what you need to know to be humane.
7. If you cannot bring yourself to kill an injured hen, and you cannot afford to seek veterinary care for an injured hen (or don’t believe hens are worth paying vet bills for), you should not have hens.
8. You can surrender an injured hen to an emergency veterinary clinic, the Seattle Animal Shelter, other shelters or several bird & exotic animal veterinary clinics.
9. You can email me here at this blog (sillyhuman [at] ducksandclucks [dot] com) and I will show up at your house and take your injured hen, if I can. Sometimes I cannot. I do what I can.
10. Imagine yourself in the place of an injured hen. What would you want someone to do for you if you were seriously injured?
11. Do all you can to educate yourself about how to keep hens safe. Seattle Tilth offers classes, for one. Or ask me. I know everything.
People sometimes think I rescue ducks and clucks because I’m nice. I can be nice, but I can also be a raging b!tch, especially when people are causing animals to suffer needlessly. I just can’t hear about a hen in need and not help. If I don’t do anything to try and help, I can’t sleep at night. And I love to sleep.
The owner of this hen agreed to give me the hen when I emailed nicely and said I would pick her up and get her care. The owner was very thankful, and I was cordial so I could get the hen. I am always super nice to try my best to help the animal, but in reality I was super intensely pissed off that someone would let this happen, and all I could think of was punching the owner in the face. So when I got there, I just crawled in sh!t to get the hen and didn’t bother to knock on the door. I was afraid I would say something mean or get punchy and not get the hen.
This hen was taken directly to ACCES Emergency Clinic where the veterinarian quickly assessed her and decided it was best to euthanize her. Exposed bone dries out and dies. Old, untreated wounds get infected and go septic (systemic infection) very quickly. She could not survive and was already dying, slowly. She may not have survived even with immediate care, but she absolutely should NOT have suffered for 2-3 days without treatment. It was inhumane and unnecessary. To that point, I could see if a chicken had a small cut or was sneezing that an owner would ask advice online and wait and see rather than seek treatment. I get that. They might cause some unnecessary suffering, but it also could be nothing. But if an animal has an open, gaping wound down to the bone with exposed vertebrae… come on people. Seriously assess whether you are in your right mind.
I named her “Sweet Pea” before she was put down, because I did not get her name from her owner. She was making a quiet, constant “wah wah wah” noise which seemed like crying. She was in pain, a lot of pain.
She deserved better.
Lastly, I know this post is self-righteous and I just can’t help it. I would probably do better if I didn’t see this kind of story every week in Seattle, but I do. People are way too careless and cavalier with the lives of animals. I can only take so much before I get ranty. I know I am a self-righteous, chicken-hugging know it all and I’m okay with it. The owner of this chicken will likely be getting a visit from Animal Control to ensure that her other pets are well cared for, and that they are not in danger like this hen was. She’s probably not going to like it but I think the chickens will. High five to the chickens!
And rest in peace little “Sweet Pea.”
Goodbye to Cal the Rooster
Cal the rescued rooster headed to his forever home on Thursday. He came to the office with me so his ride could pick him up, but thankfully I found a nice covered parking spot in the shade so he stayed in the car in a carrier.
He still has some feathers to grow in, but otherwise he’ll do just fine in his new home. Cal’s rescuer sent this note about his forever home:
“As the scruffy little guy popped out of his carrier and walked off into the chicken run, his new owner exclaimed, ‘Oh, he’s so beautiful!!’ Cal then immediately started scratching around and showing his new ladies all the good treats he was finding. I think they will all be happy.”
Everyone else is doing well. Gus spends a lot of time in “time out” for chasing Petunia and Ramona too much. O’Malley is as sweet and bitey as ever. And the chickens are doing great. We’ll keep you posted, but for now we’re just happy to catch up on the sleep we missed while Cal was around.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff & the flock
A Week
This week was just a normal week. Kind of busy, but that’s normal. Everyone is doing well. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I did receive this photo of a great piece of needlework though. That was nice.
Gus is still being a little too pushy with the ladies. Hopefully they can hold their own. O’Malley enjoys keeping him in line.
Cal is still here for another week. He’s growing in a ton of feathers while several people work to find him a safe forever home.
I must say, I’m kind of cranky these days. I see notices almost every day on message boards from people trying to get rid of roosters. They always say they’re the sweetest, friendliest gentlemen and they deserve the best homes… and they’re right. They DO deserve the best homes. That is why people shouldn’t HAVE chickens if they don’t have a plan for the roosters. Roosters are noisy. They don’t belong in the suburbs. Half of all chickens hatched are roosters. There is not a magical waiting list of sanctuaries who want to take in wayward roosters and care for them for the YEARS they will live. People actually drop them off at the Seattle Animal Shelter like a lost puppy (that’s not Cal’s story – he was dropped and injured by an eagle). I’m just dumbfounded by it all I guess. So many people are so very careless with the lives of animals. Hatch and dump, hatch and dump, hatch and dump. So much suffering for so little reason.
I don’t know what got me started on that rant, but I’m going to take a tip from Cal the rescued rooster and just relax and enjoy some sunshine.
Here’s hoping for a quiet, relaxing week ahead.
Quacks and clucks,
Tiff and the motley crew
Weekends are Worky
When we have rescues around, weekends are sometimes more work than the work week.
On Friday evening we said goodbye to Pidgy. She finished her antibiotics and was standing and walking better on both feet, even though she is missing toes on both feet. So off she went, into the sunset.
Here’s a little video of her release back at the park where she first walked up to us the previous week.
Also on Friday, we picked up our sweet new ride, the all-electric, zero emissions Nissan LEAF. Isn’t she cute? Her name is Maple. She’s a 4-door hatchback with plenty of room for the 120lbs of duck and chicken food we carried home today from the feed store. I think we’ll be good friends.
The screaming rooster is still here with us for another week. He is making us very tired. He likes to get up early and crow, and unlike Fabio used to do, he does NOT enjoy coming onto the bed and snoozing with us for a few hours. He is not friendly and would just like his breakfast and to crow very loudly, thank you very much. Who can blame him? He’s been through a lot.
Someone on the Facebook group asked what his name was, and as I was typing back to say “we didn’t name him because he isn’t staying” I had a very clear thought run through my head. The thought was from the rooster and he said “My name is Cal.” Who am I to argue? He says his name is Cal. He was dropped by an eagle, and he likes to get up early. He seems to be improving, but it is difficult to tell because he is not friendly. I think he’s improved though. He hates to be caught and will scream like a banshee if you catch him, so it’s tough to even let him out in the yard. I feel bad for the guy. But I also understand why an eagle would drop him (sorry Cal… not a very funny joke).
In other news, Gus has been spending lots of time in “time out” for chasing and mating with both scovy girls too much. He is a handful.
He has given up Lester as his wingman in favor of wooing the ladies full time.
Lester doesn’t seem to mind, as he prefers to play hide-and-seek in the thick shrubberies all by himself.
Both crows are doing well. They love to hang out in the yard with us, especially on the weekends. They are slowly getting used to our new car, too. I’m sure they miss the old one, as they had it memorized and would follow me to the house from two blocks away. There aren’t too many Nissan LEAFs on the road yet though, so I’m sure they’ll recognize my new ride soon enough.
The starlings come by once-a-day to gather fallen feathers for their nests. I call them “the cleaning crew.” They sweep up all the lost feathers and it’s nice to think that Lessie and Gus’ feathers and all the others are warming little baby birdies in nests all over the neighborhood.
Toonie says hello. She is doing well, as long as she can stay out of Gus’ way and stick close to O’Malley.
Ramona sticks close to Malley now too. And he takes his job of guarding the ladies very seriously.
That’s about it for us for the weekend. Keep good thoughts that Cal sleeps in this coming week, okay? We have a bit of “chronic rooster fatigue syndrome” with all the early wake-up calls. But he’s worth it. Look at that face!
Have a good week and keep cluckin’ and quackin’ (but not crowin’, shhhh!)
Long Weekend
On Sunday, we took this cute giant baby rooster to his forever farm in Fall City, WA.
He will live at Baxter Barn with some hens and some miniature donkeys for friends. It was a pretty nice place. It’s tough to find good homes for roosters, and a safe farm is better than most other alternatives. I got attached to this baby roo in just two days. He was so young and sensitive and sweet. Every single one that comes through here touches me, but this guy was special. He was so big and gangly and looked intimidating, but was a big baby underneath his pretty feathers. I will miss him, but not his 5:42am wake-up crows.
In other rooster news, this guy is still here. He still feels pretty terrible, and I feel really bad for him. He is terrified of being touched and obviously was really hurt wherever he was before he found us. He has to have twice-daily injections, and those go pretty easy. But I’d like him to start spending a little time outside during the day. That works okay, and he seems to enjoy it. But when I need to catch him to bring him back inside, he screams and screams like he’s being killed. I can only imagine what happened to him in the past, and it really makes me angry that anyone would let an animal suffer that much.
What a mess. He seems to be doing okay, but not great. He doesn’t have much… life… in him. I don’t know how else to explain it. I can almost forget he is in a carrier because there’s nothing coming out of it to let me know he’s in there. He must have been close to death. I’m hoping he can rebound and find joy in life again. We’ll see. It will take some time, and he won’t be here too long. I hope a great, safe forever home comes along for him. He deserves the best.
Pidgy is doing well. S/he is feeling much better and can’t wait to leave. S/he has to have 7 full days of antibiotics though, so Pidgy needs to just suck it up.
Isn’t s/he pretty?
Pidgy grunts and growls at me. Did you know pigeons did that? I had no idea. I checked with my pigeon expert friend Terry and she confirmed that not only do they grunt, they will also wing-slap you and bite and twist your flesh. So far Pidgy just enjoys grunting at me every time I walk by. It’s very cute – I mean INTIMIDATING and scary! 🙂
As for the family, Petunia enjoyed a nice bug hunt this evening.
Ramona hunted for bugs, too.
She and O’Malley look like twins wandering around the yard. Except for the size difference, they look a lot alike.
Lastly, O’Malley wanted to show off his cute trick.
Pretty fancy! He is a good boy.
That’s it for us this weekend. Hope you had a good one. Keep quackin’ and cluckin’.
New Arrivals
Friday morning we picked up this rooster from the Seattle Animal Shelter to transport it to a forever farm on Sunday. He crows a lot so we’re happy he’ll be on his way soon.
He is healthy and young, and just a little skinny.
Unfortunately the other rooster is in bad shape. He has bite wounds all over him. He is literally covered in open wounds. The story was he was dropped by an eagle, but it’s hard to say for sure. He looks too beat up for that.
He is on a bunch of medications to see if he can recover, and then he’ll go to a forever home. Unfortunately he can’t join the other guy tomorrow. He’ll stay here with us for a bit. Cross your fingers for him. He’s really not feeling well.
After the roosters were settled in, we went to the park for a bit to visit with the ducks and enjoy the sunshine.
While sitting at the park, an injured pigeon walked up to us and stood there, so I picked her up.
One of her feet is infected and swollen. It looks like it’s a fishing line injury or string injury. She wasn’t standing on the foot but holding it up, and she seemed in pain. So home she came with us!
Lots of pigeons are missing toes and do okay. So once the infection is cleared up, we’ll release her back to the park where we found her, and she can go on with her life. Until then, she is grunting at us every time we walk by. It’s pretty cute… I mean intimidating!
That’s the update for this long weekend.
Keep cluckin’.
