What is better than feeding pumpkin to chickens? Feeding jack-o-lanterns to chickens so they look like headless chickens when they eat. Ha!
I bought a sugar pie pumpkin because they are nice and small, and found one with a nice thick stem to make it easier to hang. Then I cut the face of the pumpkin (going for the shocked look), and cut a large hole out of the back of the pumpkin to attract the chickens. If I do it again, I will probably just draw on a face, since the face attracts just as much pecking as the back. (If… who am I kidding. This is hilarious. Of course I will do it again.)
Back cut out of jack-o-lantern
I hung the pumpkin at chicken head height, then took pictures.
And the made the memes. Because I am easily amused.
We decided to clean out the coop because we haven’t since the chickens took over the whole space.
Carrying of pine shavings by the bucketful
At first the chickens were wary, but as we progressed, carrying more and more things out of the coop, they freaked.
Freaked out chickens
Tigger did something to hurt her feet, probably when she was flying wildly about, so we locked them all in the run so they couldn’t cause themselves more damage. Next time, we will start with them locked in a run! Live and learn.
Confined chickensAll swept up
We swept up all the pine shavings and dust and feathers, put some down as mulch where I am trying to suppress weeds, and the rest went into the compost pile. We then had to do a little rearranging. The metal nest boxes needed to be moved so the back door opened properly (my math missed the perch, sigh). Then we moved the washed and sanitized roost back in. Everything got a good dust of diatomaceous earth, then we put down four bags of pine shavings. Yikes. The chickens eventually calmed down. My youngest made an egg foray into the coop, only to find no eggs. Darn it.
Tigger was struggling still, and just sitting in the back of the coop, so we tried wrapping her right leg. She did not like that at all, but can’t get to the bandage, so we’ll leave it on a bit to see if it helps. We could not identify any obviously broken bones, so we hope rest will help. I put her in the cleaned out isolation ward with the food and water lowered so she could drink and eat while laying down.
Isolated Tigger
In happy news, Navi has gained weight, but her crop is large and squishy again. Sigh.
Seriously? I thought chickens didn’t like to be wet. I’ve been watching the chickens dust bath closer and closer to the foot bath, but I didn’t expect to find one laying in the water. She wasn’t stuck, can walk fine, didn’t seem overly bothered that her feathers were wet, just … confused. I will have to keep an eye on her too. That was definitely not a fresh foot bath. Ew.
Had to dust off my chemistry degree to tend to Navi. The treatments for impacted crop were not working, so we moved on to treatments for sour crop, thinking that she has a fungal infection in her crop. I’m still following the advice in “The Chicken Health Handbook” by Gail Damerow. For sour crop, she recommends a flush, then treatment with Copper Sulfate. To make the Copper Sulfate drinking solution, first you have to make a stock solution, then add a little of the stock solution to a gallon of water. This is where my chemistry neurons had to be dusted off, and frankly I had to consult with my chemist Mom, because inorganic chemistry has never been my strong point. I made the stock solution and drinking water, which promptly turned cloudy and a little while later had precipitates at the bottom.
Copper Sulfate Solution made with softened water (precipitate formed)
Copper Sulfate solution should be clear. I figured out that it was probably that I used softened water from the sink, so remade both solutions using Reverse Osmosis water. Ah, a clear solution. My Mom hypothesizes that the precipitate was probably Copper Chloride Hydrate. I could have tested the precipitate, but I had already used the solution for a root killer in the yard, pouring it on poison ivy and saw briar stems. Copper Sulfate is a fungicide and a root killer.
Copper Sulfate solution made with reverse osmosis water (clear!)
We’ll see if this treatment helps Navi. She is in isolation, but I’m glad I took my Dad’s advice because the isolation ward is at a good height, I can lean in, and it is plenty big for one chicken. Navi can see the other chickens, has a roost, food, water, and even a small foot bath. Although with her medicated water, she only gets a frozen water bottle on a plate so she doesn’t drink foot water. Ugh.
We did our monthly health check of the whole flock: checked vents, looked for parasites under the wing, checked feet, checked weight. This time we moved all the bands to the chickens’ left leg to make it easier to identify them. Navi’s colors were changed too, because a white band on a white feathered leg is not helpful. Although honestly, it is really easy to tell which one is Navi since her crop is distended.
Updated weight chart, note Navi’s decline
Not surprising, Navi lost some weight. It looks like what ever is ailing her started over a month ago. Although she gained weight the month before, it was not in proportion to her flock mates and dropped her to the lowest weight bird. Her comb also has not developed, which may or may not be related. Most of the flock now have bright red defined combs, while Navi has almost no comb and the area is still light pink.
Critters and Craft 