Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Cheery_Daff

They're not normally a fan of being stroked so I suspect that might just traumatise them more sadly!

They did just perk up slightly on being offered some yogurt and raspberries though :rotfl: Didn't actually eat much mind you, but they both took a couple of raspberries out of the yogurt, dropped them on the floor and picked at them a bit. We've got the lights off and it's getting quite dingy in here now so I'm hoping they'll just doze off and get some proper rest, poor things look so tired

(can hens look tired?! I wasn't even sure they could look traumatised til this morning but that's definitely what they looked. Now they look slightly less traumatised, but like they're falling asleep on their feet... Don't know why they don't just sit down but apparently they're not going to :rotfl: )

Pyxis

Would they be interested in chocolate?

Is it harmful to hens, or are they allowed take a tiny bit as a treat?


Not toffee though, as it might stick their beaks together!

MysteryMe

Sorry to read about the sad events. I'm sure your two injured hens will be fine in the warm, they are in shock but once they get eating and taking fluids will be fine

Chocolate is a no for birds.

Cheery_Daff

Thank you lovely people :kisses3:

We'll be sticking to stuff like corn, raspberries & the occasional bit of yogurt for treats. At the minute it seems they'll eat a little out of our hands but not out of bowls - good job I'm working at home for the time being!! :eek:

edwink

Awww Cheery I'm so so sad for you and your poor little hens. Aww bless them and you. What a lovely vet you have and how nice not to charge you a small fortune which some do.

If it is any comfort, if they are attacked and die is a usually instantly. The attacker will normally take one for feed but kill all the others basically to shut them all up to stop them making any noise and therefore raising the alarm that there is danger occuring.

Your two traumatised hens will recover but at the moment are suffering from complete and utter shock and know that the other two have been killed. They will settle and sit down but are on their guard so will stay standing up until they settle down a bit. Try to make sure all is quiet around them which I am sure you will. No loud noises, door banging sort of noises, just keep them quiet and talk to them, go down to their level on the floor if you want to make a fuss of them especially with food and don't crouch over them. They will settle but it will take a few days. At least they have indoor shelter and are nice and cosy and warm.

You will need to encourage them with some tasty little pieces of meat or something real tasty. Maybe some Meal Worms, sunflower seeds or maybe some chopped raisins. No porridge though as they are indoors at the moment as it will make them too warm and definitely no chocolate. Maybe a little bowl of custard, just leave it with them and they can help themselves when they feel like it. Tinned sweetcorn is another treat they really like so you could try some of that also or a little bit of tuna or a teeny piece of grated cheese.

I'm surprised it got in through the 1 inch gap crafty !!!!!!. Please don't blame yourself I wouldn't have thought to put wire over a gap that small, honest I wouldn't. Obviously Stoats can elongate their bodies like rats can but as Pyxis says what about its skull??. Sadly the perils of having complete free range girlies and the lovely free roaming life it gives them. As you say they had 5 glorious months didn't they?. So they saw the sun, the rain and the snow, plenty of dust bathing, grass eating and lots of mischief not to mention being spoilt by you and Mr Cheery.

The trouble is when it snows and the temperatures are freezing outside food isn't very plentiful for wild animals and they will try anything anyway they can to get something.

Aww Cheery I'm so sad for you. Bless you, you are such a caring hen keeper and have taken to it like a duck to water, a complete natural.

Bless you (((hugs)))

Edwink

Cheery_Daff

Thank you edwink you're very kind :kisses3:

I'm pleased to report the ladies have made it through the night. Still looking bewildered and lost but still here which is a start.

Tried hand feeding them with water, corn, chopped raisins, they took a bit of water and a bit of corn but not much. They did walk out of their little enclosure to meet me though (eventually) but then just stood there. When I lifted them to put them back in they were both really unsteady on their feet

So today we wait. We'll have a little burial ceremony for the other two this morning, then Mr Cheery has to go out. I've got to nip out briefly for a bit but I'm sure they'll be ok for a couple of hours while they're mostly resting anyway. I'm here for the rest of the day, and can pick up some mealworms while I'm out (and grit - I used the last while it was snowing and while they normally just pick it up themselves while free ranging, obviously they can't do that at the minute).

Fingers crossed.

Cheery_Daff

Well Maud and Mildred seem to be rallying :j I am SO relieved :j Not getting too excited yet of course... they're still mostly just standing round looking stunned and they've barely made a noise at all for 2 days

But they have at least eaten something now, and got positively excited when I took them some mealworms earlier (thanks for the tip edwink!)

I've managed to get the rug out from under their hospital enclosure - yesterday was such a rushed emergency we just threw some old curtains down on top of it (thinking the chickens might not last the day anyway) but clearly that was going to get very disgusting very quickly :eek:

So I've removed the rug - fortunately the floor is tiled - and thrown down a few inches of chicken bedding. Hopefully that'll feel a bit more familiar to them, and I've thrown some corn in there so they can rootle round in it too.

And once things get back to normal, I can just sweep it all into a bin bag and mop the floor.

Completely ridiculous having my study taken over by a chicken hospital :rotfl: but I am VERY grateful that I have a room I can do that with and also that I'm working at home so much at the minute to be able to look after them (although 'working' is not really the word these last two days... got some catching up to do!)

So they're going to bed slightly more lively than yesterday, thank goodness.

Buried the other two this morning in amongst the fruit trees, I think they would have liked that (especially given how much they were pestering me over there while I was planting the trees! :rotfl: :rotfl: ) Did shed a few tears though

Pyxis

(((((((((((CheeryDaff)))))))))))

Cheery_Daff

Thanks pyxis. Tis still weird. But we've never had pets as adults (partly cos wr knew how soppy we'd get over them :rotfl: ), and knowing these ones were murdered in their beds is harder I think than them dying of old age :eek: (although I imagine I'd be equally devastated if that happened )

Can you really grieve over a chicken??

Anyway I'm actually glad the other two aren't outside today, the weather is VILE. Currently snowing - not too much on the ground but the wind is almost horizontal, flying across the fields. They ladies do NOT approve of this type of weather and would likely have spent the whole day huddled in the cosy bit at the back of the run anyway.

Just taken them some breakfast - just pellets and porridge mixed with a little tepid water (not hot, thanks for the warning edwink), just wanted it to feel faniliar. Did give them a couple of raspberries on the top. They were already up when I got there (no curtains in that room, although it's pretty dingy today anyway), but again just standing around not doing anything.

Have to say it smells MUCH better in there after replacing the manky curtains with (pine scented) chicken bedding :eek:

I've moved my laptop to the dining table though. I experimented with working in the chicken hospital for a couple of hours the other day (it IS my study, after all...) but... No. :rotfl:

How are everyone else's ladies doing in the cold?

Pyxis

Yes, you certainly can grieve over a chicken. You can grieve over anything live that has developed a degree of relationship with you.

They had their own little personalities, and so were chicken-people.

I once had a sparrow in my garden, who was a right tatty-looking thing. He was the patriarch of his group and really feisty. Each year for at least three years he raised a brood under my eaves.

One day, I found him dead in the garden. (I knew it was him because of his featherless neck, no doubt from some run-in with a cat, and I'm sure the cat would have come off worse).

I was so upset.
Plus I really missed seeing him hopping about the garden and bossing the others about.

I was upset for ages.

He would just be there.....there was no interaction with me at all, but I got used to him, and would say hello when he turned up, and would watch him training his fledglings, and moan at him when his chirp chirp chirping over my back door went on too long!

I still feel a bit sad, and it was years and years ago!