Speckles and Bossy
This past spring John and his wife Joann bought four hens from us to raise for eggs. They live in the village of Chatham and could only raise hens, no roosters for fear that the crowing would disturb their neighbors. When they picked up their birds the inquired into what type of feed we used and I explained how we mix our own organic feed. One thing led to another and they now buy their chicken feed from our farm. By doing this we have been keeping in touch sharing chicken stories.
The other day John sent an email commenting on how big his one hen, Bossy is getting, she is growing like an ostrich. My immediate thought is Uh Oh; some body has gone cross chicken gender and turned from a hen to a rooster. It happens, not the cross gender thing but every now and then a bird will fool you and turn rooster. I have also had a hen act like a rooster for a six month then start laying eggs (Coco my show girl believe it or not!). I question John if by chance; he has heard any crowing or something like a crow or screech. He said no, no, they all just happily cluck around. Okay, but I'm still thinking if her name is Bossy, she bosses the other hens around and is growing like an ostrich? Sounds like rooster to me but we have to wait and see. Know how attached to their birds the John and Joann are I'm hoping my thoughts do not come true.
The very next morning I get the email from John mentioning how he may have spoke too soon, there was crowing coming form the coop. I feel horrible; their birds are like children to them, darn, darn, darn. I've always told our customers if a hen turns rooster, bring them back and I will swap out the roo for a hen (hopefully). John agrees to the swap, I have a young hen available and they need to stop over for feed anyway.
Off I send Bruce, my poor husband out into the back yard to hunt down Speckles. Speckles is a young pullet (female chicken) Cuckoo Maran that hatched out with the turkeys. She thinks she is a turkey and is very happy hanging out with the giant gangly beasts. Speckles feathers are a dark black/gray color with lots of tiny white speckles all over with dainty little feathers going down her legs. Her best friend is Willow and those two are always together day and night along with their turkeys. Now that I think about it I haven't seen Speckles in a day or so, but with all the babies running wild out there it's easy to miss a bird for a day or two. Bruce looks high and low for Speckles; for once he even knew which bird I'm asking him to look for! Willow is in the barn, the turkeys were hanging out, outside the barn but there is no sign of Speckles. Now I start to get worried, a few weeks ago a couple of Elvira's chicks vanished. They had a very bad habit of sneaking out of our perimeter fencing every day to visit the neighbors. Bruce and I figured Foxy Loxy may have had a paw in their disappearance. While I'm hunting for Speckles my hope sinks, I fear she may have decided to sneak out also, which she has never done before. They have a whole acre, why do they need to visit the neighbors? Then the old adage rang true in my head "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence", darn birds.
John and Joann arrive and we explain our situation of Speckles missing. They agree to wait a few days to see if She turns up, if not they will adopt younger chicks. I'm still hoping to find her lounging out somewhere having a chicken party with a few other hens. Now for Bossy, I have to find him a place to stay for a few days so he can meet the other chickens slowly. When introducing a new bird to the flock they need a slow introduction, everyone beats up the new kid on the block. This is especially true for a young rooster.
Reaching into the cat carrier I take out Bossy, he is absolutely beautiful! He is almost all white with black accents around his neck with spectacular rooster feathering. Immediately he stuffs his head under my arm, shaking from fear. I could see the pain in John and Joann's eyes, giving up Bossy was not an easy task for them. I Assuring them that he will be fine and carefully place him in a pen alone that is within view of all the other bird in the barn. He can meet everyone behind the safety of chicken wire to ensure he is not beaten up or picked on. Bossy is not happy about this, he had never been alone before in his whole life, he starts prancing back and forth trying to fine a way through the fencing. The next morning I go out to check on Bossy first thing. He is still prancing back and forth but seems more frantic then the evening before. Going into his pen I pick the boy up, he squawks and stuffs his head under my arm, desperately trying to hide. Hoping is as gentle as he seems, I place Bossy in with all the younger chicks for company. He can still be seen by all the big birds but not be all alone. Ta da, he is thrilled, Bossy starts strutting around the baby pen, clucking and bah burring to any chick that would listen. As far as he knows, he is still a young chick also. This solution will keep him safe until I think the other roosters will accept him.
Meanwhile another day goes by and there is still no sign of Speckles, my heart slowly sinks a little more when all of a sudden Bruce comes rushing into the house announcing he has found Speckles! She had fallen behind a board, slipping into the wall of the barn. The poor girl has been wedged in the wall for three days! Carefully Bruce extracted her from her predicament and places her next to a water and food bowl. Speckles can barely stand up but she manages to wobble over to the water dish and starts to drink. After what seemed an eternity she stops drinking and turns to the dish of food for a nibble. It looks as if her feathers have been squished upwards on each side and compressed. Speckles is wobbly and shaking but she is eating and drinking, that’s a very good sign after her ordeal. A few more minutes go by; she must have had enough water and food for the moment. She then wobbles over to a sunny spot on the barn floor where quietly sat down and closes her eyes. I can see her tail feathers are shaking, Speckles is not out of the woods yet.
My mind is racing what could I give her to boost her strength. She needs electrolytes, juice, sugars something to get energy into her weak dehydrated little body. Back in the house I'm digging around for something to give her and I came across Gatorade, why not, I'll try it, chickens love sweet stuff. Then I cut up a peach into tiny bits with some cucumber and lettuce. Placing this tiny feast in front of Speckles I feel better; hopefully it will work for her.
She opens her eyes and I splash my finger in the Gatorade water, this gets her attention and she leans over to take a long drink. Speckles then notices the fruit and cucumber and slowly nibbles on just a tiny bit, then closes her eyes resting in her sun spot. There is nothing more I can do but let her rest. Every ten or fifteen minutes I went out to the barn to check on Speckles progress. Slowly she is improving, walking around the barn from feed bowl to treat dish to water bowl and the Gatorade dish, taking a sip or nibble from each. Willow came into the barn discovering Speckles and seemed very happy at the return of her friend, together they wandered happily around the barn burbling. How I wish Willow could have told me her friend was stuck in the wall.
After a few hours I call John and Joann to give them the good news about Speckles, they are excited and offer to adopt both girls as soon as Speckles is well enough to travel. Speckles has made a full recovery, she is inseparable from Willow. The two girls will be ready to be adopted by the weekend. Bossy is still living with the baby chicks, we may have a family that will hopefully adopt him (please, please, please). This will save him from going through the trauma of being the low rooster in pecking order.
This past spring John and his wife Joann bought four hens from us to raise for eggs. They live in the village of Chatham and could only raise hens, no roosters for fear that the crowing would disturb their neighbors. When they picked up their birds the inquired into what type of feed we used and I explained how we mix our own organic feed. One thing led to another and they now buy their chicken feed from our farm. By doing this we have been keeping in touch sharing chicken stories.
The other day John sent an email commenting on how big his one hen, Bossy is getting, she is growing like an ostrich. My immediate thought is Uh Oh; some body has gone cross chicken gender and turned from a hen to a rooster. It happens, not the cross gender thing but every now and then a bird will fool you and turn rooster. I have also had a hen act like a rooster for a six month then start laying eggs (Coco my show girl believe it or not!). I question John if by chance; he has heard any crowing or something like a crow or screech. He said no, no, they all just happily cluck around. Okay, but I'm still thinking if her name is Bossy, she bosses the other hens around and is growing like an ostrich? Sounds like rooster to me but we have to wait and see. Know how attached to their birds the John and Joann are I'm hoping my thoughts do not come true.
The very next morning I get the email from John mentioning how he may have spoke too soon, there was crowing coming form the coop. I feel horrible; their birds are like children to them, darn, darn, darn. I've always told our customers if a hen turns rooster, bring them back and I will swap out the roo for a hen (hopefully). John agrees to the swap, I have a young hen available and they need to stop over for feed anyway.
Off I send Bruce, my poor husband out into the back yard to hunt down Speckles. Speckles is a young pullet (female chicken) Cuckoo Maran that hatched out with the turkeys. She thinks she is a turkey and is very happy hanging out with the giant gangly beasts. Speckles feathers are a dark black/gray color with lots of tiny white speckles all over with dainty little feathers going down her legs. Her best friend is Willow and those two are always together day and night along with their turkeys. Now that I think about it I haven't seen Speckles in a day or so, but with all the babies running wild out there it's easy to miss a bird for a day or two. Bruce looks high and low for Speckles; for once he even knew which bird I'm asking him to look for! Willow is in the barn, the turkeys were hanging out, outside the barn but there is no sign of Speckles. Now I start to get worried, a few weeks ago a couple of Elvira's chicks vanished. They had a very bad habit of sneaking out of our perimeter fencing every day to visit the neighbors. Bruce and I figured Foxy Loxy may have had a paw in their disappearance. While I'm hunting for Speckles my hope sinks, I fear she may have decided to sneak out also, which she has never done before. They have a whole acre, why do they need to visit the neighbors? Then the old adage rang true in my head "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence", darn birds.
John and Joann arrive and we explain our situation of Speckles missing. They agree to wait a few days to see if She turns up, if not they will adopt younger chicks. I'm still hoping to find her lounging out somewhere having a chicken party with a few other hens. Now for Bossy, I have to find him a place to stay for a few days so he can meet the other chickens slowly. When introducing a new bird to the flock they need a slow introduction, everyone beats up the new kid on the block. This is especially true for a young rooster.
Reaching into the cat carrier I take out Bossy, he is absolutely beautiful! He is almost all white with black accents around his neck with spectacular rooster feathering. Immediately he stuffs his head under my arm, shaking from fear. I could see the pain in John and Joann's eyes, giving up Bossy was not an easy task for them. I Assuring them that he will be fine and carefully place him in a pen alone that is within view of all the other bird in the barn. He can meet everyone behind the safety of chicken wire to ensure he is not beaten up or picked on. Bossy is not happy about this, he had never been alone before in his whole life, he starts prancing back and forth trying to fine a way through the fencing. The next morning I go out to check on Bossy first thing. He is still prancing back and forth but seems more frantic then the evening before. Going into his pen I pick the boy up, he squawks and stuffs his head under my arm, desperately trying to hide. Hoping is as gentle as he seems, I place Bossy in with all the younger chicks for company. He can still be seen by all the big birds but not be all alone. Ta da, he is thrilled, Bossy starts strutting around the baby pen, clucking and bah burring to any chick that would listen. As far as he knows, he is still a young chick also. This solution will keep him safe until I think the other roosters will accept him.
Meanwhile another day goes by and there is still no sign of Speckles, my heart slowly sinks a little more when all of a sudden Bruce comes rushing into the house announcing he has found Speckles! She had fallen behind a board, slipping into the wall of the barn. The poor girl has been wedged in the wall for three days! Carefully Bruce extracted her from her predicament and places her next to a water and food bowl. Speckles can barely stand up but she manages to wobble over to the water dish and starts to drink. After what seemed an eternity she stops drinking and turns to the dish of food for a nibble. It looks as if her feathers have been squished upwards on each side and compressed. Speckles is wobbly and shaking but she is eating and drinking, that’s a very good sign after her ordeal. A few more minutes go by; she must have had enough water and food for the moment. She then wobbles over to a sunny spot on the barn floor where quietly sat down and closes her eyes. I can see her tail feathers are shaking, Speckles is not out of the woods yet.
My mind is racing what could I give her to boost her strength. She needs electrolytes, juice, sugars something to get energy into her weak dehydrated little body. Back in the house I'm digging around for something to give her and I came across Gatorade, why not, I'll try it, chickens love sweet stuff. Then I cut up a peach into tiny bits with some cucumber and lettuce. Placing this tiny feast in front of Speckles I feel better; hopefully it will work for her.
She opens her eyes and I splash my finger in the Gatorade water, this gets her attention and she leans over to take a long drink. Speckles then notices the fruit and cucumber and slowly nibbles on just a tiny bit, then closes her eyes resting in her sun spot. There is nothing more I can do but let her rest. Every ten or fifteen minutes I went out to the barn to check on Speckles progress. Slowly she is improving, walking around the barn from feed bowl to treat dish to water bowl and the Gatorade dish, taking a sip or nibble from each. Willow came into the barn discovering Speckles and seemed very happy at the return of her friend, together they wandered happily around the barn burbling. How I wish Willow could have told me her friend was stuck in the wall.
After a few hours I call John and Joann to give them the good news about Speckles, they are excited and offer to adopt both girls as soon as Speckles is well enough to travel. Speckles has made a full recovery, she is inseparable from Willow. The two girls will be ready to be adopted by the weekend. Bossy is still living with the baby chicks, we may have a family that will hopefully adopt him (please, please, please). This will save him from going through the trauma of being the low rooster in pecking order.
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