The bad news is that I found Bootstrap dead yesterday morning. I had commented that he really had a good day on Friday and acted nearly normal. Then yesterday when I went out to do my morning chores and was in the goat/chicken shed, I remembered that he hadn't said anything to me before I went out. So I came back to the house to check on him and was shocked that he had died.
The good news is that the red paint on the styrofoam forms worked. I even found one place where the chickens had scratched at the dirt around the base of the forms to uncover the unpainted surface and had pecked at that. I covered it back up and took that as a good sign that they will not be eating any red styrofoam. Hopefully the forms are now safe until we can get them covered properly.
Showing posts with label boot-strap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boot-strap. Show all posts
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Bootstrap
Bootstrap, my feather footed banty rooster, is slowly improving. He slept on his feet last night for the first time since we found him nearly frozen. He is still in the house and will stay in the house until I am convinced that he can take care of himself outside. I am not sure what happened to him but he did show signs of leg mites and lice, that had most assuredly drained him plus his beak was frozen shut.
He is talking to me now when I go into the room, which is another sign that he is improving. We have taken care of his mite and lice problem, so he is starting to gain some weight and get his strength back.
The reason that I didn't notice that he was having a problem was because he stays in the goat/chicken shed all of the time with the little D'Uccles during the cold months. The rest of the crew are always out and about, so I can spot a problem with them but the D'Uccles and Bootstrap are always nestled in the straw of the nests or on the roosts. With his fluffy feather cover, I just could not see that he had lost so much weight and his foot feathers hid the leg mite damage.
He is talking to me now when I go into the room, which is another sign that he is improving. We have taken care of his mite and lice problem, so he is starting to gain some weight and get his strength back.
The reason that I didn't notice that he was having a problem was because he stays in the goat/chicken shed all of the time with the little D'Uccles during the cold months. The rest of the crew are always out and about, so I can spot a problem with them but the D'Uccles and Bootstrap are always nestled in the straw of the nests or on the roosts. With his fluffy feather cover, I just could not see that he had lost so much weight and his foot feathers hid the leg mite damage.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Little Rooster Syndrome
Rudy, my Mille Fleur D'uccle rooster had a bad case of LRS or Little Rooster Syndrome, when we brought the new Barred Rock rooster home. Now this new rooster is quite impressive, he is massive and has a real deep, rough and loud crow. The minute Rudy found him there in the pet cage that next morning, he was itching for a fight. He wasn't about to let another rooster join the community, there was already two roosters too many.
The new Polish rooster isn't much of a threat, he doesn't even crow and he jumps straight up in the air and hits the ground running at the least little noise. But this rooster was different, he just could not be allowed to stay and Rudy had made up his mind to chase him off as soon as we let him out of that cage.
When we did turn the new guy out, Rudy put up a gallant fight. But he just didn't have the right stuff. I have named the new Barred Rock rooster, Rocky, it seems to fit. The following video is what happened when he and Rudy tried to iron out their differences like men.
When Rudy finally decided that he was fighting in the wrong weight division. He ran off in humiliation. My bigger rooster, Boot-strap was next in line to take this newcomer on. I didn't see that fight but I guess that it was a good one. The good thing about Rocky is that he doesn't start a fight, he just finishes it.
The new Polish rooster isn't much of a threat, he doesn't even crow and he jumps straight up in the air and hits the ground running at the least little noise. But this rooster was different, he just could not be allowed to stay and Rudy had made up his mind to chase him off as soon as we let him out of that cage.
When we did turn the new guy out, Rudy put up a gallant fight. But he just didn't have the right stuff. I have named the new Barred Rock rooster, Rocky, it seems to fit. The following video is what happened when he and Rudy tried to iron out their differences like men.
When Rudy finally decided that he was fighting in the wrong weight division. He ran off in humiliation. My bigger rooster, Boot-strap was next in line to take this newcomer on. I didn't see that fight but I guess that it was a good one. The good thing about Rocky is that he doesn't start a fight, he just finishes it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)