There are a few things I think I may have forgotten to mention; none of particular significance to anyone other than the Stenton family but none-the-less I aim to keep any readers informed.
Firstly, our chocolate Indian Runner drake Gerry was re-homed a month or so ago and replaced by another chocolate, this time legitimate ‘Geraldine’. We drove original male Gerry up to Newton Abbott and let him loose on a spacious pond with 20 or so attractive black Indian runner females to keep him company! Considering that he could have been killed or have ended up at the poultry sales we are ecstatic at this outcome and couldn’t have hoped for any better.
The second thing I forgot to mention is that about a month ago Bailey our coloured donkey had an accident. Caused by a combination of Megan, our Great Dane, chasing the donks through the fence and men shooting irresponsibly at the boundary to our field the donkeys became spooked. Since at this time they were in the chicken enclosure which is a loop, they began running in circles with nowhere to go. On their second bolt around the circuit Bailey missed the corner turn and rolled over the stock fencing and into the pig field. As she rolled sideways she landed on her back, had she gone over forwards she could have landed and broken her neck. Thankfully her back was fine but she caught her nose on the wire and very badly skinned it right down to almost the bone (Dad even found what she’d left behind on the fence!) Although Teddy was thoroughly distressed by the whole incident she was very well behaved and calmed quite quickly once it was all over. Bailey’s nose is healing nicely now although we suspect she’ll always have a scar.
Luckily we have now had the stock fencing done in the former ‘entertainment field’ which is now donkey central. They spend all day everyday in their field happy and roaming albeit having to be walked back to their stable every evening for bedtime. We have started on the yard reconfiguring though and it is going well so we have high hopes for it being completed after the next week or so.
With regards to chickens it has been a bit mixed. Cinnamon has gone through a very bad late moult this year and has been almost totally bald in a few spots. Over the last six weeks I have been feeding her up with extra treats to keep her strong and healthy; although she’s been quiet it seems to do the trick. Since we are heading towards winter and the nights are getting colder I decided to make her a coat to act in place of the many feathers she’s lost. I found a plan on the Little Hen Rescue website and cut out a template. I made the inner out of a lovely soft grey fleece and since the weather has been so wet and awful recently and I didn’t want this getting soaked through and making her situation worse, I made a waterproof outer from an old pale blue shower curtain I bought a long time ago. The whole thing only took about an hour to make and although she was unsure at first she seemed to get used to it. In the end she only had it on a couple of days until the weather improved but it’s always handy to have important ‘medical’ supplies in the chicken wardrobe! Now her feathers are growing back well and she only has a few small thinner patches.
I have also been battling with sour crop in my poor little Columbian Blacktail Treacle. I have no idea what caused it as all the chickens have constant access to oyster shell grit and fresh ground but never-the-less we seem to get every problem in the hand book! A potent mixture of fresh raw garlic and live bio yoghurt syringed down the throat for a few days was recommended. This seemed to knock any fungus or infection on the head and she is definitely on the mend.
I suppose it was inevitable that at some point we would be faced with the dreaded red mite. Apparently according to chicken keepers you cannot avoid it. I found clusters of the little blighters in the house (but thankfully not on the chickens) but within 20 minutes I had perches, nest-boxes and the whole interior soaked in Sorgene, our wonderfully strong disinfectant that will kill almost anything – including rabies! It is a bit annoying since every time the girls are cleaned out the house is liberally dosed with red mite powder to prevent this sort of thing, Never-the-less I will continue to be vigilant and keep a close eye out to make sure the nasty little buggers don’t return!
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