According to my
garden journal, in February 2018 I had 21 chickens (including four
roosters). Last month, I had six. Well, that’s sobering.
Of those, two I sold
and two I gave away. The others, well...pine martens, cats, eagles
and old age all took their toll.
Gramma, who was
slated to become christmas dinner 4 years ago, finally died of old
age. She had been ill all winter, but we thought she had perked up
again in the spring. That was just a artificial perkiness; she soon
recovered her droopy self and then died. Mian undertook to butcher
her out of scientific curiosity (she was probably the oldest hen in
the subcontinent) and told me “We are not going to let our chickens
get this old and ill again.” I won’t get into the details, but
there was far too much wrong with her. She got a funeral pyre, not
the stock pot.
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| Gramma in the centre- note her slumped posture and 'off-colour' comb |
But six chickens in
that large coop seemed rather lonely.
Thankfully, Red
hatched 5 chicks two weeks ago. Right now they are housed in a
separate room, but will join the main flock in maybe a month’s
time.
 |
| Chicks and Red enjoying watermelon |
And we caved in and
bought two pairs of chicks from a travelling vendor. Looking at them,
I was again struck by the difference between our freerange backyard
flock and a commercial flock. Our chickens are if not tame, then
atleast not fearful. They are not afraid of us and exhibit all sorts
of chickeny behaviour.
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| The new poults. Four are ours, we are fostering the other four for a while |
The new poults are terrified of humans, do not
know how to scratch or bathe. Just today, one poult tried scratching
in her litter for the first time, and now they are all practising it.
But they are not healthy and active enough to compete with the
two-week chicks yet. Hopefully, they will perk up soon.
 | |
| The poults when they arrived yesterday. The one in the front only has one wing. =( |
Grampa, you will be pleased to hear, is still going strong. We gave away the younger roosters so he is still reigning supreme and happy about it
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