My eco solution to rat problems

[Beantree]

Our Cou-Nu cockerel has been treading his girls as he would be expected to do. They lose a few feathers but nothing serious. Yesterday one hen decided to explore the feed store and had to be lifted out; she's heavy! It was then that I saw a gash in her right flank. The skin has been slit open about 3" long and 1" wide, to expose flesh. The wound is perhaps a few days old, so no bleeding and no chance of sewing it together. She's been isolated into a coop and run. Checking the other hens they are all fine. Checked the cockerel and the reason for the injury is a broken right spur which has left a very sharp short point and sharp edges. It's been trimmed and it bled, so has been well sealed with bandage. His other spur has been cut and filed round.

'Big Bird' has settled down and has been given an outer run so she can shade under an apple tree and scratch at grass. She laid today, had a soil bath (which could be a problem) and seems very happy. This injury is unlikely to heal properly so she will be permanently separated. She has other hens running around her so she's not alone. She shows no signs of stress other than being separated from her 'family'; she gets upset when she can hear her cockerel and he gets upset when he can hear her, even though they are out of sight and 60 metres apart. There is no way we can close the wound without major surgery, because the skin has reattached to the flesh and would need cutting apart (with a 'hot knife') and that is more likely to kill her. She will be checked daily and any signs of worsening and we will take the necessary step.

Any opinions or advice?

[Cat tails]

Think you ate doing the right thing. I would say birds are tough things and she might surprise you in healing. You could do a precautionary treatment of antibiotics. But I think I would just keep an eye on it and potentially clean the wound with something antiseptic daily.

[Daphne]

You have my sympathies, Beantree, what bad luck.  I can't offer much practical advice, you have already done the most important thing which is to spot the problem and fix it as far as possible.   The distress caused by noise is a difficult one. I know the bonds between cockerals and favourite hens goes very deep, but obviously 60m is already a long way away, and although sound carries further, being realistic most people wouldn't be able to accomodate much more separation.  Perhaps hope is the best remedy here, given time, if the wound heals and the hen thrives, she may be able to rejoin the flock at a later date.

[Beantree]

We checked "Big Bird' after she had laid and had her grain treat. The wound has scabbed over and closed up; still horribly large but looking healthy. She is extremely confident and I think she was top hen up in the top enclosure? The very aggressive bantams have been over to visit (bully) and a simple glance from Big Bird saw them leave without any confrontation. The bantams weigh half a kilo maximum against 6 Kg minimum, perhaps 7 Kg? Our dog is 8.5 Kg and Big Bird isn't that much lighter.

We bought her a new feeder today. All the ones we had from England have disintegrated in the sun and we didn't think she was too happy with a simple black bowl. She likes a fuss, even though it is all new to her and she could easily become a 'pet' if anything happens to Portia (our last TNN who, at nearly 10 years old, lives in the house). Fortunately we have coops built specifically for breeding large breeds, 3 hens with a cockerel, so she fits through the pop-hole and can use the nest boxes. Upsetting to think that such a lovely hen could have simply been slaughtered for food and we're happy to have saved her from that. At this stage we're feeling confident that it will work out well for her; fingers crossed.

The top enclosure is looking a bit empty. Six hens we started with are now down to three. Speckledy died laying a softie, little Ermintrude went broody and was then bullied and came down to us and now so has Big Bird. We might need some more?

As an aside, Ermintrude, the smallest Cou-Nu is now free-ranging in the enclosure with the bantams. She weighs about 3Kg, but somehow has managed to get through the tiny pop-hole of a purpose-built bantam coop and squeeze into a nest box to lay!!!

[Daphne]

I distinctly hear that you need some more hens, and my best advice would be to get onto it straightaway!

I never weighed my big orps, but despite all the feathers, some of them were pretty hefty girls underneath.  Our old cat was about 7kg and he was quite a long/tall boy who could reach the work surface in the kitchen, so a hen of 7kg is not to be argued with!  She seems to have a strong instinct for survival, so I'll keep my fingers crossed she continues to improve; its lovely to think she has had a great life up until now, and I can imagine her cosying up as a pet in later retirement.

 

 

[Beantree]

Cou-Nu hens are very deceptive @Daphne. They look large anyway, but have very little feathering so their bodies are almost the same size as they appear; the big surprise is when you try to pick one up. Same with TNN's, but they are much smaller.

We haven't enough hens in the top enclosure now to scratch the weeds down and it's turning into a wilderness. It was constructed so that dividing into two parts would be relatively simple, because the braced and wire tensioned end posts are already there. Looks as though we will have to do that and put in a second coop for newcomers. Plenty of other jobs at the moment though. We lost a lot of time due to that two week heatwave.

[Beantree]

The wound has closed a little more, so 2" long and ¾" wide. It's fully scabbed with no signs of infection. She's eating and drinking, wing flapping, tail wiggling soil bathing, talking and laying. Her poos are perfectly normal, so no signs of anything out of the ordinary until you look closely. We're hoping that skin is forming under the scab and eventually it will fall off?

The intention today was to enlarge her run, but things have taken over. Parts eventually arrived to repair the mower, but the hazard warning switch has failed 'on' in the van and worse still we have a hole in a supply cold water pipe to the bathroom. Now that should be simple, but the pipe has been cemented into a clay wall and has been bodged before. So we have no water at the moment and probably won't have until Sunday, assuming parts are in stock tomorrow and they work. More complicated because there is a radiator in the way. We'll have a big hole in the soggy wall until it all dries out, so perhaps until the end of the year? I think this is pretty normal stuff really. Our house in the UK was so bodged over just 20 years and failed so often, that the entire plumbing system had to be replaced; that's all hot pipes, cold pipes, central heating pipes and radiators, water cylinder and the waste system, plus a bathroom rebuilt, which included the walls!

[mullethunter]

I bet it will heal. As long as she doesn’t peck at the scab there’s no reason why it wouldn’t now given time.

I volunteer at a hedgehog centre and I’ve recently seen a hedgehog regrow both skin and prickles after some horrendous injuries.

Everything is bodged in our house too - every job we ever try to do results in us uncovering a catalogue of horrors that need to be sorted out before we can do what we originally intended to.

[Daphne]

I also think there is a very good chance it will heal, as well as the physical side, she didn't get to be top hen by accident!

Bad luck on the plumbing problems, friends of ours had to have all the concrete floors in their Victorian conversion flat drilled into to remove leaking pipes, it cost a fortune and took ages to dry out, months and months.   I hope you have enough bottled water in, we were without water for 24 hours last week and its a bit eye watering how much we use when it comes out of a tap.

[Beantree]

We work on the basis that you can never have enough buckets @Daphne, so we have 8 full and 40 litres in bottles. Probably have 20 buckets in total scattered around the place. We had noticed more condensation on the hall windows than usual last Winter, plus the dehumidifier in the bathroom was on a lot. We take the condensation off with a Karcher window cleaner, so it wasn't really an issue.

Strange noises from the chicken enclosure this morning. i think Big Bird is trying to crow!

[Beantree]

Checked her today and the scab has reduced in size by a little bit and still looks healthy. She gave us an egg as a thank you for enlarging her enclosure, so now she has a shady tree all to herself.

Plumbing fixed, which was down to a lot of luck as the polyethylene pipe surface was very poor. Will take all Summer to dry out the floor before filling the hole in the wall. We do take turning a tap on for water for granted and when you can't it's a real pain messing around with buckets. We now realise that the plumbing here is a bit of a mess. Because of the way it has evolved we have ended up with a tiny 12mm supply pipe in the bathroom feeding almost everything in the house, but it works, so won't be changed.

[Daphne]

That's great news on Big Bird.  Take it steady and I feel more confident than not that she will make a full recovery.

Plumbing is often a nightmare isn't it? I hope you continue to manage it, at least you can see the way forward, which is a good thing, it can be such a worry otherwise, especially considering the potential expense. 

 

 

[Beantree]

Big Bird's scab is now just 1" long and ½" wide. Bit puzzled where the original scab went to; did it fall off or has it just shrunk and been absorbed?

Her enclosure was enlarged a bit more so she could get all around her apple tree. Problem was the coop is close to another, so she was invaded by curious hens. So now we've removed her enclosure completely and she free ranges with Ermintrude (a very small Cou-Nu who was separated after going broody) and two Leghorn bantams, mother and daughter. Unfortunately her size has made no difference, despite being 10x the weight of the bantams, being on foreign territory Big Bird is bottom of the pecking order and spends a lot of time running from daughter Daisy. The exercise will do her good, because she was noticeably getting rather fat.

[Daphne]

Congratulations!  I just knew this story would have a happy ending!