Scalp

I love my chickens.  They are work.  Poop cleaning and coop maintenance.  This past spring we added 5 more baby chicks to our flock.   One died :(.   Made me soooo sad.  Beto buried her for me.  Beto has learned a lot of life and death since we got animals.  Unfortunately he is the one who helped his dad kill Gale when we decided to "harvest" him.  He is also the one that helps with the capturing and killing of possums and rats.   So he didn't blink when I asked him to "take care" of the baby chick.   With no direction other than "take care of it Beto". He put the baby chick in a box on a bed of hay and buried and made her a marker.   My Betito, how I love him.  On my first day home alone after having Tatianna.  I woke up before day light and went to check on the chicks and what do I find.  My beautiful araucana chick injured.   Freaked me out and my heart ached for her.  So I had to run around trying to catch her.  Made me happy and gave me high hopes, she had so much energy. 

This is what she looked like.  I didn't know how this happen because the coop was on lock down and I didn't see any place where a predator tried to get in.  It was too early to call a vet so I brought her inside. I started to look stuff on the Internet and came to the conclusion that the hens pecked her badly.  We just recently put the pullets (younger chickens) and the hens together. Not you didn't know the pecking order of chickens is brutal.  They fight for their spot.  Oprah and Katniss are the top hens and I'm sure they are the ones who started the bullying. So I fed Tati and pumped some milk just in case and woke up Bre.  Headed to tractor supply for some wound care items.   

I kept "Scalp" (yea that's her name) inside for two weeks.  Nursed her wounds.    I really didn't have high hopes.  But she pulled through.  But now I couldn't just throw her outside with the chicken gangsters.  So I did some research and ordered chicken blinders that help with chicken pecking.  I kept Scalp outside in the brooder locked up 3 days so the gangsters could see her but couldn't get to her.  Then I put her in the chicken run and blocked it off so the gangsters couldn't get to her.   By the time we received the blinders, her wounds were well healed.  YAY!!!!  We integrated her with the other hens little by little.  Lots of observation and time outside for me and my newborn. I'm happy to report Scalp is now doing awesome.   Jason had doubts telling me that most likely we would have to "take care" of her.   Ha!!!!   I "took care" of her and she is doing just fine.  Jason did make a new roosting bar so they there can be plenty of room for all the chickens.  And they still all pile up in the same section.