We have some chicken drama going on here at Creekside City Farm!
We have a cannibalistic chicken. Yes, you read that right, we have a chicken actually picking the feathers off the other chickens and eating them!!!!
The first thought was the axe and oven. My son was really voting for that one, since it was his chicken getting picked on the most. Her rear was plucked bald and bleeding from one of the other chickens picking at her.
Vaseline was tried on the injured chicken's rear. It didn't work, it only evoked more picking and plucking from the other chickens. When I felt we were at a lost of what to do, and Internet searching ideas had failed us, we were blessing from far away with some farm girl knowledge. The wisdom came from Grammy in Big Sky country. She suggested we use good 'ol baby butt cream on the injured chicken's rear. "White, creamy, thick stuff works the best", we were told.
So off we went in our clogs and stocking caps for a walk to the local market to purchase some chicken butt cream. (The cashier looked at me funny, I wonder why?)
When we returned home I lathered the chicken's rear with the "unnamed" brand of thick , white, creamy,"lasts all night" bottom cream. And I, wanting to give the offending chicken another chance, stood up to the chicken hungry children and told them we were going to put the chicken in solitary confinement. Well, almost solitary. She was going to live with the ducks!
The ducks are bigger then her and I don't think she'll try to eat their feathers off. After all, don't cannibals only eat their own kind?
So we marched the chicken offender "Rocky" over to the duck pen, and put the chicken to bed without dinner.
The next morning the ducks were allowed to come out to play for the day like usual, but the chicken offender was still in time out, cooped up in the, um, coop.
The morning following the separation of the offender the rest of the chicken flock seemed happy and less stressed in their coop. It seems that removing the cannibal chicken was the best thing.
The injured chicken still had a creamy white rump, so the stuff stayed on all night just like the bottle stated. Maybe the stressed out litttle bantam chicken will start laying now that the cannibal chicken is out. I think the bantams were never picked bald because they are faster then the other victim and squawked louder when their feathers were snatched.
I hope you enjoyed some humor for the day!! It's all true!!
The plan is that the chicken offender "Rocky" will spend three days and nights in the duck pen cooped up. Then she will be allowed to roam free with the ducks during the day and the hope is that she will learn to go back to the duck house to roost at night. Rocky is a good layer, so we still want to have her around for the eggs. After all, she does need to earn her keep!
As for the creaking elbows (and knees, and ankles, and wrists, and fingers, etc), that's me. Winter is approaching, weather is changing, and my joints are protesting. It's better then a full blown fibro flare-up, but I don't think it will be as bad as last winter. I increased my green smoothie intake, that should help!
Have a great day!
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