Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 14 - 10/2/12

10/2/12

Pics of the Gnarly Bunch, 2 weeks into their reconditioning:

 This is a Barred Rock foraging in the white dutch clover planted over my garden bed rows...they hit this area several times a day but especially in the evening.

Today...I threw down some Boss (black oil sunflower seeds) to get them all in one area...not the greatest pic but shows them getting some sheen and fullness back to their feathering...just a little. 

Toby..gettin' his strut on! 

He's getting there.... his cock feathers are gone and he is about 3-5 lbs underweight.  When he gets his bulk back and his full plumage he is a sight to behold.  You can see even in this pic where his chest muscles are wasted and his neck is scrawny.  Wait until you see him at full recovery.... he is a beautiful, regal beast.  

These pics don't do them justice and I can't get them to hold still long enough to take good, broadside and close up pics. They are wary as any free range flock should be and so getting pics of them in good light and in a good position is proving difficult for me.  Raggedy Ann is getting so much feathering now and is so smooth and clean!  Little Red is filling out and her feathering is healthier looking.  They all are starting to show more sheen and smoothness to feathering and scale, more alertness in the eyes...combs are still pale and dry but I expect this will take time. 

Even Turkey, that little mutt chicken with a keel as sharp as a knife, is showing some more weight on her chest...it's subtle but the feathers there are showing less of a ridge. 

I'm impressed with their progress as well and can only credit the wood ashes for ridding them of lice and mites, the NuStock for ridding them of the scale mites, the FF for better health and absorption of nutrients, and an outside life for all the other improvements.  It doesn't take much to get and keep a flock healthy, does it? 

I still have one problem child with gleet.  I check her every night when I can get a good visual on her vent and it is looking drier, I see less wet and stinking feathering but she will need additional treatment.  She really smells bad and her vent is still oozing brown stench...but other than that she is very healthy, glossy and acting well.  I don't see how but she is. 

As soon as I get all my NS (NuStock), we are going to tackle this hen once again.  I'm going to soak all the crusted residue of drainage (I'll try to get good pics before we start and then an after) and do a wash of iodine solution.  Then I'm going to protect the skin below her vent with a mix of NS and bag balm as a more thick moisture barrier to this skin.  I'm thinking I will also place some NS directly inside the vent. 

While I have this hen, I may also syringe a dose of olive leaf extract (OLE) into her.  Can't hurt and it will insure that this low totem flock member actually gets the OLE instead of hoping she will get it when I place it on top of the feed.  By the time she gets to eat, the choice bits of food off the top are already gone and I doubt she is getting an adequate amount of the OLE. 

Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 15 - 10/4/12