Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 21 - 10/10/12

10/10/12
 

Time for the Weekly Pic Comparison shots of the Gnarly Bunch~Week 3:  I tried to get them in some order but not sure how to do that when downloading all the pics at once...so bear with me on that and I'll try to caption them all properly. 

Toby at Week 1 with low muscle mass, poor feathering and anemic appearance.

Below is Toby, week 3 and taken today though the camera says it's yesterday's shot.  You can see how his chest is filling out as well as his entire body..he is acting normal now.

              

Below is Ruby Crockett in Week 1, skinny chest, dull feathering.

This is Ruby Crockett on Week 3, today, and you can see the difference is pretty remarkable.  Chest and body is filling out, feathers are shiny. 

These are the Partridge Rock and one of the BRs today, Week 3.  The PR was one of the skinniest birds of three skinniest birds in the flock when they arrived.  She is filling out nicely.

  

Little Red Hen at Week 1 (left) and 3 (right), on the nest and feeling perky! 

 Middle Sister Week 1...horrible shape in all ways. 

 

These two pic are is Middle Sister, Week 3, and still looking rough and still has swollen feet.  She is the only bird that still is not recovering quickly, though she looks somewhat better.  She moves well, eats well, drinks, etc. and has no problem getting up and down from the roost....but I'm thinking I will cull her before it gets too white cold. 

This is the Partridge Rock Week 1. 

This Partridge Rock was very thin and raggedy when she came, but she is slowly filling out and getting pretty.  She sleeps out of the coop each night, on a cold axle of an old truck....goes to show how much they need a cozy coop, huh? 

Raggedy Ann, Week 1.....

This is the fluffy, clean butt of Raggedy Ann....big change there in 3 wks time.

Raggedy Ann, today at Week 3.  Bright-eyed ...and bushy tailed! 

Ruby Crockett, AKA Miss Gleet Bottom, looking fat and sassy...no gleet in sight on Week 3.

This is Turkey, the Dom mutt, the absolute skinniest bird upon arrival (left).  Her keel bone could have cut leather it was that sharp...  You can see how much her crop sticks out due to lack of muscle mass and definition in her chest. If you look at the picture on the right, you will see her on Week 3.  Some improvement going on. 

The Partridge Rock at Week 1.

And today...still growing in her tail feathers but making great progress on weight and feathering...very glossy and healthy acting at Week 3. 

The three skinniest birds upon arrival, here now at Week 3, having a group grooming session.  This is Middle Sister, the Partridge Rock and Turkey, the Dom mutt.

 

With exception of Middle Sister, I consider this flock out of the woods in regards to health.  They are free of parasites, free of gleet, the bumblefoot is not progressing and is slowly going away, the new scales are growing in on their legs and old scales sloughing off and they are all putting on weight and feathering out nicely. 

I don't think we'll need any more comparison pics unless it's a group pic maybe next spring but I will still document any changes for the better here and any rise in egg production or any culling for such next spring. 

I feel that my experiment has been a good one and I feel even Middle Sister would make an eventual recovery to stable health but her swollen feet are an issue that I feel will probably not go away.  I'll be mulling over what to do about her before it gets too awful cold and if I think she is suffering too much from the cold, I will give her mercy. 

I've been very pleased with the results of my little experiment and it turned out much like I expected....not only are these methods good for preventative, but are real handy on the curative side and I hope this has been a help to any of you who wanted to see if these types of all natural remedies and methods really work.  The pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'll let them speak for themselves. 

Got 2 eggs today and it's nice to have a small, but steady supply of eggs coming into the house again... finally I can eat an egg from a healthy source that has actual flavor.  Golden, rich, yummy goodness!  I've decided the eggs are healthy enough for ingesting now... no health issues in this flock for some days now. 

Will get hay next week for insulating the coop and dog house, so this will bring the cozy factor up in the coop by 10.  It will lessen total floor space but they have it to spare and it will give more places of perching and being without being on the roosts in order to get up off the floor.  Sometimes a chicken just likes to get up on something and look down on all the peons.   

Gnarly Bunch - Chapter 21.5 - 10/10/12