What did you do with your flock today?

Today we actually saw the sun! (Briefly.) The latest atmospheric river "only" dumped another ~3" of rain on all the over-saturated ground; drizzle let up for the afternoon, so it was the pullets' first chance in many days to be out & about their chickening business without getting soaked.

It was my chance to ream out the poopy coop where they'd been hanging out a lot more than their usual (nighttime and egg laying-only) time inside. They tracked a lot of dampness in with them, wet feet & feathers, so most of the pine shavings & saturated PDZ had to go. The covered run was overly-pooped as well, so I scraped out a layer there & brought in many buckets of fresh wood chips for that and the outer run.

Chicken delight! They were such a great help 🙄 😉 scratching and kicking the mounds of fresh chips around, pecking out the delectable worms, grubs and other such delicacies that rode in from the big wood chip pile. Wherever I turned, doing my hands & knees work, there were fluffy butts turned up in my face while they eagerly went about their business. (Such dedication, such work ethic!) Much clucking commentary, too, which I joined in as best I could; they don't make fun of my lousy "chicken" accent but I love the tilted-head looks they give me sometimes: "Say WHAT?"

Six eggs from the 8 of them today -- nice work, girls! More rain on the way, though, oh well.
 
Thank you for a better time line expectation. We are almost 3 months post injury. She's still feisty as ever. No lethargy here at all. Looks like she'll just have to be a house chicken until she can literally get back on her feet. She looks kind of wonky all the time. Everything else about her health is quite normal. Someone commented recently that she's kind of quiet for a chicken. It's quite normal for a Welsummer to be quiet and calm. My other Welly has become head hen. They are the oldest in my flock at 3.5 years old.
You are doing a fabulous job with Olena. I've seen a case study where it took just over a year for a hen to get back on her feet following a predator attack - good nutrition, plenty of rest and physio were key, along with boundless patience of course! I've also seen an ex-battery hen live happily with what looked like wryneck for 4 years. She had actually suffered a broken neck whilst in caged egg production. It had gone unnoticed and untreated but had stabilised enough to allow her a full life with her flock in retirement.
Olena might have brain damage or irreversible neurological issues but she's got this far and may surprise you yet.
Have you given any thought to providing her with a hen wheelchair?
 
Perhaps something like this might work? Used in kennels and vet clinics and such...guessing it's something you would want to do and allow to dry before letting the chickens back out, but otherwise good for coop cleaning and fences and roosts and such, and chicken runs! What do you think @Shetland lover ?

https://www.amazon.com/KennelSol-1-...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
It's the presence of ammonia that kills oocysts in bio-oocyst, so any product containing ammonia in sufficient concentration should do a similar job. I can't seem to find the ingredients for the product you've suggested but it certainly looks like a great general disinfectant. You have to let bio-oocyst dry before re-introducing the chickens so I use it early morning once they're out of the run for the day. I use it approx once every 4 weeks and that seems to (usually) work for my lot. Bio-oocyst also kills coccidia too.
 
Today we actually saw the sun! (Briefly.) The latest atmospheric river "only" dumped another ~3" of rain on all the over-saturated ground; drizzle let up for the afternoon, so it was the pullets' first chance in many days to be out & about their chickening business without getting soaked.

It was my chance to ream out the poopy coop where they'd been hanging out a lot more than their usual (nighttime and egg laying-only) time inside. They tracked a lot of dampness in with them, wet feet & feathers, so most of the pine shavings & saturated PDZ had to go. The covered run was overly-pooped as well, so I scraped out a layer there & brought in many buckets of fresh wood chips for that and the outer run.

Chicken delight! They were such a great help 🙄 😉 scratching and kicking the mounds of fresh chips around, pecking out the delectable worms, grubs and other such delicacies that rode in from the big wood chip pile. Wherever I turned, doing my hands & knees work, there were fluffy butts turned up in my face while they eagerly went about their business. (Such dedication, such work ethic!) Much clucking commentary, too, which I joined in as best I could; they don't make fun of my lousy "chicken" accent but I love the tilted-head looks they give me sometimes: "Say WHAT?"

Six eggs from the 8 of them today -- nice work, girls! More rain on the way, though, oh well.
Sun? What's that?? 😂
 
More Biscotti...he is starting to make me think she...less comb then most of boys by this age and more comb then most of my girls :confused: . Guess it's wait and see time 😂. He/she is a good little parrot chicken though 🥰
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...and of course...what chicken can resist pecking the camera in case it's yummy right?
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You are doing a fabulous job with Olena. I've seen a case study where it took just over a year for a hen to get back on her feet following a predator attack - good nutrition, plenty of rest and physio were key, along with boundless patience of course! I've also seen an ex-battery hen live happily with what looked like wryneck for 4 years. She had actually suffered a broken neck whilst in caged egg production. It had gone unnoticed and untreated but had stabilised enough to allow her a full life with her flock in retirement.
Olena might have brain damage or irreversible neurological issues but she's got this far and may surprise you yet.
Have you given any thought to providing her with a hen wheelchair?
Perhaps soon. Then we can go out in the yard for playtime. She still has trouble staying level. Maybe next month. I'll have to either look into it, or build one. Doesn't look too hard.
So today, when I went out to check on girls for the evening, my count was off by one. Looked around, and the door was about 12 cm from closed. Ginger was not seen inside. Looked around, and she had gotten behind the netting, and was roosting on a lower branch in the apple tree. I took her down and put her inside.
Compared to Olena, she is heavy.
How can I get Olena to gain weight a little faster? She seems light compared to her sister. More protein? Just cat food @ 30% protein? Meat bird food? Anyone else please chime in. @kurby22, @ChicksnMore, @TropicalBabies
 

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