Chicken update

Well our poor hen with the prolapse is back to normal, scratching about and looking good, thanks to a lot of TLC from us and our friends who came to stay for a few days last week. However, two things.

1. She still hasn't laid an egg now over two weeks since the incident. Whether she will again I don't know. She is a hybrid (Warren or ISA not sure which but they are very similar) and they can have a short (but intensive) laying life so we will see. If she does lay we still have the risk of another prolapse so the longer she goes without laying the better as it gives her a chance to heal inside.

2. She is now moulting! Poor thing, if its not one thing its another. I did think to start with that this was related to the other hen pecking at her but I don't think so and it is moulting season. This in some ways is also good for her healing process in that when they moult they tend not to lay. We will have to make sure we give them supplements during this time to keep their energy up as their bodies now spend a lot of goodness moulting and getting ready to grow new feathers. We don't know yet whether this is a partial moult or a full one, she had a partial one in January (the coldest time of the year!!!), so this could be a full one. In this case she is going to go very bald. They look dreadful in moult, ragged and disheveled but when the feathers grow back they look good as new again - well pretty much. As they get older they don't get quite back to normal and old hens do look a bit ragged.

The plan is to get more and I am thinking about Black Rocks as although they too are hybrids they don't lay quite so many eggs in a year and therefore have a longer life (both laying and overall). They are also very hardy birds and don't mind the weather. Our girls have been huddled in the outbuilding a lot recently sheltering from the rain, wind etc. When it snowed earlier this year they refused to come out at all. There is a lady who raises Black Rocks about 45 minutes away; there are only a few registered Black Rock growers in the country and only one approved breeder, not sure why but it means that there are only a few places you can get them. She also has some other interesting breeds, Marans (the picture on the right is of a Cookoo Maran), Blues and this rather nice Magpie (picture below). I am interested to talk to her to find out if Black Rocks are the way to go or whether we should have a mixture or try something else. Will keep you posted and will have piccies of whatever we get. (pictures posted here are taken from www.organicpullets.co.uk, the website of the breeder I have mentioned)