Catching up with chickens

This morning I went out for a walk to do some errands before heading down to the allotment. Upon arrival, I said hello to Cliff, Dave the Plod and Tracy, all of whom were busy with their autumn jobs. Deciding today was not a day for weeding, I picked up Pop and put her outside in the plant pot. She looked a little brighter than yesterday but nowhere near her usual happy self. Leia enjoyed her time in the outside run although I was constantly clucked at until I fed her some sunflower seeds.

I had done some reading online and noticed that Pop has developed a tic with her neck. She keeps turning it to the left in an awkward way. Dr Google suggested a Vitamin E deficiency so I had bought some soluable tablets from Boots. These I crushed into her water bowl and after some persuasion, she had a good drink. Next I filled up the small food bowl with sunflower seeds and mixed corn. The way she is currently eating is so awkward and in order to get the food, the bowl has to be on an angle. But she was definitely more enthusiastic about food today. After about an hour of alternating the water and food bowls, I put her back into the greenhouse and headed off down to the main coop.

Tommy greeted me on my entrance which was unusual. According to Cliff, Tommy is finally becoming a cockerel as he attacked Cliff’s boots a few days ago! I collected four eggs, cleaned out their water and topped up their food bowl. It’s interesting to see how the pecking order is changing. Hattie, who has always been somewhere in the lower middle, has suddenly risen to near the top with Millie and Snap. Poor Molly is near the bottom as always but I have seen her have a go at Tommy which was hilarious!

Around tea time, I walked back to the allotment and gave Pop some more corn. Her appetite is definitely returning and she managed to empty half her small food bowl. Again, she seems to be unable to eat if the bowl is flat but I shall come up with a way to keep it tilted tomorrow. I made up another batch of vitamin E water and she had another good go at it. Here’s hoping she continues to improve over the next few days!