The Speech YouTube Doesn't Want You To See - The Extremism Of Veganism

The Alice Sanctuary is up for a $5,000 grant! Please vote for us!

Janneane Olson-Madill <----- click on the link to vote for The Alice Sanctuary!!!!! We just might win a $5,000 community nonprofit grant!!!!! We just need enough people to vote for us. #vote4TAS

The Spooky Vegan: How to Make the Best Handmade Vegan Deodorant

The Spooky Vegan: How to Make the Best Handmade Vegan Deodorant: This is the best natural, vegan deodorant I have ever used! If you follow me on a regular basis, you know I am always on the hunt for an eff...

RIP Trumpeter Alice

Farewell, my lovely bird, Trumpeter Alice. You were much loved. I hope you weren't in too much pain at the end, that you didn't suffer greatly. I hope you felt all the love and the peace that surrounded you in your last hours. Thank you for letting me love you and bathe you and connect with you like that. Thank you for looking into my eyes like you did, with so much love. I will always remember you.

Frostbite, Tail Feathers, and Prolapse

So this is turning into a bit of a chicken blog, isn't it! Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. :) Here is a picture of Neil losing the dead bits on his wattles after a bout of frostbite.

Yep, it's kind of gross

The blackened tips hardened up and fell off on their own. I did try putting petroleum jelly on his wattles for awhile, but, although it was a fun way to bond with Neil, it didn't seem to make a difference in terms of frostbite. I think he was getting it from a combination of an open water dish (dipping his wattles in as he drank) and a cold draft coming in through a vent in the coop. We covered up the draft with a nesting box on its side, and he hasn't had anything that bad since! Yay. :)

Whitey Alice and Neil seeing what the weather is like outside the coop

Inside of the coop. Bottom left corner you can see the heated dog dish their water is in.

Here is a picture of Neil soon after he was discharged from the infirmary, with his little sprouts of tail feathers growing back in:

Here is a picture of him now! Still some room to grow that tail, but he looks a lot more like himself now. :) Note the fresh, new wattles:

Are you gonna get that camera outta here, or am I gonna have to make ya? Wattle it be??

Here is Toes Alice (formerly Fatty Alice) and Brownie Alice, all integrated again for at least two months now. It was actually very easy. I expected more pecking and reorganization of the flock, but they all acted like they'd never been separated. :)

The healthy, fluffy butt of Toes Alice (never before looked so good!)

The feathers are sloooowly growing back in on Brownie. See how much weight she's gained! See how much she loves me...? :)

A robust Whitey Alice getting the first crack at the food (she's definitely the top hen!).

Trumpeter Alice, looking a little pecked but nothing too serious. Mostly she just looks like Fatty which is why we now call Fatty, Toes! Can't tell them apart at a glance anymore!

So this brings me to my next chicken issue: prolapsed oviduct! I went out to feed them yesterday, and saw a drop of blood on the snow. I saw Trumpeter had some fleshy protrusion from her vent. Looks like a fairly common thing sometimes referred to as "blowout". Painful sounding, no? I have brought her into the house and set up the infirmary again. Just her, as far as I know. She looked grateful and relieved (and worn out from trying to push out that egg!) when I brought her in. I'm using this link for care, and will update ASAP!
Egg-Laying Troubles for Dummies

Post-Christmas Chicken Update

Merry Christmas! I trust that all of you had an experience...of some sort. :) Our chickens were singing and chatting away for most of the holidays - they were even louder than our dogs! And we had 15 dogs here for a few days!

We put Neil, Whitey Alice and Trumpeter Alice back out into the coop a few days ago. There was a long chinook, so temperatures were mild, and they are only down a few feathers - no open wounds at all. In fact, they look so good, I wish I had taken pictures! But I forgot. Anyway, here is a picture of Neil's "snow angel" when we set him down on the way to the coop.

Toes (Fatty) Alice and Brownie Alice are still in the house, enjoying some free range time in the spare bedroom! Just for a few minutes at a time, but it's pretty fun.
They get to stretch out their wings and run around a bit, pecking at stuff that's been flying out of their crates every day as they forage.

Toes (Fatty) Alice on the mend - only one scab left from the deep dog bite marks

Brownie Alice - feathers growing back in nicely and many layers of skin repaired and healed :) Just a couple more layers to go there... thanks to Derma-gel :)

Chicken update - with photos!

It's been about 5 days since the chickens got attacked by the dog. All of them have not only survived, but have improved quite a bit! Brownie Alice is even laying eggs! Of course, we can't eat these eggs, because we're giving the chickens antibiotics. I would post a link to the stuff we're using but good lord! - it's darn near impossible to find the product on the brand's website. It's like the Pfizer of veterinary medicine or something. Anyway, we just buy it in a pouch at UFA and add it to their water. They seem to like the taste.

Anyway, we are scrambling Brownie Alice's eggs and feeding them to all of them for a little extra protein. They go nuts for it. They also go nuts for cooked oatmeal! I put a tiny dose of meloxicam (Metacam) on a glob of oatmeal and they basically jump me and swallow the glob whole. They look like little piggies with oatmeal all over their beaks. :)

Neil is definitely feeling better. He's starting to peck at our fingers again when we are opening the door to the crate. And all of them are clucking and cooing and singing away several times a day. It's really cute. At night they are sooooo quiet, you would have no idea they're in that room!

In addition to the antibiotics and the topical cream and Dermagel spray, we bought some epsom salts. Apparently chickens really love a warm bath, and epsom salts with help draw out any infection. We'll try it as soon as we're both home at the same time for long enough! :) Here are some pics of their injury sites (taken 2 days ago):

Brownie Alice's bitten back

The bare back of Trumpeter Alice sprayed with Blue-Kote

Whitey Alice's left backside

I will try to get a pic of Fatty Alice too, as her wounds are pretty darn bad. But then, you won't be able to see the before and after - it's pretty dramatic already!

Thanks for reading about the cheeeekins I love so much. :)