Giblet Happy Again

Last Monday, Gerard took Miss Giblet to the vet which is

ironically located opposite Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC!)

Much to our relief, Giblet’s maggot infestation was gone which meant

that our “chicken first aid” efforts on the weekend were successful!

However upon closer inspection, the vet removed an

egg shell which was internally stuck inside Giblet.

The vet was overcome by the stench which Gerard

said was worse than the smell of rotten egg gas!

After a dose of liquid antibiotics, Giblet is happy again

and is a full of energy as a “spring chicken”.

The 2 Happy Hens eating breakfast on a sunny spring morning.

They have a custom seed mix consisting of wheat,

 sunflower seeds and cracked maise.

 Curry walks off after breakfast whilst Giblet continues

to peck in her favourite blue container.

Giblet is so fussy she resists eating out of any container that is not blue!

 Dora the Explorer (a.k.a. Curry) takes a peek inside the pet carrier

we bought from the pet shop to transport Giblet to the vet clinic.

 Miss Giblet takes a peek inside the pet carrier which looks familiar to her.....

Giblet's bottom is still a bit pink from the anti-bacterial spray we

 used during our "first aid procedures".

Giblet is more curious than Curry.

Note: When shopping at the pet shop, we chose the pet carrier

 colour to be blue (nicknamed "Giblet blue").

It's nice to see the 2 Happy Hens happy again.

Let's hope we don't have to use the pet carrier much more in the future!

1 Unhappy Hen

Poor Miss Giblet woke up last Thursday morning egg bound

 and virtually motionless.

 

 Just before lunch time, Giblet visited her favourite nesting box

 and laid a large yellow, deformed egg with no shell.

 

 Giblet took a while to recover from her egg laying disaster

with many annoying Australian blow flies

 taking advantage of the messy situation.

 

 With the change of season from a cold winter to spring,

and the nights quickly warming up last week,

poor Giblet suffered an attack of the flies and has

been infected with maggots under her tail.

 

 As Murphy’s law would have it, the maggot infestation

 was discovered on a Saturday afternoon when the

 vet clinics were closed for the weekend.

 

 Lydia spent the weekend playing vet nurse with the assistance of

Gerard to clean and disinfect Giblet’s affected area.

 

Curry watched on and was being a normal happy hen

whilst her sister Giblet suffered in misery.

 

 Giblet is off to the vets soon and we wish her luck.

 Get well soon Miss Giblet!

 

Chicken first aid supplies:

bucket, disposable gloves, clean cloths, scissors, cotton tips,

a small bottle of Bentadine and a can

 of Cetrigen distinfectant safe for poultry.

 

 Giblet rests in discomfort

Giblet hunched over

 

 

Giblet stands up and doesn't look very happy.

 

Get well soon Miss Giblet!

Freedom

A couple of weeks ago we had some work done in our yard so
we had to restrain the 2 Happy Hens from entering the work area. 

We erected a temporary plastic fence which upset the girls for the morning. 
 

 Giblet coped better than sooky Curry did. 

Giblet scratched around and went in the coop to sit

on the fake egg in her nesting box just for fun. 

Curry ran around in circles whimpering and

making sooky noises as if she was a jailbird! 

Curry was desperate to get out and have free rein of the yard.
 

 The clock struck 12 noon and the 2 Happy Hens were set free. 

Curry walked about 2 feet from the temporary fence,

 sat down and went to sleep in the bush for over 2 hours! 

So much for wanting to roam free!

 

Curry sitting in the bushes 2 feet from the temporary fence.



Sleeping....

Dreaming.... 



 

 Awake!

 

 



What's over there?

You can't see me!

Jungle Curry, Jungle Giblet

 Curry stalking through the green, grassy "jungle".



Giblet stands tall and peeps through the grass.

Curry sits low trying to camoflague in the "jungle".

Curry has no fear and takes a nap in the grassy "jungle".



The 2 Happy Hens chill out.

Giblet watches over her sister Curry.

Giblet looks through the grass whilst Curry sleeps.

  Giblet gives the camera "the look" whilst Curry lazes in a dirt bath hole.

  Curry looks like a fat "Curry puff" in this photo!

I really like this photo of Curry.

Giblet's Giant Egg

 Can you guess which egg was laid by Giblet?

It is as big as a duck egg!

Miss Giblet laid this huge egg during the "Eat My Bed"

 event in the coop on 7th July.

Curry went crazy and did 3 "egg songs" in excitment over her

 sister's egg laying efforts. 

Refer to a previous blog posted in April 2012 titled "Easter Egg Song"

 to see Curry in egg song action!

These photos compare Giblet's light coloured egg with shop brought

 60 gram "free range" eggs. 
Nothing can be as fresh or free range as eggs from the 2 Happy Hens!

Eat My Bed

The 2 Happy Hens have had a mini "bedding crisis" lately as the only straw supplier in town sold the business and the new owners don't stock bales of straw any more - bugger!  Everyone told us to use hay instead but after much research, hay is not recommended for lining the nesting boxes as it can breed a fungus that is detrimental to hens health.  "Aspergillosis" is a respiratory disease (brooder pneunomia) that can be prevented by using straw instead of hay. 

We were running very low on straw and didn't have enough to fully line the 2 Happy Hens' nesting boxes which also doubles as their bed.  Lydia got some shredded paper from work and put that in the bottom of the two boxes and placed the remaining straw on top.  Lydia thought she was doing a great job recycling shredded paper using it for bedding for her pets. The light straw topping gradually disappeared as Curry and Giblet nested and played with it. 

Last Saturday when Lydia was at work, Gerard phoned her to tell her that the 2 Happy Hens were eating their bed – YES - they were eating the shredded paper in huge mouthfuls!  Giblet laid a huge egg (as big as a duck egg!) and then stood up and started eating the shredded paper in her nesting box!  She was literally eating her bed!  Curry came along and started scoffing the shredded paper as well!  Gerard quickly came to the rescue and stopped the feeding frenzy!

We have temporarily resorted to using hay chaff whilst we wait for more straw supplies to be delivered to the feed supplier due to popular demand.

We knew chickens ate polystyrene foam boxes but not shredded paper!

 They are the funniest pets ever!

Unfortunately Gerard never took any photos of the "Eat My Bed" event which certainly won't be repeated.  Lydia wishes she was at home that day to capture the classic moment on camera.....

  

Photo of Miss Giblet

(who is still moulting a little bit in the picture)

Pet Shop Comp

Last Christmas I posted this photo of Curry scratching

her head standing on one leg upside down.

I visited my local pet shop in May to find that they

were holding a pet photo competition.

The competition theme was: "Is your pet an Angel, Crazy or Devil?"

I instantly submitted the photo of Curry above and was eager to win

a pet shop gift voucher (to buy seed/breakfast supplies for the 2 Happy Hens).

I was the first person to enter the pet photo competition.



Unfortunately Curry's photo never won the competition,

however she did make top of the "Crazy" photo list!!