28 July 2013

Chicken dusting

Hello friends! I know I haven't posted lately. My excuses are that it's school holidays, it's mid-winter, which is when I tend to get a little crazy and also hibernatey (totally a word). Also, I haven't had much to blog about. Plus my health is still somewhat crappy (I'll post an update if anyone is interested in more details). But I'm posting today and wanted to share our adventures in chicken dusting.

Noah's chicken Kiki was looking quite miserable for a few days. Like, a caricature of misery. Like, if you had looked up "miserable" in the dictionary I'm pretty sure you would have seen a photo of her. She'd kind of follow the others, but then stand off to the side all hunched up, with her neck pulled in, with half closed eyes. She wasn't really interested in eating or scratching or doing anything much at all. Just wretched.

She had no other symptoms so Grant caught her and inspected her to see what was up and lo and behold, he found poultry lice. Yuck! Also, poor baby!

I went and bought some powder to treat her and the others (although none of the others, nor the coop, was infested, thank goodness).

We simply plucked them one by one off their roost after they'd gone to bed, then I cradled each chicken on her back my lap and Grant rubbed the powder into her skin under her wings, on her chest and neck and around her vent. Daniel and Noah took photos.

Kiki was super docile, and seemed to enjoy the treatment (or maybe she'd just lost the will to live by then).

 photo dustingthechickens05_zps3a1a350b.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens01_zps01a7ecb5.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens02_zpsd136c6c5.jpg

Don't be like us - wear masks or a handerchief tied around your face! We started out with masks but they were cheap crappy ones and kept slipping and obscuring vision so we took them off and paid for it by coughing all evening. (No other lasting effects, thank goodness.)

 photo dustingthechickens03_zpsaac7866a.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens04_zps17ddb0dc.jpg


Doris was up next and after Kiki (who has been off her food) I was startled at her heft! Let's just say she's not just the fluffiest chicken, she's also the "fluffiest" (when "fluffy" is a euphemism for "fat"). She was more skittish than Kiki, but she's always been the most nervous anyway. But even she settled down for a cuddle and a treatment and didn't put up a fuss.

 photo dustingthechickens11_zps8a149f54.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens06_zps407dfad9.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens07_zpsb4d922f7.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens08_zps82f135bf.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens09_zpsf629f6ee.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens10_zpsfdf656e8.jpg

It was actually quite nice to cuddle with the girls. They don't usually let us pick them up, which is one of the disadvantages of buying pullets instead of raising chicks.


Next up was Tulip. She was nervous too but, like Doris, submitted to treatment without much fuss.

 photo dustingthechickens12_zps6d243b13.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens13_zps5e87cad8.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens15_zps4ac294d8.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens16_zpsfa3b808f.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens14_zps9180fc6f.jpg

Marble, who is top of the pecking order, had seen her flock disappear and reappear one by one and was good and nervous by the time her turn came. She made a bit of fuss but was okay about submitting to the treatment.

 photo dustingthechickens19_zpsf844f648.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens17_zpsfb00e765.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens20_zps04d6ebf3.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens18_zps0b2db23a.jpg

 photo dustingthechickens21_zps5b4484a2.jpg 

UPDATE: We did this last Monday and checked them today (Sunday) and they are all clear of lice, including Kiki.


Pin It
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...