Flock Diary : June 1998 - NB: all pictures and text copyright of Kirsty Tallon

After the May Fox Attacks, the hen situation stands as follows:

Ernie; Cream Legbar; 1 year and 1 month old, laying eggs since 10 months old.

White Tara; Light Sussex; 16 weeks old, not laying eggs yet.

Michael Caine Alan Partridge Brahma; Partridge Brahma; laying eggs when bought. She was bought and introduced to Ernie and Tara on 30th May. She was weighed on Sunday 31st May; results:

Brahma weighs 4lb 16 oz.

Below: Michael Caine Alan Partridge Brahma perching on the garden gate

Ernie and Tara were extremely upset and terrified by the last fox attack. Tara has become a little more nervous and flighty, whereas Ernie is now a very people-orientated bird. Both birds are very nervous about leaving the shed, and are extremely vigilant while foraging. The slightest rustle in the grass or creak of a tree branch will send White Tara leaping into the air, flapping her wings and squawking, and running as fast as she can toward the safety of the shed.

Ernie ensures that she never strays more than a couple of feet from me, and tolerates being stroked and held a lot more. If I walk around she will follow me, almost like a dog walking to heel. She seems to have learnt that she is safe with people, maybe because she jumped into my arms to escape the fox.. She likes being lifted up so that she can see a wider area around her, and check for predators hiding in the long grass.

HenFight !!!:

When Brahma was first introduced to the other hens, the setting was the garden, and the three hens mostly ignored each other. Tara showed signs of aggression by fluffing out her neck feathers at Brahma, even leaping onto her back once and pecking at the back of her head. Brahma just shook little Tara off, and ignored her.

However, the story was a different one when the birds entered the shed. When Brahma decided to investigate the droppings board, Ernie followed her and cornered her. She pushed her chest right up against Brahma's, and started ferociously pecking at her face, comb and wattles, going for the ears mostly. Brahma retaliated, and immediately the birds were locked together in silent battle, each firmly holding the other's ear and pulling back as hard as they could! I was really shocked at their behaviour, not expecting such violence and anger from mere hens. So I quickly split up the fight (which wasn't difficult).

A couple of minutes later the birds were fighting again. I could see that they couldn't cause each other TOO much damage, and they needed to re-establish a pecking order amongst themselves; so this time I just watched them, and left them to it. The outcome was that Alan Partridge Brahma is now Boss Hen, Ernie is second in the pecking order, followed by Tara. Once that arrangement was established and agreed upon by the birds, the situation soon calmed and no more fighting occurred.

Michael Caine Alan Partridge Brahma (MCAPB) lays pale eggs. Here is a picture of her eggs, compared with the eggs of the late Little Red Hen (LRH) and Henny Penny (HP), for contrast.

On 6th June, Ernie seemed a little quieter than usual, spending more time sitting down than the other birds, and extending her neck less, too. However, shehad laid an egg that morning. The next day she was even more quiet, spending a lot of her time sitting in a nest box. At one point Brahma got into the nest box with her, and laid an egg next to her. Ernie had also lost her appetite a bit, not drinking much either. Her droppings were pale yellow and watery, and her crop soft, distended and drooping.

I then weighed Ernie, and finding that she had lost seven ounces, immediately made an appointment for a visit to the vet for her. I also took a fecal sample from Ernie with me.

Ernie weighed 3 lb 13 oz on 14thMarch.

Ernie weighed 3 lb 7 oz on 7thJune.

The vet diagnosed Ernie as having a particularly nasty type of internal parasitic worm, Capilaria,which had made her ill. The worm is picked up from earthworms, beetles, slugs etc, and is apparently a common problem in free-range birds. This particular type of worm causes bleeding in the crop and intestines. The vet decided to keep Ernie for the night, give her some drugs to stimulate peristalsis, and special fluid to boost her energy. Hopefully this would help her to empty her crop and digest the contents. Ernie would also have a blood test, to check for diseases and check her white blood cell count. If she couldn't empty her crop by herself, then the vet would have to make an incision and remove the contents manually. An extremely strong anti-parasitic drug would need to be administered, but only if the vet had decided that Ernie was strong enough to take it. The other birds would need to be wormed, too.

That evening I examined the other birds, and found that Brahma had a slightly pendulous, soft crop. Tara's felt soft, but not saggy at all.

First thing the following morning, I examined Tara and Michael Caine Alan Partridge Brahma again. Their crops were almost empty and perfectly normal. I also weighed them, to check for weight loss, but they were both fine, having gained weight.

Brahma had gained two ounces since the last weighing, and was now 5 lb exactly.

Tara weighed 2 lb 4 oz on 2nd May.

Tara weighed 3 lb 4 oz on 8th June.

Ernie needed to stay at theVets' for another night, and I collected her on Wednesday 10th.The Vet had given her antibiotics as well as the other treatments, as a precaution. I was to finish her worm treatment and dose the other birds too.

Because Ernie had been away for a while, the other birds treated her a a new hen, and the pecking order was soon re-established as it had been before; Brahma top, Ernie middle and poor White Tara bottom.

Every day, I dosed Ernie, Brahma and Tara with their correct amounts of medicine until the treatment was finished. In order to administer the medicine, Ineeded to hold the hen still, open it's beak and gently push a tube down it's throat through which the drug would be pushed. They did not like the throat tube at all, and would wriggle their necks as much as they could to avoid it. When their treatment was finished, the hens seemed much better, especially Ernie, and their droppings had gone back to normal. I also weighed the birds(date was 16th June 1998):

Ernie weighs: 3 lb 10 oz / 1640g

White Tara weighs: 4 lb 1 oz /1860 g

Michael Caine Alan Partridge Brahma (pictured below): over 5 lb - my puny household scales only weigh up to 5 lb and can't cope with this heavyweight hen !

Big Brahma Hen !

On Saturday 13th June it poured and bucketed down with rain, which was a shame, because this was the day on which I had arranged to pick up a second-hand poultryArk. The rain did not cease or lighten, and the Ark was very wet when it arrived. It was placed in the front garden and cleaned before the hens were introduced to it.

Brahma and Tara did not mind theArk and took to it well, but as soon as I placed Ernie in, she tried to come back out again. Ernie had still not recovered properly from the second May Fox Attack (see 'May 1998' for details), and only seemed to feel comfortable out of the shed if I was present. The Ark did seem alien and strange to her, so I stayed with Ernie while she cautiously explored the Ark and checked its security. When she was satisfied with her new home, she began scratching and pecking around like the other hens.

The three hens all sleep in the garden shed at night, and spend their days in the Ark. I bring them around to the Ark each morning - Tara and Brahma allow me to carry them one under each arm, while Ernie trots along behind me and follows me all the way around - from the shed, through the gate, along the garden path, down the six big steps, around the side of the neighbour's house, accross his front garden, down the path and accross our front garden - all the way to the Ark.

This is repeated in the evening, though Ernie likes to pause and catch any dusk-emerging grubs which catch her eye, so I need to call her to remind her that she needs to hurry-up. Ernie speeds up and comes closer to me if I call her, and is almost like a trained dog - she would probably follow me right down the road to the post box if I let her ! Occaisionally Ernie is stubborn and decides to stop and have a good forage if she sees a particularly appetising bug, and then I have to either chivvy her along past the bug until she has forgotten about it, or walk out of sight if she continues to dawdle. As soon as she has noticed that she can't see me anymore, Ernie squawks and then I call her, and she runs to find me.

Usually Ernie is no more than 3 feet away from me, and seems to enjoy not having to be picked up and carried. She likes to pause and look into the neighbour's house if his front door is open, and I have to hurry her along so that she doen't walk through into his kitchen !

On Sunday 28th June, two new hens were bought, checked over, and introduced to the flock. These hens came from the same farm which The Little Red Hen had (see bottom of February-March1998 page). Their beaks hadn't been trimmed quite as harshly as Little Red Hen's had. One bird is lighter in colour than the other, so they are easy to distinguish. I named the lighter one Prunella, and the darker one Sybil. They are both beautiful birds, with greenish eyes, and they are both slightly smaller than Red Hen was at first, though they are both on the point of lay.

Above left: Prunella / Above right: Sybil

They were introduced to the flock in the partially constructed enclosure in the back garden, and supervised closely as I expected the hens would fight to establish a pecking order, and I didn't want the situation to get out of hand. At first, the five hens just walked around the area, looking at each other. Soon, Brahma and especially Tara made low, threatening crooning noises as they strutted around. Suddenly Tara stood very tall, raised her hackes and pecked at one of the newcomers, who did not retaliate. Tara repeated the peck, and Brahma joined in. The new hens both scampered away as best they could. The hens then continued walking around, with Prunella and Sybil acting submissively. On the whole the situation was eventless, but punctuated with vicious stabbing pecks to the newcomers by Tara and Brahma. Tara was even trying to leap at the new birds and stand on their backs to pull their neck and head feathers. Occaisionally Brahma or Tara would corner a new bird and start attacking it relentlessly even though the victim would be cowering submissively, and then I would have to separate them.

Soon the birds seemed to calm down a little, and so they were moved to the Ark and supervised. The attacks from Brahma and White Tara continued, but Ernie didn't seem to be bothered with Prunella and Sybil and left them alone. I tried removing Brahma and Tara in turn, but they'd just continue their onslaught as soon as I replaced them. Unfortunately the hens still needed to decide this pecking order, though it seemed quite clear to me that Prunella and Sybil were quite content to be 'bottom chickens' in the pecking order.

I left them alone for a while, and when I returned Prunella and Sybil had crammed themselves into the nesting boxes to escape their attackers. Ernie was hopping up and down outside the nesting boxes trying to find away in because she wanted to lay an egg, but the new hens had found a safe spot and wouldn't budge. I evacuated the nestboxes, and Ernie leapt straight in to lay her egg. I put Prunella and Sybil with Brahma and Tara again, but the attacks resumed even though the new birds were acting as submissively as they could. It seemed that Brahma and Tara had gone 'power crazy', and were victimising the new birds just for the sake of it. I decided to put Prunella and Sybil back into the garden shed, where they could have a chance to settle in for the afternoon without being completely terrorized.

On the following morning I found Prunella hiding under the droppings board, and Sybil had wedged herself between one of the old broken lawnmowers and the oven. They were obviously hiding from Michael Caine Alan Partridge Brahma and White Tara, who were busy eating along with Ernie. I rescued the newcomers, and let all five birds forage around in the garden together. The attacks from Brahma and Tara continued, and so I decided to get the enclosure finished and so the two groups of birds could be kept apart. Brahma seems to be very proud of her position as 'Top Hen', and will not tolerate any new faces, and Tara is so overjoyed to be relieved of her position as 'bottom chicken' that she has got overly carried away with attacking !

It was nice to see that Prunella and Sybil ran to me for help and protection from the other hens, though they still struggle when picked up. They wander around at my feet playing with my shoelaces, giving my trainers curious little pecks, and gentle inquisitive pulls at my trouser legs.

To Flock Diary 2001 - January, February and March 2001 / April and May 2001

To Flock Diary 2000 - January 2000 / February, March, April 2000 / May 2000 / June 2000 / Stroud Show 1st July 2000 / July 2000 / August 2000 / Painswick Show 13th August 2000 / September 2000 / October, November & December 2000

To Flock Diary 1999 - January 1999 / February 1999 / March , April 1999 / May , June 1999 / Stroud Show 1999 / July 1999 / August 1999 / September 1999 / October 1999 / November 1999 / December 1999

To Flock Diary 1997 & 1998 - August to December 1997 / January, February and March 1998 / April 1998 / May 1998 / June 1998 / July 1998 / August 1998 / September 1998 / October 1998 - Part One / October 1998 - Part Two / November 1998 - Part One / November 1998 - Part Two / December 1998