What a busy day. I'm shattered, it's far too hot to be doing all this messing about.
About a week ago I toool the saddle of the Welsh Black, as Roo's attentions had diminished. Fortunately DH has been checking her each day, so when we found a cut on her back we were able to get her to the Vet quickly. We put her in our broody pen so she could still see the others, and they her, but she was separate. A quick check of the other Girls showed that the other Welsh Black also had a small injury.
So, this morning was spent setting up runs so that Roo and Mrs could be in one run, with their own (makeshift) coop and feeding area; the two Welsh Blacks could be in another run, with their own coop and feeding area, and still in sight of Roo and Mrs; the run had to be separated by very high fencing. We also needed to make sure the third run, complete with coop was still available and separated ready for when we take the Teens down there later in the week.
We then needed to bathe and purple-spray the wounds of the two black girls. Mrs Roo needed a bath to finally get rid of the bits of poo that just don't come off with a cotton wall bath.
And I wanted to Poultry Shield one of the coops (DH did one the other day, and the last one will be done on Friday).
And it was the day to scrub and disinfect all the drinkers and the feeders.
And it was the day to empty, scrub, and refill the waterbutts.
It makes sense to do these things at the same time, as the Coop needs to dry out before we can put the roosting bars and bedding back in. And we do the other bits while we're waiting.
And we decided that we would find a way to make a saddle fit on Mrs Roo. As she is currently Roo's one-and-only, she needs a bit of protection. She's a really unusual shape. In the end, she had a bantam sized saddle on, and even then we had to shorten the shoulders!
Our planned hour ended up taking nearly four.
But it looks really smart now. Very neat very tidy, very cared for.
All birds inspected, everyone looks happy.
Wonder what it'll be like tomorrow?
About a week ago I toool the saddle of the Welsh Black, as Roo's attentions had diminished. Fortunately DH has been checking her each day, so when we found a cut on her back we were able to get her to the Vet quickly. We put her in our broody pen so she could still see the others, and they her, but she was separate. A quick check of the other Girls showed that the other Welsh Black also had a small injury.
So, this morning was spent setting up runs so that Roo and Mrs could be in one run, with their own (makeshift) coop and feeding area; the two Welsh Blacks could be in another run, with their own coop and feeding area, and still in sight of Roo and Mrs; the run had to be separated by very high fencing. We also needed to make sure the third run, complete with coop was still available and separated ready for when we take the Teens down there later in the week.
We then needed to bathe and purple-spray the wounds of the two black girls. Mrs Roo needed a bath to finally get rid of the bits of poo that just don't come off with a cotton wall bath.
And I wanted to Poultry Shield one of the coops (DH did one the other day, and the last one will be done on Friday).
And it was the day to scrub and disinfect all the drinkers and the feeders.
And it was the day to empty, scrub, and refill the waterbutts.
It makes sense to do these things at the same time, as the Coop needs to dry out before we can put the roosting bars and bedding back in. And we do the other bits while we're waiting.
And we decided that we would find a way to make a saddle fit on Mrs Roo. As she is currently Roo's one-and-only, she needs a bit of protection. She's a really unusual shape. In the end, she had a bantam sized saddle on, and even then we had to shorten the shoulders!
Our planned hour ended up taking nearly four.
But it looks really smart now. Very neat very tidy, very cared for.
All birds inspected, everyone looks happy.
Wonder what it'll be like tomorrow?
