A Coop For One
I wish I were writing to you this afternoon with a happy update from my little flock of chickens. Unfortunately, I have unfortunate news about Roxanne, the bird I acquired to be Lucy's companion after we lost Ethel to a predator. You may recall Roxanne came to us with an injured leg that had been untreated for a month. After giving Roxanne a few days to acclimate to her new surroundings (after her one week of adjustment in the wire crate), I enlisted the help of an avian expert (who happens to be a distant cousin) to evaluate the injury. The expert determined that the leg had multiple breaks as well as a dislocation, none of which were repairable. Roxanne must have been in agony for all those weeks! The only humane course of action for her was to free her from her pain, which we did immediately.
My dear Lucy is once again solo in the hen house. I never really understood the second line of the Three Dog Night song One, “two can be as bad as one” until I found myself in the chicken yard with Lucy, scratching for worms in the compost pile I started for her. She cocked her head at me as I trowled the soil, and I could imagine her dismay that her life had been reduced to scratching for worms with a human… What would other chickens think of her? Two can be as bad as one, It is the loneliest number since the number one.
But this is where we are now. I spend about 45 minutes to an hour with her every afternoon, hunting worms and bugs. I’m hoping to have companions for her soon. I’ll be ordering chicks as soon as I can purchase the required equipment to keep them until they are big enough to meet Lucy. Sooner would be better than later because Lucy will still be alone for about 12 weeks after the chicks arrive.
I have found a full setup of brooder, heat lamp, waterers, and feeders for a decent price of $149 (on sale from $199). All I’ll be lacking is bedding, chick feed, and the chicks, which I would expect to spend an initial $50-75 for. If you want to help me get the setup and the chicks sooner than later, please consider subscribing to Repurposed Kate. Already a subscriber? Consider an upgrade! More chicks means more of this type of content. Hopefully, baby chicks will be much happier content!
Here are a couple of videos of Lucy’s commute to the compost heap…
More Ranch News
Calving season in over and the bulls have been re-introduced to the cow herds. We’re having a mostly successful spring. I’ll be back later in the week with pics, videos and updates. Stay tuned.