VLAD THE POLAND

Welcome to my new blog about keeping a small flock of chickens in a large garden. In it I will record the experiences and the general ups and downs of keeping these wonderful birds that we take for granted as food.

It seems a shame to begin with a death but that's just how it is. This splendid rooster ( A  Poland) is Vlad. He was about 18 months old when he died prematurely a few days ago after a month of illness.

It started with a moult of his black tail and general body feathers that went well enough but then as the moult progressed to his head, the white feathers of his crest seemed to fail to unravel. Then over a period of about three weeks his wattle went from the rosy colour in the picture above to a very pale pinkish grey.



Whilst he looked lively enough walking around his enclosure with his girls what we failed to notice was that he wasn't crowing and in fact he wasn't eating a lot either. he was however heading into the coop at night and other than the pale wattles he looked generally fit.  After googling the paleness we decided it must be the moult and so left him to it.

We decided that we needed to take action and so one evening, I brought him in and gave him some honey and chicken tonic. It wasn't manuka as I didn't have any available and it was only to give him a quick hit of energy. Added to which I didn't think he had an infection. He took it well enough (though a straw) and put up no resistance. Normally he would have attacked me with spurs, beak and flapping wings. He clearly didn't look well as can be seen from the picture.

He went back outside for the night and I didn't really expect him to be alive in the morning. However, he was and he seemed to be a little more active for a few days. he even managed to crow one morning. I noticed that he was eating and drinking whenever I was out and about in the garden but after a week or so he started to look a little tired again and his wattles remained pale.

I decided on another evening pick up session and so brought him in and administered a home made tonic of infused oregano, honey and turmeric all in warm water. This he  managed to get down with some help. I couldn't find a syringe and so I opted for dipping his beak into a shallow bowl of the stuff to generate a drinking reflex. Soon he was quite happy drinking on his own and so I tried a few pieces of mixed corn. I managed to spill quite a bit but he started feeding on the soaked grains and soon tucked in enthusiastically to that. My optimism rose and I began to see a chance of survival. 

It was short lived. It seems to me that most of my chicken deaths occur when I am busy with other things. Either it is just happenchance or simply that I didn't pay him enough attention in this case. Either way after a few good days he stopped roosting in the coop. The first time I found him looking forlornly out into the darkness from the door. A second occasion and I had to dismantle most of their fox proof run to reach him and put him away. A third time he had just given up and was sitting out in the dark breathing slowly. That night he refused to drink anything even on reflex. His breathing was slow and he could hardly stand. He died the next day 28th December, whilst I was out visiting family.

He was a good looking bird, even in death and was a conscientious rooster  in the care of his hens. He will be  succeeded by his only surviving offspring, a cockerel named Pickwick.