Portraits of the main flock

Finding red mite in the coop was a shock. It is said that if the girls are reluctant to roost in the coop or if they look unwell it could be a sign of red mite.

My girls never roost in the coop, I have always had to put them in each night so this was no warning to me. They all look good with red combs apart from Amber and she has her own problems so this didn’t warn me either.

It was only when I cleaned the coop that I discovered the red mite much to my horror. Today I have taken a portrait of each girl to show how healthy they look (apart from Amber).

Amber’s face and comb are so pale that if I was new to this flock I would say  she hasn’t got long to live. Yet she is a tough little cookie and a fighter. Her behaviour is absolutely normal. She eats, drinks, poops, dust baths, scratches around, rushes to the treats and pecks away her lower ranking flock mates. You wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with her apart from being really pale and having a swollen face.

Her face swelled up ten days ago and she also hasn’t laid since this happened which is a relief. I thought her face was getting a little better but it is difficult to tell. She is now able to peck at apple which she couldn’t at first.

Toffee

Emerald

Topaz

Sparkle

Honey

Poor little Amber

This little girl wouldn’t win any beauty prizes. The rest of the flock look really good but Amber has a big spirit and I can only hope she gets back to normal in time.

Honey laid an egg today without looking unwell and it has a hard shell so she seems to be back to normal.

I found a third worm today so I think it was the worms upsetting Honey’s egg laying and as I have only found three in four days it may be possible that it is only Honey who has them. I am half way through treating them with flubenvet and will repeat the treatment again in three weeks time to break the cycle.

Sparkle laid her fifth egg in a row today.

Wednesday is the day for the next treatment to the coop for red mite. I bought more red mite spray today as I don’t want to run out and also bought some poultry housing spray.

It says that when you clean the coop you can spray it with this and it will protect the coop from re-infestation of red mite for several months. If it works that is great news. If I had known about this spray I would have used before and I intend to use it now on a regular basis.

I feel a lot more positive that we are getting on top of all the problems now and the chicks are growing fast and are happy and healthy.

They now sprint towards me when I go up to the run and zip around like crazy. They have found all the high perches in their half of the run and seem able to fly to any hight. It’s a good job we have a very secure top on our run. They constantly make their little cheep cheep sounds and are just adorable.

It will be good to get to the back end of the treatments and be able to start the integration but for now I am going to remain patient and wait until everything is back to normal.