Katy Klein Has a Chat

Well I have to say that you never stop learning.

For those of you that have been reading the enthralling adventures of our chickens you will know that last month we lost two of our girls to a rather nasty tom cat.

So to make ourselves feel better and to get a mate for Clucksy, we had to get a new chicken. We tried a new pet store in Bulleen and were pleasantly surprised by the range of chicks and enormously huge Isa Brown’s available. For the first time we got to pick out the chicken. We chose the one that seemed to be command. Her name is Dusty and she is a Pekin Bantam with little feathers over her feet like little feather dusters (hence the name). WE decided to stop naming the chickens after food in case it encouraged any more cat attacks.

Dusty is the first chicken we’ve bought that came complete with chicken skills. When you bring home a cage reared bird, they seem rather surprised by what free range has to offer and take a while to learn how to scratch and dust bath. Dusty in all of her 10 cm glory immediately jumped out of her box, proceeded to peck and scratch and when Clucksy decided to establish dominance, flew into her face to give her what for. It was like a sparrow attacking an eagle, hilarious.

Dusty is a determined little miss so on the second night when we were trying to put them to bed, she decided she would much prefer to sleep under Clucksy. Now Clucksy isn’t maternal at the best of times but lately she has moved into downright narky. After pecking at Dusty didn’t remove her, Clucksy looked at us as if to say, ‘Do I have to put up with this?”.

Anyway, just when we thought things were getting better, Clucksy had a chicken stroke. At first I thought she had a sore foot because she was having difficulties walking. She kept falling and had to use her wing to steady herself. When I couldn’t find anything wrong with her leg I called the Vet, seeing her fall over when she tried to eat was just too much to bear. The first Vet laughed at me when I asked for an appointment for my chicken but kindly gave me the number for the Bird Specialist in Burwood.

The Bird Specialist was a lot more understanding, apparently we’re not the only ones who bring in our chickens. The Vet thought it was neurological. And much like a person-stroke, Clucksy did make a fairly good recovery over the next few days.

Initially though she was a very unhappy chicken. Dusty took this opportunity to sleep on top of Clucksy and then wiggle underneath her at night since Clucksy wasn’t up to pecking her into place. Even worse our 10 cm chicken started crowing imagining herself to be the top chick.

Anyway, Clucksy is still limping but otherwise seems happy and healthy. Dusty has been relegated to the second rung of the chicken roost. And we have learned a fairly important lesson about not feeding your chickens too many fatty foods.