A couple days before Christmas, I noticed Thompson not crowing like normal. Being the inexperienced chicken owner, I thought maybe it was because it was supper windy and his comb might get frostbitten. Anton applied some Vaseline to the comb, but it was already bleeding.
The next day, Thompson was acting depressed but we again figured he would come around.
Christmas morning, Bella comes to the door with tears streaming carrying her boy's listless body screaming that he was dying. We were just at a loss of what to do. Karl and I spent much time searching the Internet but knowing with it being Christmas there was little we could do for our boy. We kept him warm and gave him some Gatorade but by late afternoon he was gone. Karl buried him in the back land and our girls are beside themselves in the coop today realizing that he didn't come back home to the coop.
Thompson's death has educated us on a few things we didn't know about chickens and now we are a little more prepared. Apparently when you notice a chicken not doing well, they are already pretty sick. I am suspecting a gape worm problem, which is a parasite that starts to clog the throat and trachea. We didn't know we should have been giving them some organic preventative, but once infested, you have to use the chemicals. So, I am off to Tractor Supply to pick up some de-worming medicine and we will be off the girls' eggs for about two weeks. After that, I am going to start the preventative to hopefully not have to use chemicals again.
The less quick fix now is what to do about more chickens. We know we need more and the little coop is not going to cut it. Thus, when we can, we will build a bigger coop in the back land. Then we need to order more chicks to start over again. We are still keeping the girls we have, but with two more children arriving, we are going to need more eggs. With no rooster, we will have to buy chicks!
But for now, we are still sad about losing our boy. While we sometimes hated his loud crows in the early hours of summer when we still wanted to sleep, it is too quiet here on the farm without him. Something about a crowing rooster to make you feel more in touch with the land. Thompson was also a good roo! He knew I was boss and would greet me with knowing his place. A docile rooster is not always easy to come by but takes patience and attention while young. It also helps to have a teenage who is not afraid to give the rooster a little humiliation every now and then by hanging him upside down. Some say that is mean, but Anton did this after the one time Thompson purposely scratched him when Anton was grabbing the hens.
Good bye my Friend, you will be missed!
