Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2009 16:59:40 GMT -5
We've had such a rough winter, I swear. I don't know if you guys remember, but my two original roosters, Zeus and Odin, had swapped places last Spring. Zeus started out as boss roo and Odin challenged him last Spring and came out on top. They settled their differences and all was well between them. Then I almost lost Zeus this past summer to that upstart little roo, Chicklet, who we subsequently had for dinner. So Zeus' problem was solved.
But this winter, Odin got frostbite on his toes and he's been in horrible shape ever since. One of my older guinea roosters lost ALL the toes on one of his feet, and most of the toes on the other one, and he's still fine, although he's a clubfoot now. But for some reason Odin has been depressed, and was spending most of his time in the nestbox, or sitting by himself in a corner somewhere. Rich thinks (and he could be right) that he knew he couldn't be alpha anymore, and it was too much to take, knowing that Zeus would take his old position back as alpha.
Anyway, a couple days ago, I found Odin standing hunched in a corner of the coop shivering, so I picked him up and held him a bit to warm him and then set him under the heat lamp. He finally stopped shivering. Then a day or two later, Rich found him in the nestbox, with his head stretched out flat on the floor. He thought he was dead, but he touched him and he sat up. Yesterday morning I took out some warm treats (leftover mashed potatoes mixed with clabber and eggs and fish), and Odin gobbled down a bunch. But last night when I went to lock them up, I found him dead in the nestbox. Poor guy.
I know his feet hurt him, and they were probably the reason he was so cold all the time - he just didn't move around enough. But the guinea rooster with no toes seems to be doing fine, so I don't know. Maybe it was like Rich said, and he just didn't have the heart to go on as a subordinate rooster. He and Zeus are such NICE roosters, it breaks my heart to have lost Odin. I need to raise up a replacement rooster from the first batch of chicks this Spring, and hopefully, since the babies will now all be Zeus', it will end up being another nice rooster. Some of those other roos we had were NASTY! But I think they were from the two roos we got from the second batch of chicks we bought.
Anyway, here's Odin, in his prime (with some of his ladies):
And this right on the heels of losing Pippin (the big orange tomcat). Pippin went on walkabout a little over two weeks ago, right before a blizzard, and we haven't seen him since. He was a HUGE part of our family, and I miss him terribly. I suppose there's always a chance that he'll come dragging back one day. He was wild before he came to live with us, so he's savvy enough I suppose, but I think he'd be back by now if he was able. So I think he's gone for good.
~Lannie
But this winter, Odin got frostbite on his toes and he's been in horrible shape ever since. One of my older guinea roosters lost ALL the toes on one of his feet, and most of the toes on the other one, and he's still fine, although he's a clubfoot now. But for some reason Odin has been depressed, and was spending most of his time in the nestbox, or sitting by himself in a corner somewhere. Rich thinks (and he could be right) that he knew he couldn't be alpha anymore, and it was too much to take, knowing that Zeus would take his old position back as alpha.
Anyway, a couple days ago, I found Odin standing hunched in a corner of the coop shivering, so I picked him up and held him a bit to warm him and then set him under the heat lamp. He finally stopped shivering. Then a day or two later, Rich found him in the nestbox, with his head stretched out flat on the floor. He thought he was dead, but he touched him and he sat up. Yesterday morning I took out some warm treats (leftover mashed potatoes mixed with clabber and eggs and fish), and Odin gobbled down a bunch. But last night when I went to lock them up, I found him dead in the nestbox. Poor guy.
I know his feet hurt him, and they were probably the reason he was so cold all the time - he just didn't move around enough. But the guinea rooster with no toes seems to be doing fine, so I don't know. Maybe it was like Rich said, and he just didn't have the heart to go on as a subordinate rooster. He and Zeus are such NICE roosters, it breaks my heart to have lost Odin. I need to raise up a replacement rooster from the first batch of chicks this Spring, and hopefully, since the babies will now all be Zeus', it will end up being another nice rooster. Some of those other roos we had were NASTY! But I think they were from the two roos we got from the second batch of chicks we bought.
Anyway, here's Odin, in his prime (with some of his ladies):
And this right on the heels of losing Pippin (the big orange tomcat). Pippin went on walkabout a little over two weeks ago, right before a blizzard, and we haven't seen him since. He was a HUGE part of our family, and I miss him terribly. I suppose there's always a chance that he'll come dragging back one day. He was wild before he came to live with us, so he's savvy enough I suppose, but I think he'd be back by now if he was able. So I think he's gone for good.
~Lannie
