Scarlett - Leghorn - Hatched ~ 10 May 2011

From the very beginning, Scarlett was extremely curious and independent. Had plenty of spirit. And was neurotic about pecking anything and everything.




31 May. She looks awful. Not only because her feathers are coming in and they all look scraggly, but you can’t tell—her crop is bulging out. We spent nearly a week bracing ourselves for her to die at any moment.I massage it. Dip her beak in olive oil several times a day. We feed her boiled egg and flax meal and yogurt and worms—anything we could think of to keep her going. She had plenty of spirit through the whole thing, except for that first couple of days (over a weekend, right?) ... she did look miserable (might have been in the early stages of starving?)




3 June she is still scraggly; looks like she may have been pecked and be a little bloody. But I think we wiped it and—though we’ve heard horror stories of chickens shredding each other—this was the last we saw of it.

13 June – still has a huge bulge, but we’ve stopped thinking she is going to die any moment. G has done some reading; they make hen bras!


She who Should Have Been Queen. She will tell you—just ask her. If she hadn’t had been stricken with whatever it was, she’d have been Top Hen. As it is of course, we’re just glad she’s alive. She continues to be a solid third smaller than everyone else. But she has tons of spirit and tons of personality. She might be the runt, but she insists on respect. She’s smart as a whip. She was able to fly up on top of the roost box the other day, where she found some extra food! She continues to be more agile than everyone else because of her small size—so she has made full use of that.

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