Washington ~ Coup Of The Coop

     Washington ~ Coup Of The Coop

October 18, 2020


(Washington inside her temporary coop in the bathroom!)

Washington is our Production Blue. When we first got her, she was only a little bigger than a chick. Now, she's a pullet! The Production Blue breed is an extremely docile breed. They are a grayish-blue color, and resemble Rhode Island Reds. Washington is a very sweet chicken. She loves to be held, and loves to perch on you. But trust me, if you look closely at the picture above, you'll see that Washington has been through a lot more than any pullet her age. 

The whole reason we got Washington was to replace the loss of one hen, since Lafayette turned out to be a rooster. (Don't worry, we still have Lafayette! And we plan on keeping him!!!) The day we brought home Washington was the day Hamilton surrendered, and Lafayette became head of the pecking order. From the moment we introduced Washington to our backyard, Lafayette started pacing around in the run. We assumed he was excited to see Washington. Boy, were we wrong. 

The second we put Washington inside the coop, Lafayette grabbed her neck with his beak. He was trying to choke her! He wasn't pacing because he was excited...he was pacing because he thought Washington was a threat!

From there, things went downhill. Every Monday, when we were away at school, Washington would be injured by the time we got back. The first week, she was bleeding from her neck! The second week, she was bleeding from her head!! The third week, a chunk of her head was gone!!! We figured out that the other chickens were henpecking her. We also did a test and figured out that it was only the Buffs that were henpecking her. Our Rhode Island Red only ignored her, and Lafayette would try to protect her.

So, we resorted to keeping Washington inside the house for awhile. We built a coop and run out of cardboard and placed it inside a spare bathroom free of drafts from air conditioning. And again, every time we put her back inside the coop, she would be henpecked. So, we decided to "jail" the Buffs inside the bathroom for two days, and let Washington inside the coop, along with Lafayette and Hamilton. 

At this point, on the second day, the Buffs are doing pretty good in their "jail". And Washington can finally walk around the coop without being pecked. We'll see how this goes!

The word "coup" is pronounced as "/ko͞o/". It basically means an unusual or unexpected move. That's describes Washington's transition here to a T. Which is why we call Washington our "coup of the coop"!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lafayette ~ From Runt To Rooster

Image
  Lafayette ~ From Runt To Rooster September 20, 2020 (Lafayette in front of the coop!) The French Maran breed is a very beautiful breed of chicken. The roosters and hens are colorful alike! The roosters have very glossy feathers with streaks of gold here and there. The hens are also black in color, but they do not have any gold feathers. Hens lay chocolate-colored eggs. French Marans are also known to be very friendly. The hens are very docile, and the roosters are barely ever aggressive. This is no different with our French Maran rooster. Lafayette is the sweetest rooster on earth! (At first, he was the runt. From a previous post, you may have remembered that he eventually turned out to be a roo!) He is a delight to hold, and even my mom, who would never go near a chicken before, (let alone my dad), actually picks up Lafayette now!  Whenever you put him on the ground, he will sit down and wait for you to come back before he stands up again. If you leave him alone in the coop, he will
Read more

The Great Eggscape

Image
The Great Eggscape January 2, 2022 (A chick making the Great Eggscape!) Ever since starting to raise chickens, I had in the back of my head to try hatching eggs one day. And so I decided to do so over Christmas break! Unfortunately, Angelica isn't the best broody hen (she will sit on her eggs for a few days, then abandon them forever!). Fortunately, we were able to borrow a Brinsea incubator from a friend and so I got started! The plan was originally to hatch the chicks on Christmas day (cool right?), however, we got the incubator a little too late to set them for Christmas, so we eventually set them for December 28th, my grandpa's birthday!  Since Lafayette kindly provided us with some fertile eggs, we decided to use those for hatching! How exciting it will be to have mixed breed chicks!  If you are hatching with a Brinsea incubator, or are just starting out your journey of hatching eggs, Brinsea's Incubation Handbook is a great place for info! As soon as I collected th
Read more

My Independent Science Experiment 2021

Image
   My Independent Science Experiment 2021 April 4, 2021 (A screenshot of my computer screen as I worked on my lab report!) As you all know, around Christmastime, I had to do an Independent Science Experiment for school. I decided to do: "Advances Of How Music Has An Effect On A Chick". I think my experiment turned out really well. The results were shocking! The experiment got 2nd place in a county science fair! Plus, I want everyone to see the results of how music affects the brain. So, without further ado, I give you my lab report on my Independent Science Experiment! Advances Of How Music Has An Effect On A Chick Purpose : To find out whether classical music actually has an effect on a chick’s brain, and whether it might have an effect on a human’s brain. Hypothesis : I hypothesized that the chick that was exposed to music would be mature in size, wingspan, weight, and behavior, because of exposure to constant classical music, and the chick that is not exposed to music
Read more