# Bribery & blackmail, addiction, commie plot



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

The title of this thread sums it up. Each morning I clean the Barred Rock pen. I'm surrounded and practically held hostage by 4 loudly squawking hens wanting their small "crack" treats. I almost trip over them because they are literally under my feet. A couple of them even follow me into their house when I pick up soiled litter, squawking away.
There have been a few days when I didnt give them their "fix" of "crack" corn on purpose and I'd only get one egg if I were lucky. However when I give them their "fix" each morning, I get 3 or 4 eggs each day. 
Yep, they've got me by the short hairs...it's gotta be a commie plot.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

That's a girl for ya!!!


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

nannypattyrn said:


> That's a girl for ya!!!


Hahahahaha! Never thought about it like that!


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Oh well, too bad! Just give them the darn treat. Sometimes you have to pick your battles and let the others go. it's better than running away from you. I give mine scratch/sweetfeed/oyster shell and dust in the afternoon. They all line up outside the screen exactly where they can see me in the house. If they get tired of waiting, they leave the rooster to wait.


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## zamora (May 26, 2015)

Give it up Dawg, they have you wrapped. Big time.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

zamora said:


> Give it up Dawg, they have you wrapped. Big time.


Yeah I know, they've got my number. 
I've got one of them in the hospital cage now though. I noticed that she couldnt pick up anything (crack) with her beak. It looks like she injured it somehow and seems it's sensitive enough to cause pain. I've made her a bowl of layer feed and lukewarm water as a gruel and she's been scoffing it up. Whatever the injury, it's going to take quite awhile to heal.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Awww poor baby! I hope it heals fast. I can't tell from the picture where the crack is. My big rooster had broke the tip of his beak off and he couldn't pick up crack so the poor thing who has always run away from me was actually eating crack out of my hand. Now he waits for me. It's all healed up now.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

She's still a good-looking hen.What's wrong her beak?


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I'll bet a little super glue goes a long way.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

chickenqueen said:


> She's still a good-looking hen.What's wrong her beak?


I was able to get a better look at her beak in the bright afternoon sun. Her beak isnt cracked. However under her upper beak is dried blood, in the quick. I believe it's a bruise. This is going to be a slow healing process. She was pitching a fit earlier and I carried her out to the coop where she laid an egg in the nesting box. I left her out with the other hens afterwards and returned her to the hospital cage an hour ago and fed her gruel. She's a real chowhound.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> Awww poor baby! I hope it heals fast. I can't tell from the picture where the crack is. My big rooster had broke the tip of his beak off and he couldn't pick up crack so the poor thing who has always run away from me was actually eating crack out of my hand. Now he waits for me. It's all healed up now.


One of the other Barred Rocks managed to get her beak caught in the hardware cloth and cracked her beak late last year. She was able to eat and peck normally after 12 days in the hospital cage. I actually saw the new beak growing under the old beak early last month. She's doing great.
I'm glad your roo is all healed, including getting him to eat out of your hand....maybe a new training method when the circumstance arises.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Well I have to say that since I give him some crack in my hand, if I sit back there, he stands real close to me, like any closer he would be in my lap. And stares at me. I don't know what would be going thru his mind. 

He was the biggest baby I ever had. As a chick he used to nap on my arm. The hatch went to a horse stable. When the owner realized he had multiple roos, someone came to take them. The owner kept the barred rock/Jersey, and I took his sorry arse home. He's a blue Jersey and I have his parents here, LOL. Mama weighs at least 15 pounds. Just for fun I should weigh her.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

As long as she's eating with her injury, that's a good sign.Hope she recovers.


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