Surprised by Joy

Joy, our white Australorp hen, successfully hatched out 4 chicks this Spring!

This is her first brood of chicks as her path to motherhood had not been a smooth one. When I put her together with Tolkien the rooster, she was badly injured by his spurs while mating. There were two gaping puncture wounds beneath both her wings. Tolkien became a jail bird after that.

I had to put Joy in a separate pen to recuperate.

After several weeks, she looked healthy and seemed to be eating well. One day, I did a routine check on her wounds and to my horror, there were maggots crawling all over. Immediately I prepared a medicated bath of Betadine Solution mixed with Epsom Salt for her. She was not too pleased to have a water bath instead of her usual dust bath, followed by a blow dry session with a hair dryer. Subsequently, her wounds were dusted with Diatomaceous Earth.

Thankfully that worked and she was on the road to recovery. She truly put my chook first aid and nursing skills to the test.

Then on a fateful afternoon, one of the roosters escaped from the cage and jumped on her, injuring one of her sides the second time. That naughty rooster almost ended up in the pot. Poor Joy had to go back to her recuperation pen once again. I was unsure if she would survive this time.

However, true to her name, Joy surprised me with her cheerful resilience.

On the occasions that I let her out of the pen, she still went around the garden pecking for worms, perky and chatty as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Towards the end of Winter, one of the white Australorp hens by the name of Marilyn turned clucky and started to sit on a clutch of eggs. I was quite delighted, thinking that we might get chicks from her. Apparently my assumption was wrong. Marilyn was not interested in motherhood and went gallivanting one morning, abandoning the clutch of eggs in the nesting box.

As the eggs were starting to turn cold, I had to quickly think of a solution. Joy had started laying just a few days ago and was still in her separate pen. I promptly removed the clutch of eggs from the nesting box and popped them under her. It seemed like a long shot but at least it was worth a try.

Joy and her first chick

After a long, cold Winter, Spring arrived. One morning, as I went to check on Joy, I was greeted by a chirping sound. There it was - a fluffy yellow ball of cuteness - her first chick! Later, another one hatched, followed by two more.

Joy has become a mother hen to four chicks. It is pure joy watching her with the little ones, especially knowing the ordeal she went through.