Good morning dear readers. This morning I have a testimony to the goodness of God.
On this blog I share about my podcast, about the adventures on our homestead, tips and techniques, recipes and more. Well this morning I am sharing about our rooster Knightley.
Knightley was one of the birds that we got in our first flock. We had two but the other rooster, Edward, was rehomed. Knightley proved to be the top rooster and so we kept him. At first I was afraid of Knighley. He was quite aggressive and that was one thing that I didn't want in my flock.
One day, while out feeding the flock Knightley came at me and it was at that point that I had had enough. We located a woman who took in birds that other people didn't want and then she rehomed them. I told her my situation and she agreed to take him. On the day that we were supposed to get rid of him things turned out differently. We were on our way to her house when I double checked to make sure she was going to be home. She had told me she would be there. When I called however, she stated that she would not be home for several hours. We weren't going to wait that long so we turned around and headed home. It was at that point that I made up my mind to not allow him to intimidate me or make me afraid any longer. After that I began to let him know that I was top rooster. He calmed down quite a bit because he didn't come at me as much and seemed to get the point that enough was enough.
About a week ago he started to show some signs of illness. We had already lost one of our hens and we didn't really want to lose Knightley either. Our Australorp hen, Annie had the same symptoms and had died of a heart attack due to her illness. Knightley was headed in the same direction. To the feed store I went. I purchased some Ivermectin Pour On, Diatomaceous Earth and some Poultry Booster. Before I did this I had seen my sister-in-law at her work and she told me that she had some Ivermectin at home. I got that and administered it to Knightley. I also had to bring him in because he had Pasty Butt which I have since learned comes from a parasite in the gut. I had been treating them with Apple Cider Vinegar. I didn't realize however that this should be done on a regular basis.
The Pasty Butt situation has happened twice to Knightley. This last time I did clean off and also trimmed the feathers around his vent. I then put him in our bathroom to dry, gave him some water with ACV in it as well as some meal worms and grit. When I went to check on him he had drastically declined. His head was resting on the floor and he was having severe diarrhea. I was devastated. After all that I had done and now he was going to die.
I had previously prayed over Knightley because his comb was turning purple and after looking it up on Google, I came to learn that this was a sign of an oncoming heart attack. I believe in the power of prayer and I know that God cares for each living thing. So, I did what I could and left him in the hands of God. I put him in the coop last night and hoped for the best.
This morning when I went out to feed the flock, I really expected to find a dead bird in the hospital coop. When I opened the door, out came Knightley. He came right up to me and started eating corn and walking around like nothing had happened. I was amazed. I shouldn't have been surprised because I have an awesome and miracle working God.
If you are reading to this point, know that God cares about everything that is important to us. No prayer is too small or too big for God to answer.
I was so thankful for what God had done. That is not to say that he is out of the woods yet. I recently watched a YouTube video on Coccidiosis. It is a terrible parasite invasion in chickens. It can go to other animals as well. In this video the woman described the things that she put in her chickens water each and every day. She made the video to warn people that these things needed to be done daily and because she had missed a few days, some of her birds had died from this terrible disease. Listed below are the things I used in their water.
- Oregano Oil
- Cinnamon
- Cayenne Pepper
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Garlic
I also added some Poultry Booster to their food as well as Diatomaceous Earth. These things help to boost their immune system. I really wanted to get on it because it sounded like there was another bird coming down with this. I really hope that I can knock this out of my flock.
In being a homesteader it is so important to take care of the animals that you are raising. We are stewards of God's creation and it is up to us to do the best we can with the livestock we have on our farms.
If you would like to see how Knightley is doing at the moment, click on this Facebook link to see the reel of him when I came out to feed the flock. It has been a total transformation. I pray that he continues to heal and is stronger for it. It has been quite a week, but one that I have learned so many things from.
I really hope this post helps someone to better their homesteading. We need each other and any knowledge that I can pass along means that you can have a better homestead.
Happy Homesteading,
Virginia