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Here’s What to Do If Your Chicken Is Attacked by a Cat

If you keep chickens as pets, it’s important to know what to do if your chicken is attacked by a cat. Cats are natural predators of chickens and can kill them very quickly. In this blog post, I will recommend what to do if one of your chickens is attacked by a cat and what to expect in the process of caring for your injured chicken.

Recently, a cat showed up and attacked the weakest of my flock of three bantam chickens. By the time I went outside to check on the commotion, it was too late. The cat was running away with my hen, Nugget, in its mouth. At the time I thought it was probably too late, I lost a young rooster to a feral cat years ago and it was a quick death as it got him by the neck. I gave chase and the cat dropped Nugget in the drain, before escaping. It was trying to get away fast and it wasn’t able to fit her through the hole.

Nugget was in shock and tilted her head up to breathe. I carried her to a quiet spot to catch her breath and saw that she had a couple of wounds on her back. After around 10 minutes, she stood up and wanted to join the rest of the flock but I put her in the coop for observation. I immediately left some food out for her and she still had a good appetite, which was a relief. However, she mainly stood around and was withdrawn, she also looked like she had some difficulty walking. The next day, my brother and I took her to the vet – AAVC in Yishun- (our regular vet, Gloria Lee of Mount Pleasant in Yishun, was on 3 weeks leave) and discovered that it was worse than we thought.

From my experience I recommend the following:

1. Get your chicken to a vet ASAP

chicken has injury from cat attack — *Nugget after surgery, photo provided by AAVC*

First of all, it’s important to act quickly if your chicken is attacked by a cat. Cats have toxic saliva and bites can result in infections and kill your chicken. A cat attack requires emergency care and will need to see a vet. It is a good idea to inspect your chicken to try to get an accurate assessment of how serious the injury is.

Before you get your chicken to the vet, clean the wounds to reduce any chance of an infection. If you do not have F10 disinfectant (requires dilution) or saline solution on hand, you can try posting an SOS to Facebook or Telegram on channels like Backyard Chickens Singapore (BYCS) or Save the Chickenese Singapore to find out if there is someone in your neighbourhood whom you can get it from immediately.

December 26, 2022 by Olivia

City, Country

How to Start A Herb Garden: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re looking for a way to add fresh, flavourful herbs to your cooking, then you should consider growing a herb garden. Herbs are easy to grow and can be grown indoors or outdoors. In this blog post, I will provide useful gardening tips on growing herbs at home. By the end of this post, you’ll know how to start your very own herb garden!

One of the great things about herb gardening is that it doesn’t require a lot of space. You can grow herbs in pots on your windowsill or in a raised bed in your backyard. If you’re short on space, don’t worry – there are dwarf or compact varieties of herbs that will do well in small spaces.

Growing a herb garden is also a great way to get started with gardening if you’re new to the hobby. Herbs are relatively easy to grow and care for, so they make a great choice for beginner gardeners. Plus, there’s nothing quite like being able to snip fresh herbs from your own garden to use in your cooking!

A few things to note before you start…

If you can create the ideal microclimate for your plants, you can even grow some plants that typically do not thrive in your climate. In tropical countries, gardeners have successfully grown plants that thrive in subtropical and temperate climates from their apartment using soil, hydroponic, aeroponic or aquaponic methods. These include parsley, cilantro, dill and others.

You don’t always have to spend money on plants. You can get plant cuttings, plants, and seeds from other people in your local gardening community group/s by swapping or sometimes they just give them away. Have a look on Facebook to find a gardening group in your area. Here is a list of places where you can find free plants if you live in Singapore.

Before buying plants, observe how much sun you get every day and at what time. This will help you understand what kind of plants you can grow. It is worth noting that the sun’s path changes throughout the year, so even though you have sun in a particular area of your house in summer, this might not be the case in winter. This is applicable even if you live in a tropical climate. If you don’t have a lot of sun, consider investing in an indoor growing system.

It is a good idea to research what conditions a plant needs before bringing it home. Each plant has its preferred lighting, watering, soil drainage and fertilising requirements. It is also helpful to find out the lifespan of a plant, they are classified as annual, biennial and perennial plants.

With this in mind, read on to find out how to start a herb garden!

July 11, 2022 by Olivia

City, Country

How to clear a garden full of weeds

If you have a garden, chances are you will eventually have to deal with weeds. Weeds can take over your garden quickly and can be difficult to get rid of. In this blog post, I will discuss how to clear a garden full of weeds using mainly natural methods.

You will most likely require a combination of weed management methods depending on the area you are tackling, especially if you have different varieties of weeds growing in your garden. The methods suggested below also depend on what is practical for you in terms of time and budget.

Where to start?

If you have a garden full of weeds and are wondering where to start, begin with identifying the type of weed and consider the size of the weed. This will help you determine which management method to use. Weeds that have deep roots, such as dandelion, will need a different method compared to chickweed, which has shallow roots.

If the weeds have shallow roots and occupies only a small area, you may be able to pull it up by hand. Larger, thicker weeds may require machinery and/or hand tools to dig them up.

The best time to eradicate weeds is before they flower and develop seeds. In addition, pulling weeds when they are young is easier than waiting until they are mature. Mature weeds have deeper roots that are harder to remove.

June 25, 2022 by Olivia

City, Country

DIY: How to Make Kokedama

Have you been wondering what a kokedama is and how to make your own kokedama? Kokedama is a type of Japanese bonsai, which literally translates to “moss ball”. It is a plant that is continually growing in popularity due to its unique and minimalist appearance.

Also known as ‘moss ball’ and ‘string garden’, kokedama is a variant of bonsai cultivation, where plant roots are wrapped with soil and moss. It can be suspended using string, or left to sit on a piece of pottery, to be admired.

If you’re interested in making your own kokedama, do read on for easy to understand step-by-step instructions.

kokedama plants — *Kokedama made by participants during one of my workshops*

May 6, 2022 by Olivia

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