Chicken Update™ #6 - Venting and Ranting The general consensus is at some point you will either lose a chicken (to predators, disease, injury) or something weird will happen to them (egg-bound, illness); no matter how diligent one is, things are bound to happen sooner than later; its part of the whole experience, you know? Late last week Pauline (our biggest girl) came out of the coop favoring her right leg; she was limping and having a hard time putting her (considerable) weight on it but appeared otherwise fine. Chickens are odd little creatures and often a sick chick will incur the wrath of the other healthy chickens -- kind of like being bullied by an insecure blowhard taking advantage of the innocent -- so the first step was removing Pauline from the flock to ensure her safety (we didnt witness any aggressive behavior from the healthy girls, much to their credit). I put on my Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman outfit and checked Pauline for various ills; I knew at some point Id have to become familiar with their vent/cloaca (ie. posterior opening) and as I checked her out (feeling around, externally, for a potentially stuck egg, a very serious condition) everything seemed fine (although I felt a little like a farm-bound teenager rounding second base). I prepared a warm bath with Epsom salt (supposedly relaxes the bird) and thoroughly checked her feet; I looked for Bumblefoot but saw no signs; perhaps he was hanging with Axl Rose? She was defecating -- aggressively, I might add -- so a blocked vent wasnt the issue, and she was eating everything we could throw at her (not literally, of course). A thorough examination revealed no obvious signs of injury or infection so we decided to keep her inside for a few days and let her rest; by this morning Pauline was fine -- no limping, no favoring her leg -- so shes back with the flock and we couldnt be happier. While Pauline was resting in the recovery ward, the other three girls started trying out their powers of flight; when Mazie flew 20 feet (at a cruising altitude of about 5 feet), we decided it was time to clip their wings. I held the girls one at a time as Evelyn clipped their flight feathers on one side. The last thing we want is the girls hurtling into the waiting jowls of the dogs next door and by golly, it worked. Were both happy we were able to stave-off these potential issues and were feeling confident well be able to care for our girls no matter what the universe throws our way; a side benefit of this experience was finding a highly-recommended vet not too far from here who specializes in chickens (this will be crucial if and when something more serious occurs). Pajamas was very happy to see Pauline back in the flock, so much so she jumped for joy (actually she was jumping for treats). :)
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 17:15:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015