OK, so we are down 2 chickens. It is part of farm life but not one I have shared. Maybe it is why I dont really name them. They are just not going to last and become part of the family like a dog or cat. Not naming them also served well, if someone says, how are your chickens, I can say, in a broad sense, fine, if they ask, how is LULU, then, there is a chance I have to break bad news. I have to admit, one of my first thoughts if something happens to a chicken is, oh, no, I dont want to have to break it to the chicken followers. But if you want to know what it is like to have chickens, here is another aspect. One, I have to admit, Im not thrilled about. But, over the years, we have lost, I think 5. It is always sad to lose an animal you nurture, they depend on you and you want to give them a decent life. Anyway. A couple weeks ago we lost the first chicken in quite a while. (its a long story, so, only for those who want to know, what chicken, is on the roof). A very strange thing happened to her, she did have kind of a name, or a description, it was crooked beak. She was always kind of cantankerous, she was at the top of the pecking order, which meant she was the boss and was quick to peck a chicken that came in her way.. She was always wanting to hatch eggs and was broody more than all the others, which means, she would sit on her eggs, (which were not fertile), not eat, drink or get off the nest for weeks. Usually it only takes a few weeks to hatch eggs but since they didnt hatch, she never gave up. This takes a toll on them, but then crooked beak went into moult which means, they lose feathers and grow new ones which also wears at their general health. She had quit laying eggs for a while. She was looking pretty ragged but they do when they moult so, no big deal. She lost her spot on the top of the pecking order and had to start over, she was kinda puny and started getting picked on by the other chickens; I tell ya, they are mean. ONE day, I went out to feed them and she started doing something strange, it made you laugh when you saw it, but seriously, she started walking backwards! When I would walk past her sometimes she would take a few quick steps backwards then run in the bushes. It was the strangest thing but I thought just a quirk. But she started doing it more and didnt seem funny at all. I looked in books but saw no reference to chickens walking backwards. The next day I noticed it was whenever she bent down to eat, it was like someone had a cable hooked up to her and just pulled her backwards. By the third day she couldnt eat, I had asked a few people that might have known and no one had a clue. I had been googling, chickens walking backwards and there were many questions on it, but no answers. There were even videos of moonwalking chickens A few talked about a couple other symptoms but she didnt have those. The only thing I really found that made sense was that it was a neurological and or nutritional depletion. It said sometimes a hit on the head (like a peck?) or some vitamin deficiency can cause it. I was most worried it could be something contagious affecting the rest of the flock and even though she hadnt been laying eggs, we stopped eating their eggs for a time just to be safe. It was a crazy thing! One lady on the internet said she had treated her chicken successfully for it and they recovered, but it came back occasionally. She gave her chicken vitamins, including squeezing a vitamin E under the chickens tongue several times a day!!! I am sorry, I have never seen my chickens tongues, and I drew the line there. So, ole crooked beak got so bad I couldnt watch any more, it was so sad, every time she went to eat, shed tip her head down and, zzzzzzzzzzzzip, backwards she would go. I showed Jesse, since he is there in the mornings and he said, mom, you cant leave her like that. (it had gotten persistent) I told him I couldnt find anything on it, and I hoped it was not anything the other chickens could get. Finally, Jesse said, mom, she cant eat, its not humane. And I knew he was right, he said he would put her down if I needed him to, but he needed to know if I found out later there was a cure, I wouldnt feel bad. But, it is what it is, she is a farm chicken and you have to take care of the flock. So, Jesse came home at lunch time from the mill, made sure he was out of sight of the neighbor kids and the other chickens and took care of his moms chicken. I think that was during the time of the x days of thankfulness and I was thankful for men folk in my family that took care of things I dont want to. Steve and Jesse both are very gracious at not making me do the hard stuff. So, that is what happened to crooked beak. Im fine, and just glad the other chickens are fine. And that is why I try to keep them as farm animals, and not pets. Didnt know if anyone wanted to know all that, but there is, the rest of the story.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 05:56:05 +0000
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