Monday, June 6, 2011

April/May rains mixed with bits of sun & heat, bring out the ice please!



Hello my chicken friends, yes I know it has been awhile since I wrote last & I had promised to be better but this last month was a month I would have liked to have slept through.....

You all know from the last blog, I lost Bess & then Willow within a few days of each other around Mother's day so I was feeling pretty blue the last time I wrote but I had thought things would get better...boy was I EVER wrong.....

When I built my large chicken run I dug out the dirt so that I could bury chicken wire & attach that to the chicken wire fencing so that it would be harder for animals to get in & that maybe they would give up & go away.  Well the Sunday following Mother's Day I decided since it was a nice sunny morning to head out to see my friend Mary & pick up all my Co-op grains I had ordered for the chickens.....I can't tell you how much I enjoyed our visit, she is such a sweet gentle woman & just wonderful to be around.

I got home & decided to take out the in-house chickens out to their movable run & then felt it was a good time to give all of them some dried mealy worms.....I hadn't noticed that the big coop kids had been quiet until I got up to the run door & I didn't see any of them running up to me.  Well I found out why when I opened the door.....

there were feathers everywhere & I saw baby Opal dead, of course I started screaming cause I knew in my brain that this was just the beginning...I saw blood & another dead chicken inside the chicken condo.  Now when I came in to the run I always shut the door, well I am very lucky cause I didn't realize the animal was still in the run with me until I turned around & saw a very large red Chow Chow who had Tilly pinned to the ground with one of its paws.

I am still screaming & crying now & I ran at it to get to Tilly, that's when it bared its teeth at me & I realized it had no way out so I backed up & got the run door opened then charged at the dog yelling & hitting the plywood roofing near it..  Thank goodness it took off & I re-closed the door & ran to Tilly, she was chewed up all over her back but still alive, so I grabbed her & got her into the house onto the rocking chair where she would be safe.  I found my sweet little Mercy smashed under one of the wooden stairs leading to the coop that the dog had somehow torn away from the wall, I also found Mother & Crone dead but found Rosy scared & hiding behind the condo nesting boxes with her tail feathers missing but no other damage.

I got her into the house & ran back out into the coop now as I still had others that weren't in the run.  Thank goodness CeeCee, baby Pearl, Scarlette, Prudence & Zelda were alright.  Zelda had tail feathers missing & some rug burn wounds on her back so I brought her also into the house......I grabbed some plastic bags & got all the dead ones & laid them out......then after falling to my knees & crying for quite some time I was able to wrap each up & get them into the freezer so I could take care of the ones I had brought into the house.....But after checking on them I decided they needed the calm quietness of the house & I needed to go see if Kelley's chickens had been hit as well....

Sometime during all of this they had come home from church & they had been running last that morning & had left the chickens in the coop but Kelley came back with me to help me doctor the hurt ones.  Poor Tilly didn't move or cry out when I was bathing her bad wounds & her eyes were growing foggy so I knew I had to put her down.  Kelley held her while I got the chloroform out & before I did it I bent down & kissed her head & told her I was sorry.....The others got washed with benadine & antibiotics put on them & then put in cages in the house where it was quiet for them.  Kelley & I went back out to the run & shut up the coop since the kids were all to scared to come out & this way they could calm down better & I rechecked to make sure I got everyone.....

By the time Kelley left I was in a numbing fog but brought everyone back in that was out in the movable run & got the basement kids back into their coop & locked them in.  Even though it was a nice day all the coops were cool & I was so afraid the dog would come back, that I needed more for me than them, the feeling they were all safe.

The next day I had laid down to rest & realized I had missed Ginger so I ran out there & she was on top of the small roof in the run just looking at me & talking softly.  some how she had gotten on the roof & between a piece of plywood & the tarp & was so well hidden that I had missed her the day before even though I had moved the wood & tarp.  She was completely unhurt, but poor thing had been out there all night by herself.....I brought her into the house & put her in the cage with Rosy just to make sure I hadn't missed anything...Well by that night she & Rosy were doing fine so I took them back to the coop so they could be with their friends.  Poor Rosy who is a brown leghorn did alright, but the next day I noticed the others would chase her so I brought her back into the house....She is my nervous Nelly & I think she was just shook up more than I had realized.  She has adjusted to the inside to where I have the cage open so she can come & go & she is doing better every day now.  But I will not put her back in the big coop she will go with the basement coop as I think they will leave her alone.

I had screamed so much, I couldn't talk for 2 days which was fine with me, as I really didn't want to talk to anyone anyway.  Now I didn't call the police as you all know I am not suppose to have the chickens because I am a couple of feet short land wise for them, so I would have had to deal with all the crap over the chickens while the dog would have just gotten its owners a talking to.....so I let it go...

.But I did go to the Remington Rifle Company & bought a 12 gauge shotgun with practice ammo.....so if it does come back it will not be killed, but will be hurting when it heads home after being on my property. From what I understand this dog has bared its teeth at a neighbors child as well as an older retired gentleman who lives down the block from me....so this tells me its not the nicest of dogs & after killing my chickens I have no problem taking care of the situation & legally I am allowed by this town to shot any animal that is a threat while on my property......

I have 30 foot of chained link fencing that I am going to put up but I have to dig a shallow trench so I can bury it in the ground...the dog was able to dig & tear apart what I had put in so I have to make it stronger as I never ever want to go throught that again...my poor heart just can't take it.....

Now you are probably wondering why I haven't done it yet....well I have a fiberous cyst that is in my armpit area & it decided to get infected & got a limp node infected as well.....last saturday morning it was the size of a pea, saturday evening it was the size of a large lima bean, sunday evening it was the size of a walnut & very painful....I didn't know it was infected at this time, all I knew was that it was growing & at times it felt like fire racing through my arm.....

Called my doctor on Monday & he is on vacation until later this week, so I am not going to the ER since I think its just the fiberous cyst growing & he can take care of it when he gets back. Ok so this last week, I really can't do much since I can't use my arm well & any movement that bumps it into my body hurts...but me being me I still go out & mow, plant tomatoes ect but it just takes longer & I forgot...I had some extra antibiotics from when I got the infection from the old roosters spur attacks...I wrote about this in an earlier blog...anyway I started taking them just to be on the safe side....Thank goodness I did, because as it grew it came to the surface area & started to leak out infection which I took care of...that I won't tell you as you will just scream at me.....No I am serous you will...so I am not telling! 

Finally 2 days ago, I couldn't deal with it anymore as I was yelling at the cat...thats when I realized the pain was more than I could bear & I was getting mean so aound 8:30 friday night I headed to our ER.... was seeing a doctor within an hour.....yeah I love this hospital...they don't goof around...anyway Ms. Doctor gave me a shot to numb it, needle going in was fine, liquid being forced in wasn't...I started cussing up a storm, the room was spinning & I thought I was either going to pass out or throw up....did neither thank goodness & told her I was so sorry for cussing & that I hoped no children were in the ER......there wasn't.....

She left me for a few moments to calm down & came back in with a thing that looked like a mini apple corer......a hollow tube with a very sharp razor blade looking end......even with the numbing shot it didn't feel that great when it took a chuck of my skin & tissue with it but I must say it hurt less than it had in a week....The infection was pretty bad but she was able to clean it & sent me home with some better stronger antibiotics & told me to call a surgeon on monday...which is today as the mass will need to be looked at, tested & probably removed. So for the last few days I have been a good girl taking the antibiotics & putting heat on the area to help it drain & keeping it cleaned......Its now back to the size of a large lima bean but doesn't hurt very much unless I forget & bump it....

So thats why the fencing hasn't gotten done but I go out & spend most of each day outside doing things so I am near my kids & can watch the yard.  With all the rains we had I am forever mowing the same areas over & over so its not like I am out there working on a tan or anything....plus I did get some of the gardens done & put in another small garden with giant sunflower seeds that my friend Debbie in Colorado sent me....& as you notice the picture of the picnic table...that poor thing was falling apart so I took out all the screws & nails & redid it so it should last me a few more years......every nice evening I take my supper out there & take Gertie & Piper out of the movable run & put them near me so they can run around in the yard for a bit before they have to come in for the night....Piper was having such a great time 2 nights ago she was running & jumping in the air with her wings flapping...it was the cutest thing to see & made me smile cause I knew she was happy.....

To leave this on a good note, Thomas is getting to come home from Afghanistan on a 2 week leave the beginning of July so we are going to Las Vegas to see his parents....so that will be nice & by the time he gets here I will have the fencing up so when Kelley's daughter takes care of my chickens I won't worry while I am gone...yeah right...I will worry & miss them before we get on the airplane!

Have a wonderful chicken day!....M'

2 comments:

  1. Michele, I am amazed you are going to leave the kids at all to go to Vegas with hubby. But, the change of scenery will certainly do you good. You need to get away for awhile, relax and have some fun. Send me a post card!

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  2. you are too funny Debbie, I will be emailing you everyday!!!!& yes it will be hard to leave them again...but like you say I need the break from here so I can regroup for when Thomas has to leave again....M'

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