I really hope he wore a tie.

I left some more leftover Chinese food out for Ash last night.  This time it was crispy beef.   When David left for work this morning he came back into the house to tell me Ash doesn't like carrots.  

when I went outside to see what he meant this is what I saw.

What can't be seen on the picture is that the carrots continue down the steps and into the driveway.  The dark spots around the dish is all the crispy beef sauce spattered everywhere.


He managed to pick out every piece of beef.


Dinner was superb.

Sick Chickens Like Pizza.

Thats it.   Thats the post. 

She like pizza.

Probably because of the great pizza flavor.

My Dearest Ash,

My Dearest Ash,

     Will you please accept my sincerest apologies.
I am very sorry that I did not leave the carton of white rice out for you last night along with the cashew chicken.  I admit that I had left the cashew chicken for you on the steps with the hopes that you would like it, and forgot to include the white rice, that is so well suited with the meal.  I left the white rice on a table next to our sick chicken and was using that as part of her feed. Since she was enjoying it very much, I did not to leave some for you.  I am happy however, that you climb up onto the table, grabbed the closed Chinese white rice box, opened it, and enjoyed it in a grassy patch of our yard all on your own.  Your ability to claim what should have been rightfully yours impresses me. I will also clean up any cashew chicken pieces you left on our steps. I am also happy to see that you liked the water chestnuts that were in there. They are my favorite part of that meal too.  May you forgive me and my culinary impediments.

Sincerely and with much love,

Lauren

So whats up Chicken?

A quick update on Easter the chicken!

She is still very sleepy, but I believe well out of the danger zone!  She is up and eating on her own with no encouragement needed from me.  She is enjoying her mash and as of today her scratch too with no yogurt to assist it down.  Under advice from a fellow chicken hand I have been giving her an egg a day, which is semi ok to her palate. (Its ok to give a unwell chicken and egg because of the health benefits, protein and nutrients. Although it might later cause her to "want," to continue eating eggs, I see no harm until she actually expresses that behavior.)  I, for the past two days, have left her crate wide open. She has yet to venture outside of her crate, but all in due time:)  Her eye swelling has gone down alot more. Although its still swollen she is able to "slightly," open it if she so chooses. What she needs now is a good dust bath sans ground hornets.

Dinner was Superb.

Ash diner this past week consisted of:

Three cheeseburgers.
Leftover deli turkey.
Bacon.
Hawaiian sweet roll.
And of course hotdogs.


With all of these options, Ash chooses hotdogs first.

Its Been A Long Day at Play.

snooze...

Easter Chicken

Eight months pregnant, in a dress, but I can still get dirty!

On Easter Sunday after coming home from church, I checked on our sick chicken.....

It didn't look good.

She remained sleeping, head tucked under her wing and had slow steady breathing.  The rest of the flock still looks great, and are acting like vicious piranhas anytime you approach them with something in your hands. That was my only sigh of relief.

I contemplated what to do. Antibiotics are out of the question because of its negative affects on what it could do to this hen. Should I just let her rest? After two days of not eating, surely this hen will not have the energy, and then-- that would be it. Should I wake her up, force feed her? It felt cruel, but to not do anything would be crueler. 

I went out there, still in my dress, gloves on and grabbed her out of her cage.  The poor thing was so weak that she put up no fight. I put her into the middle of the yard where it was sunny to warm her up while I got some food ready for her. She could have just fallen asleep again if I let her, unaware of her vulnerability by being in the open yard with no protection.  This hens situation was pretty dire:(

I mixed plain yogurt with her mash and water, and got it to a consistency that she could easily swallow.  With gloves on I laid her down, opened her mouth and started to drop the liquid dinner into her mouth.  Luckily she didn't aspirate, and swallowed the stuff reluctantly.

I got a good number of spoonfuls in when I gave her a break.  I walked away to leave her alone for a bit to watch her, and lo and behold- she started eating the mash on her own......

This was good.

Yesterday- same plan. Except this time, I didn't have to feed her. She ate alot. And all on her own.

This morning, after removing the covers off her crate to let the sun in- again she started eating on her own. Again.

Her eye is still swollen- but not worse. She still looks a little weak, but her tail feathers have popped back up again. ( When chickens aren't well their tail feathers will be down, much like a dog tucks its tail when its in trouble or scared).

I'm feeling hopeful and grateful that this gal just might make it!  Today since it is pretty sunny I will let her out into the yard today to see if she will scratch up some bugs on her own. 

This is good news. And it came on a Good Day.

this chickens name is now Easter.

Sleeping Chicken.

Update on our clinic chicken.

Last night we moved her cage up onto the porch in the off chance that Ash would show and be tempted to take a good peak inside of her cage while she slept. Although I trust Ash NOT to get into our hen house, I did not want to tempt him or her with sitting duck, er, I mean chicken.  The cage is assembled by me, and that means its not a perfect design. Lots of wires poking out that could cut you, or a fox taking a whiff. So we put her up on the porch last night and shut the gate.  If Ash was any bit tempted by that he could have easily jumped up onto the gate and waltzed right on it to get her.  This he did not do. He instead ate his hotdogs and could have cared less about the "bait." Thus proving that foxes really don't want to work for food. Especially when the food is around the same size as them.  If you have a suspicion that a fox has been getting into your hen house, I can bet you money that you are wrong. Unless you are leaving the door wide open for a fox to get it, it is probably another animal.

So upon checking on the hen this morning I was concerned to see that she was still swollen, still lethargic, and still sad looking.

Last night she did get up and walk around her cage. She ate some mash with yogurt, and scratched around for corn. ( All great chicken like behaviors) Before "bedtime," she even jumped up onto the hen box to roost.  This made me feel better that she would mend quickly. But this morning she doesn't want to be bothered.  She sleeping comfortably and tucking her head into her wing. (which I'm sure is helping her eye to rest. Staying out of the sun and the wind today and just resting.....what do you do when you have a cold?)

I did the bad thing of googling chicken info again this morning, not be able to help myself, and was mortified at all the "suggestions," as to what a chicken with a swollen eye could be. No where is there a simple answer, (and maybe the answer is not simple) but abounding is the suggestions that your chicken might be planning on taking over the world, and or, transforming into a alien beast that will shave your head while you sleep.   I was, however, happy to find one organic site that suggested giving the chicken a baby aspirin to help with any pain the hen might have and let her alone. Chickens treated with antibiotics are of no help to future flocks. No resistance is passed on to certain cold or bacterias. Back in my great grandfathers day when he had a flock of 2000 (yes 2000) do you think he treated them with antibiotics? Prob not. If a chicken was sick it was probably culled.  This Snow White is not going to do that, but instead I will do my best to treat an organic being organically. Can I use eye cream on her? Yes. Can I give her a baby aspirin? Sure. Will I give her a dosage of antibiotic and hand it out to the rest of the flock just so that no one including the bees even let out one sneeze? No.

I will save you from a "today's society and the need for a pill that cures all common ailments rant."

I'm not smart enough to defend myself anyways.


Here's hoping ( and praying ((yes, All creatures of our God and King!)) to a healthier chicken

Assumptions.

While at the gym the other day, waddling my way thru thirty minutes of a treadmilled walk, I saw a lady that looked familiar to me.   She ended up using the treadmill next to me and I happen to work up enough bravery to say " hey you look familiar to me?!"  When she turned towards me I immediately recognized her as our neighbors friendly wife and we chatted it up for a bit.  We mostly talked about how the pregnancy was going and all the niceties of motherhood.  I was so caught up in the conversation when my timed waddle session came to an end.  We said our goodbyes to one another and before leaving I yelled to her, " Stop by for some eggs sometime!"






It wasn't until I was well on my way home that the smile dropped off my face. I realized that this friendly neighbor  has no idea that we have chickens, or the fact that we sell their eggs. Chicken eggs.

Pregnancy conversation with another women ended with me inviting her to get some eggs sometime.......

whoops.

"Some might call this a fustercluck. But on the Upper East Side, we call it Saturday afternoon."

Just because their choice of wear is feathers and not Neiman Marcus, doesn't make them any less prone to girly drama.

I've noticed lately that the hens have been rather "moody." Gone are the days where one or two hens ruled the roost and now are the days of the whole flock fighting for dominance. To be top of the pecking order. To be the baddest bitch of the hen yard. To be mamma hen.

And they are all fighting for the position. ( Except for the blondes.....who have once again surprised me with their intelligence.)

So while I was in the yard watching them duke it out over what seems to be nothing. ( Alot of jumping, pecking each others heads, and chasing each other around- thankfully no blood or loss of feathers) I happened to notice a poor girl all by her lonesome, a little less eager to nibble on the scratch I threw into their yard.

This poor girl had a swollen eye.

Now last year we had a chicken with a swollen eyeball, and after researching it on google I found out that we had a zombie chicken on our hands. No exaggeration.  After going to Tractor Supply, (the next best thing to google) we found out that our chicken had a swollen eyeball probably because of a ground hornet.

Exhibit A:

You see, when a chicken is content, the roll around in the dirt and take a dirt bath.  They dig some pretty deep holes and all jump in together rolling and rolling and throwing dirt all around.  THIS can cause a ground hornet to get pretty ticked if its home is now a chickens dirt bath.  

We had separated that particular chicken and she healed up within a weeks time, no problem, no zombie chicken apocalypse impending.

Another thing that could happen is that the hen could get dirt in her eyes.

I checked on the newest hen to have this happen today and the swelling went down tremendously from yesterday, but none the less I wanted to separate her to keep her away from the stresses of the flock, and let her get some much needed rest. Also by separating her , she will be able to get her own food and water without the high school, estrogen dynamics of the rest of the flock bothering her.

Here she is resting in the homemade chicken clinic.

Mind the grill in the background.......this is not the next step in treatment.

I'm hoping that she will continue to get better, I'd hate it to be anything else other than a serious sting. Treating a flock for chicken illnesses means antibiotics, and that I'm not crazy about. Our hens are all natural. Their eggs are fantastic. Treatment would mean weeks of eggs thrown away and wasted, and a now compromised immune system for the girls.

I will keep you updated

Eighth Month Baby Bump!

32 weeks! Getting close!!!!

Greetings from the Apis Committee!

After a LONG day at work on Saturday, I drove straight home and pulled into the driveway blissful to be home. Before I had a chance to open the door and get out of the car, this gal landed on the windshield with a pollen filled greeting. 

What you can't see is this is a young bee soft and full of "fur." But if you take a close look you can see that her pollen baskets are full. 

This gal looked like she had a long day at work too..... and after she took a short break, and gathered herself she flew back home to her house of comfort. 

Exactly what I did too.