hello out there.
i think of blog posts in my head every day, but never seem to log on. oh well.
things have been going well here in madison. spring is on its way in. i biked to work for the second time today, and highs were in the 60s. i'm so ready for long bike rides, concerts on the square, bbqing on the deck, reading in the hammock with chickens underfoot...more sun and warmth in general!
one of our chickens, penny, is sick. i don't think she'll be around much longer. for now i have her isolated in her own spot in the mudroom. we're really not sure what's wrong, but my guess is that she's eggbound, or else has some kind of internal disorder.
Here is a photo of Penny that I took the night before last:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_kristy_/3440695346/
And here is one of her looking healthy for comparison:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_kristy_/2487819207/
sad, huh? she's doing a little bit better today, but i'm not sure she's going to recover from whatever it is she has. :( the things i do for these hens makes me laugh. like checking her vent and putting ky jelly around it (it's supposed to help ease the egg out if it's stuck) and giving her a warm bath. pretty silly from a "these aren't pets" standpoint. i even used a hair dryer to fluff her back up again before going back out to the coop. she seemed to like it.
i would take her to the vet if it was affordable. but even though i love my chickens i can't justify taking a chicken i got for $2.50 to the vet which costs $81 (and probably $150+ after tests). plus the fact that it's more than likely she will die soon anyways. i will put her under if needed -- although i'm not sure of the best process to do so -- but for now she's in a safe spot and living fine.....just a bit uncomfortably.
i'm still tempted to get more chicks, but realizing how much i might be away from home in the next three months makes me think that waiting until next spring would be best. the original plan was to axe them off in the fall, when they're 2.5 years old. then we'll have chicken soup all winter and get chicks in the spring.
i think of blog posts in my head every day, but never seem to log on. oh well.
things have been going well here in madison. spring is on its way in. i biked to work for the second time today, and highs were in the 60s. i'm so ready for long bike rides, concerts on the square, bbqing on the deck, reading in the hammock with chickens underfoot...more sun and warmth in general!
one of our chickens, penny, is sick. i don't think she'll be around much longer. for now i have her isolated in her own spot in the mudroom. we're really not sure what's wrong, but my guess is that she's eggbound, or else has some kind of internal disorder.
Here is a photo of Penny that I took the night before last:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_kristy_/3440695346/
And here is one of her looking healthy for comparison:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_kristy_/2487819207/
sad, huh? she's doing a little bit better today, but i'm not sure she's going to recover from whatever it is she has. :( the things i do for these hens makes me laugh. like checking her vent and putting ky jelly around it (it's supposed to help ease the egg out if it's stuck) and giving her a warm bath. pretty silly from a "these aren't pets" standpoint. i even used a hair dryer to fluff her back up again before going back out to the coop. she seemed to like it.
i would take her to the vet if it was affordable. but even though i love my chickens i can't justify taking a chicken i got for $2.50 to the vet which costs $81 (and probably $150+ after tests). plus the fact that it's more than likely she will die soon anyways. i will put her under if needed -- although i'm not sure of the best process to do so -- but for now she's in a safe spot and living fine.....just a bit uncomfortably.
i'm still tempted to get more chicks, but realizing how much i might be away from home in the next three months makes me think that waiting until next spring would be best. the original plan was to axe them off in the fall, when they're 2.5 years old. then we'll have chicken soup all winter and get chicks in the spring.
