My daughter calls, "What ya doing Mom?" "Acting like a chicken", was my reply. The drama began three weeks ago when I was shutting up my chickens for the night. I noticed that one of my "new girls" which I had hatched in the Spring of 2012, was limping. Because of snow I had not allowed them to roam freely and had confined them to the hen house lot. Well I live in Western NC and nothing here is flat, so the lot is on a slant. With the combination of snow, uneven ground and a limping chicken I assumed that her leg was broken or strained. After examining her several times and calling in the husband for a second opinion, we decided that the leg wasn't broken. I placed her in a nesting box for the night and went back early the next morning to get her out of the box. She is still limping so off to the garden shed we go. With a bail of hay covering the floor, lots of fresh water, scratch feed and a few more snacks laying around we're set for a speedy recovery, I thought. I put some antibiotic in her water for the first 4 days and that seemed to help. Every day she was just a little better, nothing to write home about. Every night I carry her sister down to sleep with her but was still afraid that she might be getting depressed. Thank goodness the weather turns unseasonably warm so I make several trips around the farm everyday with my hen under my arm. I turn over rocks, she catches bugs and worms. I scratch the ground with a stick, she pecks and eats things. The whole time we're doing these things she is talking to me. Paying more attention to what and when she "talks" I noticed suttle changes in the pitch of her voice as well as other verbal sounds. I start mocking her...she's happy. If she is happy, I'm happy. So I walk around, sometimes for hours talking chicken talk with a hen under my arm. Its going on 3 weeks now...she is getting better, but not yet ready to keep up with the flock. I guess I will be acting like a chicken for a while!
