What an interesting evening I had yesterday. I got home from work and went to feed the millions of hungry beaks, bills and snouts. All were shouting for attention and goodies. After placing food out I proceded to freshen the water buckets and found my silkie hen, Scrunchie, spread eagled in a 5 gallon bucket half full of water.
At first I did not know what the heck was in the water, she is a partridge and half molted. I took her out and she was thankfully alive since she was able to stand while in the bucket. Had the bucket been full she would have drowned. Poor Scrunchie was trembling and cold and completely soaked except her head. Unfortunately my LDG Briar, a lab, did not perform like a bird dog and take the silkie out of the water. I don't know how long she had been in there but she had no energy left at all, probably hyporthermic.
I wrapped Scrunchie up in a sweatshirt I had out at the coops and finished feeding the hungry hoards. While collecting eggs I was surprised to see a chicks' head sticking out from under a hen. Oops, there were four chicks under her with several unhatched eggs yet. I examined all four new babies and one was a rumpless bilaterally tufted araucana, my first show potential chick of the year. Yay!
I had to towel dry Scrunchie and then blow dry her before getting my own dinner. She layed spread out on the bathroom thow rug like a limp noodle with her eyes closed.
I finally made dinner and saw that the young chickens in my chick pen were acting a bit weird. The pen is on the east side of the house where there is a large expanse of lawn surrounded by forest and mountain side. I decided to eat dinner there and keep an eye on things. I figured a fox was about.
Well, to my surprise it was not a fox. Two BIG bears came wandering out of the woods. It is B bear breeding season right now so it must have been a boar and sow. One had the forearms of a weight lifter. They were glossy as black glass. I phoned the neighbors who were immediately concerned. The bad thing for me was all the coop doors were open and I always go out before dark to close up. Now was that time! Eek! Well, I have hunted enough bears to know they are pretty skittish so I went and shut things up as soon as they had gone back into the cover.
Scrunchie ate some corn and bread and I went off to bed. She was fully recovered this morning. Now, if only the bears would come back during the fall hunting season!
At first I did not know what the heck was in the water, she is a partridge and half molted. I took her out and she was thankfully alive since she was able to stand while in the bucket. Had the bucket been full she would have drowned. Poor Scrunchie was trembling and cold and completely soaked except her head. Unfortunately my LDG Briar, a lab, did not perform like a bird dog and take the silkie out of the water. I don't know how long she had been in there but she had no energy left at all, probably hyporthermic.
I wrapped Scrunchie up in a sweatshirt I had out at the coops and finished feeding the hungry hoards. While collecting eggs I was surprised to see a chicks' head sticking out from under a hen. Oops, there were four chicks under her with several unhatched eggs yet. I examined all four new babies and one was a rumpless bilaterally tufted araucana, my first show potential chick of the year. Yay!
I had to towel dry Scrunchie and then blow dry her before getting my own dinner. She layed spread out on the bathroom thow rug like a limp noodle with her eyes closed.
I finally made dinner and saw that the young chickens in my chick pen were acting a bit weird. The pen is on the east side of the house where there is a large expanse of lawn surrounded by forest and mountain side. I decided to eat dinner there and keep an eye on things. I figured a fox was about.
Well, to my surprise it was not a fox. Two BIG bears came wandering out of the woods. It is B bear breeding season right now so it must have been a boar and sow. One had the forearms of a weight lifter. They were glossy as black glass. I phoned the neighbors who were immediately concerned. The bad thing for me was all the coop doors were open and I always go out before dark to close up. Now was that time! Eek! Well, I have hunted enough bears to know they are pretty skittish so I went and shut things up as soon as they had gone back into the cover.
Scrunchie ate some corn and bread and I went off to bed. She was fully recovered this morning. Now, if only the bears would come back during the fall hunting season!
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