Gone For Over 2 Months "Very Long Story but good topic"

[SteveBaz]

I just got out of the hospital after a serious injury and had a spinal fusion that was high enough in my cervical area of my spine to be a quadriplegic if anything went wrong or issues surfaced. I have been in fear for some time and finally went forward with my surgery bc of all the horrible issues that were happening and after it was done went to rehab 9 weeks of intense therapy had to learned to walk once again. It was scary!!!

I came home and the Girls are so beautiful and huge.

Much larger the little girls I left knowing. They were 14 weeks when I left and are 23+ weeks old and are just incredible. My family has been caring for them and with me away they have been working, cleaning, watering and doing all the required care I had been doing all along but not as nicely.

There are no complaints to the care or anything but I went out this morning dumped all the sleeper materials and put new bedding assuming they will be some eggs if laying.

I scrubbed the food feeder, cleaned out all the water dishes and filled them with new vitamin drops and put fresh ACV, raked out all the sand boxes with leaves 3” thick in them and put fresh DE and stirred it up, went into the coop and emptied that bucket spread out the old sand replaced it with fresh mixed ash and DE and sand together ½ + ½ mix for winter mites and lice looking for a nice warm body to hang onto for the cold winter. Then stirred up my deep litter method wood chips and added 2 more inches of compressed chips with a ton more of DE to get the odor gone. I opened up the sleeper put DE and ash mix in the nesting boxes to remove the ammonia smell that built up over the 9 weeks gone.

Anything else I forgot. Please mention it and ideas

I looked around for eggs, nests and any sign that they had any eggs out there or nests. NADA, NONE and NO WAY!! What’s with that? Might be the -22 weather we have had here lately or the last 4 weeks, Yeah Think?

I observed them most of my waking time today bc I have windows all along the house on the side the run is on and just sat and drank coffee with interest just to observe their behavior, seeing if there has been any change in the pecking order, how they are getting along and all the fun stuff including chicken football which I love by throwing 1 thin piece of “String Cheese” and watching the 5 stooges running around after the leader who has the piece while everyone else is chasing her for it. Extremely funny, enjoyable and was delighted to know they still enjoy a good old game of keep-away even in 20* degree weather.

My “EE”, Ana is prettier than I could have imagined with her ear muffs and beard. She is so sleek and the most beautiful. Then there is Lacy my Silver Laced Wyandotte who’s just gotten pretty and very inquisitive. She wanted to be close to me but with it being close to 20* degrees this am at 8:00. Then there is my Black Sex Link, Streak who is mostly black with a red chest and all her black feathers have a florescent blue trim and the very edge and it makes her look like she had been air brushed. I also have a PR and Rockie is so beautiful large filled out and you see how sweet she is and still come to me with some soft words and took a few pieces of egg from my hand. Last and final girl is Blondie. She survived a raccoon attack that killed 8 siblings when we first got started with this flock and my oldest bird being 28 weeks and was very frightened by the attack and lived in my lap and shoulders from that time until I left for surgery. Then walking through the gate and they were all thinking it was my wife bringing treats and a warm breakfast treating them to start the day and saw me she screamed and alarmed the entire neighborhood that a MONSTER just came in the run and everyone hide and screamed at me while she was ducking

and telling all the other girls I do not know what it is but RUN……..

I was dressed heavy for the cold with full beanie that had the flaps down over the ears with the pony tail trim over my ears a monster down jacket looking like the Michelin Guy. No wonder they were a bit stand off a bit.

After this huge write-up I do not know what any of you would think of my version of War and Piece in a thread. LOL but needed to express some of the stuff filled up in my head and wanted to share the experience of being away and coming back over half of the girls entire life and seeing what they thought of the old me but THEY DID NOT RECOGNIZE ME AT ALL. I was a bit saddened by that but what do you expect.

Anyone have a similar experience being gone?
How did you view what happened?
Did you expect them to remember you and they did or not?
Any other comments about your MIA from the kids that’s happened to you or a family member?

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

So sorry to read about your health issues!!! Remember - chickens have really short memories and even shorter attention spans. Heck - take them out of their coop for a day and they have to re-establish the entire pecking order! Nine weeks is an eternity for them! Hang out with them, do the things you used to do with them, and they'll come back around. It's not personal - it's routine, and you need to re-establish it. Glad you're home and on the mend -

 

[mnabity]

Hi Steve I am so glad you came through your surgery well. No help here as far as missing so much time with your girls but I do have advice for your back. When I was 26 my very lowest vertebrae were fused. I was given 3 months off work(I was in the Army at the time) but once back on duty I pushed myself like you are. I quickly realized there was no way my back could take that anymore but I still pushed. Because of this I never really healed properly and 10 months later I was leaving the army. At 27 I was medically retired, fully disabled. I'm now 33 and have lost most of my mobility and nearly every disc in my back is SEVERELY damaged not to mention my hips and knees have gone bad. When you have a fusion the pressure from that disc is taken up by the disc above causing further damage. You probably have been told this but I don't want anyone else going through what I do. Please take it easy and give your body time to heal. Don't become a couch potato though, being sedentary can be just as bad if not worse than over active. Best of luck to you and welcome home.

Edited for spelling

 

[hmmcc123]

First off....WELCOME BACK!!! I wondered what happened to you! I hadn't seen any post from you in a while! Glad you have made a good recovery!

Aww....your girls will warm back up to you. I'm sure they didn't recognize you in your winter clothing! Suck it up and go out their in one of your old usual outfits with some treats and I bet they remember you. Hang in there. :

 

[SteveBaz]

Thanks for the good wills and advice.

I have removed the tears smilie face from the end of this post before the questions bc you took my post a bit the wrong way. I am not saddened in the way they did not miss me and what do you expect and has others had experiences like this was the real post with a lot of words. I have missed you guys. The first poster was on to what I said about them missing me I more than them. I know its only a matter of time we will be buds again. Pavlov's Theory always works with children and animals for sure.

 

[macdoogle2]

Steve! Good of you to have such motivation to get back to the things you love. I work in a Rehab unit as A Physical Therapist Assistant. We have all sorts of patients going through with back surgeries and all other sorts of problems. Motivation to get back to the things you love is good. I'm sure you know this already. Follow your back precautions. AE: no Bending/ Twisting/Lifting over 5 lbs. Good luck to you. I realize your question was more about how your flock took you back. I'm sure they will take you back just fine. You obviously love your chickens very much. They sense this. Not to nag too much but... No bending, twisting or lifting over 5 lbs...Take care of your back and it will take care of you...and your chickens!

 

[SteveBaz]

Quote:
Thanks for the reminder. All my issues stemmed from 1 thing that happened to me on the Me Cong Delta in 1970 being blown from a mine sweeper. My surgeon said nothing over 10lbs but I get it nothing over the weight of a paper towel, Right? I had a fusion between C3&4 and between 4&5 and had a titanium plate added to boot over the C3to5 section of my cervical portion of my neck. I broke that. Then I had and additional fusion between C6&7 to remove the herniated disk that was pinching my spine and they found a 16mm bone spur that had 5 tentacles touching me all over my cervical area of my spinal cord and causing havoc in my body and paralyzed me basically from the waist down and had been working its way up until my shoulders and arms were now tingling and was loosing the ability to grab with fingers and lifting my arms so I was forced to do the surgery or become close to if not a quadrophonic. Having said that you know there was no choice but to do the surgery or become the quadrophonic anyway so why not do the procedure. I was bed ridding for 4 months from July 2011 to the surgery in mid November and then going into the VA Medical Center Rehab center to learn how to walk and use my arms once again. To put things into perspective, once I was able to move a bit I started working hard and getting my feet under my body core and my gyro started functioning again. I now can walk and type better and many things have returned to me and I am thankful for it and I guess I need to stick around much longer in life than I was imagining. I worked out but realized there were far more issues for me and have a long way to go but being there you see you would rather have what you have.

I complained one day about how bad my legs felt and was literally crying. My swollen feet would not go into even my slippers and I was wheeling out in my wheel chair and met Michael (no last names here) and my new friend Michael just has both of his legs removed up to the hip area and literally had no stumps like some of the other Vietnam Vets or the newer Iraqis Soldiers fighting in the Middle East returning to be healed mentally from the problems incurred and the losses of limbs or waiting for livers or kidney's or other issues like caved in heads or eyes missing or whatever. I then realized my issues were small in comparison but each persons issues were a 100% issues to them. Mindless or not each and every Vet there in the VA Veterans Rehab Center was a reminder of what our soldiers are putting on the line for what is termed the "War Against Terror" whether it was a Vietnam Vet like me, Koren War Vet or Middle Eastern Vet they all have committed to protect our freedoms here in the USA on mostly safe soil. Then you have the backsideholes protesting them to protect our rights and the freedoms were taken for granted right in front of their better than almighty faces. They are entitled to have the freedom to say what they want but remember every Vet that died or was maimed or injured physically or mentally to give that right to them to protest or burn our American Flag or whatever.

 

[mstricer]

I'm so glad all went well for you Steve.
Michele

 

[WriterofWords]

Glad you are doing well,, I should send my birds to talk to your birds,, there are no such things as strangers,, only beings that might be carrying treats and should be swarmed at once!

 

[mnabity]

Steve,
From one Vet to another THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all you have done in the name of freedom.