INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Primal Momma]

If you've been answered, then just ignore me!
Rub Vaseline on all if their feet. Reapply in 3 days. That's the most natural. Otherwise treat the coop and chickens with sevindust. You can mix it into the Vaseline.

Thank you! I googled picture of scaly leg mites and that's not it. Hubby and I went out late last night and checked under wings and around vents and didn't see anything. The skin was nice and pink, and feathers were clean. I'm going to post a picture on the fb page if anyone can hop over and look for me.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thank you! I googled picture of scaly leg mites and that's not it. Hubby and I went out late last night and checked under wings and around vents and didn't see anything. The skin was nice and pink, and feathers were clean. I'm going to post a picture on the fb page if anyone can hop over and look for me.

Once you get it on facebook, copy and paste it here in the text. (I try to avoid facebook if possible.)

If the copy/paste won't work for you, please send a link.

 

[Primal Momma]

haha it worked!!!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Def. doesn't look like scaley leg mites.... unless it's in the very early stages.

Now what do the bottom of the feet look like? Did you say they were limping or showing any symptoms of problems?

 

[bradselig]

haha it worked!!!!

I can't help you with the scale issue, but did you know you have a 3 legged chicken?

 

[Primal Momma]

Ok so this is one of the worse ones and everything looks good other than some dirt/poo. She wasn't tender or anything either when I flexed her foot and pushed on it.

 

[Primal Momma]

Yeah that looks odd!! Lol they were close enough to peck my phone and lucked when the camera snapped, lol.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Ok so this is one of the worse ones and everything looks good other than some dirt/poo. She wasn't tender or anything either when I flexed her foot and pushed on it.

Is it just the appearance of the feet that are concerning you? Or is there limping or anything that makes you think that they are sore or out of sorts?

Now this is just from looking at photos so I can be very wrong. But the feet look pretty normal to me via photo.

 

[Primal Momma]

This is our first time even really being around chickens so I wasn't sure if this was a problem. I did notice one of the roos was walking slower, more tenderly if that makes sense. That's what made me think it might be a problem. I'll have to go out later during nap time and really look him over if he's the only problem. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to look at this for me!!

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Meanwhile, back at the Henitentiary...

Queen Penelope the Great and Terrible was gone, and no one knew if she'd ever return.

Ariel, who still recounted her brief ordeal with the Outsiders with trembling and many quick glances over her shoulder, was certain that Penny had been overcome by them and eaten. Sadie countered this by turning her head to look at Ariel through her sunken and bloodshot right eye, silently reminding everyone that Penelope was called Great and Terrible for a reason. Elsa reminded everyone that chickens vanished from flocks all the time, and there was hardly anything unusual going on. Cathrine agreed, adding that the Outsiders like as not had nothing to do with it. Anne agreed with Cathrine, because poor, feather-brained Anne never did anything else. But they mused over these things more than they discussed them, in the lazy, unbelieving way that old bachelor professors discuss politics or economics over cigars and brandy in a pleasantly dark faculty lounge - as though these things might exist in some hypothetical outside world, but no one believed that any of it could possible impact their placid, serene existence.

For some time after her Majesty's sudden disappearance, life went on more or less as it always had. The Man brought breakfast in the morning. After that there was scratching and dust baths in the yard, and picking at the grass that was becoming more thin and meager day by day. In the afternoon the Man would come with water and more food, the Girl would come to pick clover from outside the Yard, where no one could reach it, and push it through the wire. The day in, day out routine of the Henitentiary dampened the effect of Penny's absence. But over time, the power vacuum became impossible to ignore.

When there was breakfast, everyone would stop for a moment to wait for Penny to push to the front and eat first - but she didn't. When there was clover, no one rushed in to be first, because everyone knew that Penny would go first - but she didn't. It was unsettling. As the days passed, the tension of these moments swelled and grew thick and palpable. Someone would do something, wouldn't they? And everyone waited, passively curious at first, then with growing interest and anxiety, to see who would do something, and what they would do.

And then, one hot and sunny afternoon, the doors opened.

The first thing everyone noticed that afternoon was the noise. They had grown accustomed to the noise of the occasional train in the distance, and the noise of the highway that was less distant. They knew the sounds of the Man and the Girl, and they were even starting to get used to the Boy, who was small and would bang on the walls, and rattle the wire in the Yard, and run and shout in a startling, frightening way. But the noise that day was different, and more. More small voices shouting, more feet running, more banging and rattling. The noise would rise and fall. Then the flock smelled smoke, and became more nervous. No animal likes to be anywhere near fire, or the possibility of fire. But the smoke smell subsided, and was soon forgotten.

Amid the noise, the flock heard the sound of the Man calling in the low, soft voice that meant treats. They knew that they wanted treats, but everyone was on edge, and no one wanted to find out what all the noise might mean. Gradually, the small voices became quieter, and started to imitate the call of the Man. There was still a sense of danger, but it was much decreased. After a moment it was defeated altogether by the promise of treats, and the boldest of the Flock began to follow the calls toward the open far end of the Yard. Anne, who was not necessarily the boldest but was incautious in her feather-brained innocence, ventured out first.

Upon her emergence into the sunlight, she was immediately overwhelmed by a cacophony of sounds and smells. There was tantalizing clover, but it was held in the shaking, thrusting hands of small, loud Boys and Girls. The Boys and Girls made the Treat call, but in a shrill, piercing was that was intolerable to Anne's sensitive ears. There was sunlight and movement in all directions. Anne squawked and flapped back under the safety of the Canopy, which covered the half of the Yard closest to the Henitentiary.

Anne breathlessly related all she had seen and heard to Cathrine. Cathrine took it all in and, feeling very conflicted, consulted with Elsa and Sadie. Sadie, who had always been the least fearful of the Man and the Girl, argued that the People, even the small ones, were most often kind and gentle in the end. Elsa pointed out that Anne hadn't seen anything move on the inside of the Yard, only on the outside, beyond the wire. The flock all nodded in considered agreement, remembering all of the times they had tried to reach grass and clover beyond the wire, with no success. The wire, they knew, was an impenetrable boundary. Having thus consolidated their group will, and steeled their collective nerves, they began to walk out in to the sun, together.

With many fits and starts, much walking cautiously out and darting back in, gradually the flock made their way out into the end of the Yard. The clover and tall grass offered by the Small People was worth tolerating the loud noise and sudden movement. The flock's faith in the impassibility of the wire grew as well, and they began to feel more at ease with the whole situation.

But still, there were those moments. One of the People brought a dandelion flower and shoved it through the wire with several fresh, delicious smelling leaves, and everyone stopped for a moment to give Penelope the first grab - but she wasn't there. Cathrine stepped up and pulled the flower in, and there was a not unusual amount of pecking and grabbing and running until the flower was gone. Another Person threw a handful of carefully gather pill bugs into the Yard, and the flock waited to see Penny, who was by far the best hunter, pick them out of the grass and reveal their location - but she wasn't there. Elsa eventually found one, and Ariel found a few more, but everyone knew that many of the little insects had simply crawled away in the grass, escaping the fate they deserved. The anxious tension in the absence of leadership was more keenly felt than ever. Everyone in the flock knew that someone had to do something, and very soon.

The noise of the many Small People subsided. There was a sound of a car going away. The Yard was quiet again, and things were beginning to settle down to the normal activities of a day. Anne scratched at one of the wallows and started working on a bath. Sadie slowly picked over the ground where the People had been dropping treats, to see if the others had left anything. She was growing accustomed to being the last and the least, with her sight in the bad eye only just beginning to return.

And then, quite suddenly, the big wall of the Henitentiary opened wide, as it did when the Man was bringing food and water in the mornings or afternoons. But it wasn't time for food and water, and the Man stood with empty hands, and called softly to them. Then just as suddenly the Woman, who spent little time around the Flock, was standing at the far end of the Yard, out in the sun - but the wire there was gone! The far end of the Yard had been opened wide! The anticipation of freedom rippled through the flock, making them all giddy and slightly reckless. All at once, the whole flock stumbled out to the world beyond confinement, the world unrestricted and full of clover and grass going to seed and dandelions and weeds that had no names, the world of bugs and worms waiting to be scratched up from the dirt and devoured. It was unexpected and glorious!

But after all of the day's oddness and tension and treats and frights, it didn't take long for the excitement of liberation to boil over the minds of several of the Flock. The anxious stress created by Queen Penelope's absence had finally built to the breaking point. The floodgates opened.

(to be continued...)



ETA This account of my Memorial Day chicken activity has be Highly Absurdly dramatized for your enjoyment, and because I was bored. I hate to post a chapter half-finished, but it turned out much longer than I intended when I started writing. I'll try to do the rest this afternoon.

Also, in case you were curious, this post recieved a record number of edits. I know you wanted to know.

Ciao!