kbroom
Songster
- Jan 26, 2023
- 220
- 627
- 156
Quiet, peaceful, sunny day. Then tragedy struck! I didn't hear ANYTHING. Then I was downstairs in the kitchen. The chicken pen is located just outside the house on the side of the kitchen. It was normal to hear a little whimper, when one of my hens had an egg. But this sound was unusual. It sounded painful, so I went outside to check on my babies. To my utter horror, my beautiful Sugar was in the corner of the pen whimpering with a big gash in her side! She is my largest bird. I didn't want to hurt her anymore than she was obviously suffering. I immediately ran upstairs and grabbed the black salve with ichamathol. It does sting at first, then takes away all pain. I know because I use it on everything including myself, when I have an injury. I smeared the ugly black salve all over the skin that was no longer there. I didn't have time to cry or lament. I had to act. When I turned around, I sensed another creature inside the pen. I was shocked to see the small, white, Schnauzer from next door run toward the opposite end of the wall which immediately bounced her back toward me. A motion which she obviously didn't want! She quickly found the gate, and ran out. Had my mind not been on my injured bird, that dog would be dead right now. Getting angrier by the minute, I started taking inventory, and discovered that two more birds were missing. Precious and Leann were no longer around. Instead, two large cashes of feathers in different parts of the outside of the house were all that was left of those darling Golden Sex Links (Red & White Rhode Island crossed)! So, now I've suffered my first loss ever, and it HURTS! These are my babies, not just some chickens that give me the most beautiful eggs I've ever seen. I know that I'm preaching to the choir out there. We live out in the country, but more and more people are moving out in our area. Unfortunately, along with the encroachment come other animals, especially untrained dogs. People have been dropping off large dogs, that run in packs, as the economy get worse, and people cannot afford them anymore. I feel sorry for those dogs too, but not enough to allow them to kill my chickens. I had seven birds at the beginning of last Spring. Now, I have five, with one badly injured. Now, for the "good" news. I believe that Sugar is going to make it. After I the first day, I started spraying Silver Spray in my bird's injury. I was going to wrap the wound, but decided to leave it out in the air, better to heal? Suffice to say, that I'm keeping a much closer eye on my chickens, and at both doors a shot gun, also a .22 long pistol
