OMG - my poor Hansel could have been so seriously injured by my stupidity!!!
When I opened the barn door a while ago the geese were not honking loudly to greet me the way they always do. I didn't think too much about it but I was aware. I have a double door system, the solid barn door and an interior scrren door made with h/w cloth. I had the solid door open and through the screen I saw in the lower right corner of the barn a large white something - which shouldn't have been there. The sun was shining right on the screen so I couldn't make out what it was but immediately thought is had to havve been one of the geese. I through open the door and there was a good (turned out to be Hansel) pinned under a wood pallet!!!
I quickly ran in and lifted the pallet and up he came. His head and neck were between two of the boards but the entire weight of the pallet was fully on him! He pulled himself free and ran out of the barn.
OMG - thank goodness the pallet is a small one and very, very old and dry, which made it lightweight. I've had it in the barn for years as a ladder for the chickens to get up to their roosting area. Hansel must have for some reason poked his head between the slats and knocked it off balance. He had actually dragged it about seven feet across to the other side of the barn.
All the young girls that were just moved into the barn this week were gathered in the furthest corner of the barn, so I'm guessing and hoping that it had happened fairly recently.
I couldn't closely examine him b/c he was so upset but he does have full use of his wings. I saw a small scraped area on the elbow of his right wing and some feathers are loose, which he is preening to pull out.
I absolutely shudder to think of what could have happened - a broken wing or neck. I would never have forgiven myself! Needless to say, I've removed the pallet from the barn.
When I opened the barn door a while ago the geese were not honking loudly to greet me the way they always do. I didn't think too much about it but I was aware. I have a double door system, the solid barn door and an interior scrren door made with h/w cloth. I had the solid door open and through the screen I saw in the lower right corner of the barn a large white something - which shouldn't have been there. The sun was shining right on the screen so I couldn't make out what it was but immediately thought is had to havve been one of the geese. I through open the door and there was a good (turned out to be Hansel) pinned under a wood pallet!!!
I quickly ran in and lifted the pallet and up he came. His head and neck were between two of the boards but the entire weight of the pallet was fully on him! He pulled himself free and ran out of the barn.
OMG - thank goodness the pallet is a small one and very, very old and dry, which made it lightweight. I've had it in the barn for years as a ladder for the chickens to get up to their roosting area. Hansel must have for some reason poked his head between the slats and knocked it off balance. He had actually dragged it about seven feet across to the other side of the barn.
All the young girls that were just moved into the barn this week were gathered in the furthest corner of the barn, so I'm guessing and hoping that it had happened fairly recently.
I couldn't closely examine him b/c he was so upset but he does have full use of his wings. I saw a small scraped area on the elbow of his right wing and some feathers are loose, which he is preening to pull out.
I absolutely shudder to think of what could have happened - a broken wing or neck. I would never have forgiven myself! Needless to say, I've removed the pallet from the barn.
