Today's events so far: Ida was out with her two chicks in the grass and began grunting and picking something up and beating on it. She was so forceful, I thought maybe she had a snake. When I investigated, it was something round, which at first, I thought was a big beetle. Then, I saw it was a dead baby turtle, completely dried up, about the size of a nickel.
DH had told me that June was very lethargic this morning so when I checked on her, she was hunched up at the back of the pen. Upon investigation, she had a small prolapse, again, straining to get out what is probably a collapsed shell. So, emergency treatment for June, PrepH to shrink tissues, got it back in, put her in a dark cage with a bowl of yogurt with a shot of calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin E. Her crop was even a bit bloaty, another sign of a systemic problem. I think June's body is just malfunctioning because of her advanced age, perhaps this really is her downhill slide to the end. She is 8 years old, no idea what her genetics really are-she was hatched from a breeder who was trying to work on Salmon Ameraucanas so she probably has some hatchery blood in there. At least until this year, other than one bout of bumblefoot many years ago and an eye infection once, she has been in perfect health her entire life.
