Had a little Atlas emergency this a.m. It all started with a simple spur trim for the big guy. They were very long and straight out so he was almost tripping over himself and I was afraid with the way he sneak attacks the hens, one would be hurt. We had trimmed about 1/4" each not long ago, but they had grown back out so I wanted to take off about 1/3-1/2 of each spur this time, leaving him with maybe a scant inch each. So, out comes the Dremel, our usual way of cutting them, always works, cauterizes the blood vessel.
The first one did fine as usual. The second one would not cauterize. Blood was going everywhere and it kept gushing. Never had that happen in all the spur trims we'd done. DH tried a pressure bandage, and it just dripped on through, tried everything but it was still gushing so we went back up to the house.
Atlas was wrapped in a towel and being surprisingly good-he usually struggles a lot and he's a very strong boy, but this time, he was pretty cool with mama whispering into his ear. I finally said we're going to have to find another way to cauterize this thing! DH did not know offhand where his soldering iron was, so he got the torch he used yesterday on the pipes, heated up a long screw held with some pliers and stuck it into the vessel and around it, making sure the bleeding stopped.
Our deck and steps leading up to it looked like a crime scene. We had to take off the clothes we'd been wearing, of course. But, Atlas is fine, will check later to be sure it's not bleeding again. The way this was going, he literally could have bled to death, not a fate I want for my big baby boy!
. But my dad taught all of us how to do things for ourselves, and repairs like that usually get done by me around here. One of the best things he gave us when we were growing up was self-sufficiency.
