Hey

Been a busy week so far! But checking in

I really want your pink moped
@TropicalBabies !
So I don’t think I told you all, Puff has done the unthinkable this week…he attacked me



He came up like he was going to sit lovingly on my shoulder like always and when he did he started biting me ear and then when I turned he bit my nose

I was so shocked I didn’t know how to react. He did not bite hard at all, but I cried anyway more from feeling sad he attacked me. Even though I know it’s always possible with young boys…no matter how they are most times. He hasn’t done it again and we had a stern discussion where I pecked him hard with my fingers on his head and made him run away. But I’ve been sad ever since :-( I’m hoping it’s a blip on his teenage hormonal nonsense…but I imagine it’s like the first time your kid says they “Hate You”. The hurt is there even when you know it’s coming and know that things have changed in your relationship because they’re not your little babies anymore

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I also freaked myself out yesterday when I took the new EE Honey outside to meet the bantams and see how it went. She has a heart shaped pupil that I thought was super neat…but now I’m not so sure. While I watched her walk around she ran into things and pecked near the ground but didn’t make contact and it made me wonder if she’s somewhat blind or at least has limited eye sight. That’s not in itself a big deal as she seems to do okay and gets around well enough and would totally explain why she got picked on in the other ladies flock of big girl chickens. However, when I looked up pupil shapes and eye issues in chickens…images of ocular Mareks popped up.

So now I’m worried I infected my whole flock with Mareks and not sure what to do now! I am taking her to the vet on Friday but the vet already said she won’t really know by looking at her eye but she’d look anyway. She’s a really sweet girl and I’m realllly hoping it’s all good. The lady I got her from said her eye has been weird shaped as long as she can remember and that she’s been vaccinated for Mareks. That of course, doesn’t mean she doesn’t have Mareks anyway since we know it’s not an eradication vaccine. At this point there’s probably nothing I can do about it with my flock. The damage has been done if there’s damage to do.


And on the injury front…my Marans Newbell that has the impacted crop is apparently “not operable” according to my vet and so I am stuck hoping o can clear it if I keep at it long enough. I may get a second opinion if her weight starts to drop too much. It seems like clearing out the fiberous wad would help…but I don’t know. I’m just worried my vet doesn’t view chickens the same way I do. Newbell hasn’t lost too much weight and she’s still active, poop is normal and she’s laying eggs…but Brad went downhill so fast with her crop issue that I’m very paranoid :-(
The other excitement we had this week…was our first thief caught in the act on my chicken cameras! I’m not sure how to make sure we don’t get more thieves now that they’ve discovered the loot.

