Your dead chick might not be dead!

[CallyB57]

Quote:
Have you ever been married or lived with an x-husband. I can't praise the benefits enough. There is no romance at all, but there are still plenty of benefits, and if you are as old as I am (58) you would know about the 'typical' ebbing of 'lusty' feelings after menopause. My x-husband is my best friend and it took many years for us to arrive at this stage in life. We share trips to the grocery store and McDonald's and we share the care for the household and my poodle and chickens. He keeps the kitchen 'immaculate' and never lets trash stay in the can more than a few hours. He manicures the lawn. He doesn't pry into my business or finances and he pays rent. What more could you ask for? On the other hand, I get up very early and commute to work every day, bringing home a 'steady' income. Though we separate everything from finances to refrigerator sections, running one household is extremely advantageous financially, allowing us both to have extra 'mad' money when we want it. One more thing. An x-husband knows everything about you from your very best down to your very worst, and ditto for the x-wife. We both think we have the best of both worlds and neither one of us wants to change a thing. Once you get to a point in life where you can wake up every morning loving your life and all it holds, then you should just not rock the boat. I'm not rocking this boat!
I didn't realize that using the term x-husband would elicit such a personal question from someone I don't even know, but honestly, I don't mind satisfying the minds of people who 'want to know'. ;o)

 

[perched]

After a raccoon attack, we buried a very dead-appearing young turtle who was lifeless in a pool of blood....only to dig her up 2 days later on a gut feeling to find out she was very much alive. She had her 3rd eyelids over her eyes, bite marks and holes in her shell, she was very cold, missing 2 legs and full of dirt, but she was moving. It was a miracle. We felt horrible, but the ER vet said we just helped to clot the blood and send her into a hibernation state that very well could have saved her life. She's happy as can be 2 years later, and her limbs have grown out quite a bit. Of the 3 turtles we have, I think she is the happiest one. What a survivor!!!

Thank you for posting about how chicks can appear dead and still be alive.....with all animals, it pays to check and double-check and check again......

 

[nancypo]

Laz the Lucky!

 

[CallyB57]

Quote:
That's amazing. I wonder if the little darlin' was in shock after being attacked and had some kind of protecting reaction so the raccoon would go away. I wonder if raccoons eat turtles - I bet they do.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

I had a little one in his eggs shell for three extra days until the next batch going into hatch helped him out...I named him Magic. What a great story! Glad to hear he is living and doing well.

 

[CallyB57]

Update on Phoenix MashLazarus. Well..he is much smaller than the rest of my birds, which spent their first night in a brand new predator-proof box outside. The bigger birds would not accept him - never did really. I believe he is blind, but right now, even though he's alone, he is doing well and growing. He's in a large crate with a perch and can move around, flap his wings, but he does not act like he can see anything, and he has not yet shown any interest in his little roosting perch. I have one of those little round feeders where the birds poke their beaks in the holes to eat, and he will just peck the feeder itself, and he pecks the bottom of the crate when there are no crumbles to peck at. If I put the feed on the bottom of the crate, he pecks around everywhere and finds it. It's like he knows there is food if he can feel it under his feet. I'm hoping he is not completely blind, but if not, then his sight is definitely compromised. I hold him and pet him every day - I'm pretty sure he is a rooster, so his name really will fit now. He will eventually have to go outside so if there is anyone out there who has a blind or partially blind bird, do you have any tips/suggestions on what type of living conditions he will best be able to function in. I most likely will have to keep him separated from the rest of the flock, but will keep my eye out for a non-aggressive bird to put in with him...then watch them interact for a while. Maybe I'll put the new bird in a separate see-thru container of some kind so it can become accustomed to being around him first. Thanks for any advice for Phoenix MashLazarus.

 

[CallyB57]

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It's amazing what animals can teach you if you work with them long enough. That's a great story too. I have learned from watching my birds what really wonderful creatures they are. As a matter of fact, I have learned that a mother hen has superior mothering skills and wonder if young girls who lack mothering skills might benefit from the lessons that a mother hen could teach. I used my chicken run as a lesson for my granddaughter recently. You know how roosters seem to become unusually 'active' right before going to roost? I called my granddaughter out and told her to watch the hens and roosters and told her that most teenaged boys were kind of like roosters and told her to note how the hens just either squat or run away. I told her you could compare the hens to most teenaged girls. Some shun the roosters, and some just squat, then asked her what kind of hen she was going to be. She said she would not run away or squat, she would just peck the roosters until they went away. That's pretty hilarious, but I believe my 'birds and bees' lesson made a slight impression on her anyway.

 

[perched]

Quote:
That's amazing. I wonder if the little darlin' was in shock after being attacked and had some kind of protecting reaction so the raccoon would go away. I wonder if raccoons eat turtles - I bet they do.

It was a real miracle. You're right-the doc said that she would have been in shock for sure when we found her upside down in all that blood, eyes closed with 2 missing limbs and a missing foot. It was a horrific sight. We really assumed "baby cooter" was dead. We just had no idea we needed to protect turtles from anything. I can still see the nasty, wet paw prints, and YES, they eat turtles. Not only was "baby cooter" missing 2 entire legs, the raccoon ate our painted turtle right out of her shell...I came out to see nothing but blood and an empty shell with one remaining leg part still barely attached. Our baby map turtle was spared and our red eared slider just had a hole in her shell from a big tooth. I must've scared the thing away just as it grabbed "slider." I still feel so bad about what happened. Our painted turtle was sooooooooooo sweet. I just hate imagining what she went through being woken up and eaten alive. It's no wonder that we have our chickens in a fort knox set-up! We learned the hard way.

 

[looptloop]

What a lucky little chick!

I had a similar situation! I had a pet canary for 7 yrs. Near the end of his life I saved him *3* separate times from certain death in his water bowl. The first time I found him in his water bowl I thought he was for sure dead, cold and not moving at all. Heartbroken I threw all my washcloths into the dryer and held him in them until they cooled off, then switched to a new one. I thought maybe he had fallen into his bowl, and got cold and couldn't get out, but it happened 2 more times. I think he was just trying to end his own life. Finally one morning he was just dead on the bottom of the cage.