Farm Life

When I got my first batch of chicks about 5 or 6 years ago, my friend Renee said “keeping chickens is hard” Why? “because they die”. That seemed like a strong statement at the time but it’s true- birds are fragile. I lose the odd chicken. One who stayed out all night in a hidden nest and got nabbed by a raccoon. One who keeled over for no apparent reason at all. One who got “bound”- their egg laying apparatus stuck on hold. My nephew up the street has lost big numbers on more than one occasion to predators and disease. I feel that my losses have been reasonable.

Occasionally there are birds saved from doom that become like mascots- often the only ones to get real names. Sophie, the scapegoat chicken, was always getting attacked by the others. She ended up living outside the chicken yard and provided endless entertainment. For starters she was a Silver Laced Polish and made me smile by her very existence. She looked like Phyllis Diller in one of her ridiculous hats. She would follow you around on garden chores and even occasionally knock on the door. I’m not kidding. Or Peggy, who had what I guessed to be some kind of inner ear/balance problem as a young chicken. She couldn’t hold her head up straight. It always listed to the right. Sometimes her head would turn farther and farther until she just flipped over on her back. It was sad and funny at the same time. She would stay that way for awhile, sort of passed out. I had to separate her out to keep her safe and I didn’t have much hope for her. To my surprise she grew out of it and is back with the flock, but comes running happily to meet me at the gate and seems to enjoy being held.

Today I lost 2 four day old turkey poults. Mysteriously and quickly. There is a lot of guessing and trying this and that with raising birds because, just like with gardening, there is a wealth of contradictory information. Organic solutions include Dr. Christopher's Plague tonic, Rawleigh Internal Liniment, comfrey leaves, raw milk, colloidal silver, probiotics, garlic and apple cider vinegar. This is more appealing to me than veterinary Liquimyacin, Agri-cillin, or Sulfadimethoxine. But when those sweet little creatures die all of a sudden you want it all and you want it now.