I decided to take a couple of days off work for the holidays. I do not usually get to do that, but this year I was able to do that. I decided to take advantage of it. I was working on some projects today that I wanted to get completed. It was a relaxing day.
As I went out to feed, it looked like there was a fire over in the distance. That is never something you want to see. I mentioned it to Ronnie when he got home and he said our neighbor was burning something, so it was contained and nothing to worry about.
When I went out to feed, I found a chicken in distress in the shop. She was up moving around, but she was squawking like she was having difficulty. When I first saw her, I thought she had some of the feed string around her neck, but as I looked closer, her mouth was opened and the feed string was wrapped around her mouth. It took me some time, but I finally was able to catch her. I got what I thought was wrapped around her mouth off of her, but as I held her, I knew it was more serious than that. She started to panic and jumped out of my arms. I knew once she got out of the shop it would be harder to catch her and that is exactly what she did. She ran out of the shop and into the goat pen. I tried to get her while she was still in the goat pen, but she was too fast. She was all puffed up running around the property in hopes of the other chickens and roosters to leave her alone. She still had string hanging out of her mouth. She got up on the roost. I tried to be fast, but I am in a panic and when I try to do thing fast, I actually go slower. I am not sure how that happens, but it does. I was able to grab the string before she could run off. I knew when I grabbed that string and she could not move anymore that whatever was going on was not good. I was home alone and I had no idea what to do. I just knew this was not good. I grabbed her and got her into the crook of my arm to hold her. I started pulling at the string. I am having an internal panic attack, but Snowflake is having a panic attack outwardly. I had to try to remain calm to not upset her more, but that was hard to do. I was able to get a good grip on the string and I started pulling carefully and slowly. She had swallowed a big portion of the string so I had no idea if this was a good idea with pulling the string out, but I was going to try. If she could not eat because of the string, she was going to die, so if I killed her while trying to help her, I was going to at least try. I kept pulling at the string. It finally started to move a bit and I felt like I was getting somewhere. I finally got the string out and at the end of the string was feed and more string. That would have hurt her eventually, but it was all gone now. I put her down and she went right back to the roost. She looked okay. When I put her down, I was finally able to let me panic out. The panic was less, but I did get teary eyed. Ronnie got home right after the whole thing. It looked like she was going to be okay, so I continued on with the nightly chores.
Lester made sure to look at me to make sure I fed him. I did make sure to feed him. I think he is the best rooster we have here. I will make sure that rooster eats.
The pasture chickens were able to eat without the help of the donkeys and goats tonight. I am sure they were happy about that.
Jeb cannot figure out where he wants to eat. He was eating out of Chief's bowl and then decided he did not want that, but Chief was eating out of his bowl, so he acted like he did not know what to do. He finally ate where Chief usually does. Chief did not seem bothered at all.
I checked on Snowflake later and she was roosting with Wheezy and Chloe. She seemed fine. I will continue to watch her.
Bill wanted attention tonight. It was like he knew I needed some after the panic feeling I had earlier in the evening. I gladly took the attention from him. These animals know when something is off. They are smarter than they get credit for.
Urusla and Oreo are definitely friends now. It is a good thing to see. They needed each other even if they thought they did not.
In the midst of panic, I was able to pray that everything was going to be okay, and it was.
Word of the day is panic. Isaiah 35:4
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