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Hen in the sunshine

It was fine and hot today, and Maggie got to sit in the sunshine and peck bugs out of the grass. Which, for a chicken, is heaven.

If you’re just joining us, Maggie is my crippled chicken. A fox turned up and panicked the flock last September. We think. They were safely locked up, but we came home to find agitated chooks, feathers everywhere and I think Maggie banged her spine somehow.

Her legs don’t work from the knees down. Yes, chickens have knees, although comparative anatomy would suggest it’s technically more like ankles I’m talking about. The bendy bit in the middle. It doesn’t work.

Medical opinion had it there was a chance the nerve was just bruised and she’d recover, given time. It’s been eight months. It ain’t happening.

But she’s alert. She has a good appetite. She gobbles up treats and shows an interest in her surroundings. She’s really no more trouble than the other chickens. I’m going to stick with her as long as she wants to stick with us.

Since Maggie’s accident, I’ve probably eaten upwards of fifty chickens without shedding a tear. But this is *my* chicken. The heart has its reasons. Shut up.

Comments


Comment from Janna
Time: May 16, 2014, 12:08 am

No “reason” is ever needed to love an animal.


Comment from Nina
Time: May 16, 2014, 12:37 am

I bawled like a baby when a pet rat died long ago. I totally get it.


Comment from lauraw
Time: May 16, 2014, 1:43 am

Awwww. That’s one lucky chicken.


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: May 16, 2014, 1:46 am

I have a plan to eat, fuck, & kill every animal & person that I meet.

But not necessarily in that order.


Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: May 16, 2014, 1:49 am

You can never have enough friends; you have to take care of them when they need you.


Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: May 16, 2014, 1:52 am

Sigh. I posted my thoughts (above) before I refreshed the page and saw Stark’s post…. His kind of thinking is the reason man sits, full and satisfied atop the food chain. Of course, it’s also the reason there are no unicorns anymore, but, hey! They shouldn’t have been so tasty.


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: May 16, 2014, 2:13 am

I just wish I’d had the chance to taste Dodo.


Comment from CrabbyOldBat
Time: May 16, 2014, 2:40 am

She may have been sitting in hen heaven, but she has perfected the “We are not amused” face. Shoulda named her Lady Bracknell.


Comment from Harry
Time: May 16, 2014, 4:49 am

Yes. When I was about 14, for a brief time I had a young pet skunk. What in California some people called a “sport kitty”, because it looked like a cat with racing stripes. Funny little thing; we also had mice, and the skunk–named Odie–would catch a mouse, and since its claws were designed for digging not holding and killing, said mouse would run out from between Odie’s claws…and Odie would just lie there, with a “What happened?” look on his face. Lost him to distemper, dang it…


Comment from Oceania
Time: May 16, 2014, 9:45 am

Ahhh good times at Sweasels chicken concentration camp facility …


Comment from Brother Cavil
Time: May 16, 2014, 1:01 pm

Bless you for giving poor Maggie as good a life as she can have. And it’s not that long since you lost Coco, as I recall…any plans on filling that spot on the roster, by the way?


Comment from Janna
Time: May 16, 2014, 1:14 pm

Just curious, what kind of ‘treats’ do you feed chickens? And, what color is Maggie? I live in town, I can only have dogs 🙁


Comment from MikeW
Time: May 16, 2014, 3:16 pm

Sorry, this is completely OT but…

Familiar with the amusing Taiwanese ‘news’ videos? This is the funniest thing I’ve seen on the ‘net in quite a while:

http://freebeacon.com/culture/is-there-anything-better-than-the-taiwanese-animation-version-of-alec-baldwins-arrest/


Comment from Wolfus Aurelius
Time: May 16, 2014, 3:24 pm

When I was about 14, for a brief time I had a young pet skunk. What in California some people called a “sport kitty”, because it looked like a cat with racing stripes. Funny little thing; we also had mice, and the skunk–named Odie–would catch a mouse . . .
*
*
Odie Cologne, no doubt — for the skunk in the “Tennessee Tuxedo” cartoons?


Comment from Harry
Time: May 16, 2014, 5:32 pm

@Wolfus–Yup!!

@Stark–from what I read long ago, you would not have enjoyed the experience. Marooned Dutch sailors tried eating them, and recorded that the meat was tough, greasy, and had a vile taste. It was better than starving. The Dodo went extinct because it was a ground-nesting bird, and Dutch settlers brought in pigs, that foraged far and wide–and discovering the dodo nests, said “Oh Thank you divine Providence for these lovely egg breakfasts!”


Comment from Deborah
Time: May 16, 2014, 6:46 pm

I believe Maggie would do anything for you, too.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 16, 2014, 9:23 pm

Chickens love meat. Catfood especially. Eggs. Bread, crackers. Cakes. Kitchen scraps. All of which are illegal to give chickens under DEFRA regulations.

Our girls love styrofoam. It’s got to be bad for them, but they’ll find any little bits that blow into the garden. Also stones and bits of coal and other grit (perfectly natural, this. Well, except the coal).

Officially what you give chickens for treats is cracked corn.

Our henhouse has comfortable accomodation for four. When we had six, the plan was to get a new house. Then Maggie had to be separated (Coco sometimes slept on the perch and sometimes on the floor). We currently have three on the perch and we like to add birds in twos, so we probably won’t add anyone to the roster this year.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 16, 2014, 10:00 pm

Oh, and Maggie is black and white. She looks a bit like a tiny bald eagle.

Though, honestly, I’m a little horrified at how crazy she looks in this picture.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 16, 2014, 10:35 pm

That photograph is beyond awesome, Christopher. Or P’shop, if that’s what it is.

I’m very much in favor of research into…chicken entertainment. Flashing lights. Music. Television. A xylophone. Hell, I don’t know…I just know boredom is probably the biggest misery in factory farmed chicken.

Call me a hippie, but I’m happier being a carnivore if I think my dinner had a pretty decent life.


Comment from Stark Dickflüssig
Time: May 17, 2014, 3:17 am

A little horrified?! She looks like an angry space vulture with laser eyes. I’m afraid I’ve had an ovipositor rammed down my throat & eggs laid in my chest.

5/5 would buy another chicken just like this one.

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