Then it hit me .. the chickens! We didn't put up the chickens or the goats before bed!!!!!!!
I quickly told honeyman and he jumped out of bed grabbed his gun and was out of the room like a bullet.. I wasn't far behind him...
We had spent the day at the RV show in Dallas looking at campers... we ate out.. we had gone by Whole Foods for a few items... I don't know why we didn't think to put up the animals.. I know crazy.. but we didn't .. neither of us! I will admit I usually do it so I can see honeyman forgetting but me?
So we get out there and Greystone one of our Bantam roosters is in the chicken corral not the coop... grey feathers all around on the ground.. he is upright and walking though very stunned... I was afraid to go in the coop as I just knew there would be chickens missing heads all in here..Stupid raccoons..
I picked up greystone and he was..... well shell shocked..though not bleeding anywhere... I carried him to the chicken coop as soon as honeyman said the rest of the chickens were ok.. Apparently Greystone must have tried to fight off the predator that I can only assume was a raccoon as there were feathers inside the coop as well and all the eggs were gone (which should have been there since I had not been in there to get them) sighhh........ he is like that..Greystone is the protector and though he is in rooster size a chihuahua he thinks he is a Great Dane rooster... bless his heart..
I placed him on the platfrom / roost with everyone else and they huddle around him surrounding him .. the big girls literally enclosed him nearly burying him... then little D"uccle squeezed her way through the big girls to get to him.. He and D'uccle have a thing going you know..
I couldn't have felt worse.. It was my fault.. I was thanking everything in the universe no one was dead.. We then locked up the coop and went to lock up the goat gate as well!! .. I laid in bed feeling like the worst person on the planet... I talked to God a while. That always calms me down..
Got up this morning.. Greystone was pale or his comb and waddles were.. He was in shock no doubt it seemed.. He did get his color back in his comb and waddles fairly quickly and I thought he will be ok.. whew...but as the day went on... his face was swollen his one eye in question ... sighhhh
I have him in a large sized dog crate inside the chicken coop ... as he needs time to heal.. I have made him doctored water and fed him eye droppers full.. its got arnica, vitamins, electrolytes, and a dab of molasses in it.. I have made him a salad of organic corn, organic sage and comfrey , organic garlic.. its all diced up for him.. I have also put his regular organic chicken food in there .. I did get him to eat some cantaloupe during the day... I picked fresh rose petals and sprinkled them all in his fresh hay bed in case he wanted some of those to eat.. I cannot even tell you how bad I feel... this was allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll my fault.. I forgot to close the chicken coop up... geesh I could just kick myself from here to Dallas .....
He surely is not himself.. the shock and physical attack ... I just want him to be able to get well..
I am hopeful he will recover.. but I just don't know at this point.. sometime I think he is going to be ok and then others he seems to out of it and bad that I don't know :O(........ thankfully the goats were fine,we closed their gate after closing up the chickens... I guess my brain was just off in some other world last night.. Honeyman felt bad too and said he should have put them up too that he knew it needed doing just as well as me.. I said well we just totally screwed up, didn't we... sighhhhh
15 comments:
You need an "Animals Come First" sign. I painted one and hung it on the door because that happened to me once, too. You were luckier than I was. Lost my whole flock. Skunk
Well I don't have any words of wisdom, except to say don't beat yourself up too much, you realized what was happening and you intervened. Everything and everyone, hopefully, is ok and will be ok and I can bet that won't ever happen again. It's all a learning experience, right? Hang in there!!
So sorry.
Oh my goodness, what a night you had. I sure hope the little rooster will be okay. He is mighty brave, bless his heart. Don't feel so bad, it happens to us all. I hate when things happen in the middle of the night. A guinea flew into the side of our house right at our bedroom in the middle of the night a while back. Poppy grabbed the shotgun and I got the spotlight and we ran outside. I know it was an owl, but we never saw it. The guineas can't see to fly at night so they had to sit scattered on the ground until morning. I worried the rest of the night.
Sounds like you have a good rooster there though and I am sure he will recover. I wonder what did try and get him. Maybe a younger raccoon just recently off on it's own for the first time would be my bet.
Don't beat yourself up too much. It happens to all of us sometimes.
I hope Greystone is OK
These things happen, nobody's perfect. I really hope he recovers, he is obviously good for the flock.
What a good rooster Greystone is, I hope he recovers. You can't beat yourself up. What's done is done & you won't let it happen again. Forgetting happens to me all the time, comes with age I guess.
I talk to God when we get one of those Atlantic gales in winter and the house feels a ship at sea in a storm. Hope Greystone is back to his good self.
I hope he gets well and his eye heals.
Don;t feel too guilty, you can't remember everything. I lost a dozen chickens at our last house for the same reason, made me feel sick to the stomach but nothing to be done about it. I've also lost six in broad daylight a couple of minutes after I left home, it can happen anytime.
I struggle in the winter to get mine in before dark if I'm working as I'm normally home after dark so they have to take their chances a bit.
Don't blame yourself too much, we all forget sometimes. I hope he will be OK, can one take a chicken to the vet? He was so very brave and it was touching to read about how the other chickens gathered around him, as if to thank him and also make sure he was OK. He's one brave rooster and I will keep him in my thoughts. Good for Keeper too. There's nothing better than a good dog.
Thanks to everyone, I am happy to report as of today Sunday, Greystone I think has turned the corner and is doing better. I hope it holds. I have had him on Arnica, Comfrey, Sage, garlic, vitamins, electrolytes, good food lots of care. He is doing better I can say. The swelling on the side of his head and face is much better and I am hopeful he isn't going to loose the eye after all. He is a tough little bantam rooster I can tell you that! :O).
I hope Greystone recovers completely and how BRAVE he was to protect the others! Maybe you could set a reminder alarm on your phone that would beep at whatever time you close them up?
I've been there before. Yes, you feel horrible when stuff like this happens. Hopefully your boy will be ok. He looks like he is a survivor.
Post a Comment