Wednesday, May 2, 2012

A sit down strike

The last notice on Barbie is that I managed to get her isolated long enough to get a chicken saddle on her poor stripped back, and that kept her safe for about 1/2 a day.  She had successfully wriggled out of it the last time I tried, and now she had it part way off, and would take three steps, stop, turn, tug on it, take three more steps, stop.... it was torture.  She reminded me of someone getting out of a car and trying to pull down an ill fitting sweatshirt and pull up pants that are two sizes too small.
 I felt that once again, in my ignorance I was torturing animals.
Some design, though.  I often think, as I try out these chicken products, that someone is having a good laugh at my expense.  I can hear them as they pack up the order chuckling among themselves like pleased hens at having managed to sell another useless item purported to make chickens' lives better.
Well.
This morning I picked her up and put her in her own crate with some of my daughter's magic healing salve on her back and a collection of the choicest treats in the house, but in 5 minutes she had knocked over a carefully weighted bowl of water and pushed all the food out through the grates.   She said "tuck,tuck,tuck, ba-GAWK, tuck,tuck" over and over.
I drove to town and bought some "anti-picking spray" came home and put it on her.  I took her to the door and put her outside again.
Buck had spent the day making circles around the house and peering in the windows.  As soon as I let her out, he came tearing around the house, and she assumed the position of submission, and he welcomed her back into the flock.  That's why her back is raw.  The other hens keep an eye on him and step aside when he give them the "Come on, baby" moves.
I don't know what else I can do.
Get more hens, maybe.

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Glad to hear from you, but criticisms will be ignored. It's the beauty of the web. I will answer all friendly remarks. Buck handles the rest.