This last week has been interesting, to say the least. Oddities occur or are found around here frequently. In fact, weird is the new normal in my daily not-so-routine. This latest surge of weird started, if I remember correctly, with one of our new chickens having a prolapsed oviduct. This can happen when the egg is too large for the opening, the hen has to push so hard to get the egg out that the innies turn to outies. Not good at all and we have to do something about it. We've had chickens for years and I've never seen this before. Thanks to google search I found a home remedy that although odd made some sense and we decided to try it. My husband held the chicken and I cold water washed the area (hoping the cold water would shrink the tissue and draw it up inside her). Using a wet paper towel I tried pushing it gently up inside her but it just popped right back out, so I did what this wacky home remedy said to do. I slathered it with honey. It worked. The oviduct suddenly disappeared up inside her. The additional benefit is that honey is naturally germ-free which keeps the area from getting infected. I have to admit, I was amazed. The hen was rather unimpressed and pissed off at us for washing and prodding her girlie parts, but we were pleased with the results. Yay for honey!
The next thing was rescuing some chickens that were seized in Indianapolis. They were not an abuse or neglect case, rather the owner had a little farm in an area that was not zoned for it. Neighbors complained, animals seized, rescues occurred. What we didn't realize was that all but two were cochins. For those who are unaware, cochins are tiny, tiny little chickens weighing ounces not pounds. They have feathers going all the way down their legs and are just total cuteness. So, we brought home 28 new chickens. One Rhode Island Red hen, one Rhode Island Red rooster and 26 little bitty cochins. My personal theory is that we now know where nuggets come from. Catching these little cuties was the funny part. A guy named Bob helped us. He grabbed a cat catching net. I tried using the net to grab a Rhode Island Red and instead scooped up two little ones. I don't know who was more surprised. One of the little ones is a rooster that is just tiny and skinny and has big eyes. He's the cutest little guy I've ever seen and he imagines himself to be a big guy. When we got them home one of our Americauna hens tried bullying him and that little guy stood tall and decided she must have been flirting. Now, chickens don't really have facial expressions, but they do have body language. She was both shocked and freaked out, fluffed out her feathers, bawked loudly and ran off. He was rather pleased with himself. I have named him Norman. (That's another story entirely.)
Why do chickens lay eggs in strange places? I get it when they are really young and just aren't accustomed to it yet. Sometimes they are walking along and suddenly PLOP! and the egg is laid wherever they currently find themselves. We have been attempting to find the nesting spots of the ones that jump out and go free range during the day. About a month or so ago we found a cache of eggs in our front yard deep in some ornamental grass. They were all bad and had to be discarded and we would like to avoid a similar situation. After we found that cache they quit using that spot and we are having to search again. I was on the deck looking out over the yard and talking to one of the cats when I just happened to glance in my terra cotta chiminea. I had to do a double take. The cats nap in it sometimes but it never occurred to me that maybe chickens would lay eggs in it. There were two green eggs inside my chiminea. Later I went back and there was a third egg. Now we are getting a green egg in there 2 out of 3 days. Just one chicken decided it was a good place. Why? I wonder why. Occasionally we find an egg on a wire shelf. Again, why?
We did some yard work last week. The previous owners had evidently used the yard as a dump and did a lot of open burning. We have found a lot of broken glass, half burned plastic and paper stuff, even old wall paper and dry wall. One area in particular has been an eyesore since we moved in with trash constantly working itself to the surface. As I was digging I found some stuff that was interesting. I found a burial ground for a bunch of ceramic items. It was strange digging up one of the three little pigs, then another and then another. Then a large ceramic cat head, a teddy bear, a little unicorn, a goose, a couple of ducks, and more. It was almost archaeological when I found a little dinosaur. I had assistants too. I had chickens scratching and grabbing the worms. I wonder at the age of the items. How long have they been there? Why were completely intact figurines buried? I am actually looking forward to digging deeper. I wonder what I will find next. It will be fun!
