Lessons - Over Easy and Learned Hard, With A Side Of Regret

This has been a day filled with death - some intentional, some not. 
First thing this morning we dispatched two male Cayuga ducks.  They were originally intended for meat anyways, but we finally got up the nerve to do the deed.  I helped hubby.  Thankfully he doesn't need my help when he butchers the chickens, but he needed me for this task.  These boys were the roughest on the girls, so we made the decision that they would go first.  Now we watch the flock and decide on the next two.  It's amazing how quickly the new pecking order is arranged.  But, I can say that the duck yard is much quieter today - much more relaxed.

So that was the intentional death.

Because we are very caring and empathetic people we did not want the other critters outside when the task was being rendered.  And so, we left the chickens in the coop a little longer than usual.  I wanted to go out in the middle of the night to check on the pipped egg, but I didn't.  This morning I knew that I couldn't get into the coop without letting everyone, or at least a majority, out - so I didn't check on the pipped egg.  I figured that a mama that was so committed to sitting on her nest for nearly a month was going to be a good mom.  I found out I was wrong.  There should have been 4 eggs under her - there were only three.  One of those remaining three eggs was actively hatching.  When the broody hen saw me looking at it she pecked it very hard - several times.  She pecked it hard enough to startle me.  I grabbed it and ran to the house.  Luckily we still had the heat lamp up from a couple of other chicks that hatched just over a week ago.  I put the hatchling safe in the old refrigerator crisper on the wine rack.  Yeah, that's how we roll around here...

Throughout the day, even interrupting our garlic harvest, I went to the coop to check the status of the other eggs.  Another one had pipped.  I should have grabbed it right then and there - but I didn't.  Oh that hindsight - twenty twenty I'll tell ya!

After relaxing a bit on the porch, actively resisting the urge to go out to the coop every 5 minutes, I did finally do another chick check.  Too late.  Ten minutes too late?  Five minutes too late?  There it was - a tiny and wet little black chick.  Dead.  The poor thing was pecked to death by the broody hen. 

I have so many emotions whirling throughout me right now, but I may be able to sum it up by admitting that I did call that beautiful yellow hen Broody Mama.  Now, I'm angry, I'm hurt, I'm sad.  Mostly, I'm disappointed.  Now I just call her broody hen.  I feel betrayed.  

Believe me, I keep my rose-colored glasses safely locked away.  I'm sorrowfully realistic.  But this hurts me.

I guess all I can do now is rejoice in the little wonder that is drying off and fluffing up in my living room.

Here I am on our porch drinking my coffee.  I got a late start this morning, but I figure that's okay every now and then.  I love our porch.  We get such a nice breeze, and it's usually at least a few degrees cooler than in the yard.  This is my little sanctuary.  The rest of the house is a mess, but my porch table is tidy and flower-filled. 

The duck babies (now 8 weeks old) are enjoying some front yard time to themselves before the big ducks are let out.  The chickens are still in the coop for another hour or so.  I'm hoping my girls will give me a few more eggs today.  I spoil them, but they have been stingy with their eggies.  Maybe they're irritated at having all the new babies around.  I don't know if they've been producing wild hen-fruit, or if production has just been low.  Keeping them in the coop may reinforce the proper laying habits.

Lately, I much prefer the company of my feather-babies.  The kid has been quite difficult this summer.  So far, honestly and sadly, it has not been a great summer vacation.  Don't get me wrong, it's not all miserable...  I think Emma-Kid, now 8 years old, is learning how to navigate her own emotions.  She needs more "play-dates," but they're hard to come by where we're at.  We chose to not put her in the Summer Enrichment program through school because it makes for such a long day.  She needs to be able to chill out and not be so scheduled.  We're not full schedule people.  I miss my baby.  She seems so angst-ridden, but she's only eight?!  I want my happy little turd back!  One of the most frustrating sides to this is that she doesn't even realized how snotty she's being.  I may go on a few day strike of whatevers and sures, distance myself a bit.  Maybe.  I'm really not sure what direction to go in, but I know that I need to do something to help us get over this funk! 

...snuggled in bed next to my kid in my old bedroom with a laptop, a chicken magazine, a red wine spritzer and pomegranate dark chocolate... what a nice way to end the day! 

November 26, 2012

So I had the chance to try out our new Chicken First Aid Kit yesterday! And now my left hand and part of my forearm is a really pretty blueish-purpley color – thanks to Dr. Naylor's Blu-Kote. I had looked out the bathroom window and saw that one of our Buff Orpington girls was all bloody. First I made sure I was wearing a suitable chicken-tending shirt and went out to give the girls a snack. Of course it was super easy to snag Little Miss Buff with a bag of Happy Hens dried meal worms in my hand. I'm glad I wore a crappy old t-shirt because as soon as I picked her up she shook her head to clear her nostrils of the blood and boy did it fly! Her whole head and face were covered in partially coagulated and frosted blood. It's hard to really see what's going on until they're all cleaned up, but I could tell it wasn't going to be that bad. I got out the ugly old curtain I use as a drop cloth / work area and sat down with our girl. Darling Hubby brought me a bowl of nice warm water and a wad of paper towels. First step – clean up and assess the damage. Getting the dried and crusted blood out of her nostrils was the most time consuming part. She was such a good and patient patient. And it didn't hurt that she knew that I had the bag of Happy Hen treats sitting right next to me. Even as I was cleaning her up she kept bleeding. As I had figured, though, the situation was not that serious. Her comb was the only affected area. Man, they can bleed! I had corn starch on my list to add to my chicken first aid kit, but as of yesterday afternoon I had not yet added it. I asked Darling Hubby to bring me some – he brought me the whole container, which now is part of the chicken first aid kit. Because I had already been handling the chicken I did not want to cross contaminate so now I'll just need to restock our pantry with corn starch. I had not had the opportunity to apply corn starch to a chicken's comb (or any other part for that matter) before. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I popped open the Chug bottle that we keep it in and dumped out a little pile on the ugly curtain. I pinched a bit and patted it on the hen's comb. I'm amazed at how quickly it stopped the bleeding! But, because it was still an open wound I wanted to apply the Blu-Kote to keep the other girls from pecking. Applying Blu-Kote by yourself to a squirming chicken's head is no easy feat. After several unsuccessful attempts to cover Heddy's eyes with the paper towel I said forget it and just used my hand to guard her against the spray. Yup, it is blue!

A post from November 16, 2010 that never got posted...

Saturday evening. I don't feel like I've gotten much done at all today. And you know what - I'm okay with that! I did scrub our bathroom. I just have to finish the toilet and the shower walls. Emma even helped me scour the shower floor. I love a kid that wants to help.

A couple of years ago (that sounds weird to say in the context of Emma) the kid wanted to help me vacuum the bedroom. No problem, here you go! It happened to be a brisk, but sunny beautiful day. So, I sat myself down in our bedroom window seat and soaked up the rays like a kitty cat. Oh, yeah - and I had a glass of wine in my hand. Scott walks in as Emma is on her hands and knees with the vacuum hose and I'm basking in the sunny warmth sipping on some Cabernet. Yeah, life is good.

We live in the country and we have mice. It doesn't make us bad people, it just makes us people with mice. Those little bastards got into our bathroom vanity drawers and demolished the toilet paper. I have an unusual attachment to toilet paper. I must always have plenty on hand, or, as my Mom would snicker - a back-up supply. Get it, back up...

For me to open that drawer and see shreds and shreds of paper in little piles mixed with tiny little oblong poops - well, not a nice way to start the day! That, I vowed would be my first order of business for the day - that is, after my first order of business was finished...

I cleaned out and then cleaned both drawers - not the bottom, for some reason the little bastards don't seem to bother that one. I re-organized and really cleaned the contents of each drawer and then moved onto the sink and counter.

Last week (a terrific way to start a Monday) I lost an earring down the sink drain. It was a pretty blue baked glass post earring. Scott had gotten them for me as an anniversary gift at one of our last Grass Roots festivals. For those of you that don't know, Grass Roots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, NY is where we met and fell instantly in love. So, yeah, I was pretty irritated first thing Monday morning. Being in the plumbing business I decided that I had enough experience to take apart part of the drain to retrieve the earring. Scott stopped me from doing that. We did take apart the pop-up assembly and pulled the pop-up out of the sink. I heard the earring go "plop" into the bottom of the S-trap as I lifted the drain. The earring was gone, but we were introduced to this horrible, icky globby thing hanging off the end. Yuck!! I instantly threw that in the garbage, but did not want to take on the challenge of re-assembling the drain first thing Monday morning.


Once the sink and counter were decluttered and cleaned thoroughly with Clorox Green Works spray I decided it was time for a break. Luckily...

the next day...

Luckily is where I stopped writing at 9:30 last night. Now, with all the chaos in the house and the overly distracting smell of bacon cooking, I have no idea what came next. I cannot even seem to remember what I did after the thorough bathroom cleaning.

My goals are pretty simple for the day. I totally plan on being an underachiever today. If I can get the toilets cleaned and my laundry put away, I'll be a happy camper. I miss camping.

The child's mouth has NOT stopped flapping since she woke up at 7:30 this morning. I'm not exaggerating - it has not stopped! She's in her little tent right now and has said "Mommy" for one reason or another about 47 times! Believe me, I usually love it when I hear that most beautiful little voice utter "Mommy." But, today it's more about "Mommy, you ruined it! Mommy, you wrecked it all! Mommy, you didn't do it the right way! Mommy, there's a fly on my doll! Mommy, will you cover me up? Mommy, there's something really wrong with Daddy's camping bag - Mommy, I think you should see this! Mommy, I told you not to put my hair up!"

Even while I was typing all this, along came another barrage of "Mommy's"

I don't think I'll be drinking orange juice with my breakfasty-lunch.

I CAN'T SLEEP!!

Almost 4am Monday morning. I do have to go to work in a couple of hours. Emma has a "free" day today. Because the school only used one snow day they're giving the kids a few freebies. Friday was a conference day so turns out they get a 4 day weekend!! She needs it. I was pretty much useless for the last several days due to a horrible horrible headache and today was just a rough parenting day. We were busy outside with a couple of friends trying to get the chicken coop together. Of course she wanted to be involved, and I wanted her to be involved, but it just didn't work out... I guess that I'll just leave it at that. Darling Hubby (and cat) are sound asleep in bed, the Kid fell asleep on the couch watching Twilight (she LOVES vampires!) and the dog is sound asleep in the chair. We don't normally let the kid fall asleep on the couch, but tonight was just one of those nights. I went to bed early to read a book my Mom gave me - Jimmy Buffett's Swine Not. So far pretty cute. I fell asleep reading and when Darling Hubby came to bed at 2am he turned the light on and I'm pretty sure started a conversation with me - though he claims otherwise. So, of course he was able to go right to sleep with no problem at all and two hours later here I am...

Emmaisms

• I'm in the middle of a crisis! as said while sitting at the dinning room table with Oma, Papa and us (Mommy and Daddy) waiting for and urging the bloody loose tooth to fall the hell out already as we're trying to get out the door to go on a quick Mennonite Bulk Food Store shopping trip before getting back early enough to go on a boat ride.

• A girl could get used to this! as said on Granny Kathy and Bill's boat while lounging - literally, lounging on the back cushion with her bathing suit, sunglasses and sun hat on and eating from a snack bag of chips. Note to readers - I caught a fish!

• This is going to be so yummy it's like a million angels dancing in my mouth! as said while preparing a somewhat disgusting concoction of dessert snack with our visiting neighbor-daughter. Ingredients included but not limited to: bread, mini-marshmallows, tiny pretzel sticks, yogurt covered raisins, gummi bears, Ritz crackers. I should have, but didn't break out the Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, honey, maple syrup and whipped cream!! Maybe next time!