Chicken Doctor

Unless you've been under a rock for the last 2 years, you've  probably heard that I love chickens.  You know how some people post pics of their kids every day?  I would soooo totally do that with my chickens if I didn't already feel like people think I'm crazy. They are just so fun!

We were not going to get any more chickens this year.  We had 22--way more than we should.  I was seriously sad.  And then Brian went to the local feed store.  And they had Polish chickens.  Which Caroline had been begging to have but we had only seen them online in the past. (Polish chickens are the ones that look like they have afros.) 

So she got an early birthday present--2 little Polish chickens we named Polly and Brownie.  Polly was really loud and peeped a lot, but Brownie slept all the time.  As we started looking at her, we were worried that she couldn't see out of one of her eyes.  In fact, we really didn't think she would survive. 

So Brian went back to the feed store to get medicine and came home with another chick--just in case she didn't make it so Polly would have a friend.  Brownie has continued to live, but is requiring medical attention a few times a day.  It means we have to clean her eye out and put coconut oil on it.  Tonight, we had to clean the hay and snot out of her beak. Poor baby hated it, but it had to be done.  This afternoon, she pooped twice when I was cleaning her eye.  Yes, it was gross, but poor thing couldn't help herself. 

After we doctored her up, she got a treat.  We mixed her food with water (that has some medication in it) so that it's an oatmeal consistency.  She gobbled it up and made a mess--all over herself and our countertop--just like a baby.

If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be melting coconut oil and swabbing chicken beaks, I would have laughed at you.  I didn't realize how much I loved animals.  Or how much I loved living outside the big city. 

But I do. 

Last year, I found myself holding a baby chick for a couple of hours to keep her warm until Brian could get home with another heat lamp.  I know I've passed the point of crazy.  And like most crazy people, I really don't care. 

It makes me wonder how many other things I will discover about myself as I grow older. I never liked guacamole or potato salad until a few years ago.  When I was younger, I thought I would know everything about myself by the time I was 40.  I don't know that I realized how much I would continue changing and growing. 

I hope I continue to find new things I like or want to do.  I hope I find myself doing something as weird now to me as doctoring chickens would have been a few years ago. 

And just in case you didn't get enough chicken pictures yet, here's another one from when we moved the babies out to the big coop a few days ago.