I Lean

I'ts early morning,
and the girls and I are heading to the henhouse.
Oakley is way ahead of us.
Sadie will bring up the rear.
There is someone that I would like you to meet....

Meet Eileen.
(I Lean)

She is a one of a kind chicken.
She is one of the nicer chickens in my henhouse...
That is, she is home every night on time;
she doesn't drink 
or smoke 
or text while driving.



Sadly, though, she is lame, and won't put any weight on her left leg.
I cannot see any visible injury,
but still she refuses to bear weight on that leg.


Lately, she has been staying very close to her henhouse.
She eats and drinks
and ventures out to sit in the shade.

Each night she is back in the henhouse and up on the second
rung of the roosting ladder.
None of the other hens have been bothering her...
which in itself is amazing.

You know how those hens are....
when one of them is down,
the rest do their darnedest to take them even lower....
sometimes to the death!

I will continue to keep a close eye on her.
Hopefully with a bit of time and rest, she will recover.

Keeping my hens healthy and happy sometimes feels like a full time job.
Besides daily cleaning their henhouse,
cleaning and refilling their water buckets and feed bins,
letting them out to free range,
and closing them back up safely at night,
there is also the occasional health issue to deal with.
Not to mention, the beak manicures for the gals
who grow their beaks unevenly.
(Sometimes the top or bottom  beak will grow extra long,
necessitating a trim and shaping job.)

I love my chickens...
really!
But, sometimes they can be so high maintenance!

But then, those wonderful fresh eggs....
Mmmmm, so worth the effort!


Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm hungry for farm fresh eggs..gotta take care of those chickens....they earn their keep!!
Anonymous said…
I love my chickens too, and it really does seem I spend more time taking care of them, than I do with my other animals. Definitely high maintenance:-) Can you imagine if they were to drink and smoke? You'd be picking up cigarette butts and beer cans?
Nancy's Notes said…
Oh, what a great post, I love your chickens now too! I have to say your home, barn and everything about where you live is truly awesome!

Have a great day!

Nancy
Wonky Girl said…
What a lovely Golden Laced Wyandotte. We still have one, the poodles chased hens a while back and the other dropped dead. I cried and cried.
Yup, hens are a lot of work to keep happy. Good thing I am home most days to clean and check for eggs. But I do enjoy the time spent with my girls :)
countrynmore said…
I didn't realize that the hens require so much maintenance, but like you said, "The fresh eggs are worth it."
Lisa said…
Our bantie auracana rooster became lame one day also. We never did figure out what the problem was.

I still love your aprons. They are just the cat's meow!