Today I Became A Real Farm Girl
I have always known my right of passage would be solitary and severe. What I didn't know is that it would come today. The question is, what constitutes a true able-bodied- farm girl and not just a trend follower-backyard farming-enthusiast ? Anyone can have the farm animals, have the land, and give the time it takes to tend and nurture the whole package. That is most certainly not what makes a farm girl.
The make of a farm girl is one who can follow animals and their land through all seasons, not just the pleasant ones. Today a chicken died. The death in itself is not what I am speaking of though, it is that I was able to pick up the body and dispose of it that today made me into a farm girl. I no longer have to have a man to do my bidding, I don't have to wait for him to come home and deal with the deceased bird. Death is-as we all know- a part of life, all life ends in death and I knew from the start that when I was able to touch a dead body that I would have reached that coveted status of farm girl.
We can all follow backyardigans, those trend-loving folk in whose growing circles chickens are trendy right now, growing your own food, subsistence living, and all such stuff. Having animals, feeding them and keeping them alive does not a farm girl make. One of those is made by doing the one thing you can't stand even thinking about, looking at, or touching- not like a girl, but like a farm girl. For me that meant grabbing that chicken by the feet and dealing with the feathery bod, might I say- like a real man would? Yes. I would. No icky tummy, no eyes closed and jumping backwards, no fretting, screeching or crying but just dealing in quick and precise movements. This might not be your right of passage at all, maybe for you what you dread the most of it all would be watching a live birth, or dealing with chicken poo, those all are just not my hardest thing to have to deal with, they don't even faze me really. Death of an animal for me is the worst, and not just death- but even looking at the dead body. Today I forced myself to pounce through that door and earn my right to be there with the rest of 'em. It is now that I am able to take and deal with the full responsibility of my animals. Today I became a real farm girl.
PS. I will let you know when I have become a 'Farm Woman'-as that would entail shooting the chicken and plucking and skinning and stewing it. Let me just say I haven't gotten there yet, not yet.
What would be your most dreaded duty if you have or were to have farm animals??
bright eyed and bushy tailed. GO WHINY!
She is eating and drinking on her own and is getting stronger and stronger! It was a very close call. The chicken experts from BYC say that is was a case of hypothermia and malabsorption of nutrients. IT was a VERY close call for her.
Oh, and so now she is bright eyed....and bushy tailed, except for her breed (Aracauna) is known as "rumpless" that is why she doesn't have tail feathers that are really long.
whiny whined for a reason (aka: the dead chicken comes back to life with a dropper of elecolytes and the prayer of an innocent)
Here is the story of Whiny, the bird who whined for reason: Whiny always whines, constantly. She squawks, and today she stopped. She stopped, and stopped at some point last night or early this morning. When I got up I found her dead. Well, what to any one would have been dead...I couldn't see her breathing, she was cold (and chickens in case you don't know should be about 106 degrees F or so). I was going to put her dead body in a plastic bag and tie it up and put her in the trash, but her beak moved, and again, and again....as if she were whining with no sound, yes...no, not funny.
I had no idea what to do, so I got online and posed the subject to my trusted Back Yard Chickens forum buddies, and they helped me figure it out all day long. It is a forum, where us crazy chicken folk collect ourselves, a fun time mostly, but always very helpful.
They told me that it was not a reflex that she was moving her mouth, and even though it seemed that there was no way this listless bird, who would let her head be limp, could possibly be still in the land of living birds....I tried it. I gave her electrolytes from a dropper, and sugar water and she lives on! She does, look down through the pictures and see her incredible recovery. At first I finally was able to see her breathe, FINALLY (I had been watching on and off for a whole-lotta-time), then I saw her move her beak more, then move her head, then she opened her eyes and sat up, and now drunkenly stumbles about with a confused look on her face. She keeps jumping at the heat lamp I put in there (another BYC suggestion) I think she may have seen the beauty of the white welcoming light and want to see who made it. Do chickens go to heaven? I know that today my little j prayed like no other for his little Whiny to come back, let's hear some bungaree speak:
Dear Jesus,
I would like Whiny to be better, help her not be sick, thank you for taking care of her, amen. -j
Sweetness it was, my fear was that he was praying for something that was not about to happen, as he was praying for a cold, breathless bird! However, it does say something about faith the size of mustard seed, and what about the faith of a child? So sincere...no let down, they trust, they know, they don't hold back in their hearts preparing themselves that their prayer may not be "God's Will"....let it ll hang out....a dead chicken came to life, I don't know the reason, but I do know that my little j believes that his God exploded life in her again, at least for now.
Here are the pics, the worst are first...WARNING: a listless chicken:
rock on whiny...maybe tomorrow you will whine again!
Oh, and she got sick because she was malnourished, meaning: she would eat and eat and her body did not learn to absorb nutrients (therefore starving), so she would get cold, and was always hungry...it is a chick disease, and should not follow her through to adult birdhood.
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