Chicken Talk

I blogged about buying the little Dominque chicks in hopes of keeping the oldest American chicken breed alive. I purchased 12 pullets and a rooster.

Things went basically well - they went to the barn after a week in the house. Got a nice big trough for a home. But of course things went wrong.

One kept getting trampled by the rest. I would pick it up, dust her off and put her back on her feet. But the next time I looked, she would be down again.

I expected her to get over it, but the next morning she was down, and another chick was standing on her. She couldn't get up. I made sure she got water and came back in the morning.

She was breathing, bless her little heart. I picked her up, brought her back in the house and put her under a light. Then I made sure she got enough to drink (sugar water for energy). I gave her a strawberry then I left for work.

Let me state now that vets in Kentucky don't do chickens. They are very firm on this. The attitude is "get another one." Or my personal favorite: "Put it out of it's misery."

The pullet was alive last night when I came home. She couldn't stand up. But she drank more sugar water.

This morning she was sitting on her hocks, with help from me, to drink. She ate some chicken feed. When I left for work she was able to stagger to her feet for a few seconds.

I named her Boomer.