Yesterday she didn't hang her head or flip over at all, so I thought she was getting better. But there must have been something else wrong. So my tiny chick with the big personality, my favorite, passed away some time last night.
Yes I know it happens, but it still sucks.
Yesterday I put the older chickens into the coop with the ducks. Today they are all still in the back of the coop. Just like the ducks. I thought they'd all be out in the yard scratching and clucking and having a good ole time but no...
Tomorrow I hope to lure them out with treats. What are the odds that they'll cooperate?
I did manage to teach them how to eat from the hanging feeder and drink from the waterer. They almost got the knack of it yesterday. One chick was almost there, but every time my hand got close enough to the feeder, Howard would come stick his bill in my hand and eat all the food, and me moving my hand to get more feed was too much for the flight little buggars.
That's how it works. When I call to Howard and want him to come to me he will never in a million years come close. But just try to keep him away when you don't want him there.
Today they were hungry enough that food got their attention more than it did yesterday. I was hoping that would be the case because I really don't want them to starve; I just can't go out there a thousand times a day to scatter food.
Red is one smart chicken. When I got her close enough to the feeder she put it together very quickly and instead of a peck here and peck there like the others, she went to town.
And that finally taught the rest of the flock where the food was.
So after a few minutes of trying to teach them where the water was I decided to bring Red over and let her be the pioneer a second time. She scoots around but can't stand up anymore... her legs are so messed up that I'm not sure they will ever work right... so the waterer was too high. I lowered it and that's all it took. She drank and so did the rest of the flock.
I hope that helps them think of her as a leader, I'm afraid they're going to pick on her eventually. She and Howard already have a history, although to be fair - she started it. They had a truce for a while, but I eventually moved the ducks so they haven't been together for a few weeks.
I spent the rest of the day driving around back roads and side roads, stopping and taking pictures when I could and rueing the fact that there are just some barns that are perfect but untouchable... no good spot in the road to stop, no good angle, no clear shot.
I wanted this barn so bad. I damn near pulled into their driveway to get it but I'm always afraid someone is going to confront me.
Is it wrong that I've thought about wearing my scrubs when I go exploring so I can pull in and say Oops, wrong house, damn GPS took me the wrong way again... And pretend I still do home health?
It amazes me how many barns there are and how I never get tired of them. I realized that's what relaxes me... the search for the perfect barn and roads with no one on them. I found that perfect road today...
God help me if I ever see a for sale sign, I'll sell everything I own to get a piece of it.
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