close call

we thought we lost clementine to a hawk. 

andy was working outside, watering plants.  i was inside, changing a diaper - again.  even inside i heard the commotion of alarmed chickens squaking, wings flapping, and large birds running through bushes.  andy came to tell me to get outside.  he knew he had seen the hawk, but he wasn't sure if it had gotten any of the girls. 


amazingly, the hawk came within feet of andy when his back was turned watering the fig tree.  we knew because the ground there was littered with clementine's feathers.  when i saw so many feathers i thought she was gone.  trying to be hopeful we searched our back and front yards for her several times before dark.   nothing.  it was awful.  the low point of my backyard chicken keeping experience.

the other chickens had taken cover but were separated across the backyard.  they hate being apart. so as they gained confidence, one hen at a time would come out of hiding and chicken-sprint to her flock.  i was too upset to appreciate it that day, but it was funny.  chickens running is funny.  i will try to get good photos.   the flock was traumatized.  without clementine they hid inside a large bush for over two hours.  eventually they either forgot or gained courage and returned to their coop at nightfall.

the next day i went to let the girls out of the coop in the mid morning and there was clem!  she was pacing next to the coop, poor thing, not able to get inside.   she must have hidden all night far under the deck or somewhere we couldn't see her.  i was elated!  i still had 10 chickens!  all my girls were fine!  and then i scooped clementine up and realized she was not fine.  she looked perfect but underneath her right wing, feathers and flesh gave way and an enormous wound gaped.  i just kept telling andy "i think i can see organs".   don't worry, there are no pictures of it.

i spent a lot of time reading the 'chicken health' sections of my books and steeling myself to perform the described interventions.  i have no experience with this sort of thing.  but andy and i both knew when we decided to keep chickens:  care of the animals is my job.  and we are not going to spend a fortune on vet bills for chickens, so it is a hands on job for me.

i went to the drug store for supplies - saline, iodine, sterile gauze, neosporin.  it took me most of the day to gear up for it.  i freaked myself out more than was probably necessary.  i got mad at the hawk and then i tried to remind myself that hawks attacking chickens is natural.  (but spending $50 at CVS to repair a chicken is not natural).  and i said to myself the words my cousin mitch wrote to me: "if you didn't have chickens, you wouldn't have these problems." 

i enlisted greyson as the chicken nurse (he was soon fired for lack of attention span).  i wrapped clementine in a lightning mcqueen towel and i did it.  i cleaned and treated a wounded chicken.   on my wedding anniversary.  

now clementine seems to be doing just fine.  i've done little else but keep an eye on the wound and her behavior.  now i am worried that the hawk has found my chickens (hopefully he won't tell the HOA) and will be back.   the last few days i've kept them cooped up unless i'm home with them.  but i can't continue that, they are noticeably less happy.  i remind myself that we knew losing chickens to hawks was a possibility, especially where we live.   i just didn't realize how much i'd care.