healing nico, healing me

nico was being picked on by the other chickens.  someone was plucking the feathers from her rump at night.  she started sleeping in the nesting boxes to protect herself.  eventually blood was drawn, and once there is blood (especially on a white chicken) the other hens won't leave it alone.  i had to step in.

each day i cleaned the wound an applied iodine and a topical ointment.   she had the run of the yard with the others during the day.  each night i closed her into a cat carrier inside the hen house.  she was still with the other girls, but protected from them.

since she was little, nico has been picked on .  funny, because she grew to be the largest of the hens.  she was the most easy going too, and she and venus were by far the most friendly.

nico had healed once and then the picking began again.  she was just healed for a second time when the dog attack happened.

having spent so much time caring for them and nursing wounds made it even harder to lose nico and clementine in such a senseless way.  the life simply shaken out of them after all the care i had put in.

i've been thinking a lot about the risk of letting my flock free-range in the yard.  i never wanted to have chickens that were caged all the time.  our plan was always to let them free during the day, close them in for safety when they sleep at night.  and it worked well, until the one time it didn't.  

i believe with all my heart that my chickens deserve freedom, sunshine, fresh cut grass to nibble, bugs to chase.... but would it have been worth it to keep them caged if it also meant keeping them safe?  if they were still alive?

a couple of days ago i was introduced to the bedlam farm blog.  i was so inspired by this post about Fear, the first i had ever read by Jon Katz, that i subscribed to his farm journal to see what else he had to tell me.  and yesterday, as a part of his story about a hen injured by a fox, he wrote the following:

Two weeks after a fox nearly ate her alive, Fran is back walking around with the other hens, doing the elemental chicken things – scratching at the ground with her feet, pecking at bugs, looking for seeds, moving, moving, moving. I do not want a chicken holed up in a coop all day, so the chickens are free to roam the farm in daylight, and are locked up securely at night.

 The life if a chicken is almost primal in the clear outlines of a chickens’ life. Many things will eat them, and they trade a measure of freedom for this potential sacrifice. It is the story of the chicken, forever and again.

he is right.  that is the life of a chicken.  and perhaps if i want to keep chickens, my place is to provide the best life i can, while i can.  to understand and allow a chicken's life to be what it is and be grateful for the experiences they bring.

today i am certain that if i could have explained the risk to them, my chickens would still have chosen freedom.   reading the words of jon katz helped me confirm my choice for the future flock.  it also loosened the clutch of guilt i have felt since losing my First Flock.  i'm not yet healed, but on my way.

nico

clementine hoping for treats from quinn