Vet Visits, Oh Boy.

This week began with a battle of wills between us and the grown up chickens, specifically John Adams. Due to our good nature and desire to have the happiest chickens known to mankind we have been letting the Adams Family out in the chicken run regularly. It is a little early to trust them completely as free rangers yet and a chicken is a tasty treat for a hawk or stray dog, but we capitulated to the crowing and let them have some protected outdoor space. All was well on the farm so Ed and Nate sped off to Lowes for some supplies and testosterone-laden discussion. Upon their return Kaitlin and Gayle were running around like chickens with their you know what cut off trying to get Mr. Adams back in the pen. Talk about an opportunist. As soon as the boys left he decided to party like chickens do and sprinted laps around the chicken coop followed by the girls.

The exercise ended in a mild altercation between Ed and Mr. Adams, and lets just say Mr. Adams lost when he had to tap out and concede the wrestling match. Some chicken thinking and a few fence adjustments should correct the problem.

The new chicks are doing very well and growing so fast you can see them as they sprout new feathers. In a week they have quadrupled in size. We are especially proud of our “Rare and Exotic” freebie from the hatchery. He/She was included as a surprise with our order. Chris has identified it as a Japanese Phoenix variety, although we are unsure of its gender. There are over two hundred varieties of chickens in the United States. We have named our new friend Superchicken due to its dominance and exhibition of superior intelligence over the other babies. For fun and entertainment Ed will catch crickets and throw them into the brooder box with the twenty-five babies. Total mayhem ensues as all twenty-five race around the box like atoms in a molecule stealing the tasty treat from each other. It kind of resembles what would happen if a fifty-dollar bill blew across the floor at Kmart during a blue light special sale. Anyway, Superchicken is currently undefeated in cricket racing and has consumed the prize every time.

On Thursday we had quite a scare when Woody showed up with an injured right leg and couldn't walk. He wouldn't come for food or to go outside and winced in pain when we tried to look at his paw. We decided that it was his right front wrankle (wrist/ankle) that was bothering him and set out to determine the cause of his pain. When asked Woody wasn't clear about exactly what happened (typical of teenagers) so we had to reconstruct the incident by gathering evidence and piecing together a good timeline for the time period prior to his lameness. After thorough investigation and a rather costly visit to the vet we decided that Woody was lying on the couch and realized that Gayle was on her way upstairs to take a little nap. In his haste to join her he fell off the couch and landed wrong, injuring himself to the point that he is on bed rest and anti-inflammatories for two weeks.

Now, I realize that I do have a tendency to be cynical, but come on. This isn't a union shop. We don't work our staff too hard. Why would someone need to exaggerate an injury to get time off on bed rest? He could have worked to make it look like he was injured doing something heroic couldn't he? I guess the stress of moving from suburban prince to rural farm hand may have been too stressful. I'm sure a vacation request is on its way.

This week we are installing the most important modern farm implement that any farm could have and every farm should have, a hot tub. The hot tub is important on the farm. It keeps the farmer in the right frame of mind and actually moving after riding the tractor for too long or listening to the goats complain incessantly about EVERYTHING. There is bound to be some allegations of unfairness, since the hot tub club will be exclusive to people only, but we will cross that bridge when it comes. Besides, you can bet that if the farmer has an orthopedic issue and gets bed rest for two weeks that the goats and chickens will be filing a grievance in no time.

Now, how to duck proof a hot tub....?