A little over a week ago we decided to up our chicken flock by four. After buying the chickens we brought them to the back of the house and let them go. Only then did we realize that we had made a bit of a mistake! They would have no idea where to go in the evening!!
I guess we just thought that they would know where the coop was by osmosis or something!!
Anyways, we realized that we needed to round up the chickens and start them out in the coop. Easier said than done my friend!! Boy howdy were those girls flighty!!
On top of the new girls being skittish, one of the old hens was MAD!! I tell you, she was squawking up a storm. She followed Farmer Willie around the yard yelling at him for about 30 minutes.
Well, the new hens were sooooo fast! They were running everywhere!!
So imagine us all running around trying to catch these four hens that absolutely do NOT want to be caught.....Oh wait, I can help you imagine it!! I snapped a picture! :)
After chasing for a while, one of the farm cats decided he would help, so he started running around trying to attach the chickens. This led to squeals from the peanut gallery and a new sense of urgency to catch them!! My sweet germ-a-phobic DD #2 even went running into the brush to try and help get them.
So FINALLY we were able to get all four into a temporary coop connected to the hen house.
Of course, two of the older chickens thought it was really interesting to watch the new ones inside the run!!
Well, you know how I mentioned DD #2 pitching in and even going into the brush to try and save the chickens? Well, I should also mention that she is EXTREMELY allergic to poison ivy and going into the brush, while well intended, ended up being a REALLY bad idea!!
Two mornings later, this is what she woke up to!
One more day passes and it progresses to this....
My poor baby girl! All she was doing was trying to help!!
Well, her reaction just kept going and she ended up with blisters. One area of the blisters looked like this....
Soon, she could not move her fingers because of the blisters, so we headed into see her pediatrician. They cut the blisters opened and cleaned them out really well!
Ended up she had the equivalent of 2nd degree burns due to her reaction. It has been a rough week and weekend for her, but praise the Lord, she seems to be doing better now!!
So the lessons we learned on the chicken poison ivy day are:
1. When you get new chickens, start them out in the coop for a bit so they know where to come home to at night.
2. Play with your cat for a while before you go chasing chickens, or he will think it looks fun and try to chase them with you!
3. Don't go into the brush if you are allergic to poison ivy.
4. Roosters help protect hens from playful cats!! We got one the next day thanks to our awesome neighbor!!
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