Monday, September 13, 2010
BP Oil Spill at home
I had my own oil spill...let me tell you all about it...I was missing a hen yesterday, now these are my new hens that I got this spring they are all Plymouth Barred Rock hens...well, not all I have one Rooster, but that is another story in itself!! So I searched from 5pm yesterday until dark looking for this hen we looked in the garage, we looked in all the barns and under rocks and trailers to no avail..This morning I went out to let out the chickens and still now sign of her. I was pretty worried, but I had to go to work. On my way home tonight, David called me and said,"I have found your chicken, she is sitting on my workbench and she is covered in oil!" I was relieved and worried at the same time. When I arrived home, she had made her way into the driveway and all the hens were pecking at her..I quickly went into the house and found my biggest bowl and filled it with warm water and Dawn dishwashing liquid. I put it on the porch and went to catch her. I caught her very easily as it was hard for her to walk with all that oil on her feathers. She looked pretty pathetic. So i put her in the bowl and she stood there and as I am washing her all the black oil was running off her feathers. It was pretty disgusting, I only could wash her for a few minutes before the bowl was full of oily water, so I had to dump it and go back in and change it. I put her down and went in to get clean water again. She had decided that she wasn't sticking around for a second bath and jumped off the porch. I caught her pretty easy again and popped her back in the warm water and started washing her again and pretty soon the water was black again. So I wrapped her in a towel as she was starting to shiver and I made my way over to Adams house, I needed a deeper sink with a sprayer and I knew his kitchen sink was just what I was looking for! You can imagine how thrilled he was that I was bringing a chicken in his house and not only that but I was putting in his kitchen sink!! But I did it anyway, Emily (my trusty helper) held the Dawn bottle and squirted it in my hand when I needed it. I rubbed and suds her feathers and then sprayed her, trying to wash all the oil off. She finally got fed up and started to squirm and try to flap her wings. So I stopped and wrapped her up in a towel and carried her home..Oh, I did clean the sink out before I left. She was so cold that I knew I had to warm her up, so I put some hay in a small crate and went and got the heat lamp and put it on for her..She didn't have alot of room in that small crate, but I wanted her to be warm. Chickens get hypothermia really easy when they are wet. I gave her some food and water. She did eat and drink. I left her until she was dry and then I moved her to a bigger crate which is on top of Mel's (the dog) crate and covered it with a blanket. She finally laid down and I am hoping she is going to be ok..When I pick up the cover to look at her, you really can still smell the oil..but she is now relaxed..David said I should let her take a dust bath tomorrow and she can probably get the rest of the oil off her feathers..I read that you can't bathe chickens to much as they have a certain oil that is on their feathers (not the type mine has!) So I shall see..I have pretty much ruined my shirt that I was wearing, not taking the time to change..of course. So I need some pretty potent chicken prayers for my hen, so I am reaching out to all of you for that. Thanks..oh and as this is happening, my cats are chasing a little chipmunk which was hiding in the wheels of my camper screaming, so I had to crawl underneath there and drag the cats in and then convince the chipmunk that he could run to safety..I swear these animals are going to be the death of me!! Love to all...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment