The hopping chicken, who looks very bright and active despite her hopping, has blood on her comb. If we were proper chicken farmers, we'd just dispatch her, as it's not cost-effective to get veterinary treatment. That's not as callous as it sounds - if a bird is given antibiotics, its no longer suitable for the table.
However, we won't just dispatch her. If she was looking miserable or huddled, we would do it immediately - but she doesn't. Having made the decision not to dispatch her, then of course we do need to take her to see the Vet just as we would if she was one of our Garden Girls.
The earliest our chicken-specialist Vet can see us is Monday morning, so DH is bringing her home. "Name of Pet?", the nurse asked. So she's now got a name - Peg. (as in PegLeg) It's fatal giving your working birds names.
Now, let's assume she gets better. She'll be out of the flock for a few days, and we may have problems reintroducing her. So, my immediate thought was that we should bring one of the others back as well. We discussed which one (as we don't know who has been pecking her). Mrs Flint and Blue-Ring are the two who are laying, and they are the likely culprits. Norman is still an unknown quantity, so it could be himher. The only one that I know wasn't involved in the earlier trouble is GreyRing, so by a process of elimination, I selected her.
But then I thought, what if Peg doesn't make it? Then GreyRing will have to be reintroduced.
So, we've now revised the Plan. DH will bring PegLeg home. When we've seen the Vet on Monday and we know what the prognosis is, we'll decide whether to bring someone else home to keep her company.
However, we won't just dispatch her. If she was looking miserable or huddled, we would do it immediately - but she doesn't. Having made the decision not to dispatch her, then of course we do need to take her to see the Vet just as we would if she was one of our Garden Girls.
The earliest our chicken-specialist Vet can see us is Monday morning, so DH is bringing her home. "Name of Pet?", the nurse asked. So she's now got a name - Peg. (as in PegLeg) It's fatal giving your working birds names.
Now, let's assume she gets better. She'll be out of the flock for a few days, and we may have problems reintroducing her. So, my immediate thought was that we should bring one of the others back as well. We discussed which one (as we don't know who has been pecking her). Mrs Flint and Blue-Ring are the two who are laying, and they are the likely culprits. Norman is still an unknown quantity, so it could be himher. The only one that I know wasn't involved in the earlier trouble is GreyRing, so by a process of elimination, I selected her.
But then I thought, what if Peg doesn't make it? Then GreyRing will have to be reintroduced.
So, we've now revised the Plan. DH will bring PegLeg home. When we've seen the Vet on Monday and we know what the prognosis is, we'll decide whether to bring someone else home to keep her company.
