Friday, July 26, 2013

A Jealous Chicken

Our kindly chicken father, who lives nearby, his name is Jim. It was Jim who awakened us to the news one day that one of our flock, Miss Frizzle, was not herself. Jim said he thought she was egg blocked.

A quick chicken browser action informed us that egg block is a serious condition that can also halt the progress of elimination and eventually lead to the demise of the chicken. We were concerned.

The web also informed us that some symptoms of egg block are that the chicken imitates a penguin, waddling in an almost upright position instead of the usual chicken walk. The egg blocked chicken has no appetite and does not socialize with the flock. She holds her tail feathers down instead of the usual perky upright position. In addition, It may be possible to find the unlaid egg in the chicken by feeling around her abdomen, or you might feel some shell of an egg that has broken inside. We actually did this with the help of our friend, Anne, and couldn’t feel any of these things.

A few remedies were offered, and we chose the one that looked most attractive to those like us with limited chicken experience and lots of empathy and personal involvement with a stricken chicken.

Here is the remedy: