Christmas portraits, an injured bird and an old angel in a fake tree

It was a busy Sunday. Getting the house cleaned and ready for the official 2008 family Christmas portraits, cooking dinner for the hungry hordes, and wrapping all the Christmas gifts so the nosy little ones wouldn't see them lurking in the closets and various hiding places. I was so busy that I didn't take the time to go outside and investigate when I heard a god-awful commotion in the backyard sometime in mid-afternoon. I wrote it off as hens challenging each other over the last remaining specks of green in the yard.

 

When I went to the chicken coop on Monday morning, I discovered the result of all the commotion. Little Sparrow, one of my two Speckled Sussex hens, had most likely been attacked by a hawk. I saw that her feathers were unnaturally ruffled up around her neck and checked her out. She had a 1/2-inch deep by 1 1/2-inch wide open wound on the back of her neck. Then I noticed the dried blood on the roost and she was missing a lot feathers around the wound. Obviously, the other hens had been pecking at it. As all you other chicken keepers know, they would eventually kill her if she wasn't removed.

I took her into the house and washed the wound as well as I could and then squeezed some Neosporin into it. I kept her separated in a small dog cage inside the coop under the heat lamp the rest of the day. But when it came time for the hens to go to roost, she became so agitated trying to get to the roost that I was afraid she would do herself more harm. I brought her into the enclosed porch and covered the cage with an old quilt that I had used for the brooder.

She seems to be holding her own and even laid an egg sometime during the night or early morning hours. She is drinking, but didn't eat the oatmeal that I made for her this morning. I treated her again and it looked a little better, but not closing up like I had hoped it would. I really hope I don't lose her. I'm going to try letting her out with the other birds today and watch her carefully. I'll keep her separated at night when the others are most likely to pick on her.

With all the drama going on, I almost forgot to say that Sunday was my first dozen-egg day! Yay for the girls!

On a lighter note, the Christmas portrait session went as usual. Anyone who has ever tried taking group pictures of small children knows how much fun that can be. Out of 168 snapshots, I managed to get 27 that were actually usable. This is the one group shot of all five that made the cut.

 

Fannie, over at This Isn't What I Ordered, had to retire her angel of twenty years and that inspired me to show you my tired little angel who I got from Avon at least twenty-five years ago. I keep thinking I will get one of those snazzy, fancy-schmancy angels that you see everywhere with the ornate wings and flowing dresses, but I just can't seem to get rid of my simple little girl angel. She seems right for our tree.

 

A woman in Bellefontaine, Ohio made this curly wool sheep ornament.