A Chicken Lesson... a Sad One... and Some Books to Give Away

I am winnowing out the library again, and I have a few 

books I would gladly pass on to whomever wants them... I'll send them 

media mail.

This is the first... it's a good book... for when I thought I was

going to be making cheese all the time in my retirement.

I have made goat cheese, and I like it... but I did not go on to 

other cheese endeavors. 

Here is another good one... but I did not go in the direction of 

dairy goats, ultimately.  Both of these are lightly read and very clean. 

Here's another I only paged through.  Michaele at 

Sprout'N"Wings (on our sidebar) wrote a very good 

post today about the fact that she is an empty nester again, and 

has no one really to can for.  I have two year old apple butter sitting 

on our shelves from the same... we just don't eat enough of 

"canned" stuff to make it worthwhile to go through the trouble anymore. 

I have a Ball bluebook, and will use that as a reference in the future. 

And yes, I gave lots away in the past. 

Remember, just let me know in the comments that you want them, 

otherwise, I'll donate them to the Good Shepherd to earn some 

money for the food pantry. 

This, my friends... is the badly deformed foot of a silkie-cross chicken. 

Sorry, this is a terrible picture of her head.  She is the little girl who lays under the big white hen, who protects her.  I just realized it looks like I am holding her upside down... I'm not, I was holding her like a football while I looked at her feet. 

This is the ONLY toe she has left.  There is one toe on the right foot, none on the left, only a club. 

She cannot really walk, she pulls herself around with the one toe.  I can't bear it any more... and Keith is to put her down tonight, even though she is otherwise as healthy as can be... though not laying anymore. 

All of my silkies have either VERY long nails that I have to cut, or have lost toes in the cold.  I have two more crosses in the henspa, and Silka, a buff colored purebred,  I know Silka has at least one incredibly long nail that needs trimming right now. 

But this poor little girl, born and bred here... it is just not fair for her to live like this, and this is why it is a lesson... even when we take good care of our birds, things happen. 

Keith, God bless him, will take care of it quickly and quietly, away from the other birds. He does not like to do it, but he will when he must, and he is quick about it. 

Lilly was ready to get the starlings I was flushing out of the old henhouse a while ago. 

That nasty sludge was all that was left in the waterer.  UGH.  It smells so badly. 

A fart egg next to a regular egg. 

The little girl closest to her protector is the one we are saying goodbye to... the hardest part of animal keeping, I tell you. 

Leave a comment if you would like one of the books.