Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Chickens and Dreams


There are all ten of the teenager chicks. They're doing so well. We have our little routines. At night I gather them up and put them in the little roost box in the coop so that they will sleep safely, hoping that they will figure out that that is where they're supposed to sleep and will eventually tuck themselves in there at night and all I'll have to do is slide the door closed.
In the morning I open the door and they parade out on their long, stalky legs down the runway and I bring them a bolted lettuce plant from the garden for them to eat and make sure that they have food and clean water. In the late afternoon I make them their fruit salad which delights them and causes great fluttering and pecking and chirping. I feed them some by hand and then scatter some for the shyer birds and I always make enough to offer the big chickens some too, for a treat.

As to the babies- well, I have one (Little Bear, in fact) who seems to be having respiratory problems. When she breathes, I can see her entire body taking in the breath, as if she is having to use her muscles to help with the process and sometimes makes a bit of a whistle/peep on inspiration. I've looked this up on the all-knowing internet and it doesn't seem like this fits into any of the more common chick ailments. She doesn't have any discharge from her nose and she can stand upright and her poop looks okay. I'm already doing what should be done for any chick not quite right which is to have vitamins and electrolytes and probiotics in their water, to make sure their water is clean, their food is available, the temperature not too hot or cold, no overcrowding, and clean bedding.


This chicks are younger than any chicks I've had in quite a while and I know that there are plenty of things which can affect and infect them before they are even sold although honestly, chickens are among the hardiest of any species as far as I can tell. 
All I can do is to watch her (him?) and I can always try giving a little sugar water if things look dire. 
I will do my best. 

We never did get the rain, the hail, the winds, and the storms that were prophesied and predicted for today. Instead it's been muggy as hell and uncomfortably warm. I took a walk this morning, came home and kicked bamboo, did laundry, tended chickens, read some, and mopped my kitchen and a bathroom. 
And worried about Little Bear. 
And anything and everything else I could possibly worry about. Anxiety has been a large part of the grand scheme of things today, so much so that I can barely remember my walk although I know I took it because I picked up the mail and have that as proof. 

Ah well. 

Soon it will be time for bed and I wonder what I'll dream tonight. My dreams are seeming to evolve with all of the dream elements in them. Travel in cities not my own. Babies and children who need tending, and houses so full of rooms and secrets and now elevators and hallways and walkways and people and trash and treasure with grounds outside which need tending and planting and trimming and pools which need cleaning and restoration that I can't begin to figure out where to begin and I am always so tired in these dreams. 
So very, very tired and all I want is to crawl into one of the messy beds with sheets that no doubt need washing and fall asleep. 
And yet, I never can. 
And where the hell is my toothpaste?

I find it strange and also amusing that as my life, my real here-I-am life, becomes simpler and simpler, my dreams become more and more ornate and complicated.

It ain't gonna rain. 
I wish it would. 
Aw, maybe it will. 

I have no control over anything. 

Not one damn thing. 

And I think and believe that as I grow older and older, this will become more and more the truth. 

Love...Ms. Moon










6 comments:

  1. I'm getting into my late 70's now, SWMBO is approaching 81 and we're about to move. Again. We said when we moved here that it would be our last but sometimes you have no control. So, life goes on.

    I wonder, do you raise your chickens and sell them for food? That departure day must be difficult.

    Though are lives are so different, I love to read your blog, Ms. Moon, and I'm glad I discovered it. Sweet dreams.

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  2. A whole new batch of chickens to worry about :) and I wish you could get rid of those dreams you have. Reading about them makes me anxious!

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  3. I am worried about Little Bear. It must be so hard to struggle for breath. That's how anxiety feels sometimes, too.

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  4. Oh, poor Little Bear. Here's hoping it's just a temporary thing. I would do anything to wish away your anxiety. Keep writing -- I know you will -- and I'm sure it helps!

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  5. I know I am dreaming but lately I have no recollection of it. husband picked up something from one of the many babies and kids he kissed when we were in Dallas and now he has given it to me, though it is less than what he went through. still, I don't get sick! and now I'm fighting this off. ugh.

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  6. I am sorry about your ailing chick. Sounds awful and maybe painful. I had a dream that you were interviewing Elizabeth about her personal life and loves. It was fascinating. I was angry when the cat woke me up!

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