Back to normal I hope

OK, so after a bit of a manic time things looked like they were settling down. Mulder cockerel had settled in well with his brothers & new lady friends, the new Pekin trio had settled in with the chicklets plus Florence & Clover, George & Mildred turkey had won every one's hearts with their comical ways & all chicken sickness seemed to have been banished! All was peaceful bliss in our happy world of poultry. Also the work to finish the repairs to our house after our water leak had finally been scheduled to begin after months of waiting.

Then I noticed Cassie chicklet seemed a bit under the weather. Nothing really specific but when you have a close relationship with your birds you just know when some thing's not right. So I was keeping a watchful eye on her. Then a couple of mornings later I found my little sweetheart huddled in the corner of the bantam shed. Her head was all bloodied where feathers had been pulled from her head & she was very depressed & frightened. Poor Cassie chicklet! She's been through a lot in her short life to date, having already survived two near death experiences. I gently gathered her up into my arms & she cuddled against me. Chickens can be so mean to one another! I brought her indoors, popped her into a box with some food & water & treated her poor sore head with Violet Septi Cleanse spray. She seemed to have a bit of a snuffle but she was quite perky & tucked into the chick crumbs I'd given her with gusto. For such a little chicklet who has been through a lot she shows an amazing will to live! Polands are prone to hypothermia due to their unusual head feathers & thin skulls so I knew she wouldn't be able to go back outside with a poor bald bonce & wondered what I could do. What I needed was an egg cosy or something similar to use as a little hat for her. So when I got a chance I popped onto Twitter & asked the lovely people of the Twitterverse if anyone had a spare cosy they could send me! A lovely Twitter friend & fellow lover of critters (@seren9 if you want to find her on Twitter) immediately offered me 2 little hats she'd saved from Innocent Smoothie bottles when they had been running their Help the Aged campaign - perfect! How very kind people can be! There are lots of people on Twitter who love hens & they are just the loveliest of people to chat away to & don't think you're at all weird to hug your chooks or have them in the house when they are poorly - yes, there are others as nuts as me out there, really there are!!

So little Cassie chicklet was in our bedroom in her box, with a poor bald violet dyed head & being treated with Colloidal silver which is a natural antiseptic / antibiotic treatment - I thoroughly recommend it. She was down in the dumps but well enough to perch on the edge of her box when it was sleep time so I hoped to be able to get her back outside as soon as possible when her little hats came. Then this happened.....

Four to five inches of snow fell very rapidly! Brrrr! It created a beautiful Winter Wonderland but meant we were snowed in again. Hubby was on his way back from a business meeting in Brussells & I was really worried about him driving home in the treacherous conditions, but he ignored my suggestion of staying overnight in a hotel near to Gatwick & insisted on making the journey home. It was lovely that he wanted to be home but I did worry about him! Anyway, he got to within a mile of our house & had to abandon his car, which being a rear wheel drive is just hopeless in snow & ice. I tried picking him up in my little car but got it stuck in our drive way! What a pickle! But at least hubby was home safely. After a day or two enough of the snow had melted to enable us to get my car out & about. I was glad it didn't hang about this time. It just makes conditions so hard for the birds when it lies on the ground for any length of time

There was no way Cassie chicklet could go outside in the snowy conditions, especially as she wouldn't wear the darling little hats that arrived in the post, so she remained indoors being pampered & enjoying lots of cuddles. Her sniffles got a little worse but she remained quite lively & I wasn't concerned about her. I felt a little under the weather myself & despite having been so well for so long I recognised the signs of a fibromyalgia / cfs flare up on it's way. Normally I would just have taken to my bed for a day & fended it off, but the workmen then arrived to start the repairs to our house. This meant our bedroom was out of bounds & doors to the house being left open in the chilly weather as workmen busily cut tiles & carried paint, tools & equipment in & out. By Monday morning I felt really poorly & could do nothing but lock myself away in our living room & try to rest as best as possible. What bad timing!

Anyway, these things are sent to try us but in the scheme of things they are minor inconveniences really, aren't they? Cassie chicklet soon perked up & fortunately her head feathers grew back extremely quickly so after a brief spell hopping about our utility room during her recuperation she was strong enough to go back outside. I was a little worried about how her reintroduction would go but darling Big Bird, who has grown up into such a handsome & lovely natured chap, took to protecting her during her first couple of days back with the bantams & all went well.

The workmen took 4 days to repair & redecorate the house & then I was finally able to get the proper rest I needed to get better.

So here we are. Let's hope this time that it really is back to business as usual!