The Saga of Beatrice...the hen with a stroke

One of the last hens, walking homeward
Dusk tonight.
With the nights drawing in and the weather deteriorating , "locking up" the animals for the night can be a bit of a chore. With the turkeys, ducks and geese all safely bedded down and the pigs fed and watered, all I have to do at dusk is to wait for the hens to totter back to their houses in the Ukrainian village before locking the doors for the night.
You cannot hurry hens, if you do they will invariably run in exactly the opposite direction that you want them to go, so I have got into the habit of sitting under the Churchyard trees with the guinea fowl chattering gently above my head listening to Radio 4 Extra as in groups of two and three, the hens head homeward.
Stanley
Just as I switched over to The Archers,  I noticed that Stanley the cockerel was still outside his hen house. It was getting dark,and instead of roosting, he was stamping outside the coop door clucking loudly with concern into the wind..
As I walked down towards him to see what was up, he suddenly lifted himself up and galloped across the field some fifty yards into the long grass, where he danced around for a bit before racing back to the coop door.
He did this three times before I reached him and he was still clucking loudly when I found out just why he was so excited, for lying in the grass was one of his hens, a Rhode island red called Beatrice.

She was alive, and was manfully trying to hop her way back to her roosting coop before dark,  However her left leg and wing were dragging uselessly on the ground for she had suffered the common affliction that chickens often suffer from, she had experienced a stroke.

Generally when hens stroke out, the best thing to do is to put them out of their misery, they can never be left with other hens as their fluttering and odd behaviour always illicit bullying. Left in the open with the more aggressive turkeys,  a disabled hen will be pecked to death within minutes, so generally it is kinder to "do the right thing"

But  with, her heroic effort to return to her coop and the concern of her rooster, to save her, I decided to give the old hen a chance and set her up in an old rabbit hutch for the night....

I have just checked on her,  she is still paralysed , but ate a  load of corn well and looked bright enough even though she couldn't walk........another lame duck (hen) to care for me thinks.....
I'll never make a proper farmer will I?

37 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:12 pm

    Too soft hearted John, that's why we love you.

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  2. Saga indeed. Oh dear, that's a sad little story. I didn't know hens had strokes. You have an interesting life John - it's all there, life death and everything in between!

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  3. I'm so glad you'll never make a proper farmer.

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  4. She might recover, John. I had a very old hen that had a stroke when a raccoon broke into the pen and killed a couple of other chickens. I, too, put her in a rabbit pen, with a comfortable straw bed, and her water and feed in front of her. It took about a week for her to get up and walk around, and another couple of weeks before I trusted her with the other hens. It's two years later and she's still alive and well, and at least 12 years old. Good for your rooster for doing his job, none of mine would.

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  5. Jan , Stanley is a sweet old soul!

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  6. Aww.. Maybe she will get better. One never knows. Good for Stanley to notify you of a problem.

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  7. Well, I learned something new. I would have thought she had escaped some sort of attack.

    I hope we luck into a rooster like yours and I do hope Beatrice will eventually heal.

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  8. No and neither will I for similar reasons.I have had to learn to do the hard confronting stuff better as you have to and their welfare is always paramount..euthenasing a goose is not much fun I can tell you.Neither is burying one lost to snake bite..that long neck gone stiff requires a very long hole!

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  9. Oh yes you will! You are the PROPER farmer in my books. Beatrice is looking for a nice 'retirement'....lucky chick!

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  10. John...you wait and see....you'll end up a vegan like me!
    Jane xx

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  11. Perhaps the corn will act as TPA. I love that you're not a proper farmer but an extraordinary person.
    xo Linda

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  12. Poor miss B.......there is a bigger story here...the gallant concerned rooster....It about kills me thinking about it..I say follow jan's lead....give her a second chance....your not to soft hearted....just right.... Bless that stanley's rooster's heart.....and long live miss B!!!! ( at least a little longer........)

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  13. Didn't know hens had strokes.. Poor Dear. Good thing she has you to look after her. You are a good and very thoughtful man who loves his animals..
    My computer is now working and it's so good to be back and read my favorite blogs.
    Have a Tiggeriffic Day. ~! ta ta for now from Iowa~!~!

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  14. Bless you John. There is a spot in heaven for you! Your story about the little hen and rooster brought tears for my eyes!

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  15. Yep you're a soft hearted FARMER John...if you were a vet you'd be James Harriot. I know what you mean about trying to get hens in the hen house before they're ready...a total waste of time. I love that the rooster was so loyal to this hen...good luck with her!
    Maura :)

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  16. I'm afraid I would not make a very good farmer, I would want to save everything from harmful ways.
    I think you are a wonderful, kind-hearted caretaker, who cares deeply about your animal's well-being.
    I so hope the little chicken makes it...
    ~Jo

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  17. Another thing I'll have to watch-out for. When I'm a little late tucking mine up, they all go and sit on the roof. Would you please give Stanley a little extra feed today from me; he sounds like an Hero. !

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  18. Anonymous5:10 am

    Not farm-proper perhaps, but the stories you have to tell are infinitely more interesting this way. Full of dramatic tension; hope and pluck, bad odds and uncertain outcomes. (There's nothing uncertain about "doing the right thing.")
    Bravo for Stanley and bravo for Beatrice and bravo for you. And keep us posted of course. We all seem to be suckers for the underdogs.
    Dxoxo

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  19. You are so in tune with your animals John. You won't ever make a farmer, more zoo keeper. x

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  20. How very sad. She is eating and that is a good sign. I just had a hen that died of a prolapse. I had no idea that they could have strokes too.

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  21. Nothing wrong with compassion, John. Even farmers are occasionally afflicted with that.

    I have to wait for the hens at night too. Better during autumn and winter as at least I get back to the house at a decent hour...

    ...You old softy.

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  22. the lesson here is that a cock will always look after those who have a stroke......its one of the benefits of being a cock ,surrounded by others where strokes are common place......its the basic law of poultry life....no wonder they strut !!

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  23. jason,
    you have nosedived into "carry on camping#" world

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  24. ooh matron !! couldnt resist !!

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  25. Your care and concern for Beatrice is exemplary. I applaud your unrealstic attitude - always give a hen a second chance. With this attitude your stock pot may be empty but your sleep will be untroubled.

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  26. I have just checked on her this morning... the paralysis is profound but she seems alert enough and is eating well...
    it looks as though she has been retired in the rabbit hutch!

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  27. No John you will not make a proper farmer - thankfully ;-)

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  28. There must have been a nature-reason Stanley fought so hard to draw attention to Beatrice... I wish her luck.

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  29. jac
    he's just a good cockerel... he does his job....he looks after his girls x

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  30. Improper farmers are the best in my book. And what a touching story. I await news of her rehabilitation. Will you provide the speech therapy or will you leave it to the rooster?

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  31. Perhaps you won't make a proper farmer, but your heart is most certainly in the right place, and your husbandry outstanding.

    I'm glad you're giving Beatrice a chance. Should you find that you need to 'put her out of her misery', you can do so knowing that you gave her a chance to rally.

    Good on Stanley!

    megan

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  32. I'm not sure I want to be a proper farmer, I'd rather be like you :)Mo

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  33. You're as good of a farmer as I am a foster home for the Golden Retrievers--I can't say no or let them go easily either...

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  34. I would never make a proper farmer either! Here's to Beatrice and old softies!

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  35. John - It's now Nov 13. She's still not walking? She's still in her separate pen? Is she attempting to walk? You're telling me that in mid Jan I will still be tending to my bird Danni in a separate pen every day? You're scaring me, my friend... Tell me it's not so.

    I cannot put Danni down right now, I've nursed her and force-fed her and gotten attached to that damn little bird. I see her struggle to be better, to walk. I see her happy when I put her with the other birds. I see her wanting to be better. I can't kill her. And so I will let you know how it is going in mid-Jan.

    ~Lynn

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  36. As someone above said, if you are not a proper farmer, then i don't want to be one either...great story. I love that the Rooster was letting you know there was a problem. Maybe animals have much more there than alot of us give credit for. You gave her a chance she might not have otherwise had. I think THAT is proper...

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  37. Did she recover? We have a hen who has had a stroke, she has just one companion (quite old, the others have all died) who isn't bullying her. It looks like this is the second one, she can't move but is happy to eat and drink. Will she make some sort of recovery ie walk in and out of her pen? Thanks in advance! Jackie

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