[Sca-cooks] Adventures with poultry and other sorrows...

[Saint Phlip]

So, here I have my beloved geese (Tufted Romans, a period breed) and
my Runner ducks, as well as a turkey and 5 baby chicks, included to
help keep the rest warm. After keeping them inside for a week or so
(not intended, but had to because the 10' X 20' garage shelter
collapsed due to an unexpected snow load), we finally got them outside
in a cage enclosure, with the heat lamp to keep them warm, and the
storm hit.

Its precursor had walked the rebuilt shelter off the porch, and I,
being home alone while R&M were at work, managed to walk the bloody
thing BACK onto the porch, and tied it down lightly with a couple of
pieces of parachute cord. However, Rob again didn't reinforce my tie
downs, so when the storm hit here Sat night, it walked again, although
admittedly it had to bend another pole to do so. So, Rob and I go
running out in the storm to get the leg poles out, hoping to avoid
bending even more poles (the pipe we replaced the previously bent
poles with are NOT going to bend), and just as we did so, a gust of
wind came along and flipped the whole bloody thing. Mean time, the
hatchery which had been under it was perfectly fine- I was responsible
for that- MY birdies ;-)

Until the power, and therefore the heat lamp went out.

So, out into the storm again, grabbing babies and stuffing them into a
box, hoping their body heat will keep them warm.

By morning, the electric had come back on just long enough (about 5
AM) for a tree between us and the next door neighbor's to blow over on
top of the power lines, thus putting the power off again, and just in
case we were bored, the broken power line decided to festively light
up the dark with arcing and a small fire, as people drove by, under
the whole mess (we're on a tiny little country road) blithely ignoring
the tree, the downed line and sparks.

Finally about 8 AM, the fire dept stopped by to put up tape and signs
to prevent people from driving under the mess. Power lines had been
turned off, so at least no more arcing and fires.

Can anybody tell me what there is about a sign the says,
"Emergency-road blocked" that people don't understand? Because, by our
count, over 40 people drove merrily around the sign (just at our end-
wasn't counting the other end) and had to turn around in our driveway
because the road was blocked with the tape, and then there were the 3
people who came through, got out of their cars, lifted the tapes, all
three, one at a time, and drove through, under the power lines with
the tree rocking in it and the cable swinging in the breeze, not to
mention the idiot who just drove past the signs and through all the
tape. When I wasn't trying to deal with poultry, I was running back
out to put the tape back up.

But, back to the little birdies.

To try to keep them warm, I had, as I said, put them all in a box, but
not only do they need to be warm, they need fed and watered, and if
they're jammed in closely enough to keep warm, there's no room for
food and water, so I put the goslings in their own box with food and
water, and left the rest in the other box with food and water, at
which point the ducklings decided to play in the water, and soon I had
a box of soggy (very much a no no) birds.

All this was temporary, or intended to be, because surely the power
company would be along shortly to fix things, right? Not until about 2
AM this morning.

Mean time, the cable company came through, said he'd have cable on in
a few minutes (did us a lot of good with no electric). Then, here
comes 2 AT&T trucks, who very carefully assure me the telephone will
be on shortly (not for us- we're strictly on cell, so we'd never lost
our phones in the first place), takes down the tapes, and drives off,
leaving them down.

I love emergency personnel, they're just so helpful ;-)

Finally, as it got late, I moved the soggy birds into a pet carrier,
and pointed it at the kerosene heater (we were fine- warm, lots of
bottled water and camping lanterns and we made Rob bring us home
Kentucky Fried Rodent for supper) and hoped for the best.

Was very concerned about the babies because they'd had several
temperature changes, not to mention much more handling than I prefer
to do when they're so young, but they seem to have come through just
fine, and are now peeping away in their hatchery, glad, I think, of
lots of room and constant food and water.

And, we have 4 more turkeys and 6 more geese, as well as whatever
extra male chicks the hatchery sends to make sure everyone stays warm
arriving Thursday or Friday.

What next?

-- 
Saint Phlip

Heat it up
Hit it hard
Repent as necessary.

Priorities:

It's the smith who makes the tools, not the tools which make the smith.

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