Mango...

Things are looking up??

My baby chicken mango is still alive... she's not really improving... but she's alive.

I'm learning a lot about chicken conversations. I have long conversations with Mango, especially at night right before she goes to sleep... I make a sound, and with her little head upside down and tucked under her she manages to peep back.... three peeps is a good sound. A loud one peep seems to be a "I'm thirsty!, or "I'm standing on my head!" or... "I'm stuck in the corner again!" The best sound is a purr sound they make.... it almost sounds like a cricket... this is a sound they make to each other.... as if they are gossiping about a neighbor. I try desperately to get Mango to make that sound for me... but she won't... because she knows... I am not a chicken or an equal.

My family came over this weekend. All of them pretty much were like, "Is that a bird?" She is so screwed up that she doesnt even look like anything. just a round lump of feathers. "Yup she's in there somewhere....."

I'm just waiting for her to die at this point. I have stopped force feeding her.... I just make sure she has food, fresh water and is comfortable. I have stopped the medicine. She is eating and drinking when she gets up enough energy to do so.

I have been documenting her by video. If this bird lives, I will be writing a long article about her and submitting it to backyard chickens. I may even make a cape for her to wear, along with a gold crown. I'm not kidding. It will be a miracle if this bird pulls out of this tail spin.

 I just went out to check on my other birds. They are Ok... some of them are improving. One even laid an egg! The first one in a week. I have stopped the antibiotics on them too. I feel like a weeks worth of high dosage is good enough.

As I went to feed my chicks, Spots came running up to me. She is my speckled Sussex.... She is so soft and sweet. She's my youngest and smallest, yet has the best personality. She just wants to be held. I picked her up and she immediately plopped her little body down in the palm of my hand as if it was a warm nest. She closed her eyes and chirped enthusiastically for me to stroke her feathers. Now, after so much time spent with Mango, I know that the sounds coming out of this bird are pure contentment.

I suppose I am becoming a chicken whisperer. I know how to hold them, talk to them, and even how to look at them.

Now, if only I had this magic talent with humans.