This afternoon, when I went out to feed my chickens their lunch, I noticed one bird standing a little apart with a piece of plastic tarp sting hanging out of his mouth. Upon closer examination, I realized he was attached to the tarp via that wispy plastic string!
With a little patience and determination, I reached under the tractor while lifting it at the same time, and caught the little booger. Well, due to circumstances, I knew I had to detach the bird from the tarp before I could pull him out from under the tractor...so hanging onto his legs, I grubbed around in my pants pocket until I got ahold of my knife. (Providence...I decided to wear pants this morning for some reason; if I hadn't I wouldn't have had my knife more than likely [most of my skirts lack pockets].) I managed to open it one handed (the sheepsfoot blade is the only one loose enough) and had to do some interesting finger contortions to work the tarp string and the knife through the chicken wire at the same time. (The whole time I was holding a squirming chick by the legs with my left hand.)
Once I succeeded in loosing the little guy, I hauled him out, pried his beak open and went, "Oh."
The string was wrapped around the back of his tongue.
I observed, poked, and then found Daddy. He held the bird and I tried to unwind the sting. No go. He suggested a pair of tiny scissors he has and told me where to find them. I dashed off and found them and tried again. I couldn't quite get the tips under the string (it was tight), so Daddy got to thinking a little more and remembered another pair of tiny scissors he has, only those had a little semi-circle hook on the end. He handed me the bird and soon came back with them. After a couple of snips, he succeeded in cutting through the string and I took the little bird back to his pals. He was glad to get away from me!!
Anyway, in addition to being just a rather interesting occurrence, I took a better look down a chicken's gullet than I had really taken in the past. They have these ragged, rough places in their throats and the back of their tongues--chicken "teeth" so to speak. But anyway, I am pleased to say that that chicken is no long bound up by any nasty plastic...(and I yes, I did remove the remaining free-floating end from the coop!)
With a little patience and determination, I reached under the tractor while lifting it at the same time, and caught the little booger. Well, due to circumstances, I knew I had to detach the bird from the tarp before I could pull him out from under the tractor...so hanging onto his legs, I grubbed around in my pants pocket until I got ahold of my knife. (Providence...I decided to wear pants this morning for some reason; if I hadn't I wouldn't have had my knife more than likely [most of my skirts lack pockets].) I managed to open it one handed (the sheepsfoot blade is the only one loose enough) and had to do some interesting finger contortions to work the tarp string and the knife through the chicken wire at the same time. (The whole time I was holding a squirming chick by the legs with my left hand.)
Once I succeeded in loosing the little guy, I hauled him out, pried his beak open and went, "Oh."
The string was wrapped around the back of his tongue.
I observed, poked, and then found Daddy. He held the bird and I tried to unwind the sting. No go. He suggested a pair of tiny scissors he has and told me where to find them. I dashed off and found them and tried again. I couldn't quite get the tips under the string (it was tight), so Daddy got to thinking a little more and remembered another pair of tiny scissors he has, only those had a little semi-circle hook on the end. He handed me the bird and soon came back with them. After a couple of snips, he succeeded in cutting through the string and I took the little bird back to his pals. He was glad to get away from me!!
Anyway, in addition to being just a rather interesting occurrence, I took a better look down a chicken's gullet than I had really taken in the past. They have these ragged, rough places in their throats and the back of their tongues--chicken "teeth" so to speak. But anyway, I am pleased to say that that chicken is no long bound up by any nasty plastic...(and I yes, I did remove the remaining free-floating end from the coop!)
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