Marge’s death was not expected. She was an older hen (hatched in October 2004) but she was loud, vigorous and looked healthy. Then, one day she walked with a bit of discomfort. The next she was gasping for breath, and a thin brown liquid poured out of her throat. Then she died.

I decided to to a postmortem, which was difficult for me, as this was a beloved chicken that I was cutting up. But I wanted to know something about what happened to her. I had taken a postmortem workshop at the Poultry Congress in January. Unfortunately, they only brought healthy birds – they rightly didn’t want to open up diseased chickens around all of the show birds. The birds we did the post-mortems on were mostly young cocks, so I didn’t get to see any interior eggs, either. But, I now know what a healthy bird looks like. Marge was not.

I don’t know what is normal for an older hen, but I am sure they should not have discolored fluid, egg whites and yolks in their body cavity, which is what I found. Chickens can become internal layers. Instead of the eggs making it down the proper tubes, they get misplaced. Usually, a hen reabsorbs the material, but, sometimes, it’s too much. It builds up and becomes infected. I believe that this happened to Marge.

There were other things that didn’t look right. An ovary should be the size of a walnut, with tiny orange yolks forming on it. Marge’s was the size of my hand, it was chalk-colored, dense and rubbery, and had some yellow yolks on it, but also some that looked like small, dark grey water balloons.

The best references I have for doing postmortems are two old books, Lippincott’s Farm Manuals:  Productive Poultry Husbandry (1921) and Poultry Sanitation and Disease Control (1939.) Both have illustrations of healthy and diseased birds (inside and out) and were written at a time when people kept chickens on pasture, and marketed older hens for the table. If you have a good resource for postmortems, please let me know.

I’ve a feeling that Petunia, Marge’s sister, also has an enlarged ovary, as she hasn’t been moving as spryly as she used to. Edwina and Eleanor are even older. I joke that they are going through henopause. They are retired, and once in a great long while lay an egg. They look fine, and appear to have a good life. Even Eleanor, who limps around (she’s been doing that for two years) takes sunbaths and has a hearty appetite and seems, well, just old. I’m hoping that they’ll all have a good summer.

You might have noticed a couple of new links at the bottom of the HenCam homepage. If you haven’t yet checked out the ringtones by the Little Pond Farm Animal Choir, please do! I’ve no idea how many people have purchased ringtones by Marge and the other vocal enthusiasts here, because iTunes charges for that info (and it’d probably cost me more to find out than I made – we’re not exactly music moguls here.) It’d help if you left a review on the iTunes site.

I’ve also opened up a store at Cafepress.com. I came up with this logo:

Right now, just bumper stickers are listed (perfect for cubicles, too!) If you’d like one of the other cafepress.com products with this logo, let me know and we’ll set it up for you. I’m not thrilled with the quality of the clothing on cafepress, but the bumper stickers look great, and I listed it at the best price I could (we’re not bumper sticker moguls here, either!)

A few updates:

1. The fine oil spray did a number on the sawfly larvae. I’ll be trying it on my veg patch this summer and let you know if it puts a dent in my scourge of cucumber beetles. When I run out, I’ll try some of your suggestions.

2. Candy’s ears are looking good. Fur is growing back in. I’ve a feeling that I’ll be treating her for fungus again – it’s something that will likely return, but at least I know how to deal with it now and make her comfortable.

3. Despite the bone chip in Caper’s knee, and his obvious, ouchy-gimpyness, he continues to have a robust appetite AND do silly goat things that certainly can’t help the healing. He’s the goat that, in the blink of an eye, jumps onto an empty trash can and knocks it over, then leaps to another can and spills all of Candy’s treats, and then sees if he can dislodge the rakes hanging in the barn. At this point (4 seconds later?) I manage to stop the chaos and get him back where he belongs. Perhaps this is why he’s the one with the bone chip? Pip never gets in such trouble.

Caper denies everything. Except eating my flowers. See the iris leaf in his mouth? Proof!

It’s been almost two weeks since I took Candy to the vet. Since then, I’ve been cleaning her ears with a disinfectant, rubbing on an anti-fungal ointment, and keeping her out of the sun. Up until a couple of days ago, her ears still had some scaly, lumpy patches of fungus and dry skin. I added another ointment to her treatments, which moisturized the skin, and that seemed to do the trick. Candy’s ears are now as soft as… well as bunny ears. Fur is growing back. She’s out and about again. I’ll be keeping a close eye on her condition. Fungal infections are notorious for coming back.

Meanwhile, the lawn guys once again forgot to come and mow last week. No one is complaining.

The goats do like to eat clover. However, they like my raspberry and rose bushes better. And the basil, black-eyed Susans and cherry tree. Notice the leashes the boys are trailing. I let them loose on the lawn, but I often have to redirect their grazing!

The chickens love the clover. They eat the blossoms and the leaves. Lulu chases after the bees, which is quite comical to see. Her running gait is a rocking waddle! Betsy never looks silly. She is always regal.

A honeybee got into my garden clogs and stung me on my big toe. It was VERY painful. I like the bees, but I’d like to be able to walk on my lawn safely. It’s time for the mowers to come!

So far it’s been a lush summer. Lots of rain, but it’s not been the sort of cold drenches that kills off tender plants.Instead, we’ve had gentle rain and then sunny heat.

The peonies bloomed, and without driving rain or high winds, they’ve stayed upright and full-petaled.

The daisies are in bloom under the one peach tree. The goats look longingly at these plants. That’s the electric goat fence, which is effective in keeping them out.

The lily in the pond bloomed. The Beast lurks under it, in the lily pad’s shade.

This old-fashioned climbing hydrangea shares the trellis on the side of the chicken coop with a yellow rose. I’ve just planted a David Austen peachy-yellow rose to add to the tableau. Hopefully, it will be camera-worthy later in the summer.

I’ve got pots of herbs by the kitchen door that I’ve already been able to pick and use in recipes and salads.

Here’s cilantro and dill. The vegetable garden is looking good, too. I’ll share photos of the vegetables when there’s something more than leafy greens to show you.

My only disappointment is that my blueberry bushes in the back bed have no fruits on them! The ones in the front are full of green, plumping berries. Soon they’ll begin to turn grayish-blue. It will take weeks until they’re purply-blue and ready. I need patience! I don’t know who’s eating the ones out back. Usually, the birds and chipmunks wait until the fruits are riper. I don’t see any insects. Maybe something happened to the blossoms. Last year we had such a bumper crop, that I froze the extra and we snacked on berries all the way into late winter. But the wild Concord grape vines across the road are looking especially healthy. Perhaps I’ll have to make grape jelly in order to have my summer blues in the winter.

Bill Norton!

I’ll be sending Bill a signed copy of Tillie Lays an Egg.

Like the vast majority of you, Bill voted for Marge’s ringtone. Here is a favorite photo of Marge and I gardening.

We’re heading into a long holiday weekend. I’ll be back out there, pulling weeds with the goats and the chickens. I’m sure Lily Dog will have the zoomies and cool off in the pond. Scooter will sprawl out on a hot brick and sunbathe until I have to carry him inside. We’ll have friends over for dinner. They’re bringing fish. I’m supplying the salad – my greens are up and delicious.

Candy’s ears are looking so much better. I’m letting her hop around in the cool of the evening. Caper is still limping, but that hasn’t stopped him from squeezing out of the stall door and jumping around on the feed bins (and getting into the sticky fly paper – don’t ask!!!)

Looks like we’re all in for a fine holiday. I hope you are, too.