8 x 10 oil on gessoed art board. Click here to bid on either painting. Note that paintings will ship on May 20.
Several weeks ago, a woman got in touch with me and asked for a chicken painting. I did two paintings and have a couple more in the works, but my latest emails to her have bounced back. So I’m putting them up on eBay. If you’ve been in touch with me about chicken paintings, here’s your chance to bid on two!
This is also a good time for a chicken update. The Rhode Island Red on the left, Eleanor, developed a very nasty female condition known as a prolapsed vent. I’ll spare you the anatomical details, but you can follow that link to find out more. Basically, some of her insides popped out, probably as she was laying an egg, and they would not go back inside. A great deal of mess and distress followed.
Unfortunately, I was out of town, and Scott had to handle this by itself. He felt, rightly so, that a delicate situation like this really could use a woman’s touch. In addition to having to clean her up and try to get her anatomy put back where it belongs, a procedure involving more ointment and latex gloves than most of us would want to be involved with, he also had to separate her from the other chickens so
that they would not peck at this newly exposed flesh. This involved a construction project that he really didn’t have time for, and one that was hampered by wind and rain.
Finally, in desperation, he took her to the emergency vet over the weekend. We both thought that she would have to be euthanized, and since we are not farmers, there was no way we were going to wring her neck ourselves.
As it turned out, the emergency vet on duty used to keep chickens. He gave Eleanor a cortisone shot, and within a few days she was as good as new. I got back in town to do the final bit of nursing duty, and to see her anatomy put itself back in order.
So Eleanor (on the left) is healthy and happy again, and I’m sure that Abigail (on the right) is glad to have her back in the coop.
That’s the poultry report from here. Everyone’s laying, and we’ve got more eggs than we can eat right now. Want some?