Please forgive this interruption to the “Everyday Remedies” series, but I needed to share this story with you!

My office window overlooks the pasture that borders the creek that borders a hayfield that borders the highway. I hear a lot of things outside that window, from distant dog and cow calls (to which our dogs must always respond, it seems) to sirens signaling a response from our nearby VFD, to bird calls and chicken clucks. Usually the chicken clucks are recognizable phrases such as “OMG I have just laid an egg!” or “Get away from me, Rooster, I’m not that into you!” or “Do NOT come near my chunk of compost!” But recently there was a racket out there that was definitely more than the usual disagreements. I raised the blind and could immediately see there was chaos in the enclosure, and a big hawk fighting with the rooster and one of the hens! I raced downstairs and out the door, grabbing a walking stick on the way to help me navigate the solid ice between the porch and the door to the chicken run. The hawk flew away as I approached, leaving a beaten and gasping hen behind.

Here’s the picture I sent to our family chat – no one else was home at the time. The hen was lethargic, in shock, barely breathing, and had blood on her neck (not pictured here). After sitting with her for a few hours and giving her remedies, I settled her into a storage tote, covered the open top with a dog crate door, and put her in the guest bathroom for the night so the dogs wouldn’t get too curious. I was pleased to find her still alive the next morning, so I continued giving her remedies and carted her around in her tote to accompany me on all my indoor chores. The girls started calling her Goldi-Clucks. After a couple of days it was apparent that she would make it, but she was very unsteady. We transferred her to a dog crate on the balcony and set her up with water and the heel of a bread loaf. While there, she began walking a little more steadily from one side of the crate to the other, eating and drinking (and pooping!) normally, so we carried her down to the chicken run and reintroduced her to the flock. It was amazing to see how the other hens greeted her, and how the rooster hovered around her, making little comforting noises. All was well again! Today, one month later, she is back to laying eggs and making the rooster chase her.

We have since strung yellow wire across the run from one side to the other in a zig-zag pattern to deter any future invasion from the sky.

You might be asking what remedies I used to help save this chicken, so I’ll tell you! I started with a dose of Aconitum napellus 200c, our absolute premiere remedy for shock, and I gave her a couple more doses over the next two hours because she still seemed very traumatized. At the beginning, I gave her Arnica montana 30c every 30 minutes for her injuries, but she very quickly stopped bleeding so I slacked off to giving Arnica every hour or so until around midnight. Because she was panting, I gave her Carbo vegetabilis 30c every 15-30 minutes until I noticed that she was breathing more normally. Panting is also a trauma response for chickens, but she kept panting even after she started being more relaxed and didn’t need the Aconitum, so I added the Carbo veg to support her efforts to get enough oxygen. Over the next couple of days I gave her a few more doses, just when I noticed her beginning to pant again, and I gave her Arnica twice on the second day to keep the momentum and help heal any injury to her leg (we didn’t see any marks, but she was favoring one heavily). By the fourth day I wasn’t giving her any more remedies and had moved her to the balcony. She stayed in the dog crate most of the time, just resting, and a couple of times a day Lydia and I took her out and did some “chicken PT” with her to try and get her up and walking. It was exactly one week before she was ready for reintroduction.

I would love to share more information about homeopathy with you. Please click “subscribe” below to join my homeopathy email list, and consider taking one of my classes! If you would like to schedule an individual consultation about a health problem you’re experiencing, just send me an email and we’ll get the process started.

For another great chicken story, check out this blog by my teacher and mentor, Joette Calabrese, https://joettecalabrese.com/wise-traditions/fowl-cholera-epidemic-homeopathy-averts-a-catastrophe-in-the-flock/