Lucy is not doing at all well. She has developed an infection in the quarter with the injured teat. Lucy's injury I have been hand milking that quarter each morning, with Kathy's help. She gets Aspercream on that quarter as well as organic yarrow cream on the end of the teat. I've given her a couple of Vitamin C shots, but she is not like Rosie, and after two broken needles (thank goodness they didn't break in her flesh), I am giving up. That is about the only care we can give her. I think we may lose that quarter after all. It is slow going, and the quarter just isn't loosening up.
I am milking her in the afternoons only now, since it doesn't seem to make much difference, and she milks a little better when the milker is on her. No "auto milking" like she did a few weeks after all this happened. It was too far gone before we noticed it this time.
It makes me sad that we worked so hard with her and saved a quarter that every farmer I talked to told me never happens, only to have this flare up.
Henny Penny is doing fine. Tashi chased chickens again yesterday. We are working on it. I found a good site on the internet about training dogs not to kill chickens. She is a good dog. It isn't as if she is a wholesale killer. I read about dogs that killed 35 chickens, things like that! That is not my Tashi. We will work this out so that she can live in harmony with them. I fear that my loss of three chickens was not from being egg bound - well, perhaps one of the three. It appears it may have been Tashi. Sigh . . .
Hang in there. Sorry to hear this but you are doing the highest order of work I know of. And doing it well. Keep it up.
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