February 12th, 2009 by k hart
- 2 Dusty Divider’s and 33 year old Dandy
The Dusty Divider’s 4-H Club paid a visit to HartSong on Saturday, January 31st, volunteering their time to help us out with some of the never ending project’s around the ranch. How cool is that!!! I’m certain a great day was had by all, even tho most of the time was spent moving ”something” from one spot to another. Armed with manure and pitch forks, the Dusty Divider’s spent the morning hours moving poop…a whole bunch of poop…from numerous pastures surrounding the old barn, all the way back to the manure pile(10 cows and 9 horses create an awful lot of patties and apples!!!). Ahhh!!!…such is life amongst the animals. Then, off to move “a whole bunch of big rocks” piled up by the caretakers cabin, all the way down to the dam on the south side of the pond. Hard work makes for big appetites…finally, lunch time! Then…you guessed it! Off to move “a whole bunch of downed branches” from the west side of the pond all the way over to the burn pile. Ahhh!!!…ranch life.
The day was also filled with laughter and lots of giggles. Some of HartSong’s residents had an adventurous time, as well. Chickita, the blind chicken, Lacey, the blind goat and her brother Nigel, all joined us on the east side of the property. Chickita(she’s one smart chicken) hitched a ride on the shoulders of Brandon Biersteker while Lacey and Nigel followed along.
The Biale family, however, provided the animal highlight of the day.
- Showgirl Chickens~ZaZa & Obama
They brought along and introduced us to ZaZa and Obama, Showgirl Chickens, which are crosses between Silkes and Naked Necks. These very special chicks have black skin, featherless necks and five toes(most chickens have 4 toes). Incredibly cute! I want one…maybe two…OK, maybe three!
- “I’m so pretty, I’m so pretty…”
Around 3 o’clock, we started to wrap things up for the day and said our good-byes to the Dusty Divider’s. What a great group of hard working, young people. Lily, Rachael, Natalia, Simone and all the parents…thank you for giving so generously of yourselves to HartSong. How wonderfully rewarding to spend the day in the presence of young people that make such a difference in their community. Awesome Job!!!
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Chickita Cruisin’
At days’ end, Nigel, Lacey and sweet Chickita somehow managed to finagle a ride in the truck back to the west barn. Chickita made the entire trip roosted on the doorframe of Big Blue…and some people think animals are stupid…go figure!!!
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January 12th, 2009 by k hart
Chickita is a 1½ year old chicken, blind since the day she cracked herself out of her shell. Removed from the coup at a young age and hand raised by a kind woman in Garden Valley, Chickita’s up bringing didn’t give her much of a notion as to how to be a chicken. She is, however, a sweet bird. She loves people, loves attention and often carries on lengthy conversations while being admired. Everyone who meets her, adores her. Especially children. They are so taken with her calm nature. Since her arrival at HartSong 8 months ago, Chickita has spent most of her time perched, passing the daylight hours grooming herself, eating and sleeping, but never straying, never exploring. Not usual chicken behavior….what to do?
We operate on a buddy system here at HartSong. Every animal has a special friend. It was time to find Chickita a buddy. Word got around and come to find out, there are lots of folks living in these foothills that are very much into chickens. We received so many calls, talked with some of the nicest folks and conducted quite a few trial runs in our barnyard, but to no avail. Then one day, along came Flour, a beautiful 4 month old Leg Horn chicken. She was hand selected by our dear friend and sanctuary supporter, Peter Biersteker. Peter himself raises chickens and after much consideration and no doubt, observation, decided to pick Flour because “she had a kind way about her”. We were anxious to give her a try.
We have enjoyed the pleasures of Flour for almost four weeks. It would be a stretch to say that Flour and Chickita are best of friends. They are not. But they are buddies, they have a relationship, they hang out together and quite remarkably, Flour has brought out the chicken in Chickita. Chickita now spends her days a’scratchin and a’peckin like any other chicken. She struts around, takes dust bathes and just the other day, I caught glimpse of her pulling up a worm from the manure pile. Way to go, Chickita!!!
Best of all…Christmas morning, we opened up Chickita’s coup and right there in front of us, nestled in the straw, a gift for all…one, beautiful, perfect egg.
Merry Christmas, Love Chickita
…the little blind chicken that could
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January 12th, 2009 by k hart
Ciara – the first time we laid eyes on her
Ciara with her beautiful Mother
We have enjoyed the pleasures of Ciara for a little over a year now and my oh my, what a wonderful year it has been. We invite you to enjoy the attached video of Ciara’s journey – she is such an inspiration.
watch?v=RRbSBo3kk7c
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November 19th, 2008 by k hart
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Chickita-one ”COOL” chicken
Chickita is a 1 1/2 year old Bantam chicken, blind since the day she cracked herself out of her shell. She was saved by a kind woman living with a family that raised a few chickens. She happened to notice one particular chick having a rough time of it, so she scooped her up to have a good look. Sure enough, this little chick was blind. For the next year, this kind woman cared for “Baby Girl”. Then one day, she found out she had to move back to San Diego. What was she going to do with a one year old blind chicken?
We live in a small community and word got around about a blind chicken needing a home. We thought about it for a while and eventually said, “Why Not a Blind Chicken”! A couple of days later, “Baby Girl” was delivered to HartSong. We christened her “Chickita”.
Never in my life did I think I would care for a blind chicken, let alone have to figure one out. She is not inclined to roam the barnyard so we move her around a lot during the day. She has her favorite spots; the sunny Oak tree in the morning; the barn gate, where she perches and often visits with Dandy; the manure cart(her fav) and the barn floor, which is always abundant with droppings of horse chow. It’s quite a treat to watch her scratchin’ around in the barn, just being a chicken. We’ve had Chickita for almost 6 months now and like all the other animals here at the sanctuary, she shows us everyday how much she enjoys life. She is such a sweet little bird. Everyone adores her.
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Chickita hangin’ out with Dandy & a friend
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November 10th, 2008 by k hart
Mr. Merlin and his favorite scratching post, Jim
Saturday, November 8th at 9AM, we said good bye to Mr. Merlin, a handsome 33 year old, completely blind Appaloosa. He was euthanized after a grueling 12 hour struggle to make him well.
Friday night around 9PM I headed out to the barn for bed check and found Merlin on his side, lying in the mud, in the rain. My husband and I got him up and into a dry area of the barn where we observed him for awhile. We were certain it was colic as all he wanted to do was lie down and roll. He was very uncomfortable. At 10:30PM, we called the vet. Dr. Foster arrived at 11:15PM. She sedated him, put down a stomach tube, performed a rectal, administered pain shots, all the usual colic treatments, but to no avail. His pulse rate was 100(normally 35-40) and he was highly agitated. It was decided we needed to get him to the hospital where they could get him on a fluid drip and run tests to determine the cause of his distress. At 3AM, we loaded him into the trailer, by no means an easy task, as he was heavily sedated and to make matters worse, it was pouring down rain. Upon our arrival to the hospital, the doctors ran a battery of tests and finally determined that Merlin was probably suffering from a distended colon. Apparently at some time earlier in the evening, he had rolled and upon righting himself, his colon, instead of re-situating itself along the bottom of his abdomen where it normally rests, became lodged in the upper right quadrant of his abdomen. The only way to reposition his colon was for Merlin to undergo major surgery but his age of 33 years and stressed state did not make him a good candidate for general anesthesia. The doctors, giving us some thread of hope, said sometimes the colon would reposition itself, so we put him into a heated ICU stall and prayed for a miracle. Two hours passed and he did not improve. The reality was he was not going to get better and so at 9AM, the decision was made to end his suffering. We sat next to him on the floor in his ICU stall while Dr. Foster administered the over dose of anesthesia and with our hands upon him, Merlin quietly slipped away. We told Merlin what we tell all of our animals that have passed on…”wherever you go, we promise to come and find you”.
Merlin’s body was delivered back to HartSong at 2:30 that afternoon and we buried him in our grave yard site on
Old Horse Hill. Now we must think of Bridget. Bridget is a 29 year old, completely blind Appaloosa and was Merlin’s stall mate for 5 years. She was calm in his presence and hysterical when they were seperated. Merlin was her rock. A dear friend and spiritual advisor for HartSong, Bonnie Neeley, suggested before we buried Merlin, we needed to allow Bridget some time with him, so we led her out of her stall and over to his body. The moments she spent withhim were beyond magical. All she knew up until this point was that Merlin was taken away. Now she was able to comprehend that Merlin was dead and you could actually feel her sense it as she moved her nose and mouth all over his body. We stood with her there for about 5 minutes and when she was ready, she turned and walked back into her stall. Last night, was the first night in 5 years she was without Merlin. Oddly, she does not appear anxious, distressed or hysterical. Rather, she is just quiet. She needs to mourn. We all do.
Merlin was one of the three original blind horses to arrive at HartSong Animal Sanctuary. He was the reason for HartSong. Thank you, Mr. Merlin for showing us the way. You touched the hearts of many. We will miss you forever…
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September 5th, 2008 by k hart
Blind filly celebrates life
One would think a blind horse very uncomfortable with anything but all 4 feet on the ground, but not Ciara. I snapped this photo in the Spring of 2008 when she was just 10 months old. Ciara is, without a doubt, the happiest little blind filly in the whole wide world. Way to go, girl!
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September 1st, 2008 by admin
Due to the out-pouring of love and interest in this beautiful filly, we decided to form The Friends of Ciara Club. Your support helps the sanctuary provide the special care she requires. She has much to learn about the world in the coming years. We graciously invite you to become a “Friend of Ciara” and support her journey. Membership is just $25. You will receive a hand written thank you, a portrait photograph of Ciara and quarterly email updates, complete with photos and/or video clips documenting her accomplishments and antics
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