Postby Harriet » Sat Jun 08, 2019 11:17 am
Lynlee, if those velcro bits are small round balls, I think I know what you're dealing with. When I was a child, my ddad would "employ" me to pick them off his clothes. Ugh. It took so much time. I think they are called "bur-clover" according to info I see now. Along with the word "burrs", my ddad would sometimes call them "beggars", or "beggar-ticks". When I look it up the actual plant called "beggar-tick", though, has burrs that are elongated, so I don't think that's the right name. Yes, you and I both have them in our vicinity - aren't we lucky. Also Chile does - hmmm.... ..what a wide range they have.
My little nemesis, Ophelia the Orpington hen, has been going through a very weak period. Dd and I think we heard her get bitten by something while she was on a walkabout with us but on the other side of henhouse so we couldn't see. We know she set up a terrible racket and then was half-flying back to us. She's been lethargic and her comb is drooping. She's always been the smallest and most adventurous (frustrating rascal). She learned to fly through the window, never cared how far she roamed, used her better eyesight (I think) to stay out late, and has caused a bunch of trouble all kinds of ways. For this she has been the grandchildren's favorite, especially dgs7, who says, "O-FEEL-ia just doesn't FEEL like being good, Grandma."
Since that incident she's let bigger sister Octavia take all kinds of morsels away from her and now never goes anywhere without big sister. She's hardly wanted to leave the house and lies in the straw though she's quit laying eggs - a bad sign. Sometimes they don't last long after that. This may be kinda profound for us - Since there are only two left, and getting on in years a bit, either one's death will likely mean the other won't have much will to continue.
But maybe there's hope today. HRH has been babying her, and I'll admit I have, too. The hens were given big chunks of a cantaloupe, bought with Ophelia in mind, for instance. Today she barreled down the ramp as normal and has been standing, preening herself, so maybe she's back. HRH is a great believer in cantaloupe to rejuvenate hens, convinced he saved one of ours in the past by making sure she had plenty. The watery types of melons don't seem to do the same good.