When it comes to poultry farming and especially caring for my chicks, I don’t delegate that responsibility because, from my experience, that’s the stage that determines the overall success of the whole poultry project. Whether you are doing it for subsistence or for commercial purposes, somehow you have to ensure that the chicks survive; otherwise, you will be operating at a loss.
Therefore, I take a keen interest in every single egg that is laid and every chick that is hatched.
One morning, I noticed a chick scratching its face with one watery eye, and somehow I assumed it was a simple thing, so I just took the ointment that I never run out of and rubbed it on the eye. I did this for the next few days, but it only got worse.
There was discharge from the other eye, and it was disgusting! But I’m a farmer; in fact, I love my animals so much! So, I wiped it out and applied the ointment, still hoping for a change. I was wrong! So wrong from the word go. I should have isolated the chick immediately!
The next day, half of the chicks were scratching their eyes, the eyes also looked patchy and sad, they were curled up probably with a fever.
Every day, it became even more painful, with their eyes swollen almost to the size of their heads, and I could notice bloody droppings. This was my first time dealing with such an outbreak, and it seriously affected my motivation and everything!
You see, in our home, we love these birds so much that we can spend a whole hour or even longer literally watching them as they fly around and do their bird things.
This excitement was replaced with disappointment and sadness.
I went to three different vet stores and bought different kinds of medications hoping to cure my chicks, and none worked.
So, in the long run, I lost more than 40 chicks and remained with about 25, half of which are one-eyed, and I can’t stop blaming myself for all this damage.
But, as my son would put it, ‘it is what it is’.
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