Greetings and salutations once again.

Your favorite hen columnist, Gertrude, is here again with more observations from the hen house at the farm.

You may remember my brief romance with Fritz the rooster a year or so ago and then my frustrations with him when he seemed to want to try for the younger gals running about the yard. Well, I guess true love doesn’t stray far because this past week, the dear ole boy has been a bit laid up (yes, pun intended) with a hurt foot, and gosh, us hens have been worried about him, even myself, who said he could just go fly the coop after turning his back on me.

It seemed he’d stepped on something, no doubt from running after those youngsters, and was needing to hold his right foot up to avoid resting or walking on it.

A few days ago, we hens gathered around him when the weather had turned a bit colder to protect him and then the Mutha Clucka entered our yard and took him into the main part of the barn to cure something called bumblefoot. I understand it is an infection that can settle on the bottom of the foot and isn’t very pleasant to deal with.

Now I know a bit about this malady, as I had suffered from it several years ago and received the same treatment dear ole Fritz received. He said it pinched a bit as the infection was removed, and he really didn’t appreciate being put on his back while the treatment was going on, but he did seem to be a bit better in spirit when he returned to the coop and was a little less likely to go chasing after the less experienced females. Perhaps he’s learning us older gals are nice to have around.

Fritz’s foot sports a purple bandage now, and I guess he’ll have several weeks of bandage changes as the injury clears up. I can’t help myself. He’s still such a handsome rooster, and I’m hoping while he’s unable to move a whole lot that I can convince him that perhaps we should give love another shot. After all, neither of us is getting any younger.

Time will tell whether this romance is here to stay or whether I’ll be sleeping on the roosting bar again by myself. Either way, I’m good with it as I’ve learned to handle things pretty well on my own. We hens are pretty resourceful.

Until next time…

Gertie is one of the chickens at Purple Shamrock Farm LLC in rural Seymour. Send comments to [email protected].