Book 1 Chapter 29

                                    

                                          
The Gathering of the Clans 
Book 1 Chapter 29
<<< Pepepski >>>
Mother Goose Egg Farm
David didn't know what to think about the dead chickens or the live ones for that matter.  It didn't make sense. Every one of the dead chickens had a lot of their feathers pulled out revealing soft leathery skin beneath. Under the neck feathers, small soft scales were growing.
As a vet, he had seen most everything various livestock could catch but this was a new one for him. He wanted to call it a mutation but from where and why. There weren't any chemicals in the area. The feed was good. Lothar kept a clean place. His income depended on it. 
Could it be the Sickness was doing it? David wondered as he washed his hands in preparation to stitch Jester's cuts. They had checked every run. The chickens had definitely been exposed to the Sickness. Most of the living had gold rings in their eyes. The ones that didn't were dead or dying.
He'd had noticed some dead rodent carcasses in the runs as well as near a few of the feeding stations for the breeders. Dead but not eaten. He'd heard of rodent bites passing the Sickness. Could that be how it got in? If so why was it mutating the Eastern Reds like it was? What was different with them versus the other birds where there were no signs of mutation?
"Oh Matilda, don't carry on so. The doctor had to look at you girl to make sure you were okay." Lothar cuddled the bird to his chest and soothed her ruffled feathers. Jester was laying on the dining room table whining and swiping at his poor abused nose while Joachim and Mirko pet him calming the dog and telling him what a good boy he was.
David dried his hands. "Okay, Jester the area by your nose should be good and numb. Just a couple of stitches boy and you're good to go. He cleaned and quickly closed the cut with two stitches. "Make sure to keep his wounds clean and keep an eye out for infection."
"I've got a creme you can put on the cuts and some pills you need to give him in his food for a week." David ruffled Jester's ears. "You're a good dog Jester, protecting your boys like that, Good Boy!"Jesters' tongue lolled out and he took an affectionate swipe at David's hands while his tail thumped on the table.
After washing his hands again, David accepted a cup of coffee from Lothar and sat down at the kitchen table. "Honestly Lothar, I've never seen anything like this. All the runs and your free-range breeders have had or currently have the Sickness. My best guess is that the rodents we saw in the runs brought it in."
Lothar groaned. "I'm gonna have to put  all the Eastern Reds down aren't I?" David waved his coffee cup at him. "Before you do that let me talk to Rod and see what he says. He knows more about this than I do. Put down any that are aggressive towards you or the boys.  Don't go in the run with the Reds. I don't know what is causing what looks like some kind of mutation but I will talk to some people and see what I can come up with. I got some blood samples and we'll run with that for now."
Mirko frowned. "Unless we're going in there to kill them I am not going near them. I swear they were talking between themselves and coordinating the attacks.  They reminded me more of the Raptors in the movie Jurassic Park than a bunch of ordinary chickens. They freaked me out and as far as I am concerned we should put them down."
Joachim nodded agreeing with his brother's assessment of the situation. David frowned. "If you need to put them down wait till we come to help." Lothar nodded at Ethan. "Thank you, my friend. I don't want my boys near them. All of us will go into town and be seen at the hospital as you said too. The Sickness was terrible and I don't want my boys and I sick again from something the rodents brought in."