Geoff’s First Surgery as a Full Blown PA:

So as some of you may have heard we had a dog get in our backyard a couple of weeks ago and rough up our chickens pretty good. When the kids called Lindsay and I to the backyard there were feathers all over and we thought the chickens were goners for sure. But to our surprise we found them both alive and kicking (although one was in the neighbor’s backyard where two other dogs live). The older of the two chickens escaped with no scratches – just a lot less feathers – but the other had a spot on her back where the skin was torn open. After weighing our options we decided to go ahead and call in the big guns to assist in preserving our precious poultry. I made a call to Geoff late on Tuesday evening and he rounded up some surgical gear and headed our direction. The following is what happened after Geoff arrived:

The Preparation:
The chicken was surprisingly calm through the whole deal. I don’t know if it was the dark of the night or what but she never flinched.

The Procedure (WARNING: This is a close up!!!!!):

This is Geoff’s first surgery after completing all his schooling and you can tell all his hard work really paid off! As you can see the stitches are very well done (Kevin please verify?? j/k). Geoff did an outstanding job with the operation and his bedside manner was equally impressive!

The Surgical Team:
We had a capacity crowd on hand to witness the surgery – which took about 15 minutes total. Lindsay, Uncle Mark, Mayley, Porter, and Annie were all in attendance. Geoff performed very well under the pressure and the watchful eye of the entire team. You can see the concern on the children’s face, waiting to be sure the chicken would recover??? Or maybe they were just happy that it was after 9:00 PM and they were still awake – something that does not happen for them very often.

All in all, it was a great event! The procedure was a complete success and the chicken appears to have recovered fully. As of this morning at feeding time she was clucking and moving around the coop happy as can be. Clearly Ivy League paid off for this poultry!! Thanks to Geoff for being willing and for taking the time to do this - he is always so helpful and accommodating. We had a lot of great laughs and this one will go down as another super family memory.