Basically, Winter was Winter. We loved her as she was--quite seemingly dumb. This dumbness lead to many funny things, and a couple of dangerous ones. She was well--but different--the whole time we had her. Each hen has her own personality, and Winter was crabby toward the other hens. We don't cull because someone doesn't play well. Her body was very healthy the whole time we had her--up until the end. Because of the danger the "dumbness" got her into, we always expected her to be the next to go. She never was. We got most of our chickens as other people's cast-offs: old. Our flock is mostly 5-6 year olds. They were going to be food, but we took them and are allowing them to enjoy the rest of their existence. Winter was a little "stiff" in the mornings as old folks often are. I believe she was older than the other chickens, but she was not given to me directly by the people who had her. I have an Amish pen-pal, and wrote quite a lot about Winter in my letters questioning if it was age. My friend said it sounded most like she was quite old. I also checked with other chicken people, and researched in many books about her stiff gait in the morning. I figured it was stiffness because she wasn't like that all day--she had to warm up some. Our farmer neighbor thought she may be visually impaired because she had difficulty finding her way in at night. We had a couple of hens that liked to stay out late. Winter was the only one who had difficulty with orientation after dusk. She was well for 2 years. The last week and a half, there was a "change in status". She seemed tired. I watched her for a few of days like that, and she didn't deteriorate as such. One morning, another chicken went after her at the food trough, and she didn't look good to me that morning. I brought her inside, and started nursing her. She had 9-lives, so I figured I should feed her and try to bring her around. She rallied after a couple of days: standing up, eating, and pooping just right. She filled her crop up and everything. Great! I assumed she was on the mend, and we beat it. After a couple/few days of improvement, she took a turn, and I gave her a day to see if she would rally again. After a day like that (twirling, and responding to outside stimuli as if she were falling), I knew she was done. The farmer was unavailable that day, and took care of it the next. Time line: 2 years good. Some time as a stiff ol' girl that went away as the day passed, and a week and a half in "hospital" in my home. I am sorry I was unclear when I first posted, but I was so depressed my writing was confusing--I'll admit that. Having had 2 head injuries in my family, she seemed like something was wrong in the hind brain. I know that cannot be fixed, so we let her live her life as long as she got herself up, and ate, we didn't mind helping an ol' girl down out of her box each morning. She enjoyed being held and her time inside where it was warm. She never laid many eggs, and this summer it was only a couple--I think she was maybe 8 years old or something. I can say with confidence that it wasn't an organism. Nobody else has it, and it did not track as an invading organism. Also, had I continued to feed her--even in her dizzy state, I believe her body would have gone on, and on. She was physically sound. Her brain was out of order. Looking back, her stiffness may have been the beginnings of brain deterioration. Had a vet told me her brain was going months earlier, and said that she was otherwise sound, I still would have let her live as long as she was her crabby & dumb self. That was her "status". We use the dumb as a term of endearment believe it or not--that is why we can say it was amusing. I still would have let her live until such a time that the twirling came a long and her mind seemed completely gone. My time line may be of a day in either direction, but there was no cruelty or neglect. Our chickens are spoiled. Their house rarely even has an odor. Some of them step out of the flock and come to us when we call them by name. I do appreciate the input here that attempts to help find answers. I was wondering if this is something that occurs in chickens, or was specific to Winter either through stroke, injury, or old age. It would be nice if "exotic pets" covered chickens. It seems more to mean "tropical pets" rather than pets other than cats & dogs, and maybe the occasional bunny. As birds go, chickens are hardy, and you can work with them TO A POINT. Birds have a far more delicate constitution than dogs or cats, and (hyperbole here) if you look at them cross-eyed they can drop dead. If there were vets who would investigate chickens as pets, I believe the books on chickens would be much better. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year, and had a great Christmas. Robin

Thanks, y'all. Yes, we do drink out of the bathroom faucet when brushing teeth, etc. so I guess I should go with "lead-free". My original concern was that lead-free choices seemed limited and all had low-flow (vs. just "low-lead" choices or regular ones.) I did find a good deal on a nice-looking widespread faucet that is lead-free. I was originally concerned that the low-flow would be an issue, or that "lead-free" meant "plastic parts that would break" but the manufacturer's rep assured me that I could just swap out the aerator if I didn't like the low flow and that it was still made of brass parts, but that they just changed the formulation of the brass to reduce the lead to meet the "lead-free" limitations. I guess my state (Maryland) has just enacted stricter lead requirements anyway. Not sure if they could have sold me a regular one or not, but I have noticed some faucets listed as "not for shipment to CA or VT". Anyway--here is a link if anyone else is interested. I did google for reviews of this company and they have very good reviews, btw. Hope this helps someone else!! Here is a link that might be useful: inexpensive lead-free widespread faucet

Thanks for the support. The pendant is from Shadesoflight.com: http://www.shadesoflight.com/fasciati-glass-lantern.html I still need to get glass shelves and the door with panes for that cabinet by refrigerator. I am also trying to decide whether I like the back of the cabinet to be painted the same color as the walls or just leave it white. I think I am leaning towards leaving it white. You could see it in the picture but it isn't lit below the first shelf as I still haven't placed the order for the glass shelves. Taking a step back from being so TKO really helped. I took my time choosing the lighting - many returns, many days and nights staring at the computer screen. I knew I liked lanterns but was drifting in another direction. The breather helped. I am very happy with the lighting choice. I am working on the other rooms that look into the kitchen and the lantern pulls everything together.

Good god, people love to dump on someone and belittle their concerns, rather than contributing anything that might be useful. Read a bit about environmental toxins, and you might change your mind. Otherwise, put a sock in it. I am also concerned with reducing my exposure to environmental toxins. People live longer, yes, but they also are getting diseases linked to chemical exposure with more frequency as well. Also, there is NO SAFE LEVEL of lead, period. Lead is a neurotoxin, and particularly for people with growing brains (eg. children) this is an extremely valid and serious concern. Why do you think the government keeps lowering the allowable amount of lead? Have you read anything about the link between lead and lowered cognitive ability, or aggressive and antisocial behavior? You can keep burying your head in the sand, but those of us who care will not. And your patronizing condescension won't make an iota of difference. You can thank us later when you've been drinking from your faucets that have vastly less lead than they used to have (though I'm going for faucets that are 100% lead free).