Sometimes You Win One

"If it's any of these other things, there's no cure" said the vet. "But her symptoms could also, possibly, be toxoplasmosis, brought on by eating infected dead mice." [And good word, we've plenty of mice this year. More on that later.]

Twisty chicken head - eep!

Our smallest Ameraucana was no longer roosting. She could eat and drink, no problem. She gobbled down mealworm treats, and attacked pieces of fruit with gusto. She would, however, twist her head around to almost backwards whenever stressed in the slightest, and her equilibrium was off, making hopping up or down difficult. Off to the vet. Our regular guy was out of pocket, so we took her into the city, and were lucky enough to get a vet who not only knew avian medicine, but also had his own flock of hens. I decided to take the long-shot and work with the hen as if she had toxoplasmosis, and readied myself for days of force-fed antibiotics.

So, toxoplasmosis: most know it as something that can infect cats, and can pass in their feces. Toxoplasmosis infection can also pass through a human and harm a fetus, so that's why you see all the warnings about not letting people clean cat litter boxes while pregnant or immune-compromised. Toxoplasmosis is also carried & passed by other mammals, including raccoons and mice.

"Veronica" spent three long days in the recovery cage. She felt lonely, and let us know loudly and often. We'd move her from room to room to be with us, but far enough away that she wouldn't feel stressed by our movements. The fourth morning, she was showing some improvement, so I let her out into the general population. That evening, she was climbing up the roost ladder partway - still not getting up to the roost, but much better than before! I brought her in for evening meds, and put her in the recovery pen so I could easily nab her for morning meds the next day. She wasn't twisting her head so much this time, either. Gave her meds the next morning, let her out again. Last night, she was on the roost! She was having a bit of trouble due to two other hens trying to get her to move, but she was hanging on as best she could. Brought her in again for the evening meds, and back into the recovery pen until morning, when she'd get her next dose. She didn't twist her head around once during the carry into the house, nor when I took her out of the cage this morning.

It's a sad thing about modern, mass chicken breeding: they're not bred for longevity and health, so veterinary medicine is still catching up on how to manage complicated or long-term hen health issues for home flock owners. As we saw recently in the U.S. with the poultry bird flu, oftentimes the easiest way to solve the problem is to kill the entire flock, sanitize the housing, and start anew. Sometimes, however, you win one, and that's Veronica this time.

More on poultry and toxoplasmosis at this link. Since our birds have full run of our acreage, there's continued risk of toxoplasmosis, but less risk than if they were in an enclosed area. Think the mouse issue will be in the next post. It's been biblical around here.

The New Era

Now that the apocalyptic fantasies for 12/21 have passed with nary a whisper, let us get to work on the serious issues that face us, instead of hoping for some event to destroy or re-create our world anew, allowing us to avoid responsibility.

My wishes for the New Era:

• Humane treatment, healthy living spaces and nutritious food for all animals, especially those we raise for our consumption or companionship. 
• Healthy means of raising crops that give back to the soil & community as much as the end product fills our bellies. May that food be nutritious and safe as well, and enough for all.
• Healthy planet - we clean up our messes, and stop making new ones. 
• Healthy relationships - learn to listen twice as much as we speak, and remember respect goes both ways. 

In short, let the New Era bring health for all beings, all interactions, and for the planet itself.

---

Stepping off my soapbox for now... here's things I've shared or found in other venues:

Beautiful poem by Morpheus Ravenna Faith in the Incandescent Sun - "Solstice Night".

via Twitter: Gorgeous! '@MotherEarthNews: A stunningly beautiful corn variety..."Carl's Glass Gem" goo.gl/WioYZ' a rare Cherokee corn

Speaking of food: I'm not a huge fan of lentils, but this lentil stew recipe is amazing. I substituted the root veggies called for in the recipe with what I had on hand, and also substituted sausage for the bacon (again, what I had on hand). I could see this being made as a vegetarian dish as well. The extra olive oil & balsamic vinegar added at the end makes the dish outstanding.

Sleeping all tucked into their backs, the geese look like becalmed ships in a harbor:

via Twitter: Just watched Lucky, rooster #1, chase off Baron, rooster #2 from romancing one of the hens. Now THAT is "c*ck blocking".

And speaking of Lucky, think he's trying to find something in his back pocket in this pic.

May the season, and whatever holidays you might celebrate, bring you happiness, peace & well-being.

Learn to De-Worm

It's that time of year when the hens slow down their egg-laying proclivities - the less light available during the day, the more they slow down. Commercial farmers get around this by using timed, artificial lights to keep the production high, but the drawback is this method also shortens the lifespan of the hen. Not something I'm interested in doing, as most of our hens are pets. [There, I said it, I admit it. If it wasn't blatantly obvious, I love our squawky, fussy little fuzzybutts.] Thankfully, our girls are still laying enough eggs to sell through the co-op and to individuals, which in turn buys their organic feed (and a bit more to make up for those slacker geese).

Fall or Winter is also a good time to de-worm. The problem with the usual deworming method is that it requires you to destroy any eggs laid during the deworming process. Pretty intense chemicals are used. On one hand, you KNOW that the girls are going to emerge from the process "clean as a whistle" when using these chemicals. On the other hand, I wonder if such heavy-duty chemicals are really necessary every year, unless there's a major infestation*. So this year, I'm trying out Verm-X and pumpkin seed smoothies.

You can read more about Verm-X at their site. Basically, Verm-X is an herb/spice combination that is supposed to have deworming properties. You can get it in liquid form, or feed pellets. One challenge, however: the girls drink and forage in so many places that I can't guarantee they're ingesting enough (or any) of the formula. Tried soaking bread scraps in the liquid Verm-X as an alternative suggested by their site, but the girls wouldn't touch the stuff - it has that potent a scent! After chatting on Twitter with a couple other hen-addled folks, came up with a solution: pre-soak scratch grains in Verm-X. This gives the Verm-X time to "off-gas" some its scent, making it more approachable. The girls are now eating the grains.

I also took home a bunch of free pumpkins from the garden nursery a few weeks ago -- one person's old Fall decorations are another person's home canning project -- of which the pumpkin seeds can be used as a dewormer. Grind fresh seeds in a food processor with some unsweetened bio-active yogurt, and serve. This recipe is what the girls REALLY love. Figure I'll make this smoothie recipe for the remainder of the six-week de-worming process (the Verm-X will run out before then), and see how it goes.

Supposedly back in "ye olde days", those who worked with animals on farms were also encouraged by country doctors to do a regular de-worming regimen (and of course, I can't find the links where I first read this). There are plenty of herbal parasite cleanse methods available to humans over-the-counter. It's been three years of owning animals, so I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt if I were to do one as well. And thankfully, I don't need to worry about throwing out my own eggs.

*NOTE: [start legalese] Be sure to talk to your vet or doctor (whichever is appropriate) before undertaking any parasite cleanse. This blog article is provided for information purposes only. [end legalese]

A Two-Dollar Chicken...

...just received three-figure dollars worth of surgery yesterday. Red, the Ameraucana hen, is a pet. She's a bit addled - she thinks the geese are big roosters - but she's scrappy, and lets us pick her up and snuggle her. So when I picked her up the other day and noticed a foul smell and the golf ball sized lump of her crop, I knew something wasn't right. Research narrowed her symptoms to a sour and impacted crop. Brought her inside the house and tried some of the suggested home remedies, but the crop wasn't getting any better (nor the smell... yeesh). Called the vet the next day, who took Red in immediately.  Lavaging her crop wasn't budging the contents, and so they asked - and received - permission to open her up.

Red had stuck in her crop: her regular feed, grasses, larvae, seeds, grains, bugs, other greens. She's definitely got a varied and healthy diet! What has caused the lack of crop motility is now the question of the day. There were a few flagellets found in samples taken from her crop, but it's hard to say for certain what's going on. In the meantime, she's our housemate for the week. She needs some time to recover from the surgery, grow in some feathers on her chest where she was shaved, and receive regular medication. On the list: antibiotics, de-wormer, and other anti-parasitic drugs. Soft cat food with probiotic powder to help her gut achieve balance again. Electrolytes in her water to help rebalance any possible dehydration issues. And hopefully getting some rest, which means holding back much fussing on my part. Get better soon, lil' chicken gurl!

DIY: Big Dog Feeder Stands

Emma is a bit arthritic, and so the thought was to build a feed stand* for her. Having the dog food bowl a bit higher would be easier on her shoulder joints. Then, of course, we'd need to have feed stands for all the dogs, as we wouldn't want any jealousy going on during the morning chow-down. Happy discovery: the dogs' current food bowls fit perfectly atop five-gallon plastic plant pots.

The bowls, with lip, measure about 11 inches across, and the plastic pots slightly less (so as to support the lip of the bowl, natch). The pots stand about a foot tall.

While these pots were left over from recent plantings, you could probably pick some up for free or spare change at any garden nursery center that recycles their plant containers. Throw some rocks in the bottom of the pot for stability (or bricks, or whatever heavy refuse you have laying about) and voila! Feeder stand!

[* Please note: there is some controversy over feeder stands, as some believe it contributes to bloating. See article on GDV here.]

Spoiled Goose is Spoiled

If bossiness is any indicator, Miss Cecily may be on the mend.

• If the feeding tube is within beak's reach, it is attacked.
• If there's something of interest on the coffee table - and within beak's reach - it will get nibbled.
• If her soon-to-be-patented "Put me on your chest, it's nap time, human!" stare is not acted upon by one of us, the other human is then set upon. Repeat until one of the humans give in.
• It's not enough to let her out with the other geese - one of the human pillows must be there as well, or caterwauling will commence.

On a more serious note, she's walking more, and keeping her head upright for longer periods of time. She had a four week run of taking DMSO, and has been off for almost two weeks without relapse. She's not only molting, but is growing in new feathers. She's yet to put on weight - the stress from molting and new feather output takes up a lot of calories - so her smoothie feedings* are now four times a day. I've been able to space out the vitamin shots to 72 hour intervals without noticeable energy lag on her part. Hoping that once the new feathers are in, she'll quickly start recovering full flexibility and strength.

In the meantime, however, if being spoiled rotten is any indicator of health, Miss Cecily is well on her way to full recovery.

*Miss Cecily's Green Smoothie - makes four or more 2 ounce servings:

Stick-blend a handful of kale in a cup of water; strain & save juice.
Approx half cup+ of chick feed, ground into a powder.
Contents of two fish oil capsules
1/8th teaspoon of pro-biotics
One powdered glucosamine/chondroiten tablet

Mix together, and let sit for at least an hour so the grains can soak up some of the liquid. Stick blend again, adding more water if necessary to obtain a soupy consistency.

Bisphenol-A and Canning Lids

I was reading Organic Gardening magazine the other day, and ran across an article that stated “Canning jar lids from the brands Ball, Kerr, Golden Harvest, and Bernardin are coated with bisphenol A”. Wait, isn't that every brand of canning lid made in the USA?

Furthermore, Consumer Reports found BPA in 19 name-brand canned foods (that you can get off the shelf in any grocery store), and even in some cans marked "BPA Free".  The FDA is now expressing concern (as of January 2010) about the potential effects BPA exposure may have, which mimics the hormone estrogen and may cause reproductive abnormalities and increase the risk of cancer and diabetes.

Well, sh*t. You try to eat right, exercise, and do a little home canning, but you still can't get away from the crapola.

Started researching whether there were any other canning lids that were BPA-free. Wecks has gorgeous jars with rubber gaskets and glass lids, but are only good for water-bath canning (jams & high acid food processing). If you want to can meats or other things needing pressure-canning, Wecks won't work. Quattro Stagioni lids (which I don't even know if they'll work with standard Ball or Kerr jars like I have) are also BPA-free and can be used in a pressure canner, but cost a $1.29 for a measly two lids.

Then, a miracle happened - @joykohl reminded me of the Tattler re-usable lids, and asked "are these BPA free?" Yes, yes, YES THEY ARE! They fit regular- and wide-mouth mason jars, and to top it off, they're REUSABLE! 3 dozen lids at $23.00 works out to about 66 cents per lids, and these can be re-used many, many times over. Some folks have used their original Tattler lids for over 20 years. Of course, the lids are plastic, so who knows if there's some other danger lurking in the plastic that won't be found out until several years from now, but, hey! It's better than storing foods in animal stomachs and burying in the dirt somewhere...

[pic: the Tattler re-usable lids]

Eat! Eat!!

A vet visit for Miss Cecily the Goose - who was having problems keeping her wings on her back - showed that she was very thin (yikes! talk about feeling like a bad goose mom!). She might have looked like the fattest goose of the bunch, but as the vet showed me, it's almost all feathers. The other geese aren't nearly as skinny, but the vet declared they were on the thin side as well. I'm guessing nobody wants to leave the shady, cool spot to go eat at the main feeder. With the bright sun and searing heat, who could blame them?

The vet, bless him & his kin, arranged additional greens & veggies for the geese (besides what we already feed them in the mornings). One of his clients owns a restaurant, and she agreed to let me have the leftovers from meal prep. All I have to do is pick them up. Thank you so much, Linda!

We've also set up a new feeder in the shaded area. So far, the new feeder is working out well: so well, I may set up a second feeder in the shady area. The full feeder from yesterday morning was down to crumbs by the early evening. In addition, electrolytes with vitamins are being added to their water, and I picked up a bag of 30% protein game-bird feed to add to the organic feed. Gotta get the girls fattened up once more! As the Sicilian side of my family would say, "Eat! Eat!! You're so skinny, you're making me look poor!"

[Pic: Because sometimes, being first to the feed trough isn't enough.]

Posting to be Erratic

Posts will be erratic for the next seven days or so, as I'll be recovering from surgery (no worries, it's all good). It'll be a great chance to catch up on some sleep as well. And then there's the grass seed that needs to be sown, vegetable seeds to be ordered, berry plants that need transplanting, and...

[wait, aren't I supposed to be resting and recovering at some point?]

My Newest Helper

Yep, it's a high-pressure spray nozzle. We purchased it from a local Harbor Freight Tools, which is like a dollar store for the frugal do-it-yourself-tool-geek. I've used other nozzles and sprayers in the past to clean "the poop deck"* (a.k.a. the wrap-around porch) that the geese like to frequent, but those nozzles always required at least some bending over and extra effort. Even with the extra effort, oftentimes the spray would never quite get the concrete clean. I was considering purchasing a low-end pressure washer until I saw this item and decided to try one last time. This brass beauty, set to "stun", can darn near peel paint off a board with no more help than me directing its flow.

Hooray for inexpensive working solutions!

P.S. Oh yeah, and the dogs can't easily eat it.

[*phrase courtesy of Natalie at http://www.chickenblog.com ]

"Can't They Do That At The Vet?"

Not specifically farm related, but...

Spouse and I were at the hematologist yesterday as part of pre-surgery preparations. I was told I'd need Spouse (or myself) to administer subcutaneous shots twice daily for a week, post-operation, to ensure there'd be no dangerous clotting issues. Blanching from being informed of his required help with my shots, Spouse blurted "isn't this something the nearby vet could do for you?"

*blink-blink*...

I about fell over laughing.

[pic: Spouse with Red. And, uh, Spouse? "NO."]

Ankle Beaters

In the afternoons, I do a bit of auto-hypnosis before napping that I'll wake up if the animals need my presence. On Thursday, I woke up with a start, and heard the geese having a fit. Ran out to the pen, and see that the pups are having a bad case of the stoopids, with one of them on her back, tail a-waggin', while the geese are attacking the holy crap out of her.

As I go in to break up the party, Godzilla accidentally smacks me on the ankle bone - hard - with his wing. Ka-waaaaang.... I could feel the impact's vibration all the way up my leg. I grab both dogs by the collar and throw them into their kennel. On the way back up the hill to check on the geese, could feel that something was wrong in my ankle. Since I was still walking, however, didn't think much of it.

I went ahead and got the afternoon chores done early, and laid back down. At 9:00PM, was awakened by eye-watering, amazing pain. Tried to get up, but any pressure on the foot with the injured ankle almost made me pass out. Thankfully, Spouse was home, and he rushed me into emergency, thinking I had a hairline fracture. As it turns out, no fracture, but have been ordered to keep the ankle wrapped and elevated through next week, and given a hefty prescription of pain-killers.

When I said that I was hoping to get some solid rest, I didn't think it would come about in this manner. Ah well!

D'oh!

Did you know: one gallon of water equals 8.33 pounds? If you multiply 8.33 by 5 (which is what a five gallon bucket holds - the logic, it astounds!), you get 41.65 pounds. Move 41.65 pounds quickly AND incorrectly, and it equals a torqued back.

D'oh!

Was cleaning out the goose pools, putting the soiled water into five-gallon buckets to then water the grass, garden and compost piles. Pitched one five-gallon full bucket atop the compost pile in a way that my back did not appreciate. Finished up as best I could, and then crawled into bed, only rising once more to make sure everyone was squared away later that afternoon/evening. Alas and alack, no critter stories today.

So remember: lift with your knees, not your back, and don't pitch 41.65 pounds of unstable weight like a shotput unless you are, indeed, an Olympic shotputter. That is all.

[Instead, here's a pic of Bandit crashed out by the kitchen door, and the chickens (Pepper and Red) looking like they maybe have a prank up their sleeve... err, wings.]

girl parts going away

What I'm saying: "Your girl parts are gonna get ripped out tomorrow! Yes they are! Oh yes they are!"

What the pups hear, according to Gary Larson: "Blah blah blah! Blah! Blah blah!"

Yes, our sweet pups are going to be spayed bright and early tomorrow morning. So, a bath this evening, and no food after 7:00 PM, which means an early bed-time for them tonight. They're not gonna like that one bit. Sorry, ladies, but the worst is yet to come...

[pic: "shark attack!"]

Holy crap! What a weekend!

We had about a week's worth of happenings in one tiny little weekend. There was drama, trauma, comedy and more than a little muscle soreness afterwards. Right now I'm recovering from a doctor's visit earlier this morning - everything's okay, just some long overdue maintenance on some skin issues - and will get my wits together for some writing later this evening. See you in a bit!

[pic: "whatcha got under there? huh? huh?"]