Chicken Therapy

Dorth (the chicken) is feeling a bit crummy!

Yes, this one is my kid....no doubt about it.

We traveled to see family last weekend.  The night before we returned I heard my sweet daughter say, "I miss my chickens!"

I totally understood the sentiment.  I went to bed that same night fretting over the cows even though I had stockpiled water and hay to meet their needs.  Let's just say there is peace for my soul when I get to check on them every day. 

Last night one of the chickens showed up with a respiratory infection.  She sounded raspy and one of her eyes looked kind of bubbly--like it was foaming (sorry if that was too much info!).  It was nearly dark, so I had to make a decision quickly.  (If you haven't been blessed with your own chickens, just know that they go to bed at dusk/dark regardless of what time that might occur.  So right now, they shut down at 5pm.  They climb into their coop, settle in a nest or on the roosting bar and call it a day until the sun shows up again.)

Anyway, I did some quick research to determine the best course with the sickly bird.  Some sources recommended that we do away with her to protect the rest of the flock.  I knew that wasn't the right path for us. 

We isolated her into her own little pen and secured a tarp over it since she would have to depend on her own body heat for warmth through the night.  I did a quick search to find which essential oils might help the situation.  I tapped into Jill's experience and mixed up some Melaleuca and Frankincense oil with a couple teaspoons of carrier oil.  Massaged a bit into the bottoms of the bird's feet (which she greatly appreciated, much like a human!)

This morning found the bird looking a bit better.  The raspy respirations had improved and so had the eyes!  Praise God!

And more good news, the other birds all look healthy this morning, too.  That's one of the big concerns with chickens that they will infect all their friends! (much like humans, again!)

We reapplied the Melaleuca / Frankincense oil combo to her feet in the morning and again a lunch.  Planning to keep her penned separately until all the symptoms clear.

The sun is out and we are having a gorgeous day.  While I was finishing up my chores, I found my daughter hanging out with the chickens.  She smiled and said, "Chickens are My Therapy!" 

Yes, she's definitely my kid!

may you be blessed with time for your "therapy" today, too!
pam


Praising God for All Things!!




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Updates!

Time flies when you are having fun (or running full tilt boogie like your hair is on fire!)

The days just move too fast for my liking. 


Farm Happenings

Bob the Bottle Calf
I've been afraid to say this out loud, but I think it's safe to proclaim that Bob the Bottle calf's navel abscess is healed!!  ALL the Glory goes to God!  He blessed me with a great vet with lots of ideas, who also respected my thoughts and observations.  God gave me patience and endurance to doctor Bob's wound twice daily for about 3 1/2 months.  God also put my previous training as a nurse to good use. 

Annabelle and Bob
(Bob is sad with this new "milkless" arrangement!)

In the end it was most definitely God who strengthened Bob and gave me courage to let the abscess heal over and encapsulate (this flies totally in the face of all that past training!).  I still check Bob's belly periodically and have to sing a little verse of praise every time I realize that the infection has resolved!!

Shortly after the infection healed, I had to make an executive decision and wean Bob away from Bambi (my Jersey milk cow).  I really wanted to let her nurse longer, but Bob was starting to scare me.  That probably sounds strange....I'll try to explain.  Because of so much handling by me, on some level Bob thinks of me as her mother.  This leads to a myriad of problems since Bob rapidly outgrew me in size and strength.  As long as Bob nursed I needed to lead her in and out of Bambi's paddock (unless we didn't want any milk that day).  Bob grew really pushy with me....literally.  She would no longer walk at my side, instead she shadowed right behind me and tried to bump me along with her head.  She would even come running up in the pasture and start head bumping me to get my attention.  Trust me, she had it.  It gave me the creeps and I started being fearful for myself and my kids, too. 

"Don't worry, Bob, you'll get through this."

The good news is that just a few weeks after giving up her favorite drink and not being handled very much, Bob has settled down and is much calmer when I need to be around her.  She still loves a good chin scratch and she moo's when she sees me, but she's no longer acting like an overgrown toddler. 


Chickens
We've had a rough couple weeks with chickens.  We lost 2 laying hens.  It seems that a fox made off with the first and a hawk tried to take the other. 

Chicks at about 3 weeks.
Sort of an ugly stage with half of feathers grown in.

On the same day, a raccoon got through some electric fencing, reached into the coop where we are raising our meat birds.  The coon killed one and badly wounded another.  The wounded chick lived in our garage for a while.  She's been relocated back with the other chicks.  We still have to keep her in a separate pen because some of the other birds pick on her.  (the pecking order is everywhere!)  I'm amazed at how God instilled us and all of His creatures with a will to live.  I was sure this little chick wouldn't survive for an hour after I found her, but here she is a week later....alive and growing stronger each day.

Quilty Stuff

Quilting time is shriveling up like a raisin with the summer garden and mowing and such upon us.  I'm ok with that though.  I tend to feel better when I go with the flow of the seasons and the specific work of each.... instead of demanding that life stay the same and allow me to do what I want to do all the time (trust me, I've tried the latter method, too....it wasn't pretty!)

I am still doing a bit of hand piecing on the fly.  This new pattern and stamp set by Cindy Blackberg is fun.  The  pieces are larger than the ones that I usually work with, so it goes together faster. 

Quilt Top for ministry.
Made from donated blocks.
2013

I did finish sewing a quilt top together at during our Wednesday Quilt Ministry gatherings.  This was made from donated blocks.  I sashed the blocks and added borders.  Sarah quilted it and the quilt has already been given away.  :) 

I'm trying to finish a quilt to send to an orphanage in Ethiopia through Sarah's Hands to Help project. 


Health and Well-Being

Wheat
I'm still doing the wheat-free thing. (Amazon affiliate link)  For the most part anyway.  Oddly enough, I really don't miss the wheat foods.  It's hard to figure out what to prepare for meals in their place, but I don't miss eating them.  My daytime energy level remains at a good constant level.  This is such a blessing! 

many blessings,
pam


May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.  Psalm 20:1


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