The case of the disappearing & reappearing chicken AND Pain pain go away ...

Hunter is Kelly's best friend and she follows him around

-Sunday night Hunter's beloved hen Kelly was missing.  It was dark though, when he searched for her, and she is a black chicken so we thought maybe she just couldn't been seen.  But the next morning, Hunter and I were out at sunup looking for her.

No Kelly.

We periodically looked for her throughout the day, hoping and praying she might show up.  By supper time, Hunter was struggling not to cry.  He said, "This has been the worse year!  Tabby is so sick and then my chick Carla was killed and now Kelly is gone!"  We all felt sad.  Kelly was the tamest chick ever, thanks to Hunter!  And of course we felt terrible for him.

The feed store near us has more baby chicks in stock so Frank took the boys to pick out new chicks Tuesday afternoon.  (Solomon felt he should have a chick too because our little guinea, which he named Toad, had disappeared a few days ago.)

So, new chicks were purchased and brought home.  Shortly after arriving home, there was a stunning discovery.  Our old dog Lucia started getting all curious about something and upon investigation, Kelly was found alive!

What crazy timing is that?

So Kelly is back, much to Hunter's delight, and the boys each have a new chick.

Solomon named his Americana chick "Neil Pharaoh" and Hunter named his Buff Orpington "Kayla." 

Little Miss Pharaoh fell asleep!

Kayla is about a week older than Neil Pharaoh, so she's got more feathers than fuzz

Tabby enjoys when the boys bring their chicks to her so she can hold them.  Sunday afternoon she felt well enough to stay out of the recliner for a bit and went outside to sit in the sun and pet Exhaust Pipe.  There's just something special about animals!

Tabby woke very early yesterday morning with a new kind of stomach pain.  She said her stomach felt "hollow."  I wasn't totally sure what she meant but googled it and sure enough, there were plenty of people out there who have "hollow stomach" pain.  (And yes it is very different than just being hungry!)  Tabby was in extreme pain most of the day and nauseous too.  The only time she felt better was when she was throwing up.  She hurt so bad last night she was afraid to be alone.  We would have gone to the hospital if we thought they could actually do something for her.  (The pain meds they use worked a few times but now only make her feel loopy.)  I sat with her until about midnight, when she finally fell asleep.

This morning she felt much better.  She's just back to "normal pain" now.  Sigh.

I've gotten two more possible pieces of the Tabby-medical-mystery-puzzle.  Last Friday we got the results of her adrenal stress test. Her adrenal glands are a complete wreck.  Her cortisol is out of wack too - and explains why she is so dead tired in the mornings and completely wired late at night.  (The rates are very low in the morning and very high at night.)  Her test showed she has also become insulin resistant, which can explain why she's often so hungry and can't get full.

The other puzzle piece is the first part of our well water testing has come back and it was found we have "Coliform Bacteria" in our water.  This bacteria is common in our county.  We use a Berkey water filtering system for our drinking water and ice - which filters out this bacteria - but there are plenty of other times a day when we use straight well water.  (ex. brushing teeth, washing produce, cooking, etc.) 

This bacteria can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.  It often effects children 5 and under, pregnant women, and chronically ill people the most. 

The well water must be treated with chlorination.  Frank bought the stuff for it today and will treat it tomorrow.  Then we have 24 hours where we can not use our well water.  Hopefully all will be good after that!  (A friend told me that when this happened with her family's well water, they all were feeling better in less than a week after treatment.)

I am praying this helps Tabby!  Though I don't believe it's her whole problem.  And - I am praying this is the answer to Solomon's stomach problems!  He has been having diarrhea almost every morning now for a week or so.  And still having almost daily stomach aches. 

reading and snuggling help Tabby and Solomon both to feel a bit better

So what will tomorrow bring?  I am almost afraid to ask.

Keeping up with our feathered friends

I'm needing a light hearted post, to amuse myself, and just leave present reality for a few minutes.  Read along if you want to see silly chicken stuff!

Hunter's chick Kelly follows him everywhere he goes outside.  (She's still inside in her bin most of the day though, as she's still growing.)  When he sat on the swing, she hoped onto the swing, and then onto her favorite place - his shoulder:

When Hunter and Solomon have played in the sandbox lately, Kelly seems to be enjoying flying up onto Solomon's head.  Solomon doesn't appreciate that.  So he decided to wear his fireman hat to prevent Kelly's landing.  So far so good ....

Last Sunday morning, we got to watch several Guinea keets hatch in our incubator.  I was so sick of "egg sitting" - turning the eggs several times a day for weeks.  It was worth it though, to watch the hatchings, and have all 5 keets survive.  The boys and I cracked up at this keet - it struggled and struggled then it's head and neck popped out and it fell back, exhausted, and we just stared at each other:

"what are you lookin' at?!"

Solomon gave the five keets names from Thomas the Train:  Toad, Oliver, Sir Handel, Rusty, and Molly:

I'm the one that cares for our chickens in the mornings and afternoons.  So I spend a lot of time looking at them while doing my chicken chores.  Of the dozen chicks that hatched this spring, there are six roosters.  I've now given them all names.  Let me introduce them to you:

This is Rocky 1 (half-Barred Rock).  Many of his smaller feathers are outlined in green:

Rocky 1

And this is Rocky 2!  It took me a few days to realize there were TWO roosters that looked almost alike.  I finally noticed this rooster's smaller feathers are outlined in a gold-ish color:

Rocky 2

Next we have Harold the Handsome-Cut-Rooster.  (Have you ever seen the frozen french fries for sale at Trader Joe's?  We got them a couple times and we think the "handsome cut" part is too funny.)

Harold the Handsome-Cut Rooster

Then we have Fabio.  Do you remember the old ad (shampoo?) with that blonde guy that said "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful ..."  Well our Fabio has long yellow neck feathers and he struts like he thinks he's God's gift to the hens:

Fabio

Here we have Swiss Mister.  He looks just like a hen that I named "Swiss Miss" because of her coloring.  The white with brown reminds me of hot chocolate and marshmallows for some reason!

Swiss Mister

Finally we have Regal.  The name just fits him as he walks calmly around in his excellent rooster posture:

Regal

Here's just a funny picture - I think he's telling me I need to get up, and go put my boys to bed:

"Enough wasting time woman!  Get back to work!"

My epic Costco fail and the "dear sweet little chick"

Several years ago I read an interesting post on the Kitchen Stewardship blog called "What Does a Real Foodie Buy at ... Costco?"  I'm not a "foodie" but I do like healthy food and organics when I can afford them.  I noticed a number of my friends that try to eat the same way, and who were also frugal, raved about Costco.  And of course I've read about saving money at big warehouse clubs. So when a new Costco opened not too far away from us, I researched a bit more, then bought a membership.

One morning last month, the boys and I dropped Tabby at school, then drove the few miles to Costco.  We arrived 20 minutes before the store opened but noticed that already were about 50 people milling around outside the locked doors.  (This probably sounds weird, but it reminded me of the flies that are all over the chicken coop in the morning, waiting for me to open the doors so they can go inside.)

red gladiolas - I'm growing some outside Lilly's garden

The doors to Costco were opened 10 minutes early and the flood of people rushed inside.  The boys and I cautiously got a cart, and entered.  We went up and down almost every row in the store, checking prices, and putting some things into our cart.  It was interesting but tiring.  Hunter loved the store and looking at all the pipes and heating/cooling vents on the ceiling.

Then it was time to check out.  Whew!  The cashier rang up my items and announced my total.  After a minute I said, "I don't know why my credit card won't work in the machine."  Uh oh.  That's when I found out that the only credit card the store takes is American Express!  (Though at of the time of my writing this, they switched from American Express to Visa.)  The cashier acted like he was so surprised I didn't know.  The man in line behind me expressed his sympathy - apparently this had happened to him too.

So, we had to leave our cart and walk out of the store, feeling rather embarrassed and frustrated at the time and energy we had wasted. As we walked, Hunter said, "Why didn't they put the things we bought into bags?"

Oh my, I hadn't even noticed that.  I guess I would have had to just throw all our purchases loose into the back of our car!

the day lilies are blooming so well - and many are taller than Solomon

Really though - why doesn't Costco make those things clear?  When I signed up, I was given a new member bag with all sorts of brochures inside.  Wanting to be a wise shopper, I looked over everything they gave me.  One thing even talked about how you could pick up a phone in line and call over to the food court area and order food to go.  But they couldn't tell me about the credit cards and that they don't give bags?

Sigh.  Lessons learned.  I know we need to go back (since I bought a year's membership!) but I have been dragging my feet at the thought.  Guess I need some pep talks from all those big Costco fans out there!

my camera just couldn't capture the deep, rich beauty of the sunset

Tabby still has her flock of Silkie Bantam chickens that she is trying to sell.  There are a bunch of chicks in the flock.  They seem to keep hatching!  What we figure happened was, when the broody hens got off the eggs for a brief period to get food and water, some of the other hens hopped on the nest to lay eggs.

Anyway, we ended up bringing a total of 4 chicks in, to keep.  These chicks were too young and small to keep up with the busy mama hens and the other chicks.  They are sooooo cute and there is just something about having them in the house that makes them more fun.  The kids and I each have our own.  The names are as unique as we all are:  Hunter has "Caroline Carla," Tabby has "Perri,", Solomon has "Pilchard," and I have "Dagmar."

Today we temporarily had "Peepers."

I had noticed that for the past two days, one of the outside chicks just seemed smaller and had to really struggle to hurry to keep up with the others.  But it didn't seem unhealthy.  However today the little chick just gave out of steam.  Frank ended up bringing it inside because when he was mowing, the chick couldn't even get up to get out of the way of the mower.

Awwwww ... weak, injured little animals go right to our hearts around here.  (We just can't help but think of Lilly.  She wasn't an animal of course, but she was weak and fragile.)

Tabby was shocked at how the little chick was just fuzz and bones.   It was very weak and could barely open it's eyes.  It wasn't thriving at all. She said the chick's breathing did not sound right so maybe it was born with a respiratory condition.  

I got it to drink some water and we all held it some.  Solomon named the little chick Peepers.

Peepers resting

This afternoon, Tabby and Hunter cleaned out the chicks bin.  Then we tucked Peeper's into a special little box inside the bin to rest, so that the other chicks wouldn't bother her.  A few minutes later, I heard loud peeping and went to see what was up.

Peepers was convulsing, peeping, and her body twisting all around.  I picked her up and held her. Then suddenly she went limp.  She had died.  Awww.  We all felt sad.

Solomon wanted to bury her next to the bunny we tried to save last year.  So he took Peeper's outside to Frank to bury her.  As I walked with him, Solomon said quietly, "Oh the dear sweet little chick."  :(

Life and death.  Seems it's all around us, here on our little farm.  And there is such wonder in it all.

It does NOT take a village ...

Yesterday I went outside with my camera to take pictures of our handsome rooster, Fowler.  Unfortunately, this rooster is getting too big for his britches (feathers!).  He likes to chase and attack young boys, namely Solomon and Hunter, which has led to them being afraid to go outside.  And boys that won't go outside?  Well that just doesn't work.  (Hunter tried using a big stick to beat off Fowler but Fowler just flew up to Hunter's hands to peck him.)

After behaving perfectly for his photo shoot, I walked away and Fowler suddenly attacked MY legs.  Lovely.  Add to all the bloody scratches from Tabby's roosters.  My legs look like I've been running through the briar patch.

So yes Fowler, I'm sorry.  It's time for you to go, since I'm too big a wimp to wring your neck and pluck you and cook you myself.

So - Fowler is now listed on CraigsList at the bargain price of only $0.00.

I find it fascinating watching animal mothers.  I've written before about some of my observations of our mama dog and a mama chicken.

I've been doing some mama chicken observations again as we currently have two hens that are raising chicks.  The first is our experienced mama, My Precious.

Precious and her dozen chicks

The other is our hen Beru, who is well ... psychotic. 

Beru and her brood of 8 chicks

Both of these mamas are attentive to their fuzzy babies and pretty much do the same things.  Talk to them, keep them warm, teach them things like scratching and pecking, call them for food and water, and keep them close by. 

However, the way in which they do it isn't just the same.  Precious is so easy going and patient.  She keeps her clucking even and her behavior is very consistent.  She keeps a careful eye on her dozen and the only time she raises her voice is when one strays too far.  She is kind yet firm when necessary. 

Beru on the other hand, leads, clucks, and teaches, but she is just so erratic in her personal behavior.  She will suddenly just shriek and act psycho for a moment, then is OK.  She loses her temper easily if Precious or any other chicken gets too near.  If we are trying to give her food, water, or even her chicks - she has no hesitation in pecking us.  It's just bizarre to watch her pecking and eating with the chicks, and then suddenly have what looks like a little tantrum, and then fluff up and carefully allow the biddies to snuggle up under her.

Another thing I've noticed, is that in general, mama hens do NOT want help with their babies.  Neither Precious nor Beru want any other hen to get near them or their babies.  And they do not even like to get close to each other.  One day Precious and Beru faced off in a fight where they acted like roosters - jumping at each other.  So in the world of chickens, their little brains do not think that it "takes a village" to raise their chicks.

Bingo is the little grey chick - it had some physical issues the first few days (which made me love it instantly of course) but it seems just fine now

After taking pictures of our fine feathered friends, it was so nice outside, I walked around and took a few more pictures.

Here is Lilly's garden.  I had transplanted a bunch of daffodils in her garden last year and even though you can see all the green, not one flower opened up.  I was so disappointed!  Maybe it was the weird winter weather of unseasonably warm mixed with cold days.

If you are reading this and live local to us, and you have an Easter lily in your home, when it dies, instead of throwing it away - I would love to have it.  I plant the bulbs along the fence behind Lilly's garden.

The boys and I have enjoyed finding wildflowers in our yard or along the road, picking them, and identifying them with the help of our NC wildflower guide.  Then we put the flowers in vases around the house to brighten things up.  Here are some that are blooming now (hopefully we've got the names right):

Trailing Phlox (pink)

Trailing Phlox (white)

Bluets

Downy False Foxglove

Exhaust Pipe barking up the wrong tree?:

6 + 6 a dozen chicks is ...

Last year, Hunter learned a math chant for adding doubles up to 20.  Lately we've gone around saying "6 + 6 a dozen chicks is 12!"  That is because last week Precious hatched out a dozen adorable chicks!

Yesterday the boys and I took Precious and the gang outside for some time in the sun.  The boys watched the chicks closely while I cleaned out the large dog crate that they are temporarily living in.  (Tabby loves everything about going to school this year but admitted yesterday that she missed being around for things like this!)

Precious marched the chicks around the little fenced area we put them in and instructed them as she demonstrated different chicken things.  It really is amazing to watch!

Great news about my aunt Pam that was hospitalized for double pneumonia.  The trach and feeding tube were removed from her and she is now threatening that if the doctors don't let her out of the hospital now then she will walk home!  :)  All her doctors said her progress has been remarkable.  Prayers really work - thank you so much for praying for her!

Finally, a big THANK YOU to those of you that donated to Tabby's fundraising project for Stop Hunter Now.  (See my post here.)  She has sent thank you cards to all the donors except for "Anonymous."  We found that "anonymous" is "Anna T" but I'm still not totally sure who you are.  So if you are reading this Anna T. - thank you so much for your generosity!  :) 

I believe Tabby is the top fundraiser in her class so far.  If you would like to contribute, here is that info. again:

If you would like to help sponsor Tabby's participation in Stop Hunger Now, you can make a tax deductible payment online on her school giving page at:  http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/tabby-hollowell/2016SHN   Every dollar helps!

Easy peel fresh eggs and various little updates

First  off, Miss Tabby is continuing to recover. Her lungs still hurt at times, but not constantly.  She still isn't up to her full energy level, but she's getting closer.  And she's put 10 lbs. back on, last time we checked.  She still has 10-15 more pounds to go, but she's doing good overall. She went back to school full-time last week and was even able to go to the school's "Snow Ball" Saturday evening.

She had the most wonderful dress, made by her friend Cassie.  (I've talked about Cassie on this blog before, and her little angel sister Hannah, that had Trisomy 18, like Lilly.)  Tabby likes satins and laces and steampunk style dresses.  So she sent pictures of several dress styles she liked to Cassie, along with the school's dress guidelines.  Cassie came up with the design and made the dress.

gotta have a goofy picture

Recently I came across a post on my favorite chicken blog - Fresh Eggs Daily - on how to get easy to peel FRESH eggs.  (If you've ever tried to peel hard boiled eggs that are less than about 2 weeks old - you know how frustrating it is!  If you buy your eggs at the grocery, they are probably about a month or two old, so you don't have this problem.)  The answer:  steam them!  I tried with eggs just a few days old and it worked perfectly!  See that post with instructions here.  I'm so happy about this, especially since our hens have finally finished molting and are now laying nicely again.

There was much rejoicing here this past Saturday when the Lowes delivery truck showed up with a new washing machine to exchange for our broken one.  (I lamented about our 2 month old broken washing machine under warranty here so I won't bore you with a rehash.)  Six weeks without a washing machine - especially when half that time we were sick - was NOT fun.  Frank spent hours and hours on the phone with Samsung trying to get the mess resolved.

I think the boys were a bit sad at our last trip to "Laundry Land" though.  They think the laundromat is great fun.

Yesterday during math time, I handed Hunter a penny for a little learning activity.  Then Solomon interrupted needed help with something.  When I got back - only a minute or two later - Hunter had hooked the penny up to test and see if it conducted electricity.  Yes!  Success.  He was able to get his fan to turn on with the hook up.

Both fans are from an old computer that Hunter took apart.  The bottom one is named "Sammy" and the top is "Dilta."  (The penny is between the red and green alligator clips.)

He then had to test the other coins to see if they conducted electricity too.  Then we finally got that math work done!

Exhaust Pipe is recovering from his (coyote?) attack.  I was a bit worried, but I've kept his bite wounds clean and have been giving him silver (for an antibiotic) several times a day.  I have also found that triple antibiotic ointment works marvels for healing and closing up wounds quickly.  I no longer had to wrap the worst leg wound, after using the ointment for just 2 days.  He still is mainly laying around as I don't think walking feels too good for him yet.  But his appetite is great and he is so much better.

Mr. Exhaust Pipe = one super tough dog

I like reading the monthly e-newsletter, "Insights," from Classical Academic Press.  The January issue linked to an article on Psychology Today's website called "Screentime is Making Kids Moody, Crazy and Lazy."  The article talks about six ways that electronics can cause mood disturbances.  It is really eye opening.  Kids today are being labeled with all sorts of mental health issues when it is really is their use of electronics that is causing their problems.  The answer?  An "electronic fast" so that the body's nervous system can "reset."

Something we probably ALL could benefit from!

Finally, yesterday I was reminded yet again of how unexpectedly grief can hit us.  A couple years ago, a mother that had lost a child 20 years previously, told me that she just never knew when there would be some sort of trigger that suddenly made her cry.  That happened to me yesterday when I read Hunter's poem of the day to him.  It was a poem that I had heard or read many times before and yeah it was a sad, but oh well.  However, life experiences have changed that "oh well" to something hugely significant for me.

Little Boy Blue - by Eugene Field

THE little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and staunch he stands;
The little toy soldier is red with rust,
And his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,	5
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.
"Now don't you go till I come," he said,
"And don't you make any noise!"	10
So, toddling off to his trundle bed,
He dreamt of the pretty toys;
And, as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our Little Boy Blue—
Oh! the years are many, the years are long,	15
But the little toy friends are true!
Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand,
Each in the same old place,
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
The smile of a little face;	20
And they wonder, as waiting the long years through
In the dust of that little chair,
What has become of our Little Boy Blue,
Since he kissed them and put them there.

It's lines 13-16 that started the tears and the rest of the poem was so bittersweet to read.

My Little Girl Blue

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." - Romans 12:12