Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

Added some Color and Life

I also was able to add some flowers to the coop yesterday. It buoyed my spirit a little. View attachment 2067735

It rained mercilessly this weekend. Always a downer for me. I need time outside. I also left the house for the first time in about 2 weeks, self isolation and all. Buying the flowers helped a lot.

Interesting Development in Flock Dynamics
I am watching Hattie lead the flock around this morning. For some reason Lilly is off on her own. Hattie even called to them at one point letting them know she had identified a good scratching place.

Only Sydney did not go to her. She too is off on her own this morning.

What I call the baby worms are back. They are tiny. Maybe as long as the first knuckle on your finger and as thick as a piece of string. They are under leaves and just in the first layer of soil. The ladies here will spend hours scratching them up. Their appearance surely means spring has arrived.

Love the flowers and baby worms!

 

[ValerieJ]

They will drink dirty nasty mud puddle water over anything else.

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm very crabby with cabin fever from sheltering in place. When I ventured out to pick up prescription at drug store, I got hollered at for being too close to the counter. Was told to maintain the 6 feet of distance(social distancing), there was no one ahead of me. How could I pay from 6 feet back????

Was hollered at - grocery shopping as well. There were signs on the floor (no joke) that said "wait here." I didn't know which sign to stand on.

 

[drumstick diva]

Think this virus may cause severe aggression even in folks without it - I know I felt like biting a few people myself.

 

[LozzyR]

I really like this animation from the covid-19 pandemic article (give it a moment to load up)

That is a good graphic, very informative.

 

[LozzyR]

I did not know about pneumonic plague!

I knew about it, it didn’t know it was 100% fatal without treatment. I thought it was the lesser of the two plagues.

 

[drumstick diva]

more to worry about

 

[Ribh]

Tonight's Micro Lesson

Let's start with the bubonic plague. Plague is caused by a bacteria, Yersinia Pestis. Yersinia is endemic to rat populations in cetain parts of the world. Everyone who said that the transmission was via a flea bite is correct. The flea is called a "vector" in microbiological terms.
Transmission of Yersinia Pestis to humans via flea bite causes the bubonic plague. Certain white blood cells ingest the bacteria but cannot kill it. Those white blood cells take the bacteria into the lymphatic system where the bacteria infects the lymph nodes creating the telltale black buboes, hence the name bubonic plague and black plague.

Bubonic plague is fatal in 50 to 60% of untreated cases.

Within hours of the initial flea bite, the bacteria is in the blood stream moving to organs in the body. Starting with the liver spleen, and lungs. It is this transfer of the infectious locus to the lungs that ramps things up.

Yersinia Pestis also causes Pneumonic Plague. Once the bacteria reaches the lungs the patient will develop develops a severe bacterial pneumonia, exhaling large numbers of viable organisms into the air during coughing fits. This enables transmission from human to human without the need for rats and fleas.

Most significantly, the Pneumonic Plague is 100% fatal without treatment. This is how a simple flea bite could wipe out 1/3 of the earth's population. There were not enough rats and fleas on the planet to acheive that scale of death.

So endeth the lesson. Tomorrow night the Spanish flu.

I didn't know the science but I did know the end results ~ History being more my thing.

 

[Ribh]

I really like this animation from the covid-19 pandemic article (give it a moment to load up)

Yep. That one's been doing the rounds. I've seen it a few places now.

I admit to being slightly bamboozled by all the fuss about mostly staying home. That is our normal. We rarely socialise. We don't have time. Home keeps us pretty busy most of the time & I've worked & homeschooled for more years than I care to remember so I don't really have much sympathy for the grizzlers. Plus I have a list of things that need doing round here longer than my arm. I'm still rotating my spare eggs around our end of the street ~ @ the correct social distance! Life is a little different for some but it's still doable, still fun, still a blessing. Ok, hopping off my soap box now.

 

[LozzyR]

A goal to be attained. Maybe the Easter Bunny would have been for her if not for the virus.

Isn’t the Easter Bunny considered essential services? (Or is that just the tooth fairy?).