Illinois...
- Thread starter mothergoose
- Start date
You don't do Bio security? No issues with bugs or diseases?Had a big day of "musical chickens." Three cockerels came back home, some pullets were swapped, some pullets & chicks were sold, and the lav orps went home with @homeschoolin momma.
The chick that hatched last night is now in with the rest. (Looks like a lav silver laced.... but that's not possible, so perhaps a light blue laced.) The one that hatched this morning is walking around but looks more fragile. It's a pretty blue orp. I'm going to let it stay in the incubator overnight.
Edit to add:
One funny thing happened, the 3 returned cockerels became fast friends and hung out together. I also have a sweet leghorn which came back with one of the males. Tonight when they all went into the garage brooder with Cookie (my broody), the boys were OK but the girl wanted out. The netting over the top of the brooder barely slowed her down. Every time I went into the garage, there she was roosting on top of the brooder - or grill - or work bench, etc. I broughther inside for a little cuddle & on a whim put her inside the brooder with Xansie & all the newly hatched chicks. Finally, she felt accepted and stayed. I guess she wanted to be a BIG sister. She's 5.5 wks old and prefers the company of 3 day old chicks.
When I sold her chicks, I only had 3 Leghorns left. She couldn't decide, and all 3 looked like females to me. I had a lot of chicks, so I told her to buy 2, take 3, and return one when she came back to have them sexed. (Chicken babysitting for me, extra fun for her kids, and higher chance of getting 2 female Leghorns for her.) I actually want one Leghorn, so I was happy my gut feeling about gender was right. I knew her kids would hold the chicks
Have you considered a ""RENT A ROOSTER"" service possibility.
The service charge should easily cover their feed costs+...
I've actually had people ask, but it's a lot easier to just sell fertile eggs.
The two people who brought their chicks back only have my chickens at their house. (They also had the chicks inside the homes.) Basically, I'm spreading my flock out over the Chicagoland area.
I keep my chicks in the front part of the backyard & garage. That area is separated from my flock. My broody hens could be exposed to something (Which would be very sad) - but not the whole flock. Since these 2 families handled the chicks, they are very calm boys - not to mention their good looks. I'm going to keep them up front for a while to see it they might be good for breeding. If I get a boy back from someone who has a mixed flock, the cockerel gets processed that day.
Hello my friends it's been a few days.
Life here has been busy to say the least.
This weekend DH2B repeatedly got called in to work so most of our weekend was a loss but what we had was very productive. The extra hours will also be nice but I'll be happy when all the crops are finally in.
Unfortunately I still haven't found any turkey poults as friends for my little slate. We separated the littler chicks into a separate brooder(the turkey's hatch as well) but the poult cried incessantly and jumped out of the brooder. It prefers to be with the older chicks probably because they're closer to the same size. We're monitoring the poult closely as it is a bit smaller and does get jostled also because those chicks are 2 days shy of 4 weeks and in our sun porch they're off heat. The poult is a week or two younger I forget how young but should be on heat. It doesn't act cold though I worry about it.
We found some blue slate poults that I would like to get but they're 2 hours away and that is awfully far to drive. Perhaps this coming weekend if DH2B isn't working more.
Next we went and collected 6 lavender Ameracauna chicks that we got for a steal. Two of them are a week older than our older Orps and 4 of them are younger and approximately the size of our littles.
Normally I would have quarantined them but as we have two brooders set up already I decided to just put them in with ours chicks. They were inside and in pristine conditions so I feel sure they're healthy. Their parents were straight from Cackle. They of course went into their size appropriate brooders.
We also buried my dear sweet Pebbles and I don't have the photos on my phone but as we were burying her God gave me peace. I was upset and crying. My ever sweet and sensitive sheltie stood next to me(literally on top of the sod we had removed as she didn't realize it wasn't just the lawn-which made me laugh but also a bit sad as I worried it was the fading light and her eyes which are clouding up: it could also have been that she didn't care because Mommy needed her.) comforting and cuddling me. The sky was cloudy and there was a chance of rain but it was dry as a bone. Then all of a sudden behind DH2B across the grave from me, the sky lit up with a rainbow out of nowhere, arching over our pine tree. Pebbles is at peace and waiting for me at the rainbow bridge. Peace and love washed over me and I cried tears of joy.
We also had an eventful weekend with our great Dane. Playing chase with our sheltie she whipped around in a tight circle and kicked, stepped on, who knows, but our sheltie yelped and has been sore since. I've looked her over and over and she has no injuries that I can see I think she must have pulled something, bruised something or hurt her blown out knee-which normally doesn't bother her. She's already improving or we'd take her to the vet but I'm keeping an eye on her. She's okay but she walks a little slow and stiff legged right now but it's improved quite a bit. She did jump on the couch last night just to say hi so she can't be hurting too badly.
The next thing that has been going on with our Dane for about a week now is that she has been reluctant to go upstairs. Last week two nights I think it was Wednesday and Thursday we helped her a bit but managed to get her up to bed. Although Thursday night she pooped on the steps and DH2B ended up picking her up and carrying her up the steps, which just about gave me a heart attack as I pictured both of them tumbling down.
Friday night things were a lot more of a fiasco. The Danes problem is she's losing momentum up the stairs. She runs and plays like a puppy but has developed some mild weakness in her hind end but nothing severe. She can be a bit sore sometimes if there's bad weather. Anyway so Friday she kept going up three steps and trying to turn around on the steps and almost falling because she's really too big and clumsy to turn around. I asked DH2B not to carry her as we are planning to get something to assist her back end up the steps so I thought if we just supported her back end and encouraged her and placed one foot from step to step as needed we'd make it up. We did, almost. Halfway up the stairs she panicked and leaned all the way back front legs out straight. She literally almost fell over backwards in spite of DH2B grabbing her collar. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack. Mind you she was totally stable until that point. Thankfully I was behind her or she would have fallen. I braced myself as she leaned her entire weight back into me and I held up all about 160 lbs of her. Don't ask me how. Lol. I have strong legs and am no weakling but she was literally pushing off the steps with her front legs with all her might as if she was trying to fall down the stairs. As we struggled to get her moving again and figure out what was going on as she basically sat on me in the middle of the steps.
This went on for a while probably at least ten minute or more. Then...
She pooped a huge massive poop on my foot and leg!
Yep pooped on me!
Now I'm aware that Danes are prone to loss of bowel control something DH2B didn't know when he got her. She has had some problems but most of her problems are just from stubbornness. She will just ignore that she has to go until she comes in the house. It's often intentional with her, not always, but she is basically an older larger naughty version of @Faraday40 Kepler. LOL so she is constantly causing trouble especially when she was younger.
Anyway we believe in this instance it was a combination of her not having gone in the hour she was outside before bed(because she'll just sit there and bark bark bark and get into trouble such as eating compost) and because she was scared. Like deathly afraid.
Anywho in spite of having a steaming pile of you know what dropped on my foot I did not drop the big pain in the butt. I didn't even get mad I just let DH2B know. We made it up a couple more steps and were about 3-4 from the top when she panicked again. Mind you we're holding around her abdomen and her chest for support this isn't because she feels she's falling or her legs are giving away. She decides to try and turn around and go back down but our stairway narrows where she was. I'm reaching up and helping but as my foot is still buried in #2 I'm standing two steps below and can only support her back end. DH2B is struggling to hold her and it occurs to me that if we fall now we will all be covered in poo and heading to the hospital/Emergency vet.
Frustrated and out of options DH2B picks her up and walks up the last three steps as our Dane Bella panics the whole way. Although she stays relatively still and only her front legs are going scrambling for purchase on our floor. Once on the landing she runs for the bedroom and is then totally fine maybe a but stressed but nowhere near our levels.
A few holy poos later and we step back and realize what we've done. I'm extricated from #2 which thankfully was more solid than we sometimes see from her and hobble down the stairs trying not to use the foot or at least anything but the clean heel of it and into the bathroom where I wash up and consider using bleach to scrub my leg and foot. There was ick between my toes and I was covered head to toe in a thick layer of black hair belonging to Bella I had it all over my face and arms and chest and legs courtesy of summer clothing. I find Dane hair very coarse and itchy so it had to come off because it would give me a rash. No I'm not allergic to dogs but have very sensitive skin.
DH2B apologized and thanked me and said I was a stronger person than him and he'd have dropped her if she had pooed on him. Which I'm sure he wouldn't have but it was still nice to hear.
Poo was cleaned, stairs washed and we went to bed over an hour and a half since we tried going to bed. Most of the first hour if not all was getting the dog to bed, the rest cleaning up. It was around 1 am and we had to be up at 6:30.
The night before it had only taken us a half hour or so to get her up to bed. The next night and the night after she has refused to go up at all. We don't want to further traumatize her before we get a lifting harness thingy so we have been letting her stay downstairs on her bed.
I worry for the house but mostly I worry over Bella and DH2B. When Bella was about a year old(before I came along) she was hit by a car and had to have a plate put on her shoulder to support the broken bone. As she healed the vet told DH2B that other than leashed time outside he must keep her locked in a small area in the laundry room to restrict her movements as she had already partly managed to pull the screwed down plate away from the bone. This included leaving her in there to sleep and she cried and cried and ate everything dry wall, insulation, wood work, window trim, everything. She had always slept with DH2B to that point.
I know it was a very hard time for him and the last couple days have mirrored it. Although she has the living room and a super comfy dog bed he still feels like a terrible pet owner and feels like she must feel abandoned. She barked the first night at about 4 am when she awoke in the night. Otherwise she's been quiet. She hasn't destroyed anything which is suspicious but she's mostly a heavy sleeper. It's been hard to say the least but every night we try to get her to attempt to come upstairs. DH2B thinks she's given up and he gets upset but her exuberance for life is not diminished. She is 6 turning 7 this fall and I know as a Dane she doesn't have a lot of life left. Our sheltie doesn't either at 13 or 14. It's scary to think we could lose one or both of them sooner than later.
It's not all bad though my Mom is fostering baby kittens for the local shelter so we got to go play with them the other day. Two 3 week old babies oh so cute!
Sunday morning also dawned bright and early. Very early. We were up before 6:30 as we had plans to meet someone at 7:30. We picked up our quad of rabbits to start our meat line! They're also pedigreed and the two older ones have been shown. Photos will follow later. We are starting with New Zealand and will possibly add or change to rare heritage breed later on.
We have a broken blue buck, a blue doe, a black junior doe, and a broken black/possibly steel junior doe. They're wonderful and amazing and we are pretty smitten. Even DH2B walked out of the garage holding the baby broken black last night. LOL. Didn't even tell me he was getting her out. They need some taming still the babies are nervous and the blue doe is a bit flighty but we'll work with them. The buck is very calm and friendly and none of them are aggressive in the least.
So if anyone wants to start a line let me know and we can get together. LoL they are great! The adults are huge! Also as a bonus he bred our adult blue doe to another unrelated buck before we left so we have babies on the way almost certainly! Due in a month or so.
We are super excited!
Next weekend DH2B is going to get fitted for a tux for a friend's wedding in which he's a groomsmen.
Hopefully we will have time and can also get some of our spare boys processed to begin the yearly chicken subtraction to save on feed and space. Also DH2B got our roll out nest boxes in the coop again and we got a turkey egg in the coop yesterday hopefully more today.
A week from today is our first engagement photo shoot. We won one from a company but the photographer we are using the package includes another.
Lots going on and it all feels a bit crazy.
Also my future MIL has been discharged but is staying in a hotel up in Madison as she has to stay close to the hospital for two weeks minimum. She has been doing great.
Life here has been busy to say the least.
This weekend DH2B repeatedly got called in to work so most of our weekend was a loss but what we had was very productive. The extra hours will also be nice but I'll be happy when all the crops are finally in.
Unfortunately I still haven't found any turkey poults as friends for my little slate. We separated the littler chicks into a separate brooder(the turkey's hatch as well) but the poult cried incessantly and jumped out of the brooder. It prefers to be with the older chicks probably because they're closer to the same size. We're monitoring the poult closely as it is a bit smaller and does get jostled also because those chicks are 2 days shy of 4 weeks and in our sun porch they're off heat. The poult is a week or two younger I forget how young but should be on heat. It doesn't act cold though I worry about it.
We found some blue slate poults that I would like to get but they're 2 hours away and that is awfully far to drive. Perhaps this coming weekend if DH2B isn't working more.
Next we went and collected 6 lavender Ameracauna chicks that we got for a steal. Two of them are a week older than our older Orps and 4 of them are younger and approximately the size of our littles.
Normally I would have quarantined them but as we have two brooders set up already I decided to just put them in with ours chicks. They were inside and in pristine conditions so I feel sure they're healthy. Their parents were straight from Cackle. They of course went into their size appropriate brooders.
We also buried my dear sweet Pebbles and I don't have the photos on my phone but as we were burying her God gave me peace. I was upset and crying. My ever sweet and sensitive sheltie stood next to me(literally on top of the sod we had removed as she didn't realize it wasn't just the lawn-which made me laugh but also a bit sad as I worried it was the fading light and her eyes which are clouding up: it could also have been that she didn't care because Mommy needed her.) comforting and cuddling me. The sky was cloudy and there was a chance of rain but it was dry as a bone. Then all of a sudden behind DH2B across the grave from me, the sky lit up with a rainbow out of nowhere, arching over our pine tree. Pebbles is at peace and waiting for me at the rainbow bridge. Peace and love washed over me and I cried tears of joy.
We also had an eventful weekend with our great Dane. Playing chase with our sheltie she whipped around in a tight circle and kicked, stepped on, who knows, but our sheltie yelped and has been sore since. I've looked her over and over and she has no injuries that I can see I think she must have pulled something, bruised something or hurt her blown out knee-which normally doesn't bother her. She's already improving or we'd take her to the vet but I'm keeping an eye on her. She's okay but she walks a little slow and stiff legged right now but it's improved quite a bit. She did jump on the couch last night just to say hi so she can't be hurting too badly.
The next thing that has been going on with our Dane for about a week now is that she has been reluctant to go upstairs. Last week two nights I think it was Wednesday and Thursday we helped her a bit but managed to get her up to bed. Although Thursday night she pooped on the steps and DH2B ended up picking her up and carrying her up the steps, which just about gave me a heart attack as I pictured both of them tumbling down.
Friday night things were a lot more of a fiasco. The Danes problem is she's losing momentum up the stairs. She runs and plays like a puppy but has developed some mild weakness in her hind end but nothing severe. She can be a bit sore sometimes if there's bad weather. Anyway so Friday she kept going up three steps and trying to turn around on the steps and almost falling because she's really too big and clumsy to turn around. I asked DH2B not to carry her as we are planning to get something to assist her back end up the steps so I thought if we just supported her back end and encouraged her and placed one foot from step to step as needed we'd make it up. We did, almost. Halfway up the stairs she panicked and leaned all the way back front legs out straight. She literally almost fell over backwards in spite of DH2B grabbing her collar. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack. Mind you she was totally stable until that point. Thankfully I was behind her or she would have fallen. I braced myself as she leaned her entire weight back into me and I held up all about 160 lbs of her. Don't ask me how. Lol. I have strong legs and am no weakling but she was literally pushing off the steps with her front legs with all her might as if she was trying to fall down the stairs. As we struggled to get her moving again and figure out what was going on as she basically sat on me in the middle of the steps.
This went on for a while probably at least ten minute or more. Then...
She pooped a huge massive poop on my foot and leg!
Yep pooped on me!
Now I'm aware that Danes are prone to loss of bowel control something DH2B didn't know when he got her. She has had some problems but most of her problems are just from stubbornness. She will just ignore that she has to go until she comes in the house. It's often intentional with her, not always, but she is basically an older larger naughty version of @Faraday40 Kepler. LOL so she is constantly causing trouble especially when she was younger.
Anyway we believe in this instance it was a combination of her not having gone in the hour she was outside before bed(because she'll just sit there and bark bark bark and get into trouble such as eating compost) and because she was scared. Like deathly afraid.
Anywho in spite of having a steaming pile of you know what dropped on my foot I did not drop the big pain in the butt. I didn't even get mad I just let DH2B know. We made it up a couple more steps and were about 3-4 from the top when she panicked again. Mind you we're holding around her abdomen and her chest for support this isn't because she feels she's falling or her legs are giving away. She decides to try and turn around and go back down but our stairway narrows where she was. I'm reaching up and helping but as my foot is still buried in #2 I'm standing two steps below and can only support her back end. DH2B is struggling to hold her and it occurs to me that if we fall now we will all be covered in poo and heading to the hospital/Emergency vet.
Frustrated and out of options DH2B picks her up and walks up the last three steps as our Dane Bella panics the whole way. Although she stays relatively still and only her front legs are going scrambling for purchase on our floor. Once on the landing she runs for the bedroom and is then totally fine maybe a but stressed but nowhere near our levels.
A few holy poos later and we step back and realize what we've done. I'm extricated from #2 which thankfully was more solid than we sometimes see from her and hobble down the stairs trying not to use the foot or at least anything but the clean heel of it and into the bathroom where I wash up and consider using bleach to scrub my leg and foot. There was ick between my toes and I was covered head to toe in a thick layer of black hair belonging to Bella I had it all over my face and arms and chest and legs courtesy of summer clothing. I find Dane hair very coarse and itchy so it had to come off because it would give me a rash. No I'm not allergic to dogs but have very sensitive skin.
DH2B apologized and thanked me and said I was a stronger person than him and he'd have dropped her if she had pooed on him. Which I'm sure he wouldn't have but it was still nice to hear.
Poo was cleaned, stairs washed and we went to bed over an hour and a half since we tried going to bed. Most of the first hour if not all was getting the dog to bed, the rest cleaning up. It was around 1 am and we had to be up at 6:30.
The night before it had only taken us a half hour or so to get her up to bed. The next night and the night after she has refused to go up at all. We don't want to further traumatize her before we get a lifting harness thingy so we have been letting her stay downstairs on her bed.
I worry for the house but mostly I worry over Bella and DH2B. When Bella was about a year old(before I came along) she was hit by a car and had to have a plate put on her shoulder to support the broken bone. As she healed the vet told DH2B that other than leashed time outside he must keep her locked in a small area in the laundry room to restrict her movements as she had already partly managed to pull the screwed down plate away from the bone. This included leaving her in there to sleep and she cried and cried and ate everything dry wall, insulation, wood work, window trim, everything. She had always slept with DH2B to that point.
I know it was a very hard time for him and the last couple days have mirrored it. Although she has the living room and a super comfy dog bed he still feels like a terrible pet owner and feels like she must feel abandoned. She barked the first night at about 4 am when she awoke in the night. Otherwise she's been quiet. She hasn't destroyed anything which is suspicious but she's mostly a heavy sleeper. It's been hard to say the least but every night we try to get her to attempt to come upstairs. DH2B thinks she's given up and he gets upset but her exuberance for life is not diminished. She is 6 turning 7 this fall and I know as a Dane she doesn't have a lot of life left. Our sheltie doesn't either at 13 or 14. It's scary to think we could lose one or both of them sooner than later.
It's not all bad though my Mom is fostering baby kittens for the local shelter so we got to go play with them the other day. Two 3 week old babies oh so cute!
Sunday morning also dawned bright and early. Very early. We were up before 6:30 as we had plans to meet someone at 7:30. We picked up our quad of rabbits to start our meat line! They're also pedigreed and the two older ones have been shown. Photos will follow later. We are starting with New Zealand and will possibly add or change to rare heritage breed later on.
We have a broken blue buck, a blue doe, a black junior doe, and a broken black/possibly steel junior doe. They're wonderful and amazing and we are pretty smitten. Even DH2B walked out of the garage holding the baby broken black last night. LOL. Didn't even tell me he was getting her out. They need some taming still the babies are nervous and the blue doe is a bit flighty but we'll work with them. The buck is very calm and friendly and none of them are aggressive in the least.
So if anyone wants to start a line let me know and we can get together. LoL they are great! The adults are huge! Also as a bonus he bred our adult blue doe to another unrelated buck before we left so we have babies on the way almost certainly! Due in a month or so.
We are super excited!
Next weekend DH2B is going to get fitted for a tux for a friend's wedding in which he's a groomsmen.
Hopefully we will have time and can also get some of our spare boys processed to begin the yearly chicken subtraction to save on feed and space. Also DH2B got our roll out nest boxes in the coop again and we got a turkey egg in the coop yesterday hopefully more today.
A week from today is our first engagement photo shoot. We won one from a company but the photographer we are using the package includes another.
Lots going on and it all feels a bit crazy.
Also my future MIL has been discharged but is staying in a hotel up in Madison as she has to stay close to the hospital for two weeks minimum. She has been doing great.
@chickendreams24
I know I posted something similar before. Doing it again to cheer you up.
Glad to hear MIL is doing well.
I know I posted something similar before. Doing it again to cheer you up.
Glad to hear MIL is doing well.
What a weekend you had!Hello my friends it's been a few days.
Life here has been busy to say the least.
This weekend DH2B repeatedly got called in to work so most of our weekend was a loss but what we had was very productive. The extra hours will also be nice but I'll be happy when all the crops are finally in.
Unfortunately I still haven't found any turkey poults as friends for my little slate. We separated the littler chicks into a separate brooder(the turkey's hatch as well) but the poult cried incessantly and jumped out of the brooder. It prefers to be with the older chicks probably because they're closer to the same size. We're monitoring the poult closely as it is a bit smaller and does get jostled also because those chicks are 2 days shy of 4 weeks and in our sun porch they're off heat. The poult is a week or two younger I forget how young but should be on heat. It doesn't act cold though I worry about it.
We found some blue slate poults that I would like to get but they're 2 hours away and that is awfully far to drive. Perhaps this coming weekend if DH2B isn't working more.
Next we went and collected 6 lavender Ameracauna chicks that we got for a steal. Two of them are a week older than our older Orps and 4 of them are younger and approximately the size of our littles.
Normally I would have quarantined them but as we have two brooders set up already I decided to just put them in with ours chicks. They were inside and in pristine conditions so I feel sure they're healthy. Their parents were straight from Cackle. They of course went into their size appropriate brooders.
We also buried my dear sweet Pebbles and I don't have the photos on my phone but as we were burying her God gave me peace. I was upset and crying. My ever sweet and sensitive sheltie stood next to me(literally on top of the sod we had removed as she didn't realize it wasn't just the lawn-which made me laugh but also a bit sad as I worried it was the fading light and her eyes which are clouding up: it could also have been that she didn't care because Mommy needed her.) comforting and cuddling me. The sky was cloudy and there was a chance of rain but it was dry as a bone. Then all of a sudden behind DH2B across the grave from me, the sky lit up with a rainbow out of nowhere, arching over our pine tree. Pebbles is at peace and waiting for me at the rainbow bridge. Peace and love washed over me and I cried tears of joy.
We also had an eventful weekend with our great Dane. Playing chase with our sheltie she whipped around in a tight circle and kicked, stepped on, who knows, but our sheltie yelped and has been sore since. I've looked her over and over and she has no injuries that I can see I think she must have pulled something, bruised something or hurt her blown out knee-which normally doesn't bother her. She's already improving or we'd take her to the vet but I'm keeping an eye on her. She's okay but she walks a little slow and stiff legged right now but it's improved quite a bit. She did jump on the couch last night just to say hi so she can't be hurting too badly.
The next thing that has been going on with our Dane for about a week now is that she has been reluctant to go upstairs. Last week two nights I think it was Wednesday and Thursday we helped her a bit but managed to get her up to bed. Although Thursday night she pooped on the steps and DH2B ended up picking her up and carrying her up the steps, which just about gave me a heart attack as I pictured both of them tumbling down.
Friday night things were a lot more of a fiasco. The Danes problem is she's losing momentum up the stairs. She runs and plays like a puppy but has developed some mild weakness in her hind end but nothing severe. She can be a bit sore sometimes if there's bad weather. Anyway so Friday she kept going up three steps and trying to turn around on the steps and almost falling because she's really too big and clumsy to turn around. I asked DH2B not to carry her as we are planning to get something to assist her back end up the steps so I thought if we just supported her back end and encouraged her and placed one foot from step to step as needed we'd make it up. We did, almost. Halfway up the stairs she panicked and leaned all the way back front legs out straight. She literally almost fell over backwards in spite of DH2B grabbing her collar. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack. Mind you she was totally stable until that point. Thankfully I was behind her or she would have fallen. I braced myself as she leaned her entire weight back into me and I held up all about 160 lbs of her. Don't ask me how. Lol. I have strong legs and am no weakling but she was literally pushing off the steps with her front legs with all her might as if she was trying to fall down the stairs. As we struggled to get her moving again and figure out what was going on as she basically sat on me in the middle of the steps.
This went on for a while probably at least ten minute or more. Then...
She pooped a huge massive poop on my foot and leg!
Yep pooped on me!
Now I'm aware that Danes are prone to loss of bowel control something DH2B didn't know when he got her. She has had some problems but most of her problems are just from stubbornness. She will just ignore that she has to go until she comes in the house. It's often intentional with her, not always, but she is basically an older larger naughty version of @Faraday40 Kepler. LOL so she is constantly causing trouble especially when she was younger.
Anyway we believe in this instance it was a combination of her not having gone in the hour she was outside before bed(because she'll just sit there and bark bark bark and get into trouble such as eating compost) and because she was scared. Like deathly afraid.
Anywho in spite of having a steaming pile of you know what dropped on my foot I did not drop the big pain in the butt. I didn't even get mad I just let DH2B know. We made it up a couple more steps and were about 3-4 from the top when she panicked again. Mind you we're holding around her abdomen and her chest for support this isn't because she feels she's falling or her legs are giving away. She decides to try and turn around and go back down but our stairway narrows where she was. I'm reaching up and helping but as my foot is still buried in #2 I'm standing two steps below and can only support her back end. DH2B is struggling to hold her and it occurs to me that if we fall now we will all be covered in poo and heading to the hospital/Emergency vet.
Frustrated and out of options DH2B picks her up and walks up the last three steps as our Dane Bella panics the whole way. Although she stays relatively still and only her front legs are going scrambling for purchase on our floor. Once on the landing she runs for the bedroom and is then totally fine maybe a but stressed but nowhere near our levels.
A few holy poos later and we step back and realize what we've done. I'm extricated from #2 which thankfully was more solid than we sometimes see from her and hobble down the stairs trying not to use the foot or at least anything but the clean heel of it and into the bathroom where I wash up and consider using bleach to scrub my leg and foot. There was ick between my toes and I was covered head to toe in a thick layer of black hair belonging to Bella I had it all over my face and arms and chest and legs courtesy of summer clothing. I find Dane hair very coarse and itchy so it had to come off because it would give me a rash. No I'm not allergic to dogs but have very sensitive skin.
DH2B apologized and thanked me and said I was a stronger person than him and he'd have dropped her if she had pooed on him. Which I'm sure he wouldn't have but it was still nice to hear.
Poo was cleaned, stairs washed and we went to bed over an hour and a half since we tried going to bed. Most of the first hour if not all was getting the dog to bed, the rest cleaning up. It was around 1 am and we had to be up at 6:30.
The night before it had only taken us a half hour or so to get her up to bed. The next night and the night after she has refused to go up at all. We don't want to further traumatize her before we get a lifting harness thingy so we have been letting her stay downstairs on her bed.
I worry for the house but mostly I worry over Bella and DH2B. When Bella was about a year old(before I came along) she was hit by a car and had to have a plate put on her shoulder to support the broken bone. As she healed the vet told DH2B that other than leashed time outside he must keep her locked in a small area in the laundry room to restrict her movements as she had already partly managed to pull the screwed down plate away from the bone. This included leaving her in there to sleep and she cried and cried and ate everything dry wall, insulation, wood work, window trim, everything. She had always slept with DH2B to that point.
I know it was a very hard time for him and the last couple days have mirrored it. Although she has the living room and a super comfy dog bed he still feels like a terrible pet owner and feels like she must feel abandoned. She barked the first night at about 4 am when she awoke in the night. Otherwise she's been quiet. She hasn't destroyed anything which is suspicious but she's mostly a heavy sleeper. It's been hard to say the least but every night we try to get her to attempt to come upstairs. DH2B thinks she's given up and he gets upset but her exuberance for life is not diminished. She is 6 turning 7 this fall and I know as a Dane she doesn't have a lot of life left. Our sheltie doesn't either at 13 or 14. It's scary to think we could lose one or both of them sooner than later.
It's not all bad though my Mom is fostering baby kittens for the local shelter so we got to go play with them the other day. Two 3 week old babies oh so cute!
Sunday morning also dawned bright and early. Very early. We were up before 6:30 as we had plans to meet someone at 7:30. We picked up our quad of rabbits to start our meat line! They're also pedigreed and the two older ones have been shown. Photos will follow later. We are starting with New Zealand and will possibly add or change to rare heritage breed later on.
We have a broken blue buck, a blue doe, a black junior doe, and a broken black/possibly steel junior doe. They're wonderful and amazing and we are pretty smitten. Even DH2B walked out of the garage holding the baby broken black last night. LOL. Didn't even tell me he was getting her out. They need some taming still the babies are nervous and the blue doe is a bit flighty but we'll work with them. The buck is very calm and friendly and none of them are aggressive in the least.
So if anyone wants to start a line let me know and we can get together. LoL they are great! The adults are huge! Also as a bonus he bred our adult blue doe to another unrelated buck before we left so we have babies on the way almost certainly! Due in a month or so.
I'm glad your MIL is doing well. She sounds like quite the fighter.
It's so cool that you got your rabbits. Did your DH2B make a nice rabbit mansion for them?
Surprisingly being pooped on by a dog is not something I've experienced. (Other types of feces - yes. Far more than I'd like to count!) Good for you for not letting that giant dog fall! It was hard for us, but about a year before Shockley died, we had to make the decision to keep him in the lower level (on the tile floor). We really missed having him upstairs, but he lost control of his bodily functions when he stood up. Not to mention all the strain for him to climb stairs. He needed a quick straight shot to the backyard for any hope of doing his business outside. We did walk him around the outside of the house and in through the front door when we wanted to spend some quality time with him.
Last edited:
And just like that, my green eggs are gone.
"Something attacked the chicken this afternoon. Jake and mama spitzie went flying and running around the house and i ran out to see what. My dad and i finally found the pair at my next door neighbors. Cant find the other 5, but found a huge pile of brown feathers, some with skin attached. She was my only green egg layer. Still cant find the other two spitzies, black ee, or sportzington. The most important four are safe. (Jasper and Phoenix along with Jake and mama) Trying to get Jake to crow to bring the others home, but hes radio silent.
"Something attacked the chicken this afternoon. Jake and mama spitzie went flying and running around the house and i ran out to see what. My dad and i finally found the pair at my next door neighbors. Cant find the other 5, but found a huge pile of brown feathers, some with skin attached. She was my only green egg layer. Still cant find the other two spitzies, black ee, or sportzington. The most important four are safe. (Jasper and Phoenix along with Jake and mama) Trying to get Jake to crow to bring the others home, but hes radio silent.
And just like that, my green eggs are gone.
Oh No!So sorry you lost your EE. I hope the others come back home for you.
Its been hours and still 5 are gone.....where could they be?
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest threads
-
Help, what is this? Water belly maybe?
- Started by wyleasmom
- Replies: 0
-
Wants to eat, but fails- Started by FeatherCrest
- Replies: 0
-
-
My new showgirl silkies- Started by Kelenken the terror bird
- Replies: 2
-
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
-
-
Two dead chicks in brooder pen
- Started by redinator
- Replies: 69
-
-
