OK, borrowing from M2H posting style since otherwise this will be a long one!
First off, thank you to everyone for your concern and prayers for Alfie. He is back home now. Long story short, after 2 days at the vet, multiple x-rays and blood work, the culprit seems to be an infection in either his GI or prostate. He's on antibiotics and prescription food until his poor little system recovers. He's back to eating normal but still looks quite thin. He's about 54 lbs and is normally right around 60. I'll feel much more at ease when he is back up to his normal weight. He has a small amount of arthritis in his spine, but we've been giving supplements for that already. I've had eyes on him constantly since he's come home. He threw up once yesterday, but that's because he was chomping down on grass in the yard. It still caused some red flags to go up. On the bright side, the vet did say as far as everything else is concerned he's in great condition for a bulldog his age. Really hoping we get a few more years with him. He's been with DH and I threw just about our entire relationship. I got him my senior year of college and he's basically an extension of us. It will be extremely hard to say goodbye to him when that time comes. There will never be another dog in our lives quite as special as Alfie.

danand~ the picture of your momma and babies is just too cute! Really hoping one of my girls goes broody sometime. I don't think I have the time or patience to incubate, but I'd love it if one of my girls did the work for me! Plus, I think it would be a really fun relationship to watch.
pipdsipdnreadytogo~ I think you are crazy!!!!
I had the flock in the house until they were about 6 weeks old and I think I would have gone insane if they were there for another day. I love them to death, but not in my house. I really want to get a few more chicks next summer and hopefully that will be enough time for me to forget the mess the kids made in the house. Also, I just Love Hika Ma! My roo is an EE as well and I'm pretty sure they are the best.
CRSelvey~ Alfie is our first English Bulldog. Ever since I was a little girl I knew that was the dog I wanted. He has been beyond perfect for us. I know I'm biased, but I really believe that you can't find a better personality in a dog than a bulldog. My best friend has 2 as well. Every bullie I've ever been around has been a champ. After the scare with Alfie I told DH I think I'm done with dogs, but I'm sure we'll always end up with a bullie in our lives. I just don't think we could go without one.
Mother2Hens~ You are the best chicken mom ever! I'm so glad that you have figured out what the problem is. How is Tweedy's little bum doing?
MillerBirds~ DH and I looked into doing a backyard water garden at one time.... I can't find the link to the forum I really liked about it, but I found this site helpful. http://watergarden.com/pages/build_wg.html
Peeps4me~ I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your father. My prayers are with you and your family. I hope life brings you some joy and healing.
irtehun~ Welcome! Be prepared for an extremely active thread!
bradselig~ Those crested legbars are just too cute. You really need to stop with the adorable breeds or I may come steal some chickens. If you come up with any missing I don't know what happened to them.
gonebad395~ Welcome to the thread! This is my first time with chickens as well and I'm absolutely loving it.
On another note, DH said he heard Carl crowing yesterday... I'm really bummed he heard him before me, but excited to hear my little guy go. Still waiting on those eggs. The little girls are almost 13 weeks old and the big girls are almost 16 weeks. When do you typically see production start?
First off, thank you to everyone for your concern and prayers for Alfie. He is back home now. Long story short, after 2 days at the vet, multiple x-rays and blood work, the culprit seems to be an infection in either his GI or prostate. He's on antibiotics and prescription food until his poor little system recovers. He's back to eating normal but still looks quite thin. He's about 54 lbs and is normally right around 60. I'll feel much more at ease when he is back up to his normal weight. He has a small amount of arthritis in his spine, but we've been giving supplements for that already. I've had eyes on him constantly since he's come home. He threw up once yesterday, but that's because he was chomping down on grass in the yard. It still caused some red flags to go up. On the bright side, the vet did say as far as everything else is concerned he's in great condition for a bulldog his age. Really hoping we get a few more years with him. He's been with DH and I threw just about our entire relationship. I got him my senior year of college and he's basically an extension of us. It will be extremely hard to say goodbye to him when that time comes. There will never be another dog in our lives quite as special as Alfie.
danand~ the picture of your momma and babies is just too cute! Really hoping one of my girls goes broody sometime. I don't think I have the time or patience to incubate, but I'd love it if one of my girls did the work for me! Plus, I think it would be a really fun relationship to watch.
pipdsipdnreadytogo~ I think you are crazy!!!!

CRSelvey~ Alfie is our first English Bulldog. Ever since I was a little girl I knew that was the dog I wanted. He has been beyond perfect for us. I know I'm biased, but I really believe that you can't find a better personality in a dog than a bulldog. My best friend has 2 as well. Every bullie I've ever been around has been a champ. After the scare with Alfie I told DH I think I'm done with dogs, but I'm sure we'll always end up with a bullie in our lives. I just don't think we could go without one.
Mother2Hens~ You are the best chicken mom ever! I'm so glad that you have figured out what the problem is. How is Tweedy's little bum doing?
MillerBirds~ DH and I looked into doing a backyard water garden at one time.... I can't find the link to the forum I really liked about it, but I found this site helpful. http://watergarden.com/pages/build_wg.html
Peeps4me~ I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your father. My prayers are with you and your family. I hope life brings you some joy and healing.
irtehun~ Welcome! Be prepared for an extremely active thread!
bradselig~ Those crested legbars are just too cute. You really need to stop with the adorable breeds or I may come steal some chickens. If you come up with any missing I don't know what happened to them.
gonebad395~ Welcome to the thread! This is my first time with chickens as well and I'm absolutely loving it.
On another note, DH said he heard Carl crowing yesterday... I'm really bummed he heard him before me, but excited to hear my little guy go. Still waiting on those eggs. The little girls are almost 13 weeks old and the big girls are almost 16 weeks. When do you typically see production start?