- Thread starter
- #461
Welcome to the thread @ValerieLovesChickens, @Sammi_0411 and @rbnk1. Glad to have you join in and so sorry to hear that you all have joined the ranks of arthritic chicken parents.
@ronott1 I don't think there is any tips when it comes to avoiding MRSA. It's pretty rampant, or at least it was in hospitals and once you get it, you have it for life. It can be knocked back into remission with Vancomycin, or at least that was the drug of choice when I was working hospitals. But Vanco is a powerful drug with lots of nasty side effects. And like you said, a silent carrier can spread it around without ever knowing that they have it. Good hand washing, good wound care and that is about it. They were testing people beforehand to see if they were carrying MRSA before they even had surgery.
I have arthritis in my hands also, @rbnk1, both osteo and serum negative RA types. It's pretty miserable as it is throughout my body also.
I use two gallon kitty litter containers for my birds water needs. Lifting them is a bit of a job and my sweet husband helps me fill and load them into my wagon for me. Usually I can wrestle them around with two hands but I'm saving milk jugs now with the realization that the days where I can use them are now officially numbered as due to the degenerative disc disease in my neck and shoulders.
As for the fatigue, conserving energy is the goal. Sometimes I'm so weak and tired feeling that I cannot pull my wagon up the small hill to my coop without stopping and resting before proceeding on. There are days where I do my coop 'chores' in phases so I can rest between watering and feeding.
For cleaning I went from a big grain shovel to a wide spade and a 5 gallon bucket. It's easier for me to lift the smaller amount of debris with the spade, put it into the bucket/buckets and carry it out to the tractor bucket for my husband to spread on our pasture and garden. It takes longer to get the job done but it's easier on my joints
I work at it until my neck starts to tighten up then I quit and rest. The chickens don't mind if it takes me a couple of days to get the job done. Poo is Poo after all.
@Sammi_0411, like you, I got chickens to keep me moving. With them, rain or shine, I have to get up, get dressed and head out to the coop to let them out, clean, supervise and yes, build when necessary. Right now I'm waiting for the weather to settle and the ground to dry so I can build a wall in the existing shed that houses my main flock to house my bachelor roosters this winter. My spare coop is free standing and not all that pleasant to deal with in bad winter weather. The new room will serve as a rooster coop in the winter and a brooder room in the summer. I enjoy building but even that has evolved into using a table saw and power nail gun and my husband doing the heavy work.
Where there is a will there is a way and I will keep my chickens until my health makes it impossible for me to do so, till then, like everyone, I hobble/drag myself out to the coop every day and enjoy my chickens.
@ronott1 I don't think there is any tips when it comes to avoiding MRSA. It's pretty rampant, or at least it was in hospitals and once you get it, you have it for life. It can be knocked back into remission with Vancomycin, or at least that was the drug of choice when I was working hospitals. But Vanco is a powerful drug with lots of nasty side effects. And like you said, a silent carrier can spread it around without ever knowing that they have it. Good hand washing, good wound care and that is about it. They were testing people beforehand to see if they were carrying MRSA before they even had surgery.
I have arthritis in my hands also, @rbnk1, both osteo and serum negative RA types. It's pretty miserable as it is throughout my body also.
I use two gallon kitty litter containers for my birds water needs. Lifting them is a bit of a job and my sweet husband helps me fill and load them into my wagon for me. Usually I can wrestle them around with two hands but I'm saving milk jugs now with the realization that the days where I can use them are now officially numbered as due to the degenerative disc disease in my neck and shoulders.
As for the fatigue, conserving energy is the goal. Sometimes I'm so weak and tired feeling that I cannot pull my wagon up the small hill to my coop without stopping and resting before proceeding on. There are days where I do my coop 'chores' in phases so I can rest between watering and feeding.
For cleaning I went from a big grain shovel to a wide spade and a 5 gallon bucket. It's easier for me to lift the smaller amount of debris with the spade, put it into the bucket/buckets and carry it out to the tractor bucket for my husband to spread on our pasture and garden. It takes longer to get the job done but it's easier on my joints
I work at it until my neck starts to tighten up then I quit and rest. The chickens don't mind if it takes me a couple of days to get the job done. Poo is Poo after all.
@Sammi_0411, like you, I got chickens to keep me moving. With them, rain or shine, I have to get up, get dressed and head out to the coop to let them out, clean, supervise and yes, build when necessary. Right now I'm waiting for the weather to settle and the ground to dry so I can build a wall in the existing shed that houses my main flock to house my bachelor roosters this winter. My spare coop is free standing and not all that pleasant to deal with in bad winter weather. The new room will serve as a rooster coop in the winter and a brooder room in the summer. I enjoy building but even that has evolved into using a table saw and power nail gun and my husband doing the heavy work.
Where there is a will there is a way and I will keep my chickens until my health makes it impossible for me to do so, till then, like everyone, I hobble/drag myself out to the coop every day and enjoy my chickens.
