Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[SillyChicken]

A cold start to the day,but the coffee is on, the house is warm, and life is good. Hope will soon be off to spend the day taking care of her 8 month old twin grand daughters. One has been crawling while the other refused to even try. Yesterday the non crawler started walking so Hope was pretty excited about that.
I've been watching Granny very closely as she received spinal injections during the period of contamination that caused the meningitis outbreak. She received her last injection on September 5th and hadn't had a problem until recently. What we assumed was just a boil appeared on her back and we have been administering normal treatment procedures and it has been healing well. However, after a newspaper article about a unusual number of absesses in the at risk patients I decided to call the clinic that had given her the shots. When I explained the situation to the nurse she imediately scheduled an appointment for today and said she would also schedule an MRI to be preformed ASAP. Hopefully all of this is merely cautionary and not something that will require hospitalization.

Keeping fingers crossed that granny will be ok!!

 

[SillyChicken]

Our nice night involved my son, the ER and an appendix removal! He's fine and looking forward to the wii, playstation, Xbox and movie library they have here, along with Popsicles. On the chicken note, my son has been showing off all his chicken pictures on his ipod to all the nurses. It actually distracted him before surgery. The nurses were ohhhing and ahhing over all the kinds they had never seen before. The only good thing is I stayed with my son and DH had to go home to clean up after the dog being shut in the house all afternoon. He also made sure all my chickens were shut up for the night.

not a fun night... glad your son will be ok.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

Our nice night involved my son, the ER and an appendix removal!

What a night! I am glad you realized what it was in time. Glad he will be okay!

A cold start to the day,but the coffee is on, the house is warm, and life is good. Hope will soon be off to spend the day taking care of her 8 month old twin grand daughters. One has been crawling while the other refused to even try. Yesterday the non crawler started walking so Hope was pretty excited about that.
Hopefully all of this is merely cautionary and not something that will require hospitalization.

My son was RUNNING at 10 months... So tell her to watch out

My neice, however, did not start walking until she was almost a year and a half!!
Every kid has their own pace.

I have only met Granny the one time at CS. She was very sweet and welcoming.

I hope everything will be just fine.

 

[1muttsfan]

Opa -

!! Hope Granny is OK, I have been wondering about those injections since you told us she was at one of the clinics.

Tap -

!! Hope Von is OK, tell him I am thinking of him and hope he is home soon.

 

[MIchickens]

Hello...does anybody have any partridge rock hens? I was thinking of ordering a few. Do they have a good temperament?

 

[1muttsfan]

I had some Partridge Rocks a few years ago, and found them not great layers and not particularly personable. Pretty, though.

 

[SillyChicken]

I found a microscope, basic variety, for 35$ 40x which I read is enough power to determine worm counts. I plan on doing my own fecal tests with it so it should be good for chickens, dogs and goats right? Hopefully, it won't cost too much to have it shipped! It will be handy to be able to manage my mini farm more cost effectively... and if anything, fun to play with. LOL!

Also sent away for CAE blood testing kits from bio tracking... I should have done this sooner... but at least I'll be sure my goats are clear before I start a breeding program. It'll certainly determine my course. And will be nice, if all goes well, to say my goats are clear of it.
Still trying to figure out if I can take samples for CL myself. Anyone with goats have any info?

 

[Stacykins]

I found a microscope, basic variety, for 35$ 40x which I read is enough power to determine worm counts. I plan on doing my own fecal tests with it so it should be good for chickens, dogs and goats right? Hopefully, it won't cost too much to have it shipped! It will be handy to be able to manage my mini farm more cost effectively... and if anything, fun to play with. LOL!

Also sent away for CAE blood testing kits from bio tracking... I should have done this sooner... but at least I'll be sure my goats are clear before I start a breeding program. It'll certainly determine my course. And will be nice, if all goes well, to say my goats are clear of it.
Still trying to figure out if I can take samples for CL myself. Anyone with goats have any info?

Blood tests for CL aren't 100% accurate (false negatives possible), but are still a good indicator of status. If an abscess ever develops on a goat, what you should do is isolate the goat, and when it is ready to drain, have the pus tested. THAT will give a very accurate yes or no on CL.

Anyway, I draw my own blood samples. If you are doing multiple tests, you need one sample per goat. Aim to get two mLs of blood for each sample. How I collect blood, is I use a new sterile needle and syringe. The same kind you get at any feed store. I don't like the vacutainer/needle combination. Plus, I can draw however many mLs I need, then divide it up into separate vials for multiple tests.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Wow, tap! Caught in time huh? Same thing happened to one of my sisters. She was not feeling well, so I texted my mom who was at an appointment, she came back home, and took her to the ER.

Opa, hope that Granny is ok. She is a very nice person.




Home alone, sick with the sore throat, and a head cold, while family is having fun in Frankenmuth. What must I do with this illness??? Make soup!!! Chicken noodle soup! I have not made soup before, but was willing to try my hand on it. So, after milking wonderful Bella this morning, I went in the chicken coop, and grabbed one of the roosters, dispatched him, dressed him out, gave Annabelle the mother sow the innards, skins, feet, and head. She was happy. Took the body to the house, washed him, and gave him a nice 2 hour long boiling bath in the pot on the stove. Deboned him, and gave him carrots, celery, onions, parsley, garlic, and noodles. HE WAS DELICIOUS!!!!

Having the 2nd bowl now!

 

[ladyrsanti]

Wow, tap! Caught in time huh? Same thing happened to one of my sisters. She was not feeling well, so I texted my mom who was at an appointment, she came back home, and took her to the ER.
Opa, hope that Granny is ok. She is a very nice person.
Home alone, sick with the sore throat, and a head cold, while family is having fun in Frankenmuth. What must I do with this illness??? Make soup!!! Chicken noodle soup! I have not made soup before, but was willing to try my hand on it. So, after milking wonderful Bella this morning, I went in the chicken coop, and grabbed one of the roosters, dispatched him, dressed him out, gave Annabelle the mother sow the innards, skins, feet, and head. She was happy. Took the body to the house, washed him, and gave him a nice 2 hour long boiling bath in the pot on the stove. Deboned him, and gave him carrots, celery, onions, parsley, garlic, and noodles. HE WAS DELICIOUS!!!!

Having the 2nd bowl now!

Awesome! That makes me almost wish I had extra roosters. I'm making french toast with fresh eggs, stale bread and some buttermilk I made from making butter last week out of our milk share.