Michigan

[Hillbilly Hen]

Good morning all,
I am asking for prayers for my niece please. She is pregnant and the baby is due in June but she is having possible problems with blood clots. She was in a car accident a few years ago in which she suffered a traumatic brain injury and her brother was killed. During her hospital stay she got a blood clot in her leg. She also suffered from a blood clot in her ovary last June after her first son was born. She is on blood thinners but has been having some problems with her legs so she is supposed to go to the hospital today for tests to see if she does have any clots.

 

[shelleyb1969]

HBH...sorry to hear about your niece's problems. Pregnancy is stressful enough without having additional medical issues. Poor girl...I'm wishing her the best with her tests today and I'll send up a prayer for her as well.

 

[Opa]

The coffee is hot, and life looks much brighter with the sun is shining. The downside is that the snow did hide a lot of the ills of my yard. I look at all the dead grass and accumulated leaves and almost miss the snow. Once it warms enough that my fingers don't want to fall off I'll start clean up. In the garden are several giant sunflower stalks. Last summer they were very beautiful growning at the gardens perimeter, and watching the chickens attack the seed heads in late fall was quite amusing. Now lying dead and broken on the bare ground they just look like work.

I've spent a great deal of the morning surfing the internet with Granny while she looked for crochet patterns that she would like to do and then I printed them out. Were she to crochet all the patterns I've printed out for her I think it could make a blanket capable of covering half the state.

Well I must go and try to do something, even if it's wrong.

 

[wyliefarms]

Quote:
Praying for your niece!

 

[wyliefarms]

Rachel has a chicken that has a VERY large bottom/underside that is firm to the touch. She is breathing hard and lays down a lot. This is day 2 that she has been acting this way.
Question- is she egg bound? I am going to search and see what I find out.

Sarah

 

[sevenchickens]

Hillbilly Hen- Wishing your niece all the best.

Iluvcks- I can completely understand!! My Mom doesn't really approve either even though we lived on a farm. It is stressful. I hope your time together is a pleasant one.

Mom2emAll- everything is looking good on this end. Hope your hanging in there ok and that you're feeling better soon.

 

[iluvcks]

Hillbilly Hen I sure hope your neice is going to be Ok. I am wishing her the very best. Shelly is right, pregnancy is hard enough without complications.

zephercreek congrats on your fertilized BLRW eggs. So cool.

Mom 2em all I am looking at how adorable my baby ducks are and keeping my fingers crossed for your eggs. I am now convinced that everyone should experience the joy of ducks. They are so cute. Even their awkward movements are so funny. The neighbor actually asked if I could bring the ducks over last night. They went swimming in her big garden tub. Her girls loved it.

Your babies are going to make you smile everyday. I promise.

I just know they'll be fine. Can you feel the good vibes coming from everyone? With all that good energy how can you go wrong?

My mom was here most of the day. Visit went quite well. I had extra eggs so she insisted on buying 3 dozen. She knows all the egg money goes back to the chickens. That was so sweet of her. She said I can put her down for 4 dozen a month. She loves all the chickens. but her favorites are my orginial 5 buff orphingtons. She says they remind her of the farm when she was little. And she loves the ducks. She said the silkies are a novelty. She also said "well the birds contribute more than the cats and dogs" of couse I had to remind her of the bats my cats caught in the house last summer. And no one will open our doors with our dogs barking in here. She gave me a big hug when she left and told me the girls were all very pretty. I love that she is being accecpting. She is even thinking about telling my Grandma I have chickens. Because you know being messed up is multi-generational. Shes afraid to tell her mom anything because she doesnt want her to be disappointed too, just like me with her. OMG! I wish we could all just be honest and not give a s*** what other people are going to think.

Speaking of not giving a s*** what people think. How many of you have your friends and family say or look at you like your crazy because of your birds? I bumped into an old friend at my sons choir recital last night. I told her little girl she should come over and see all the babies. And my friends husband made some remark about "woman with 30 chickens gets overrun, when good chickens go bad, story at 6" Everyone thinks I am crazy. I know it should'nt bother me, but sometimes it kindda makes me mad. I try very hard not to judge other peoples lifestyle choices. Don't judge me.

I have another question too. We want to add onto the existing coop. Right now it is 4x8 elevated 2 foot off the ground with a run underneath. I want to add on another 8x8 standard height. Hubby wants to add 4x8 standard height. We want to have an area for the silkies that just they can get to if they need to get away form the big girls. They would have their own private exit to their own run. I also need to have it sectioned off for the 8 week old chickens and the ducks. They also would have their own run. so by the end of summer there will be 31 standard chickens, 2 pekin ducks, and 8 silkies. The big run for all the girls is about 30x40. Should we go with a 8x8 addition or just 4x8? Hubby is worried about permits, since Bangor is not zoned for chickens. But there is the Mi right to farm act. The other question is I want to go with a dirt floor and then just bury wire about a foot or so down all the way around. Is this a bad idea? I do the deep litter method. So I was thinking it would be just as warm as a cement floor, and you wouldnt have to worry about rodents and snakes living under a plywood floor. Any opinions would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[Olive Hill]

iluvckcs -- Good luck with your mom. My mom has made a comment or two in passing that she thinks I am over-committing every time I add another thing here. Only mine aren't even all pets! *sigh* I hope the visit goes well.

Opa -- The melting of the snow has revealed a lot of work to be done here as well. Always does, I don't know why it surprises me every spring. It is nice to be outside in the sunshine though, even if it does mean work.

HBH -- Your niece is in our thoughts. I hope the appointment goes well.


My mom has two Silkie roosters free to good home if anyone is interested. She's about 30 miles north and west of St. Johns. I can meet someone in Lansing for a drop off on most Monday or Wednesday early afternoons if anyone is interested. Both are currently in a flock situation and used to being penned, but I did bring one home (she had three) and he adapted to free-ranging very quickly and easily. They are not aggressive; she just keeps a small pet/laying flock and doesn't have a need for keeping any roos.

 

[Hillbilly Rooster]

HBH- Thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Hello everyone been a long time and ready for everything to be thrown at me with this thaw. Grandbaby is doing wonderful, Daughter and her other half getting married on may 1st. They wanted june 12th told them I was busy that day.

I am looking for some feeder pigs the boys want to raise pigs for their bacon so having hard time findings some so if anyone has information please throw it at me. Thank you

Other that school for this old man going good_ kids healthy, girls are in soccer and wife got laid off today so things to look up to know. Not paying 180 a week in gas and it is spring and we can spend time outside.

 

[Opa]

Gorgeous day. Spent the afternoon folding up the tarps with which I had enclosed the runs. Then removed everything from the service area of my large fowl coop and vacuumed everything including the nest boxes. It's amazing just how much dust can accumulate in the course of one winter.