The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

Here is a good reason everyone should know their family history. My 1st cousin, Paula, has hemochromatosis. This is hereditary. She claims that her mother's family does not have the gene so she got it from her father, meaning my father could have passed it to me. So far, I haven't had any symptoms of it, but I am going to tell my doctor next time about this so she can look for it. I think it has to be a DNA test for the gene. Like the dwarf gene, you may not get it, you may get the gene from one parent and be a carrier and pass it to your kids and if you get the gene from both sides, you will get it. But, then, how could her mother not carry it?? If she has the condition, her mother had to have it as well. That made no sense. I'll have to verify if she has the condition or just carries the gene.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemochromatosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351443

 

[1muttsfan]

From that link it looks like you can develop it even if you only inherit one copy of the gene, but inheriting two copies increases your risk of having clinical disease as opposed to just being a carrier.

 

[speckledhen]

She is not 100% sure of her father's identity. Her mother died from complications from diabetes when she was very young, but she had extended family around her. I have no signs of diabetes or any liver issues (though not specifically tested for). That is the curse of adoptees, not knowing our family medical history. Plus, doesn't help that my grandparents and my mother were all raging alcoholics so how much of their fairly early deaths were self-inflicted and how much was just sucky genetics? Thankfully, I avoided all that nasty mess in that family. The funeral home bunch around Miami is definitely a creepy bunch! The more we find out about them, the more Paula says she doesn't want much to do with them. I'm with her!

 

[robhuncor]

This is a good point. My sister and I both have a hereditary condition called "Alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency", also a liver problem. It's a lack of a certain enzyme which is made in the liver and helps the body keep the white blood cells in check. Without the enzyme, white blood cells run amok and can actually damage the lungs. We found this out when my sister was hospitalized with pneumonia and they checked her for it. She has since had a lot of episodes of pneumonia. So I got checked and have a 50% chance of getting it, which means only one parent carried it. She only has 50% also. It has affected her but so far, knock on wood, I have not had symptoms. We have decided it must be on our father's side because no one else on my mothers side seems to have it. A word of caution - some insurance companies may consider this sort of thing a "pre-existing condition" and not cover you. If you aren't having symptoms, it's probably better not to find out.

 

[petitor]

I stopped getting alerts on this thread so just catching up today. I hope that your husband's back is doing better and I wish you all the best in getting the answers you are looking for with regards to your background (without having to deal with anyone you would prefer not to).

PS That quilt is beautiful! I've gone back to the pictures to look at it again. It certainly looks like it will be treasured as it should be.

 

[speckledhen]

He is a lot better, thank you! I'm quilting feverishly. The lady who was going to get Brahma chicks canceled due to rain, then she said she wanted to come anyway, so I'm waiting for her to arrive. Hope she doesn't get lost. They usually do if they resort to GPS like we tell them not to do.

 

[getaclue]

I get lost going to my cousin's using GPS. Her subdivision is so new, it's not in the system yet. Fortunately I know how to get there.

 

[speckledhen]

The lady came and got her Brahma pair.
Earlier, I heard a loud pinging noise outside, puncutated by popping, and went to investigate. It was coming from behind the garden area and sounded like someone shooting a BB gun. That was exactly what it was. They were shooting and them pumping it back up. Several young men, no idea who they were, were on that shady tunnel of a dirt road that divides my property from the Wilsons down the hill and were shooting at something. There were obvious ricochets bouncing off stuff on my land. I went and got my husband who came back out with his sidearm. He watched them a moment from up on the embankment behind some trees, then stepped out and asked what they were shooting at. They claimed to be shooting at some possum. He told them to go shoot somewhere else, that they were ricocheting all over the place. I had chicks and broodies not far from them and we also didn't know where our cat was at the time. I don't like kids messing around at my property line with firearms of any kind, grrr.

 

[getaclue]

BB guns are strictly for target practice. They're not really for killing animals.

 

[speckledhen]

BB guns are strictly for target practice. They're not really for killing animals.

BB guns can do some damage, though, if they're pumped up enough and a soft target is close enough. I didn't want to dig a BB from under the skin of my cat or one of my chickens. Technically, they were on the edge of my property and I didn't want them there shooting with BB guns or even rubber bands. Before that, I'd heard a lot of yelling coming from down the hill, sounded like fighting. Made me tense up.