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

[seminolewind]

Mareks and Lymphoid Leukosis are both considered neoplastic diseases, but with her age, it would more likely be the former, I'd think. Just a guess. And you've already had a Marek's diagnosis. LL usually shows in birds older than what she was.

I'm sorry, Julie.


Maretta is having sluggish crop issues. She is drinking like she's trying to drown herself and sleeping on June's "throne" sometimes. Could be the cancer is progressing. But, she still runs out and about with the hens when I let them roam.

And you can also think about cancers and tumors that chickens can have that are not labeled with a specific illness. I had one that I sent in for a necropsy and the lab actually called me because the hen had a rare liver cancer.

 

[seminolewind]

Well, that's understandable. Dh worked day shift for a few years, then night shift. I learned to rearrange my schedule accordingly. The first time I went through 6 months of chemo, I ended up throwing the whole normal schedule out the window. At first, I fought it. I tried sleeping 8 hours, and couldn't. I tried doing chores, and getting things done during my waking hours, as usual. I couldn't. One night when I woke up, I figured I could be doing something productive, like mopping, or cleaning out the fridge, or cleaning the bathroom, or washing/folding clothes. I'd get tired after that, then go back to bed, and sleep a few more hours. The first thing I'd do when I'd wake up during the day, was to care for my chickens. Some days I had enough energy to scrub everything down, turn dirt, spray for bugs, etc. Other days I could only give them feed, and water, then go home and rest.

What I've learned over time is that I do have somewhat of a routine, and I get everything accomplished in a timely manner, but my routine is not the same as everyone else's normal routine. At first, I felt somewhat guilty about my strange schedule, and hours. In time, I realized it didn't really matter, and there was nothing to feel guilty about. Dh is at work most nights, so he doesn't give a flip if can't sleep past 4 am, and do some house chores at that odd hour. He sleep during the day, so if I do coop chores, and come in at 10 am needing to nap until noon, it doesn't matter to him.

The point being, I understand how it is when we need to get our rest, and don't.

Thru chemo??? Do not ever feel guilty about what you do or do not do. I had spent a number of years accepting the fact that I was me and not listen to negative people. Getaclue, make sure you take care of you first!

 

[seminolewind]

Wish I had some kids to sell eggs around the neighborhood!

We do know a few people that have a booth at the farmer's market. I'm thinking of asking one of them if he'll put my eggs on his table and collect money. I'll take them to him in the morning and make the sign. All he'll need to do is collect $$.

What do you all think I should give him per dozen? A percent? Like 10%? Too little/too much?

He already has the booth. I pay for all feed and keeping. They are organic fed, free range when the weather allows for it, soy-free feed so they'll sell well.....

I say make the kid happy and give him 50%!

 

[seminolewind]

Cynthia I love the new quilt color combo! Nice and cheerful. I have a question. In my quilting days my gf always made us buy quilting material like Moda, Thimbleberries, etc. Very pricey. But now I see those quilts develop holes from age and use and wonder what was I paying so much for?

 

[speckledhen]

And you can also think about cancers and tumors that chickens can have that are not labeled with a specific illness. I had one that I sent in for a necropsy and the lab actually called me because the hen had a rare liver cancer.

I keep saying this to people, that there are many more things that are possible than the few go-to diagnoses. I've seen some stuff that I can't really categorize at all, could be something known that just presents in an unusual way. Maretta's large tumor-like growths on her side is one of those that I am clueless about, but my gut says she's riddled with some sort of cancer.

Cynthia I love the new quilt color combo! Nice and cheerful. I have a question. In my quilting days my gf always made us buy quilting material like Moda, Thimbleberries, etc. Very pricey. But now I see those quilts develop holes from age and use and wonder what was I paying so much for?

Thanks. I haven't worn any quilts out yet so I can't say. I do buy good quality fabric as well. I guess all fabrics wear with age, plus the water you wash in can wear them out, too, I'd think, whatever minerals are present in it, etc.

I miss Gypsy so much. I keep looking in the pen, thinking I see her. Or I'll say, "Let out Gypsy's group" when now, it's Panda's group. That precious girl was part of my life for over 11 years and it's hard to believe she's gone.

 

[getaclue]

seminolewind, moving is hard. Moving doesn't end when you get all your belongings to their destination. I went from a medium sized kitchen to a huge kitchen. Make no mistake about it, I LOVE my huge kitchen, BUT unlike my other kitchens, getting things put up, so I didn't have to work myself to death walking from one side to another to get a meal, was a challenge. Do I put this here, or would it save me some steps on a regular basis by putting it over there? I studied it a bit, then began getting things organized in a way it would be efficient. There are always things that fall into the "where the heck should I put you", category. When you finally get it sorted out, and most of your things put away, there are always the "A this would be perfect for there, or a that would pull it all together better". That's when you get into the "nesting" phase of the move, and begin adding the touches that work better for THIS home. It takes time, but eventually it will start feeling like home.

We had been living here for awhile, but Dh sort of felt like it was "a very nice house, that we owned, with our stuff in it", but he didn't really feel like it was home. Maybe the fact that we owned it, and weren't renting made it feel a bit surreal. I don't know. One evening we went to his friend's home, that lives fairly close by. They had been bragging about their newly built home, in the country. It was on a 1 acre lot. There had been some mention of them building a coop, and keeping a few chickens early on, but no more mention of it later.

When we pulled in, we discovered it looked like a subdivision. The only difference was that the lots were bigger than the standard lots in a subdivision. It has streets, sidewalks, and all the yards have chain link fencing around them. Yes, there is an HOA. No, they can't have chickens, or anything like that. Eventually, we got the 50 cent tour of their new home. The layout is sort of strange. When you enter the front door, you're in the dining room. When you walk through the dining room one way, you go into the family room. There is a hallway off the dining room on one side. That goes to the laundry area, and garage. The family room is long, and narrow, because the kitchen is on one side, separated by a breakfast bar. Square footage on their home is very slightly larger than ours, however, that includes a 3 car garage, and ours is only 2. They put a laundry area inside, while mine is in the garage. Those 2 factors take up enough room that all the other rooms are much smaller than in our home.

When we got back home from visiting them, I "felt like I was home". I commented that I liked the layout of our home, and the size of our rooms much better. Dh replied that he liked our whole layout better than theirs. Everything from the size of our property, to not being in a subdivision with neighbors on top of us, so our place has the feeling of privacy, and living in the country, to being able to do what we want on our property, like our chicken coop and garden, to the size, and layout of our home. From then on, this place has felt like home to him too.

 

[getaclue]

speckledhen, I am sorry you are missing Gypsy so much. You can still refer to them as Gypsy's group, even though she's not with them. Tom knows which group you mean. Maybe in time, they'll be Panda's group, or maybe not. That's up to you to decide. There's no rule about it.

I can honestly say I have worn out places in the top of a quilt. When I was a baby, my grandmother made me a quilt. It took over 30 years, but I have a small hole, and several thin places on that quilt. I put it up so I don't further damage it. She's no longer alive, so she can't fix it. I know it doesn't mean anything to anyone but me, but as long as I live, that is one of my keepsakes that I will preserve. The family can throw it out when I die, or see about repairing the top. Yes, she made me a new one later on, and she made one for all the girls, but that old quilt brings back warm, fuzzy feelings, and memories.

 

[speckledhen]

speckledhen, I am sorry you are missing Gypsy so much. You can still refer to them as Gypsy's group, even though she's not with them. Tom knows which group you mean. Maybe in time, they'll be Panda's group, or maybe not. That's up to you to decide. There's no rule about it.

I can honestly say I have worn out places in the top of a quilt. When I was a baby, my grandmother made me a quilt. It took over 30 years, but I have a small hole, and several thin places on that quilt. I put it up so I don't further damage it. She's no longer alive, so she can't fix it. I know it doesn't mean anything to anyone but me, but as long as I live, that is one of my keepsakes that I will preserve. The family can throw it out when I die, or see about repairing the top. Yes, she made me a new one later on, and she made one for all the girls, but that old quilt brings back warm, fuzzy feelings, and memories.

Seems Tom thinks he blew out another disc in his back. His pain level is like it was 20 years ago. A surgeon recently told him that they don't do fusion surgeries because they don't really work. His current new doctor says they still do them all the time, so he's not sure who to believe. He just needs the pain to quit. He's taken a whole Percocet three days in a row, something I've never known him to do. There are things scheduled for tomorrow and Tuesday I'll have to handle by myself if he can't get any relief by then (unlikely). Add Maretta's crop issue that is certainly related to those growths on her, and I was trying to create this quilt to sell and it's not easy to create with all this crap weighing on me. I'll get through it, always do, but man, why on the heels of losing my favorite hen? People don't get it who don't have chickens who live that long, are that personable and loving and friendly. But, they'll grieve over a dog who lives less time. To me, it's the same.

 

[1muttsfan]

Oh that's too bad, poor Tom

 

[getaclue]

I don't know who told him they don't do fusions anymore. They're full of nonsense. They still do them. Not everyone is a candidate for the newer artificial disc replacement surgery. There are limitations to what it does, so fusion is still used in many cases. Dd #2 just went through all the hoops, because of a car accident. Yes, she was a candidate for the ADR, and it's been a Godsend to her, but that not everyone's situation. They had already told her, if she was not a candidate for the ADR, she would be getting the disk fusion surgery. She went to a very good specialist in Tampa.