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

[speckledhen]

I am not on the bandwagon for CBD oil yet, either. First, we ourselves have to pay for it and it ain't cheap. Second, all this CBD cures this and cures that is new territory. Do you remember everyone singing the praises for DE, that it cured everything under the sun here on BYC, in fact? We all know that's baloney. People were taking it themselves and depending on it for worming their birds and a million other things. Maybe CBD oil is good for some things, but I'm not convinced yet that it's the miracle everyone thinks it is. Wish it was, but again, it's expensive and no one is helping us pay for it.

 

[getaclue]

I agree with you about the CBD oil, speckled. It does do several things, so deserves it's place in the medicinal arsenal for helping with those things, but it's not the cure-all that everyone is touting it to be. Even the user reviews on it are very mixed. Lots of people say it doesn't work for them, or didn't help with what they were taking it for.

 

[h2oratt]

I am not on the bandwagon for CBD oil yet, either. First, we ourselves have to pay for it and it ain't cheap. Second, all this CBD cures this and cures that is new territory. Do you remember everyone singing the praises for DE, that it cured everything under the sun here on BYC, in fact? We all know that's baloney. People were taking it themselves and depending on it for worming their birds and a million other things. Maybe CBD oil is good for some things, but I'm not convinced yet that it's the miracle everyone thinks it is. Wish it was, but again, it's expensive and no one is helping us pay for it.

True, it expensive but I have heard too many stories of it working for people, either topically or internally. DE is good for some things. It will keep bugs out of your grain. You just need to be careful with it.

 

[speckledhen]

DE is good for some things. It will keep bugs out of your grain. You just need to be careful with it.

And I use it for that and to keep damp areas drier under the roosts, but there are people touting the benefits of ingesting the stuff themselves and worming their animals with it and ignoring information to the contrary. Same with anything that is lifted up as a cure-all. People need to get real and stop looking for some one-item miracle cure for everything under the sun.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm about to unload a little bit so bear with me. This is not a good day today. Coming back from the barn, I can now see my life without chickens in the future. Maretta is dying, her crop will not budge. The places on her side are still very scabby and this morning were bleeding, probably from feathers being pulled from them. If they weren't seeping a tiny bit, feathers would not be sticking to them. Mary Jo had a bloaty crop yesterday so I threw her in the hospital cage w/o food, put some copper sulfate in her water and this morning, she's better so thank GOD she's back with Atlas again. I just came back from putting Snow and Amanda's food and water back into their cages with them-they use those cheap double dog food bowls for their food/water, but Snow swims in hers so I cannot leave them in there in cold weather.
Tom is out of commission. He's also angry and depressed, used a word I've never heard come out of his mouth in almost 44 years this morning, and not fun to be around. I'm trying to finish a quilt project, help someone else by making more mug mats for a giveaway (that's done and ready to mail), trying not to let the dirty house get to me. Tom can't bend to do anything and he can't see dirt if he could. So, nasty jobs are left to me, yippee for me. We had to cancel the guys who were coming this part Tuesday to clean up around the property because we had to run to the ER, but we are rescheduling for next week. Tom won't say it, but I will...I'm getting this place ready to sell, that's the type of clean up I mean. But, I can't move until about 20 birds die, to put it bluntly. I can't sell a rooster and hens who hatched here and are 3 years old and not causing any real problems. I trust no one to give them the home they have here and frankly, though you'll think I'm nuts, I'd feel like I betrayed them if I did. Hector and Bash are both attached to me, you can see it in how the interact with me. Atlas is just too old and arthritic for anyone to want him, even if he did not carry a dwarf gene-I call him Old Flex and Step. I'm ready for the 5-hen flock and that's it.

And if my older son calls one more time to whine about his financial woes, I'm going to put him in his place. He makes 50K a year, has two dogs, no one to blame for his spending but himself and I think he owes nothing on his car. So, the issue is HIM, not his money. I do not want to hear that one more time from him. He doesn't like to be lectured, or what he perceives to be lecturing, so he'll storm off the phone in a huff and not call and that's fine with me. He can just suck it up and learn to manage his money better now that his skanky wife is not an excuse to spend. So there! I'm sure you would agree with me that he needs to start owning up to his choices in that arena.

Back to distracting myself with my quilt project, barring interruptions again....I see how people who have been married for over 40 years get divorced now. Not saying that's happening here-I adore my husband and he's a man of supreme character and loves me-but others who don't have the dedication to stick it out in the face of health issues of the spouse, with the mental and emotional drain they cause, would run for the hills.

 

[Leahs Mom]

 

[speckledhen]

Well, interesting news. My son's restaurant owner wants him to franchise the store he's managing. He said he will only take 4% off the top, no up front cash needed and this is really what Michael would love to do. He knows a guy who bought another one of the stores that doesn't do as much business as his and he said that guy makes great money. I hope this is a good break for him. He already has his staff, the building is there, it's running smoothly and he would be the owner, not the manager. I can't advise him. Heck, I wouldn't trust myself to advise anyone right now about anything, but I hope this is just another plus in his life (and maybe he could quit whining about his finances).

 

[getaclue]

That's good news for your son. I hope it all works out for him.

I'm so sorry Tom is having such a rough time of it. Being spouse, and caregiver for a man in serious pain is not enviable.

As to the chickens, that too is hard on you. Between Tom's issues, and the chicken issues, it's all hitting you at once. I'm sure you're feeling overwhelmed, and rightfully so. Just hang in there, and do the best you can. That's all you can do.

 

[h2oratt]

Cynthia, I am sorry you going through such a troubling time. It’s terrible the way we treat our veterans. He should not have to endure this pain. He should have the best medical care available in this country.

 

[speckledhen]

I feel like I can't help anyone, man or beast. Maretta's crop must be blocked by tumors, at least partly. We know how to work a crop and nothing is working. We are pushing some stuff through, enough that she gets some poop out, but it's sludgy and she's weakening. I tried the lemon juice/baking soda stuff today as a last resort to break up the doughy mass, but I know from experience that it's not the crop that's the main source of the problem. May have to go ahead and put her down. I want to cut open those growths on her side, maybe even her crop, see what they are, if I can even know what I'm looking at when I do. They just won't heal, scabs stay on there, won't heal and fall off like a normal wound would do. I feel helpless to do anything for anybody.
I'm hanging, Cheryl, but my fingernails are all torn to nubs from hanging...