The Front Porch Swing

[LeslieDJoyce]

Heat water REALLY helps with a local histamine reaction. I like to run hot water over a bite, though some people keep their hot water too hot. A hot compress works ... and moisture is soothing while it works. There was an Internet thing going around about pressing a heated spoon into the bite ...

USE CAUTION with the temperatures when following this advice. Don't burn yourself.

But ... you can get a half-day of relief from one heat treatment. And then not scratching helps bites heal faster.

It really feels like a miracle.

 

[Beekissed]

Happy Good Friday! Good morning, everybody else! I need a little medical advice.

I was stupid yesterday and unknowingly stepped into an area where large black ants were and got about ten bites on my foot. I didn't scratch and immediately washed it with vinegar and aloe vera, but in the night, I must have scratched.

Either way, my foot is swollen and though it could be much worse, it is uncomfortable. Are there any home remedies that could help me lessen the swelling or the pain? I might end up taking some Benadryl, but I don't want to quite yet because it'll make me sleepy. I have some work to do first (and would painted eggs by a drug-addled girl just be awesome?).

Also, one of my dogs is still eating eggs. I found my fake egg (filled with mustard and vinegar) in the yard, broken up. Funnily enough, the chickens were enjoying the mustard, haha! Those little dogs are going to be locked away if this happens again. I won't put up with an egg-eating dog. I need my ducks to lay eggs and if I'm not getting them, well, I won't be happy. The only way I can do this, I think, will be to keep Rosie kennels all day and only to let her out when someone is outside. That would really, really suck.

Is there any way to make a small-dog-proof duck nest without having to segregate ducks or dogs from the rest of the flock?

Epsom salts and vinegar soak, hot to warm water....follow later by ice to reduce swelling.

You need to borrow or buy a shock collar and do some aversion training....OR....you can also hang a cloth over your nest boxes~like a curtain~ soaked in citronella oil....dogs HATE that stuff and won't come near it or let it touch their body if they can help it. And it has to be the real stuff...citronella essential oils, not the diluted stuff you can buy at Wally World to deter mosquitoes.

Be careful....a little dab of that stuff will do ya and it hard to wash off of clothing....

http://www.amazon.com/Citronella-100-Therapeutic-Grade-Essential/dp/B002RU450C

 

[LBejaran]

Epsom salts and vinegar soak, hot to warm water....follow later by ice to reduce swelling. 

You need to borrow or buy a shock collar and do some aversion training....OR....you can also hang a cloth over your nest boxes~like a curtain~ soaked in citronella oil....dogs HATE that stuff and won't come near it or let it touch their body if they can help it.  And it has to be the real stuff...citronella essential oils, not the diluted stuff you can buy at Wally World to deter mosquitoes.

Be careful....a little dab of that stuff will do ya and it hard to wash off of clothing....

http://www.amazon.com/Citronella-100-Therapeutic-Grade-Essential/dp/B002RU450C 

I was thinking of using a shock collar and setting it up so the barrier is around and behind the coop. I don't want the dogs in there at all if they are going to be eating eggs. This will also keep the ducks safe. My little Indian Runner watches over my duck hens and when they feel threatened, he attacks. My dogs, when not being watched, will probably attack back and have already left him with scarring in his bill.

Citronella oil would probably work if the ducks had a proper nesting box, but they didn't like the set up I made for them, so they just took all the hay that had fallen off the bale and made their own nests. The chickens prefer the elevated nesting boxes, anyhow, which saves me from the frigid, disappointed looks from my Dad when I tell him I won't get rid of my dog just because of this. I'd rather come up with an actual solution than to try and give up on my old rat terrier. I don't think anyone would want an old curmudgeon of a dog anyhow, haha!

Heat water REALLY helps with a local histamine reaction. I like to run hot water over a bite, though some people keep their hot water too hot. A hot compress works ... and moisture is soothing while it works. There was an Internet thing going around about pressing a heated spoon into the bite ...

USE CAUTION with the temperatures when following this advice. Don't burn yourself. 

But ... you can get a half-day of relief from one heat treatment. And then not scratching helps bites heal faster.

It really feels like a miracle. 

I'm using a hot towel first to see how it works. My foot is just so achy and sore now, so I'm hoping it gives me relief for a little while. I have to attend a family function in an hour and I'm dreading the idea of putting on my shoes.

 

[chickenboy190]

Hello everyone!! Haven't been here for a while. So I guess my feed store is going to get Silkies and I will be getting some!! I am also getting a baby grand pianos!! Been doing a little fishing and trapping. How is everyone? and what's up?

 

[bruceha2000]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. I would like to use natural branches for the perches and was trying to figure someway to hang them.

Just make sure they are big branches. Chickens really aren't perching birds. If they prefer a 2x4 on the flat to one on edge, they surely won't be comfortable sleeping on a 1 1/2 diameter branch.

TADA! Just went out to check on the girls (and Charlie) and guess what!! They are roosting!! Well, 'cept not on the nice, carefully placed roost we provided for them - even though we followed all advice on placement, size, height - all of it. They have chosen to roost on the 2x4 cross pieces in the coop framing. Yep, scattered all over the place on short little framing pieces against the sides of the coop like bad chicken wallpaper. There were a couple on the frame above the east window, a few more on the frame above the south window, some on the cross pieces above where the nest boxes will go - all tucked into their chosen bits of framing just as content as can be.

Mine all seem to like to be next to a wall. The broody box sits on one end of the roosts and some sleep against it (or inside if I forget to close the door. Really, they are NOT caged (unless they are broody). Some against the wall on the opposite side and some on the 2x4 (on edge) that projects from the back wall to support the roosts. So, it would appear that the presence of something to be up against wins out over foot comfort. But other than the one against the wall and perhaps one other, any others in that group would be on the regular roosts the 2x supports. Of course, only 1 girl per board is actually against a wall but I guess being against a girl that is against a girl that is against the wall is about the same to them.

Bruce, I have Cubalaya's also!!! The boys are from a breeder that used to be on BYC named Jungleexplorer, the girls are from Ideal. Mine lay small eggs! However, the boys were hatched from normal sized eggs, so there is hope!

Yep, that is what I'm talking about. If we had a roo, it would be a Cubalaya. So beautiful and I hear not aggressive.

You have a Fae and FOUR Peeps! My daughter named Peep for the sound she made as a chick. Now her name should be Squwark

I think the biggest egg Peep has laid is a 46g. It took 5 months from first peewee egg until they started to lay SMALL eggs.

Um, so how are you at nest boxes?

You can get Google Sketchup (free) to make drawings. Takes some time to get used to but very useful if you aren't good with a pencil, graph paper, ruler and lots of erasers.

OK, now THAT is a chicken that wants to be hugged. Went right in like there was a magnetic attachment!

I find people don't believe I'm sick because I "don't look sick." And if they do believe I'm sick for a moment, they lose patience VERY quickly.

First, I have to apologize to Leslie for mentioning her health without asking given it was sure to bring up questions and concern. Thought about this too late.

Second, I know Leslie because I invited myself and older daughter to visit her farm when we were in Oregon Jan of 2013 to help my Dad after his ankle replacement (who knew they did such things!). She could have said no of course but welcomed us and was a very nice hostess. We are going back in June, with younger daughter in tow (you can make a job jar

). I bring this up because my older daughter just turned 21 and has had a 24 hour migraine based headache since she was 14. Bad days are when she is triggered by something (loud sudden noises, man made fragrances - WHY do people think they need to make things smell 'nice' by stinking them up?? rapid pressure changes) and goes to a pain level of 10 with 1 or more visual disturbances. She 'lives' in her dark room and is basically non functional other than eating when we force her to (at 5' not quite 2" and 100 pounds, she can't afford to not eat). Each visual disturbance means 1 day of near blindness. A 'good' day is a 7 on the 10 point pain scale. She can not read enough to to college online so, unless some miracle cure is found, is mostly home bound. She's learned to live with it to the point no one can tell she is ill when she can go out (with a charcoal mask). I very much understand Leslie's problem because my daughter doesn't look sick. People either don't believe it is serious (and if they had the level of pain she endures when she IS out they would be at home in bed) or if they do, other than family and close friends, soon pass it off as something psychosomatic. This from a child for whom 100% at school was barely good enough.

So, for those of you who run into someone who doesn't look sick, trust them when they say they are. That healthy looking person using the handicap parking space (with a placard) might have heart problems or another "invisible" illness.

Hello everyone!! Haven't been here for a while. So I guess my feed store is going to get Silkies and I will be getting some!! I am also getting a baby grand pianos!! Been doing a little fishing and trapping. How is everyone? and what's up?

Your chickens can play the piano???

There is a baby grand in our little barn. Came with the property, covered over with a blue plastic tarp. Don't know what it would cost to get it back in usable shape though, probably many thousands of $$ which I don't have to spend on such things. I expect my chickens would just poop on it.

Bruce

 

[heartsizedfarm]

I'm off to Ithaca New York to spend Easter with my daughter and don't want to pay roaming charges, so I'll check in with everybody on Tuesday. What will that be do you think? Four or five hundred posts? Hope you all enjoy a beautiful weekend!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Second, I know Leslie because I invited myself and older daughter to visit her farm when we were in Oregon Jan of 2013 to help my Dad after his ankle replacement (who knew they did such things!). She could have said no of course but welcomed us and was a very nice hostess. We are going back in June, with younger daughter in tow (you can make a job jar ). I bring this up because my older daughter just turned 21 and has had a 24 hour migraine based headache since she was 14. Bad days are when she is triggered by something (loud sudden noises, man made fragrances - WHY do people think they need to make things smell 'nice' by stinking them up?? rapid pressure changes) and goes to a pain level of 10 with 1 or more visual disturbances. She 'lives' in her dark room and is basically non functional other than eating when we force her to (at 5' not quite 2" and 100 pounds, she can't afford to not eat). Each visual disturbance means 1 day of near blindness. A 'good' day is a 7 on the 10 point pain scale. She can not read enough to to college online so, unless some miracle cure is found, is mostly home bound. She's learned to live with it to the point no one can tell she is ill when she can go out (with a charcoal mask). I very much understand Leslie's problem because my daughter doesn't look sick. People either don't believe it is serious (and if they had the level of pain she endures when she IS out they would be at home in bed) or if they do, other than family and close friends, soon pass it off as something psychosomatic. This from a child for whom 100% at school was barely good enough.

So, for those of you who run into someone who doesn't look sick, trust them when they say they are. That healthy looking person using the handicap parking space (with a placard) might have heart problems or another "invisible" illness.

Bruce

One thing that makes Bruce's daughter my hero is that she is also an athlete in a very skilled sport. To be able to maintain that through the past several years of illness takes amazing grit. She is also gorgeous, smart, funny, and charming on top of all that. But I can tell those qualities have been used against her enough by the "you don't look sick" choir that pointing them out to her kind of stings. She is lucky to have Bruce for a father ... he gets it.

I have changed a bit since Bruce saw me last year. I hope he isn't too shocked.

I made them cook me lunch when they came before. It was fun ... for me.

 

[Blooie]

Have a wonderful time and a Blessed Easter! Travel safely.

 

[lindz8504]

Hey everyone!!!! I've not been on the computer much for the past couple of days.... We had pictures made of the kids today for Easter! I am loving what I have seen so far! I can't wait to see all of them! Not much going on on the chicken front. Glad everyone is getting their coops done and gardens planted! I'll try to check back in later!

 

[RachaelS]

Hey everyone!!!! I've not been on the computer much for the past couple of days.... We had pictures made of the kids today for Easter! I am loving what I have seen so far! I can't wait to see all of them! Not much going on on the chicken front. Glad everyone is getting their coops done and gardens planted! I'll try to check back in later!

Beautiful family!!!