The Middle Tennessee Thread

[NellaBean]

I was a little nervous when I got home.....went to the back deck and called "CHICKENS!"....and only 2 or 3 chickens came running. there are over 40 out in the yard! A few more came out of here and there, but at least half were still "missing". I got my chicken shoes on and went down the hill to check.....all the "old girls" were in the coop. Roosting. Apparently they said "screw it" and just went to bed, lol. Stupid weather.

 

[believer01]

Going to google maps now......

 

[believer01]

Okay, Holly - good one!

I like the kayak part - think somebody at google has a sense of humor?

This isn't about chickens either, but funny.....our daughter lived in Hawaii for a year. She was a nanny for a Navy family. Called me one day shortly after arriving on Oahu; she was driving on the Kamahameha Hwy and thought she might be lost. Turns out she wasn't concerned ~ that hwy rings the island so she said at the worst, she'd drive in a circle for 3 hours and find her exit!

Well, it was funnier when she said it............

 

[HBuehler]

Well,you can't get lost going in circles

I liked #33 turn left at that road..lets see I'm in a kayak in the ocean hopefully in that straight line and just happen to run into the correct road when I hit land.If I were that good I would know the 6 winning lottery numbers and buy me a plane

 

[believer01]

i missed that turn,too! Dang! I'm terrible with directions on the water.

Nella, you sure have some smart ol' gals! Glad everyone was ok!

 

[Jenski]

I'm baaaaack! Morning all. I have had internet "issues" since Thursday's storm, but my wireless boxy thingy is feeling much better now. I find those ornery mechanical things respond well to being threatened with a hammer. Of course, my (obviously) vast technical knowledge is a great help, too.

We had lots of water here yesterday! Sheesh. I get a small "river" running through the very back of the property, but all the pens got a bit mucky too - - so I threw big piles of straw in there yesterday morning, knowing what would happen. *sigh* I guess a 6" thick mud-straw floor to clean is better than birds standing in mud. I already got two pens pretty well cleaned this morning, only one to go.

Well, I cut my rooster population this past weekend, but I sacrificed some hens to do it. I sure miss the little buggers, but boy is it nice to have a little breathing room now. The group of bantam cochins went to a very, very nice couple with a big farm up north of here (lucky people!!), and they love their chickens like I love mine. Can't ask for more than that!



I'm glad to see all the new folks on board! Welcome!

CluckyJay, your rooster-rich friend needs to get his birds from one of our nice Tennessee Forum folks. None of these chicken folk would intentionally fool a newbie. We make no promises regarding ENABLING, though, since we all know everyone needs MORE CHICKENS!!!!

SimplySplendid, congrats on your hatch! And remember . . .

. . . so let's see those peeps!!

Troyerchicks, that goes for you, too! I want to see that new coop.

1newegg, how did you fare in all that wind yesterday? Hope all is well.

That goes for everyone, really. HBuehler, you are in a wind zone. Did all the little chicks do OK? You too, CityGirl. I always see the warnings down in your area. . . and SimplySplendid, you had really high winds! Any damage?

believer01, sorry to hear your coop flooded. That's twice in less than a year, so I guess that's that, huh. Can you drag the coop with a tractor or something?

Nella, sounds like you had a moment of panic there! Your girls sound very sensible.

Well, I see the first tinge of green in the lawn . . . we know what that means! Plant those gardens FULL of seeds and get ready for an explosion of green everywhere! Then stand back, 'cause it will be an out-of-control jungle by June - - and it will be way too hot to actually go outside and weed, or even mow the lawn! By August I will just be hiding inside with the shades drawn, fanning myself and occasionally peeking outside watching the extremely large insects flying around my yard.

But first, the planting . . .

 

[believer01]

Welcome back, Jenski! Glad to see your sense of humor is intact!!!

And that your critters made it ok!

I'm heading out now to rake my pen out. Thought yesterdays flood in the pen would have washed more straw out, but I fergot about the chicken wire at the bottom of the chain link....so instead of less work, it'll be more as I drag sopping wet straw to the compost. Thankfully, the water didn't get high enough to get in the coop, just the pen area. I'm thinking it'll be easier to move the pen/coop to a safer spot than to try to ensure no more flooding there. Hubby's priorities are not the same as mine so it'll be awhile fore he gets around to fixing our drainage problem me thinks

During all this our mare had another bout with enteritis/possible colitis X (explosive diarrhea, seizure, dramatic weight loss in 2 days). Her first round was in mid Dec and took days to recover from. This time we jumped right on the symptoms and she's doing nicely. But both vets are perplexed as to what might be causing it. Has anyone every experienced somthing like this and if so any idea what it might be?

 

[CluckyJay]

Can we post pictures other than chickens? I don't have mine yet, LOL.

Here's a flower shot from warmer days. sighhh

Have any of you made that photo box someone posted for getting shots of your chickens yet? I wanna build one for the chicks and small pets and then one for my adult birds.

Believer,

Can you sink perforated pipe through the pen to channel the water out?

I will probably end up giving him some from our eggs Jenski. He doesn't get on the internet. After we and his girlfriend got done laughing, I felt so bad for him, lol.

 

[Jenski]

believer01, sorry about your mare. My first instinct would be some sort of toxicity. Might want to research the plants on your land, and take a close look at your feed. Do your neighbors use chemical fertilizers or herbicides? How does your land drain? Do you get runoff from others?

What was the weather like prior to and during both bouts of your mare's issues? Was it rainy/damp both times?

While the symptoms are not an exact match, just for grins you might explore the possibility of leptospirosis. I know of some cases in Tennessee since all of last year's flooding, and that nasty buggy is often misdiagnosed. It thrives in wet mucky weather. While I know more about its occurrence in goats, it might be worth looking at, since it can be very serious/fatal if left too long with misdiagnosis. (Uveitis/blindness can occur a year after infection, too.) While the types of lepto tend to be species-specific, there are varieties that affect more than critter. There are also varieties that affect humans and dogs. I was just talking to my vet about this last week, since I had heard of some cases down south of here.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/51204.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g.htm


Just a thought. Please keep us posted on how she does. Digestive issues are really hard on horses. . . hope things work out soon!


{Ed. to add - - I know this could have gone in the Emergencies/Illness section, but since the recent lepto thing is pertinent to Tennessee after the floods, I chose to leave it here so everyone is aware of it. Sorry for clogging the TN chat with med stuff, LOL!]

 

[believer01]

Jenski thanks for the info and links - I'll pursue those in a minute. First I guess I should apologize for asking about my mare's condition here. Didn't realize we were supposed to keep things separate, but can see why that makes sense.

Clucky, I love that picture! We all needed a shot of sunshine and color after this past week so thanks a bunch!