Its not Sunday but it
feels like Sunday. We’ve had yet another snow day 3 storms in just one
week and today’s storm was a doozy. It started yesterday afternoon and I
had a doozy of a head ache too. The wind whipped up last night after
midnight and the power flicker on and off and even went off briefly
coming back on….but then it went off and stayed off til about 4pm
today. Officially Charlottetown received 67cm of snow 7 cm off the
record snowfall back in 2004 when white juan hit.
So we are very thankful
to Orville he used his tractor snowblower to dig us out of the snow we
got and for that I am so grateful. I am gonna make some treats for him
and Charlotte to say thank you:)
But all in all a sunday
kind of day. I needed that because I lost one of my beautiful hens
yesterday she died in my arms wrapped up in a towel. So very sad I
notice she wasn’t quite herself on sunday and like all chicken keepers
say once you actually see something is wrong its usually too late. It
seems that she may have become an internal layer.
Internal layer:
Similar to egg binding, Peritonitis (an indicator of internal laying), is a distressing issue that can occur with laying hens.
Internal laying is a disorder where the yolk of the egg, rather than
being laid in the normal manner, is not taken up by the oviduct and
instead is deposited in the abdomen. This can be a genetic issue, but
often times it follows an incidence of infection or trauma to the
oviduct, such as a thin shelled egg breaking inside the hen.
Internal laying by itself is not always an issue. Occasionally a hen
will lay internally for no apparent reason and the yolk will simply be
absorbed back into the body without complications if there is no
bacteria present. The problem results when bacteria is present and when
eggs build up. Egg yolk is a rich medium for bacteria growth, and a
build up of eggs internally can provide a playground for infection. This
infection is known as peritonitis. If your hen continually lays egg
after egg internally, the yolks can not only harbor and grow
bacteria, but all the yolk material puts pressure on internal organs,
making it difficult for the bird to breathe and causing her to adopt a
penguin-like stance.
Symptoms of an internal layer with peritonitis can include:
- Yolk colored feces
- Weakness
- Loss of appetite
- Lethargy/Depression
- Swollen & spongy feeling vent area and/or abdomen
- Respiratory problems
- Fluffed feathers
- Penguin stance; abnormal waddle
If an internal layer is identified early on, steps to prevent the
laying process can be taken. The bird may be spayed or have a hormone
implant placed that stops ovulation. Unfortunately, an internal layer is
often in discomfort and pain. Sometimes it may be necessary to
euthanize the bird to end her suffering.
If peritonitis is suspected, the choices for treatment are usually
limited, due to the amount of time the infection has most likely been
brewing before symptoms become evident. Giving antibiotics if caught
early enough in the process has had some success.
So because of the storms
we have had the extreme cold and not being in the coop as much as usual
maybe i could have caught the condition sooner….maybe not. You see
chickens know they are on the bottom of the totem pole in the food chain
so they hide their illness so that a predator and the other flock don’t
notice so they are not picked off or picked on…..
I brought her in and gave
her a warm secluded resting area away from being picked on and she
passed away tuesday:( This was my first homesteading loss and it made
me feel really sad but at the same time happy that in her last hours she
was in a more comfortable place and not treated unfairly.
We do treat our birds
with respect giving them plenty of room to run around a good shelter to
live in that is clean and warm (not heated) so really my girls have it
better then those in commercial farms.
I got through this well
and I know that there will be more losses like this when we grow our
animal population as it is a part of life. Besides there will be
chickens grown specifically for their meat and we will be killing them
and preparing them ourselves so I do need to get use to life and death
on the homestead.
So in a few weeks the
list of birds for ordering will be out at the local co-op and I am
preparing for my next installment of chickens and maybe a turkey or two
for our coop/flock this year. kind of exciting…..some other
homesteaders we follow “Starving off the Land” shared their experience
with meat chickens and that was quite informative, so I am looking
forward to having some meat chickens in the freezer that are 10lbs plus.
I have learned a lot from
our farm/wood guy and am grateful for the info he has shared with
us…..its a great example of how to make a good go of farming and
having enough to live on plus some:)
So we got our flower and shrub catalog from vesseys so exciting….we are getting excited thinking about spring even though Shubenacadie Sam has seen his shadow. So it’s six more weeks of winter for us! Yuk!
For now I dream about
spring and all the new life and all the new opportunities for us:) and
spring is only 45 days or in just over 6 weeks. In some ways it just
can’t come soon enough.
No word from the GST
office yet but God had impeccable timing and it will come when He wants
it to:) So when you remember please pray it will happen soon.
So for my new flock of
chicks and a rooster I will need some name ideas……lets see what we
can come up with and what you guys might recommend. The hens and
rooster are going to be heritage dual purpose chickens good for eating
and laying and a couple more layers as well. The meat chickens are not
going to be named cause we are gonna eat them so no names.
I have to say i am in
some serious nail withdrawls…..I want so bad to do some fancy nails
cause i miss it so much…..if I could get some clients in the mean time
or even get a chance to rent a spot in a salon to start for a couple
days a week that would be very awesome as I am sure that once you get
clients with some awesome unqiue nails and nail designs business will
flow in…..ideally i would like to work from home which means a better
price for the customer but not sure how that will go considering our
location which I think is perfect…time will tell though:)
Well I better go for
now…the sofa, a hot chocolate and a movie is calling my name:) love
you guys and talk with you again soon.
Farmers Almanac calls this a full snow moon …………….
Muddy Boots, Old Houses and The Farm 