All Pet Expo Day one: Rescue Ink Johnny & Eric

May 14 - 16, 2010
All Pets Expo - 2010

We had a wonderful day today at the All Pet Expo. in Morgantown WV. I specifically went to see Rescue Ink. Johnny O. & Eric B. was there. These guys are everything you expect and much, much more. It wasn't very busy at the expo today so we really got the chance to stop and talk with them. John talked with Johnny O. while I talked to Eric about his dog rescue and training. I love talking to people who have passion and love for what they are doing and both of these guys have that. Eric was so energized and willing to answer all my questions with throe answers. He gave me awesome advise that I have started using tonight.

I asked about Raw Diets for Dogs. Alot of Vegan And Vegetarians I know don't feed their animals meat based foods. I feel that if I am going to have animals that I am going to do the best I can to take care of them. I dont feel even meat based dog foods do this and I have been looking into a raw diet for a while. I follow Eric on facebook and he had mentioned that he feeds raw every other day. I think this is wonderful. He said he has had dogs that have had allergies, skin conditions, and digestive problems who are helped dramatically by raw diets. I have read before that you need to put grape seed oil on the raw food and he said he has never done that. He said if you want to start out small start with things like marrow bones. Even that will help. From what he said I am assuming he gets all his meat straight from a butcher. I have a hard time doing this. I still go back and forth with the vegan issue but I tell myself it is what they would eat in the wild. So I think I am going to start with marrow bones and work from there. He also gives his dogs big chunks of raw meat.

I also asked about food aggression. I told him how Sophie will go over to a bag of food put her nose straight down on it and if another dog comes near she will grow and snap. I also told him when we got her she was 30 pds under weight.

He said to start by hand feeding her. If I ever have to take my hands away or food, treats, toys, etc to go straight up from her, not out so that she can't lunge and get into that state of mind. If you have a problem with treat aggression as well has food aggression feed the aggressive one last.

To get them to look into your eyes when you feed them, give them treats, etc. So they wait on you to tell them what to do next. He said the first thing he always does, when he brings a new dog home, is hold the bowl up in front of his face so that they can see his eyes and make contact. Hold that contact and place the bowl. So they will be looking for that command and not looking around at everything else to get overly excited and make all the other dogs overly excited. If you have ever watched any of his videos you will see that all of his dogs are looking at him waiting calmly to see what to do next.

I am trying to remember everything.... I know this probably isn't even half of it. I am sure I will remember more later. But that was definitely the highlight of my day.. maybe even my week or month :)

Other interesting facts:
Rescue Ink is on in 161 countries
They go to events like this expo alot. They have been traveling to many states spreading awareness.
Still trying to remember. I would have more to put here too... But still processing everything..lol ..

I was so excited to meet them and learn so much. I wish I could find someone who could teach me as much as they know. I was over whelmed with info and I love info. The more info I can get the happier I am so I was elated when I left the expo.

We are heading back tomorrow to meet the who crew. I am still so excited. These guys are awesome!

We did look around the rest of the show. There was some younger guys there selling reptiles, turtles $50 or $60, scorpions $5 , tarantula, geckos $90, etc in small little plastic takeout containers. . I was disgusted! The turtles look like turtles you would find out in the wild here. I didn't really take a close look at the table so I am not sure what else they had but... How awful is that. I didn't see anyone purchase one and we was there for almost 3 hours. Hope everyone has more since then that.

There was a bird guy,John Lege, there with trained parrots (didn't watch). Bwana Jim, a show with an alligator, and some rescued birds; an owl, a turkey vulture, and a hawk, a alligator snapping turtle in a blue storage container. They run some kind of rescue/show.. Not sure didn't watch him either.

Extreme Reptiles, a traveling giant snake booth to walk through.. Didn't do that.. lol

I don't do anything that is a little iffy about animal welfare.

They were having a dock dog competition and it was pretty cool to watch. My camera didn't do the poor dogs justice though. This dog was really good an loved Jumping. He would even jump when she wasn't paying attention.lol

There was several rescues there I will have to write down the names tomorrow..

There is a nice local Dog/cat treats bakery called 4 Paws up pet bakery. It is located in Fairmont, WV. They had all kinds of cute treats with small ingredients lists. No sugar... They make good treats. The cakes are so adorable. I will get one for the dogs one day. I did get Peanut butter cake treats, carob brownie bites, and kitty kisses. The animals have loved them all. Even our picky Miss Chlo Chlo.

We purchased some car magnets as well.

O yeah.. and of course at Rescue Inks stand even though they didn't have everything there today we did purchase a T-shirt, beanie, & wrist band. Hoping to get a dog bandanna, book, and picture taken with them tomorrow. They are bringing a big truck into night with all the merchandise and the rest of the guys.. So here is John in the new Rescue in Attire :)

Heading back sometime tomorrow. Taking Roxie with use tomorrow. Hope she decides to be well behaved. This is the first time we have had her in a public place since we brought her home 7 months ago. So wish us luck.. Hope to see everyone there!

May 14 - 16, 2010
All Pets Expo - 2010

Mylan Park
Hazel & JW Ruby Community Center
500 Mylan Park Lane
Morgantown, WV 26501

Don’t miss this three-day competition at Morgantown's very first pet expo, presented in partnership with Three Rivers DockDogs! Event Format: Big Air and Speed Retrieve. Indoor Event.

Go to allpetsexpo.com and you can print a $1.00 off addmission ticket!

Dr. Phil to have Rescue Ink & A dog fighter on Tuesday May 11th, 2010

Dr.Phil will have a show on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 about dog fighting. There will be a man there defending dog fighters and has himself killed over 200 dogs. Rescue Ink will be there defending the dogs. Check it out. Give the show some good ratings so other people with take on animal issues !

Tuesday - May 11, 2010

Dr. Phil Confronts Animal Abusers

Every 10 seconds an animal is abused in this country. By the time this show is over, nearly 240 animals will be tortured. Dr. Phil, a huge animal lover, is taking a stand. First up, Rob says dog fighting is not a crime, and believes that it’s no different than boxing or football. He was convicted of a felony after authorities caught him in the act and says he wants to clear up the misconceptions about dog fighting. Will Rob get a wake-up call about this brutal "sport"? Then, they may look like a group of tattooed tough guys, but cast members from the TV show Rescue Ink say they’re on a mission to save animals in danger. Take a look as they go inside a dog fighting yard to demonstrate how they gather evidence for a bust. Plus, New Yorkers were outraged by surveillance video that captured Chris Grant terrorizing his girlfriend’s Pomeranian on an elevator. Learn how Chris’ father reacts to his behavior. Viewer discretion is advised

Chloe on the run!

Yesterday I was going to my Grandmothers house for a Mothers Day Cookout. She lives about 2 hours away and was about 5 minutes from her house when I got the phone call.

We have three dogs. I try to be responsible and since they squabble ever so often over things like toys, I separate them when we are not home. Chloe has always, even when we only had her, gone to her Grandmas house, my mothers. She loves going there and looks forward to it. They spoil her. They always leave her a plate of table scraps. And that is definitely were she loves to be when we are not home. Our other dogs love going there as well but we leave them in separate rooms of our home when we are not there.

My parents live right next to us. We actually live on a piece of their land right now. Its really nice to just be able to walk next door. Chloe, who used to drive about 30 minutes from Fairmont to my parents house with me, has always loved going to Grandmas house. She also used to love to travel in the car with us. After we moved the only place she really goes is to my parents house. Since they live right beside us they always keep her company when we are out and about. She loves them. The only place we walk our dogs is the short distance from our house to my parents house. This way when they get loss they jet to my parents house or to our neighbors daughters dog, Hooch. So we know exactly were to find them. We don't walk them up the road in front of our house to get there. Teaching them to stay in the yard when they walk. This may sound a little off. I would love to be able to take them for a walk around our area. But cars go so fast up through here that it is a real hazard. So I try to protect and set up boundaries when possible. So our dogs know exactly where to go and how to come straight home from Moms fence.

Mom's house has a fenced in back and front yard. With gates that lock the back yard and front yard separate. The back yard fence has been there since I was a kid so it is getting old. The gate is starting to root and just last week Chloe figured out how to get from the back yard to the front yard through the rooting gate. But there is a newer fence in the front yard. Built about 8 years ago. The front gate has warped pretty bad this winter. But Chloe has never showed any interest in getting out this gate through the warp.

Chloe isn't really a "people person". She loves us. She spends all of her time with us and with my parents, Chey, My little sister, and her friends. Ever so often someone new will come around and it will take her a little while to warm up to them. But if you get on her good side she will love you and wag her tail nonstop when she sees you.

Yesterday it was really windy, windy enough to have wind warnings out. John dropped her off in my parents back yard and told her to go "inside". She knows what that means. So she went into the doggy door and John left. We had a dead battery so we had to get my parents Jeep and jump us. That took a few minutes. Then we was off. Thats a picture of me waiting on John to get the car battery jumped..

About 1 hour and 50 minutes after we left I received the phone call. Chloe was out of the fence and was on the run. My heart dropped from my chest. I told our neighbor to open the front door and see if she would just run inside that she normally does & to call me back ASAP! I was so upset. Unconsoulably so. I had just picked up the hot dog buns for the cook out and had to turn around and call my mom and tell her we were going home, and sorry. So John turned the car around as quickly as possible and we started on our way home. Mom called back and told me she sent our other neighbors out to help. They have a daughter who Chloe knows. So it would be easier for them to catch her. The whole time I was so afraid she would get hit by a car. I was helpless and this time I couldn't step out in front of a car to get them to stop. About 20 minutes later. It could have been less. It felt like a life time. In mid panic attack I get a phone call from the first neighbor that they had got her and let her into our house. I was relieved but at the same time then I started to worry about her and Sophie being left alone. So we hurried home! I cried, was dizzy, and was just over all an emotional wreck the rest of he way home. Panic attacks suck and that was the first time, in a long time, that I had had one. So it took a good while to recover. I Thanked my neighbor repeatedly.

When we got home I gave Chloe lots of loves. Who could be mad when she was safe? I walked over to the our neighbors has that had let her inside. I thanked her again. She said that Chloe had ran straight to our house, up onto the porch, and when she couldn't go inside, she went down into our fenced yard, where she had closed the fence to trap her. Her friend, Johns uncle had showed up at that point. Chloe had been growling at both of them. But he knelled down and talked softly to her and got her to come to him. Then they put her into the house. :)

After we Thanked her. I went home and made us lunch. Let the dogs run around in the front yard and play for a while. Then we got everything together, and taking Chloe with us this time and went to Morgantown to get us a Hammock from Target while it was still on sale. So she got a long car ride which she did really good with. She normally gets car sick but yesterday she did really well. She even got some mommy, daddy time away from out other pups. I think she enjoyed it. Even tough John had to sit in the car with her while I ran into some stores. But the day turned out really nice after the mornings drama. Or maybe I was just able to appreciate it more.

I can never thank her enough. I called a 2nd time and thanked her and told her that she would never know how much it means to me for her to go out and rescue our Chloe. I am so glad she was there to get her. My heart is a little happier today knowing I have neighbors to help when I am not around. I just hope they know how much I appreciate it. I wish I knew how to thank them enough. Our animals are our Children and they mean the world to us.

Pictured below: Chloe on her car ride to Mo-town. First pick o=is her laying on Johns leg. 2nd is us waiting on John to pick a hammock and check out.

Roxie -The klepto & destroyer of all

Evidence #1 Kennel covered in stuffing from toys and dog bed along with verious other items.

Evidence #2 The Husband's Sock, Notice the giant gaping wholes.

Evidence #3 Our yellow Cereal Bowl. That is no longer useable

Evidence #4 Johns winter hat. Another object full of wholes...

Evidence #5 The Cantaloupe, Notice it is laying right in front of her kennel. I know where she was heading... lol
She always grabs things and if we notice her she runs striaght for her kennel with item in mouth. She just cant help her self. I will say she has made it easier for me to let go of verious items I have had laying around. Ounce they are chewed up they are obviously not any use to me any more... And things I don't want chewed up are put away instead of left laying around. The way I look at it, If we leave things laying around knowing she is there and could chew it up, then if it gets chewed up its our faults, not hers. But some things she gets ahold of is pretty funny. O yeah, and she is very smart so things like opening the door to get the hair dryer and also getting other things with power cords.. Thats not very funny. But it is very cute when she steal stuff to take to her kennel. Just to see the expression on her face brightens my day :) lol

Storm

Storm, our only female cat, has a knack for needing to go to the vet. Well a couple times a year. When she does its normally at least the visit, x-rays, and some meds. Normally her appointments revolve around her bowels. About 5 years ago we were moving. She got really sick. I came home and found her having a seizure on our kitchen floor and rushed her to the emergancy center. She had seizure almost the whole trip. I really though she was going to die. It was so scary. I told them to do everything possible to help her. I wanted x-rays done. But they passed on that. They did all kinds of testes. Told me she was in renel falure (Kidney failure) and had her on IV fluides. She pulled through and her kidneys were doing much better so they sent her home on Monday morning and told us to just watch her. So we took her to our vet the next day. I told her what had happened and her quiestion was like mine. What would cause renale failure and why would she just come back from it so quickly. So I asked her to do x-rays. She told me I may want to get an ultra sound at the Vet hospital. So the following day we took her there. They did an x-ray and found she had ate a charm. A big charm and it was lodged where her stomach meets her intestines so they rushed her into surgery only to call me to tell me she has a 20% chance of making it because the charm she swallowed had a string connected and it tore up her intestines really bad and they had been spilling into her stomach cavity all this time. John and I decide to finish the surgary and see how she did. They took over 50% of her intestines and she recovered slowly at first. We had to put her on a feeding tube. But after we started feeding her she recovered very quickly.

Every once in a while she will get constipated and her stomach will get sick. We have to take her in quickly and get X-rays to make sure she hasn't eaten anything harmful. Luckily, knock on wood, she hasnt't. But we have to put her on stomach meds to get her straightened up again. We also have to make sure she is diguesting her food properly since alot of her intestines is missing. Your intestines take the nurishment from your food. Other wise she is a normal, happy, attitude driven, cat.

But last week she decided to jump up where she always sleeps on the pile of covers ontop the washing machine. When she jumped down she messed up the ligements in her left, rear knee. Took her to the vet. Luckily everything still feels intact. She has alot of swelling. So they put her on a low dose of steroids to help with the swelling. They told me to watch her and if her progress stalls to take her to a specialist. I have my fingers crossed that she will continue to get better. But she has been using it more now and I am afriad she will over compensate and cause more problems. I am still giving her her meds and hopeing for the best. Hopefully all will be well :)

Earthday was a bust!

Today was a long day. I wanted it to be good. I wanted to fix all our food at home and have a picnic and plant some plants, make "Earth" cookies and work on cleaning up around our house. But instead my Earth Day didn't go over that well. It started out at 8am when Johns alarm clock went off. He went and opened the chicken coop then climbed in bed and started to go back to sleep. we needed to get up though. I asked several times for him to get up. I even pleaded with him a couple times. By then the dogs were trampling me. Roxie was going back and forth between chewing up hangers that she strategically places around the house, so that I can't find them, then she brings them out when ever I try to sleep, and a giant stuffed squeaky bone. That she likes to bring up and put right in your face and squeak it over and over. Mind you this is a toy she drags around the house and into her kennel. This toy is covered in hair! So hair goes every where. And it the chewing and squeaking isn't bad enough, Sophie, the chubby dog that can stand to lose a few pounds, comes over and lays down with her paws on my chest, and her warm, sticky, stinky breath panting in my face. So no sleep for me!I get up and of course by then I am annoyed, my blood sugar is low, I am hungry, grumpy, and just over all in a bad mood. I normally have oatmeal with peanut butter, flax, and brown sugar. But yesterday I chopped down on a oat hall. My stomach was already sick so I decided sticking that in my month this morning would result in throwing up. So I skipped the oatmeal. Wanted a smoothie. I couldn't find the bullet blinder! It is lost somewhere in the stupid, messy kitchen. So then I think biscuits.. passed on that too. Because the kitchen was a mess. So what did I have half an apple & yogurt. I go to take a shower. Wake John up when I realized it is already 10am. I need to go to the City tax office to get a license sticky for the year. Because mine expired 2 months ago and I am just now noticing... Finally get ready come back out to the computer desk and one of the cats has knocked the yogurt I forgot about onto the key board & mouse... So then I need to clean that up! and you would think it would get better right... Ha..It only keeps going down hill...

I called the DMV at the beginning of the week because I never received my new registration. They tell me to go to the city tax office and they will give me one and I can buy the new sticker. John and I bicker on the way to town (about 30 minutes) not really about anything big. Just knit picky little things which we never see as anything big. We make it there and they tell me that they can't help me. Because I don't have the new registration. I tried to explain that the DMV told me to go there and she got pissed and copped an attitude with me. So I asked if I could use her phone to call the DMV. She states that calling the DMV will not help me over the phone so she doesn't know why I need to use her phone. So I went back out to the car pissed! She was such a B****. I was so mad. She didn't need to get an attitude!

The we need to take some aluminum cans to get recycled. They have been laying in bags, in a pile, for far to long. So we took in I think 57 pds today and they gave us $28.50. Last week we took in 22 pounds and Got $11.00. we still need to take in like 5 bags but we have almost taken them all and I am sure it will look much better. we are working hard to get everything cleaned up outside this year.

Then we drove another 20 minutes to the DMV office and waited for around 30 to 45 minutes. The guy there was really nice and helpful. He answered all my questions. I got our new sticker. $30.00 down. But he was really nice! Then we had to wait another 20 minutes for John to get a new drivers licences photo. His had our old address on it... we moved almost 4 years ago.. oops...

After that everything was on the up and up. I guess. We went to Lowes and got some landscaping posts, flowers, bricks, organic garden soil, and a hanging plant for in the house. I miss having green, living plants around the house. The cats kill all my plants. So John let me get a $10 small hanging basket. It is super cute. We ended up spending about $74.oo after his veterans discount was taken off. The landscaping logs were on sale for $1.98 each and we got 8. The organic garden soil was on sale too. It was $4.98 for 1.5 cu ft. So I got 4 of those for the new flower bed. I got some dark red, pink, and white lily bulbs and some other misc plants to plant around them. So that was a good stop. But none of that money was on budget... Not good.

Went to the store and got Cat, ferret, and chicken feed. Then went to target. Spent some more money thats not in my budget. Bra $10.99, Johns new shoes $29.99, Tracfone $39.99, 4 GB Memory Card, on sale for $12.99, 7th generation dish soap $2.49 & laundry detergent $7.99, some other small stuff. Spent around $125.00. I had forgot to transfer money so the transaction wouldn't go through. So I had to go to the ATM and fix it. But when I went to the ATM to transfer money the bank receipt said I had $7000.00 more than what we did.. Yeah right!!!!! :) No. I went back and the atm had lied.. Stupid ATM! :) I had only went to target to look at the Nikon D3000 which I really have been thinking about picking up. I wish it wasn't so expensive. But the cameras didn't have batteries so I couldn't play with it and check out its features :(

Didn't get to go grocery shopping, get the cypress for the garden, forgot to get my shampoo again, what was I thinking spending all that money.. Now I just look back in regret knowing I should have....

O yeah to beat it all I go online to set up my electric bill payment and instead of the normal $80 or less... It is $243!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Money I don't have!!!! So I guess they have been estimating my bill for the last 3 months. I just seen that on the news the other night that people may have a surprise. But I thought my last bill had been read. It was $55.. What the heck is the power company doing. They will be getting a nasty phone call from me tomorrow!!!

Tonight again we didn't do anything... We have watched Hurt locker, Where the wild things are, and getting ready to watch Brothers.

So crap Earth Day. I am sorry Earth. I had planned more. I wanted to celebrate your gorgeousness. I wanted to do something good for you. But I failed. I hope next year I can make it up to you.

Eating animals

Words Meanings

I was waiting on my husband one day, in our local Walmart, sitting at a Subway Restaurant, located inside the Walmart, not eating but taking up their valuable table space and getting dirty looks from the employees, while reading the Word Meanings Chapter of Eating Animals. When my husband finally showed up the first thing I had him do was sit down and read the first sentence of:

Excerpt from CFE
"Common Farming Exemptions make legal any method of raising farmed animals so long as it is commonly practiced within the industry."

I had heard of this before when I was much younger and had forgotten the term. Until reading the Word Meanings section of Eating Animals it never really dawned on me again. But it definitely really made me sick to think that its not bad enough that the animal industries have the government eating from the palm of their hands. But they really are setting their own laws and regulation with this one little sentence. As long as everyone else is doing it, its fine and seen as perfectly acceptable. So the old saying your parents told you while growing up...

"If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?

and in this question yes everyone in the Factory Farming industry fines it acceptable to hold animals in deplorable conditions and deny them of every god given right that they should have. So when these people were growing up, were they never asked this question, or did they just not learn the lesson.

Just because everyone else is doing it, it doesn't make it good or acceptable.

But then again I guess most adolescents go with the crowd and jump... Ignorance, stupidity, & insanity... Which were not listed in the Word Meanings section. But I feel this law is ridicules and should be described as so.

I bet my parents regret asking me that question so many times when I was growing up. Maybe thats what gave me a mind of my own. A feature that my Dad doesn't seem to find very acceptable and tells me "You wasn't brought up that way". Meaning I will speak up for myself if I feel I am being dismissed or taken advantage of, or if I have something to say. I am not rude about anything but I will speak my mind. I am myself and thats what I am meant to be. I was never one to stay with a crowd anyways but... Who knows if they wouldn't have asked me this so many times maybe it wouldn't have stuck, and maybe, just maybe I would have never found my way into a lifestyle that is not seen as the "in" thing to be. Because I have no need or want to be with the "in" crowd just because I can. Eating meat might be the thing every one else is doing but again that does not make it responsible, respectful, acceptable, or the right thing to do.

My husband was just as annoyed as I was about this "law". "Law" because it is horrendous and any Representative who helped put this in place is really saying do what you will as long as you fund us. "Law" obviously only means pay me enough and I will write up anything you want. So you really have no responsibility for the cruelty you put onto these animals. Because every one is doing it and getting paid not only from peoples pockets but from subsidies... So sad and embarrassing to live in a country were this is acceptable.

I really liked going through the Word Meaning section and I thought it was going to be boring and just stuff I already knew. But it was more than just definitions and really put a new look upon certain things I thought I really understood. Not that I didn't understand, but gave me a new way to think about certain topics. Like the Small elevator comparison to Battery cages.

There are some statistics listed. I really haven't learned alot about fishing/dredging/ etc. And the amounts of fish. But some statics in this book opened my eyes more to how much bycatch there is in the industry.

Excerpt from Bycatch
"Shrimp account for only 2 percent of global seafood weight, but shrimp trawling accounts for 33 percent of global by catch."

There is also a list of what sea animals are considered "Bycatch". A long list...

Good section of the book.
."~C

Spring Storms Bring laziness, Ebay, & Dinner

Well today it has rained on and off all day which means the husband and I was lazy for most of the day. We have been having storms but at least the severe ones have seemed to go around us.
I did get some movies watched though. We watched Food Inc..... Finally, Death on a Factory Farm, which I had DVRed a while back on HBO, and Sherlock Holmes. We cleaned up after the animals, took care of the chickens, did some dishes, shopped on ebay...., made dinner, and did one load of laundry.. But other wise laid around and had a lazy day... And John, I, and the dogs have enjoyed it.

Shopped on ebay for the first time in probably a year. Ever so often I get in the mood for some ebay shopping. Tonight I was watching some Wii games & Wii remotes plus some books. I hate it when people run items up before the last few minutes. I wish they would figure out if you bid at the last minute things are not ran up in price so much. So I always wait till they last 10sec to place my max bid. Some times even less time than that. I did get the 2 items I bidded on tonight. A wii remote & numbchuck for $25.45 and they are the actual Wii brand not some knock off that isn't actually Wii. To purchase the Wii mote & numbchuck new would cost around $60 so I had never invested in a 2nd remote. So I am happy we are finally getting a 2nd. The other item was the Martha Stewart encyclopedia of crafts. Won it for $15.03 on amazon it is $23.00. I really want the MS Encyclopedia of Sewing ... Its only $20.00 on amazon. But I haven't ordered it yet. I am still watching some games & books on ebay but I might have gotten it out of my system with tonight's winnings.

Dinner tonight was simple and didn't take long at all. I roasted half a head of organic cauliflower & a bunch of organic broccoli with salt, pepper, & organic olive oil, baked sweet potatoes with a little organic olive oil & organic brown sugar. We also had Morningstar riblets in burrito shells fried in a skillet. So quick and simple but really good.

Chicks, Chickens, Gaint Eggs, & Gardening

The Chicks are growing and becoming out going little ones. They run around with their little wings flapping. One will start and then the others will follow. So sweet. They jump up and lay on Lil Bantis back and she clucks a calming motherly cluck. So sweet. She is loving being a Mama. Yesterday was the first day they went out and into the grass. They pecked, scratched and ran around. Lil Banti took her first dust bath in a can't tell you how long. Actually she decided to take it in the only bare spot she could find... The chick feed... I know crap picture. She laid there flopping he feathers in the dirt & chick feed and I think she was actually teaching her babies while enjoying it herself. They starter trying. They would lay and copy her. The lil white chick fell over on her back and had to use her little wings to put her self back on her feet. But they laid and basked in the sun. They loved it. To bad it rained and was cool out today. They never came out. But they are very healthy. They are feathering so fast. It is hard to believe. We have had them for a little over a week now and they are even starting to get tail feathers. Their food intake is steadily increasing. They are a joy to watch. Just like the other chickens. I love watching them all. They still are not out around the other chickens. Gaia & Mabon especially look at them like they are walking meals. So it will be a good while before they are allowed out with them. But they are being raised right beside them so they can get used to each other.

Two of the chickens are laying huge eggs ever so often. Except in the last 8 or 9 days I have seen 4 of these giant eggs and I have brought them in to weigh them. Regular Eggs are between 2.0 and 2.3 grams. The big eggs are 2.8-3.2 grams. So a whole gram bigger than normal. I think it is Gaia definitely lays some big eggs. The light colored huge egg I have no clue who laid them because we only get that color sometimes... Not very often. Some of the eggs are shaped weird, a weird color, or uneven colored. I am not sure what to think about these eggs. The Vet said not to worry if it wasn't frequent. But when one chicken lays 2 in a week that is kinda frequent. Am I doing something wrong? I don't know... But I hope I can figure this out.

Regular Size Top. Bigger Bottom. Size Comparative. Uneven color. Mis-shapen egg

I did finally figure out who the most of the different egg colors belong to though. From Left to right. Gaia, Ivy, Mabon, Big Red, And Isis.

Started working on the garden beds yesterday too. Cleaned out 2 of them with Johns help. I didn't use them last year so they had totally over grown with dandelions and weeds. So I cleaned them out and fed the weeds to the chickens. They really enjoyed them. Then we covered the beds with black garden bed covering until we add more organic soil and straight sow or plant starters. So no more weeds... Still need to cover the other place we are starting a garden bed..

Grass is starting to grow on the little hills of dirt we have been leaving there to spread out. So we better get to it. I am also going to put a garden bed in front of the front porch but I am not sure that is going to get done while the growing season is still realistic. I hope so though. I am still so excited about this growing season. I hope it turns out great. But so far I am not having luck with my starters. I have very few plants starting. I think that first rain storm did my plants in by moving the seed out and around. Starting plants in containers seems to be much harder than starting them in the ground. I have never really found any info about it either. Luckily I checked out a book from the library yesterday. Its called Good Garden Magic. This book has a lot of good, basic info that I am finding useful. It is understandable and is almost like having someone there to tell you basic gardening techniques. Its not a large book but to me its very useful. I plan on ordering a copy soon. We did a couple other things too. When we went to the library we walked. That was the first time we have walked to town in years like 6 or so years. But I enjoyed the walk and John did too. We hung out at the library for an hour and then came home.

The day before we went to Books- A- Million and sat for a few hours looking through books. I haven't done that in a couple years either. I miss just going and having a laid back day with John. It was so nice!

This 4 day weekend has been really, really great! :)

Eating Animals- Sharing 2 Paragraphs from Chapter 2.b

Just finished reading the 2nd chapter of Johnathan Saffran Foers book "Eating animals" Two paragraphs I would like to share:

"More than any set of practices, factory farming is a mind set: reduce production cost to the absolute minimum and systemically ignore or "externalize" such costs as environmental degradation, human disease, and animal suffering. For thousands of years, farmers took their cues from natural processes. Factory farming considers nature an obstacle to be overcome."

"I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity- a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history-but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal to inflict on a dog."

On to chapter 3....