More tomatoes

Trying to keep track on the total weight on everything for this year. We don't garden on alot of space but we do have a little and enjoy whatever we can grow on it.

More Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Yet another Cherokee Purple. Wish something else would rippen.. No offence to the Cherokee Purple...

More Green Tomatoes to fry.. Not that great for me but I have to take advantage of the season before they are gone.

Another golden Jubilee

I cut this Golden Jubilee up to fry it and it was starting to turn yellow already. I have cut a few up that looked totally green but was starting to rippen. Why are the ripper tomatoes the ones that taste sour when they are fried?

Another Vet appointment for the chickens

I was so nervous to see what they would say about how Big Reds wounds. I know they looked clean and not infected but they didn't really tell me what to look for that would tell me it was healing. But to my surprise the Vet said she was doing really good! Her stitches look good, her healthy skin is starting to attach to the side of the wound and that is what it is supposed to do. There is some dead skin ans scar tissue and the vet scrapped the edging again to open the wound up where it hadn't reattached to the surrounding healthy skin. He told me to continue the "Dakens" wraps and I will have to continue them for at least the next month and I am supposed to still fill the pocket where the staples are with neosprine. She is still on the same 1/2 a 22mg Baytril twice a day to end at a week. But I have enough to take me through another week and since I think she has peritonitis I might extend her antibiotics another week to try to clear that up. Then I am going to take her to the Avian vet in Morgantown to see what he thinks about her recovery and if sterilization is right and safe for her.
She is eating better every day. She isn't just eating sunflower seeds and eggs any more. She started eating strawberries and she really started eating her food again. And she just seems like she is in a much better mood . She lays down although most of the time she stays at her food bowl eating on and off. But she has been relaxing more. But with feeling better come her attitude. She tries to peck us to death every time we touch her. She is more vocal. And really doesn't like the Dakens wraps but that is keeping the flies and infection away so they will keep coming. But she is doing GREAT!

I also took Mabon with me because her wound had totally changed its look with in two days and it was kind puffy in the center so I thought it had gotten infected. So I was not looking forward to what he would have to do to the wound to reopen it and clean it out. Luckily I was wrong and he cleaned it with some Betidine and he said it looked great! I was ecstatic! She is eating well, laying eggs, and acting normal. She is doing great. He told me it is good to be kinda ruff with the wound she has because it needs to be opens so it can bleed a little. So I am supposed to take a piece of gauze and rub the wound with Betidine and let it bleed a little to get new tissue growth to come in quicker. He said as soon as it scabs over she is good to go. After he cleaned it her wound looks awesome! She is doing so good!

I am learning alot about wound care with our chickens although I hate to need to use it again. Atleast next time I know some about what needs to happen to certain kinds of wounds. What can be stapled or stitched back and that vets all do different techniques and I love to learn how to take care of our animals to the best of our ability. I am so glad they are pulling through this and I am still praying that they will make a full recovery.

The Masked Villain

Set the trap again last night for the raccoon. Finally talked the husband into putting it back into its original place on the side of the coop where the little raccoon had gotten in when he killed the chickens. I rubbed the trap down with green and weeds to get rid of the "human" sent then I had John snip some branches out of our trees to cover the trap and make it feel more Den like so he would feel so to go in. Next I had John take the food and instead of leaning it whole I had him smear it all over the bottom of the trap and ground so that the little guy would have to go in to get it. IT WORKED! so this morning when John got up to go to work he was there and waiting for us. He had ate all the food and pulled in and shredded most of the tree leaves. Poor little guy was probably so scared. But he didn't hiss or reach his little paw through to get us. He stayed calm and allowed John to pick up the cage and place it in his work van without any hassle. John took him on his way to work, up a hollow and set him free. I hope he finds a new place to live and hunt and that he stays a beautiful, healthy, happy raccoon. I wish him the best of luck. He was just doing what he had to do to survive and I do understand that. I was never mad and I never wanted him dead. But he can't live here and kill our chickens. So he is at his new home.. Free t olive his raccoon life. The way it should be.

Going to set the trap again for the next couple of nights to make sure there isn't any more raccoons. Hope he was the only one...

Chickens Recovering. Egg bond? Internal Laying? or False Laying? Or my imagination?

Yesterday Big Red didn't seem comfortable or like she was getting any better and the thought keeps running through my mind that she still hasn't laid an egg. I know this can be caused by stress but at the same time I know she gets egg bound and has "jelly" eggs on a normal basis so I am not sure what to this about her not laying. I keep checking her belly to make sure it is not swollen (internal layer or false layer) but so far she hasn't had any change from what we can tell. It has been at least 4 days that I know of since she laid an egg. She is only 15 months old so this is not a normal egg production rate. Last night we treated her wounds again with a warm compress, iodine, and neosporine. This is the first evening we have used neosporine. I also fed her a raw egg. Which took her a while to finish but I think she liked it. After the treatment last night she seems more comfortable today and seems to have more energy. She even tried to walk out of the dog kennel, slowly, but at least she tried. Yesterday she had no interest in walking out. I have even seen her laying down and relaxing a little bit today which I haven't seen her do but once since she was attacked. She is still not eating her regular food. I am still wondering if the bite mark on her neck has something to do with the fact that she only seems to want to take in liquids. I am glad to see her more comfy.

Mabon is still in high spirits. But I noticed yesterday that she either broke her wound open or has been picking at it. It was oozing some blood when we treated her last night. It wasn't fresh it was clotting but it was still more open than what it had been. We fed her an egg and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It was gone within a minute. We put a warm compress on her and some iodine. We didn't put any neosporine on her since we didn't know we could till after we had but her back in the kennel. She is a hard one to catch so I thought we would wait and do it during tonights treatment. But she seems to be doing great and eating an drinking good.

I finally found our Chicken Health Handbook last night. I have been looking for it since the chickens got attacked. Some how we have looked over it the hundred times we have looked at the book shelf because someone had laid it onto on the books backwards... oops... But I love this book because it ha a good bit of information to use. And alot of information to learn for the health of your chickens.

Last night first things I read about was wound care and even though the exotic vet I spoke with said not to put any kind of antibiotic cream on them the book said I could. I think Big Red is doing better today since her skin isn't all stiff and hard. Plus it has a better protected layer than just iodine. Although the book doesn't tell me to use Iodine I think it is a good precaution so we can keep the wounds as clean as possible. It does however say to clean it out with the hydrogen peroxide and I have not brought myself to do this. I hope it doesn't hurt them in the long run that I haven't. I just feel like this would be really painful or them and they have already gone through so much and I am afraid of putting Big Red into shock. So we have been cleaning it with the compresses and iodine.

Next I was paging through to see exactly how the egg process works and how a chicken begins to lay internally or falsely. Next we to the nutritional info so I could see what would help them recovering and things they might be lacking or getting to much of. I found that our chickens are probably eating to much grit since they are fed a commercial all natural diet. Plus that some of our chickens is in taking to much calcium because we are getting calcium ruff spots of our eggs. So Big Red laying jelly eggs should not be just from a lack of calcium but either from a lack of Vitamin D which helps you absorb calcium or from a lack of something else that helps your body work with calcium.

So my thought is if you have chickens.. even if you have the Internet for information you should definitely The Chicken Health Handbook.

Update: Tonight we took care of the chickens at around 11 pm. Big Red was laying comfortably when we got her out to treat her. After treating her she ate some food from a bowl John was holding for her and even ate some more egg. But after she was done we seen her straining and shaking around her rear end. We didn't we didn't feel any eggs but still 2 hours later she still is standing in her kennel shaking and straining it seems like. Wondering if she is egg bound to were we can't feel it or internally laying. I hope its neither and that its our imaginations. I still think her bottom feels fuller than it should. I also seen that she passed a thick green stool tonight. I think this means she is not eating and is passing bile through her stools. Good thing she ate a little tonight. I hope it helps. Fingers crossed that she will pull through this and start laying normal once she has healed some more.

Mabon got her first treatment of neosporine tonight but her wound looked good already and was not picked open any more.

The Chickens are Recovering from the raccoon attack- Graphic Pictures

After the attack a couple nights ago when Prince Charming, Snow White & Splash were all killed and Big Red & Mabon were attacked... I am happy to say right now they seem to be recovering well.

Big red has the worst wounds. She limps and has a big piece of skin that is dieing off. The skin dieing off and not getting infected is one of my biggest concerns right now. Plus she has some bite marks on her neck that could cause an abscess. Which I have to watch for.

Last night we treated her wounds. We put warm compresses on them so that we could get some of the dirt off. We don't want it to get infected. She was ok with the compress until we tried to get some of the dirt off. Then she started putting up a fight. We also covered the spots in Iodine which she didn't seem to like very much either. She kept attacking our q-tip and trying to eat the end off of it. Finally I had to have John hold her so I could get a good coat of Iodine on her biggest wound.

The Neck wounds. These are teeth marks that go pretty deep. You can't tell but there are a good number of teeth marks.

The big side of her wound. At the bottom you can see where the skin is still attached.

The Skin that is dieing.

Warm Compress

After Treatment. You can see she still has blood on her face.

Mabon has on injured spot above her leg. It is into the fat a little deeper than Big Reds but the spot isn't even half as big. She has seemed in good spirits even the first day. she wasn't shocky at all. She ate fine that day and has been a real trooper through being medicated. She is the hardest chicken to handle other than the roosters. So she has been putting up with alot of handling and for that she is doing awesome.

Picture taken of Mabon the day after the attack.

Today we had to separate the girls. We had them both in the same dog kennel. Mabon decided to quietly lay an egg. Well after that I guess Big Red decided she wanted to try to lay one. But she didn't want to be in the kennel with Mabon while she did it. So I go out because Big Red is jumping and squawking and trying to get out and that was making Mabon attack her. So we brought another smaller dog kennel out to put her in. I guess I am going to have to watch for dog kennels to go on sale again. Last Black Friday I bought one at 40% off. So hopefully this Black Friday they will have them on sale again.

Good news is no on seems shocky any more and they have been eating and drinking good. I hope I have enough antibiotics in their water because the dosing instructions really suck. You would think with the popularity of chickens being pets they would have better instructions on the pack. I guess I am going to have to ask our vet to show us how to give them injections on antibiotics that way we can treat them with the exact dose they need.

Raccoon in the chicken yard

Today I found our three Banti chickens that we brought home in April dead. A raccoon got into the enclosure early this morning after John let them out and went to work. I looked out the window around 2pm to check on every one and there was feathers everywhere! I didn't see anyone but Titan (our big rooster) standing beside Prince Charming dead on the ground. I ran out as fast as I could to make sure I couldn't save him. But when I turned the corner I seen Snow white dead beside Prince Charming. I thought Titan had killed the babies.... Then I looked everywhere for Splash and finally found her dead on the other side of the enclosure. And when I seen how her body had been mangled I knew it wasn't Titan. It had been a raccoon. Everyone else looked fine at first sight. Then Big Red came over and ruffled her wings. She has a big gash in the fat under her wing in two places. Two big spots. Plus her neck is also messed up. Mabon her a gash in her fat around her wing area too. Mabon how ever seems stronger right now. Big Red has been showing some shock symptoms. (These are the last pics I have of Splash, Snow White, and Prince Charming)

The only vet I could get a hold of normally treats exotic birds. She told e not to bring them in. If they were not in shock already the car ride might send them there. She told me to get some antibiotics and put into her water. Get an injectable if they will not drink it. Not sure how an injectable is going to work... don't know how to give a chicken a shot. She also told me to keep a compress on it to keep it open so it will heel from the inside out. If it heal from the outside it will cause a nasty abscess.

Big red and Mabon are resting in the Hen house right now and will have to be moved soon. The rest of the chickens and even the roosters are pretty stirred up today. I normally can't go into the enclosure without a rooster attacking me but today they totally stayed away from me. The whole chicken yard is so quite without the three Babies. Without Prince Charming doing his half cracked crow. He was learning and had a pretty good crow ever so often. But he still hadn't totally got it. I can't believe they are gone. I can't believe as careful as we are that something got in and killed them after daylight came. And the dogs didn't even alert me. I don't know how this happened... I feel so bad. They lost their lives because I wasn't prepared good enough.

I am praying that Mabon and Big Red make it. Right now Mabon is still doing good and eating and drinking. Big Red is moving around very slowly and not eating very well. Please pray for them.

Roxies Recovery 4- 12 days post Heart Worm Treatment

Everything has been going well since the last update. I talked to the vet on the 27th when she was still coughing a good amount. She said she would like to do some X-rays of her chest to see if anything has changed or if there was a new problem. Luckily the next days and everyday sinc she has been doing really well. Today was her best day yet. She only really had one coughing set today and it was more like she was clearing her throat than coughing. So everything has been looking up. Last week I gave her 2 benedryle a day for a few days so she could rest and recover quicker and I think that was a good call considering she is doing so great now. But I am still on watch. Since her shots she has not been alone either John and I have been with her 24/7. And that will continue atleast for the next 4 to 6 weeks. Depending on how she reacts to her pills. Maybe a little longer it depends when I feel safe leaving her alone.

She has also been eating really well. I think she might have gained some weight. Now she wants to eat everything. She also eats 3 times a day now plus all the treats she can get her paws on and those she can only reach with her nose to knock off.

I am still praying everything is going to keep going smooth.

Roxies Recovery 2- A trip to the E-Vet

Well we had a little snag over the week end. Saturday evening Rox started shivering and feeling lethargic. Sunday morning I wake up to the neighbors dog was running through our back yard barking at our chickens and stirring up all the dog including Rox who isn't supposed to be stirred up and excited. So that pissed me off bright and early. So I went and caught the dog and returned it to its tie out next door. Came back and and made sure Rox wasn't coughing any more. She was laying in her kennel shivering and very nor herself. So I finally decided to take her temperature. It was 104.3F. Normal range for a dog was 100 to 102. I called the E-vet to see what they said. She told me to bring her in. But I decided to watch her and see if her temp came down. Every 30 minutes all morning I checked it. It came down to 103.9 than went way up to 104.9. So I finally decided when the bulk of the storms we were having left I would take her.



The E-vet was really nice. I have never met her before but she was really knowledgeable and actually set Rox up with everything that I originally wanted her to have as a precautionary measure. She agreed with me that the fever was probably inflammation in her lungs. So she gave her a Pred shot for the inflammation and a Tor shot just in case she was in pain. She also gave us a prescription for Pred and Doxy antibiotics. And told me to give her Pepcid AD for her belly to see if we could get her to eat some. It all went very well. Till we left.

This is Rox at the E-Vet

We leave and about 10 minutes down the road she starts drooling. and its not a regular drooling it is a slimy there is no end soaking the seat tipe of drooling. So I called and ask and they said with one of the meds that is normal. So I keep coming home and she keep getting worse and worse. Her gums are pink but getting a little white and I keep stopping the car to check on her. I was totally freaked out thinking she might be passing away. The vet said if she would have an embolism that I really wouldn't have enough time to make it back to the vet. So I wasn't sure what to do. I decided maybe it was just the meds and the heat so I decided to rush home to take her out of the heat and let her rest. By the time I got home she was falling over and kinda whining and falling asleep. I come inside and she walks right into her kennel and goes to sleep. As soon as she laid down and went to sleep her breeding was normal again. She wasn't breathing in the short panting motions. Her gums got pink and her Cap reflex was back to normal. So I finally calm down a little sit down and look up the Pain Med (Tor) which I figures could probably make her sleepy. I found that it can be a sedative for a dog. So I called the E-Vet just to make sure and she said she had given her a little extra to knock her out for the evening. So she would have time to rest. So after all my freaking out I guess I did make the right decision to bring her home. She rested till around 7pm when John got home and she wanted to see him so we let her out for a few minutes to visit. Her Temp was back to normal at 101.3 and only went up to 101.8 right before we went to bed. But she slept well all night. She was very comfortable all evening and night and that was nice.



Today she is doing good. She has been sleeping and being good most of the day. Not because she wants to like yesterday when she had a fever. But because she is locked in her kennel or sleeping beside me on the couch because she isn't aloud to do anything else. She still isn't eating and her only peed once today. That worries me a little. But hopefully after her tummy meds kick in her belly will feel much better. I am really glad I took her yesterday. She is doing better today. The vet said her lungs and chest sounded good and she doesn't have a fever today so I am sure she is doing alot better.



So now it is just wait and see now. Its still going to be a very long three weeks till the next vet appointment for her HW prevention pills to start. They will keep her the whole day while the Mircro HW's are killed. Then another month of worry. But I am praying that everything will go smooth now. Ii will write another update later.



Please Prey for our Roxie.

Roxie's Recovery 1

Well Roxie has been home from the vet since Wed. It has been a long few days of worrying. But I am glad she is home and from what I can tell she is doing pretty good. She has coughed a few times on Friday and a few more times on Saturday which was scary but she quickly recovered and didn't act like it was anything that she really had to recover from. She would act like everything was fine afterwards and go about her business. We have not been keeping her totally confined. But she has been taking it easy and sleeping alot on the couch and in the recliner. Some vets told me to keep her totally confined the one that I seen before she came home Wed told me to have her be a normal lazy dog. No excitement but she could be out to walk around and be a comfortable lazy dog. Even though I originally wanted to keep her totally crated. I feel she might be a little safer if we did. But she gets worked up and I don't want her to be depressed during her recovery so she is on her lazy dog schedule. Which in some ways works out well. We let her sleep with us at night. But I don't always sleep at night. I normally start sleeping after John heads to work or a few hours later. So she stays in bed till I get up with no excitement because all the dogs stay in bed till I get up. So Rox stays in bed all night and half the next day. When I do get up I make them food and put her in her kennel to eat and calm down from the burst of energy she has in the morning. Once I see she has totally calmed down I let her out. If I see any kind of excitement we say "in" and she heads into her kennel to lay down. For the time being she is using puppy pads in the house because she gets extremely excited when she knows she is going outside. We have also locked the back porch doggy door because when they hear something outside they normally go running to see what it is. With it closed Roxie doesn't even attempt to run back there. I also hung a sign on the from door that says "Please do not knock on door or talk loudly in front of house. Please call to get ahold of me" It has our numbers and my mothers info find her. So I think most of the issues we have worked out. The only issue left is when john comes home from work and she normally goes crazy. He was off from work all week for me this week and now her is going back tomorrow. Something new thrown at us but I knew it was coming. I really hope recovery goes well. Rox Pibs is such a wonderful dog and I cant wait till she can play and be her pibble self once again.

At the vet

Treament area

First day home from the vet

Car ride home

Picture to pot soon its on my cell.

Back up and running

Well last night I was finally able to get the computer back up and running. So glad I didn't have to buy a new one or pay to have it fixed. Ran a couple scans. It ended up being the disk error scan that fixed it. Took the scan 2 hours to run. The computer hasn't worked this good in a while. So I must have had a few. At the beginning of all this mess Flock wouldn't open my aol email and I would have to go with the Internet Explorer just to open it. But even when the computer was still acting stupid some how it was fixed. Even Nortons got fixed yesterday! So everything is good now. I have been running updates all night trying to get everything up to date. I am just so happy it is fixed!

Update: Computer is still being Evil... Might be killing over... Still runs ever so often. But... I am running low on hope....

Computer Problems

Our computer has been having problems. It wasn't starting right. I would have to start it like 16 times for it to restore and start. As of yesterday I it has stopped restoring and will not even turn on. So till it gets fixed, we hook up the old one, or buy a new one... I can't blog. So sad... But I do have alot of pictures of food and our 4th of July celebration.

O yeah. Our little rooster is learning how to crow. He is so funny. Definitely a rooster. Think his name will be Prince Charming.

Our snake came back. Not sure if he is still there but every so often I walk out and see him laying sunning on our wood pile.

We actually have two rats out near the chicken coop. We are afraid to move them because they could have babies. But I haven't seen them in a couple days so hopefully they left.. yeah right.... But I will have to trap them sooner or later. Maybe next weekend. I will have to check the storage shed for babies.

New Years Resolutions 2010- Progress

Here is the update

1. Be a more outspoken and reliable vegan... not doing so great on this one. Well to tell you the truth. I really haven't been to any family gatherings and the ones I have gone to I have taken food with us. But if it does come up I do plan to be tactful & kind in whatever I say. I still don't want to come across as a "Bitchy" Vegan. I would rather people have a good outlook of veganisim instead of bringing their preconceived notions to life. :)
2. Pay off atleast $6,000 of debt. we are moving towards this goal for the year. As of April we are about $2100.00 down. But Johns job has shortened hours for the last couple months. The only credit card we have used is the Lowes card, for some gardening stuff..oops & The Care credit card for some vet bills. So even with the hour loss we have been staying away from credit cards. But our savings account is feeling the stretch. So I really hope his work picks up.
3. Cook at least 3 Times a week. Well this happens some weeks but not all weeks. My back had me in bed for a month so I really didn't cook at all that months. Maybe once of twice. I have been cooking more lately now that the weather is nice. I have been baking and trying some new recipes for desserts at my parents weekly cookouts. Plus I have been looking for some light dishes for the summer. So we can make it quick and sit out in the gorgeous sun and enjoy evening, the companionship, and the food.
   
4. Keep the house cleaner than last year, and more organized. This is such a battle for me. With all three dogs and a couple cats under my feet where ever I turn. It makes it difficult. We have taken on some projects around the house aswell. Like building a walk in closet into our bedroom. So I have everything displaced into the animal room (the 2nd bedroom), and our living room. For some reason The husband is at a stand still with progress. and has been for months. I have cut drywall and wood laying in the already crowded hall way along with the four bookshelves that need put into the 2nd bedroom. I am going to put a sewing table & book shelves into the 2nd bedroom as soon as the junk can be moved. Then the back porch that we built on a few years ago will be the "animal room". I am going to hang up some shelves and build a cat House for it. But John is also thinking about putting his weight bench out there. We have has it for 5 years and it is still in the box. For both of our sake I hope we can get it up sooner or later. The house is just on on going project because we just have to much stuff to fit into this house. In 3 to 5 years. Hopefully 3 we plan on finding a piece of land and moving.
5. Read more than 15 books. We are 5 months into the year. I have made a book list of 15 books. But I have only finished 1. And I am reading 2 others at this time. So I hope to meet this goal.
6. Be a more consistent blogger. Hey I think I have been keeping up with this one. I haven't been doing alot of cooking blogs so Vegannatura.blogspot.com has been paying the price with 1 blog in the last probably 3 months. But this blog I have been adding a good amount to. Probably could put in more. But sometimes I get to busy and forget. But like I said this one is a go!!! :)
7. Take better care of my health. I will say since I have become vegan I don't know if I have had one cold which is awesome! Normally at the beginning and end of winter I always get a sore throat and head cold and I didn't this year! awesome awesome awesome. and that has ALWAYS happened in the past with the colds. But I have yet to start 1 consistent exercise program and I should really eat a better balanced diet. But when your back hurts and your not feeling well because of it you just don't feel like doing either. Today I feel really good though and have been trying to get stuff done. So hopefully I feel feel good the rest of the week and I can get into some exercise and good eats. On the mental prospective I have been doing really well this year. Atleast I think. I am learning as I go. To stay a calmer person. To try to take life as it comes at me instead of always worrying. I mean I do still have things I worry about on a daily, hourly, minutely, secondly basis, but these things have dwindled down to just a few things and I am trying to live a slower, less stress, life. I love to chill out an listen to Mishka which always seems to give me a calm feeling even when I have had a pretty crappy day. So things though still send me over the top. Like Chloe escaping from my parents yard and my neighbor calling me to tell me she can't catch her when I am 2 hours away. Luckily she did catch her but I was inconsolable! But I am a work in progress. and I think I like where I am going.
8. Learn more about amino acids. Haven't really hit on this one yet. I know a few things but not enough.
9. Donate to atleast 3 charities. we have donated a small amount to 2 charities. A dog rescue & the Harrison county humane society. But I do plan on making 3 Bigger contributions to Probably Farm Sanctuary, maybe an overseas village water program, not sure which one yet, and probably another animal case.
10. Takeout no more than 2 times a week. Sometimes we have it once, sometimes twice, and yes if we are out a third time sometimes 3 times. But The husband has been eating alot of takeout for work lunch and that kinda annoys me... We could be saving some money if we just made his lunch here... But thats a man for you..lol

I have also added some.

1. Do some art projects, sewing, knitting, painting. It doesn't matter but do something from the heart. I have been doing this. I have painting a few times this year and sewed. I am getting ready to make some 4- 4th of july dog collar bandannas, a couple dogs beds, & a purse. I have some other plans too that have to do with balsa wood wall hangings.
   
2. Take better care of the garden this year. Instead of like in the past . Plant it and walk away. Actually try to keep it nice, weed free, tired up. and nice. I have been working on this we will see how it pans out later on this summer.

What the heck is up with the words that want to stay red. It won't let me change their color for some reason.... evil thing..lol

Spring Chickens-Day 15

This will be what we are considering as day 15. Lil Banti has been on her nest almost non stop even when our other chickens pick on her. But over night she threw out 4 of the eggs. 3 brown & 1 of hers. We Candled them and 2 of the brown eggs had babies in them. So we took them back out and stuck them under her. They were pretty cold though. So I hope they are still ok. I guess we will see in 5 to 6 days. It was really strange to actually candle an egg and see a baby inside. This picture is an egg with no baby. I didn't take the time to take the picture of the one with a baby. If she kicks it out again I will post a picture.


We started building the chicks home yesterday and had to change our plan from a triangle to a square because our Mider Saw is stupid... But it is almost done. We need to go out and get some more wood today since we only purchased enough the first time to make the triangle. But it only ran us about $50 to make the mini coop. And we are going to use it for the Roosters after Lil Banti Vacates.

We also actually visually seen our Chicken, Gaia, lay her egg this morning. So we are one egg closer to knowing who lays the different colored eggs. So light brown egg w/ white speckles belongs to Gaia. Did I mention that we a chicken lays on egg fluid comes out with it. Kinda like the gosh of fluid you see come out when a baby is born... Just an interesting tid bit into my morning :)
Update: Today while we were out purchasing the finishing supplies for the brooder house the chickens cannibalized Lil Banti's eggs. So know there are only 3 eggs out of the 11 left. 2 Banti eggs & 1 brown egg. Even the 2 that we knew for sure had babies in them are gone. I marked them before returning them this morning so we could tell if the hatched after getting cold. So who knows if we will get any chicks know? I was excited to have babies again.

Spring Chickens

Last year we brought home 8 chicks on April 9th. Six turned out to be hens and we were also blessed with 2 roosters. We brought them up handling them daily. Now the roosters hate us of course and Titan the Americana Rooster tries to kill me when ever I go near them. So he isn't always called by his name. He has several other names I like to use but we will leave those out. :)Anyways... with a new spring season approaching comes chicks right? Thats not exactly what was supposed to happen. This year we really wasn't planning on adding to the brood. But our Lil Banti has decided to start laying on 4 eggs and we are not sure how long she was laying before we found them. So we might have 4 more chickens. With our luck they will all be roosters. But we are of course hoping that they will be pullets. There are 2 Banti eggs and 2 brown eggs. Not sure who laid the 2 brown eggs though. We have 4 chickens that lay brown eggs and we have yet to figure out whos are whos. Out of all our chickens right now she seems to be the only one interested in laying. Luckily. Our guess is that she disappeared 7 days ago to lay on her eggs. So we are at seven days and counting. Fingers cross for pullets :) Either way we will be blessed with more little chickidees to share our lives with.

Michael Vick TV show on BET

Sponsors of the Michael Vick Reality Show some are "getting it" other are slow to come around keep sending in your letters

Body: Sponsors of the Michael Vick Reality Show some are "getting it" other are slow to come around keep sending in your letters

PLEASE REMEMBER TO SPEAK WITH YOUR DOLLARS ONE THING CORPORATE SPONSORS UNDERSTAND IS DECLINING REVENUES!!!!!!
Dear Friends,

Please e-mail the sponsors of the Michael Vick Reality Show and express your opposition to their financial support of the program. As a result of their advertising, Vick is profiting from a lucrative reality television contract. This show is beyond the pale of depravity and must be canceled. Please also stop buying these companies' products and tell your friends and family to do the same until they withdraw their support.

Checkers
http://checkers.com/contact.html

Hotwire
marketing@hotwire.com

Ford
https://secure.ford.com/footer/contact-ford/contact-us-email?contactMainTopic=PublicAffairs

McDonalds
http://www1.mcdonalds.com/contactus/navigate.do?link=marketing

7-Up
http://www.econsumeraffairs.com/am_bev/contactus.htm?F1=7up&F2=7up

Lysol
http://lysol.com/corporate/contact-us/contact-form-s/

Subway
http://www.subway.com/Applications/CustService/frmCustomerService.aspx

KFC
http://www.kfc.com/contact/

Overture Films
info@epk.tv

Buick
http://www.buick.com/pages/mds/helpcenter/contactUs.do

PLEASE DO NOT SEE THE FOLLOWING MOVIES WHO ADVERTISED DURING THE SHOW:
From Paris with Love
Shutter Island
The Crazies

Hershey's
http://www.hersheys.com/contactus/contact-us-date.asp

Footlocker
http://www.footlocker.com/customerserv/help:contactUs/

Chevy
http://www.chevrolet.com/pages/mds/helpcenter/contactUs.do
CHEVY HAS EXPRESSED THEIR SUPPORT FOR MICHAEL VICK'S SHOW. PLEASE CONTINUE TO E-MAIL THEM UNTIL THEY GET THE MESSAGE.

Sprint
http://www.sprint.com/contactus/
SPRINT HAS EXPRESSED THEIR SUPPORT FOR MICHAEL VICK'S SHOW. PLEASE CONTINUE TO E-MAIL THEM UNTIL THEY GET THE MESSAGE.

Broadview Security (formerly Brinks Security)
http://www.broadviewsecurity-home.com/contactus.htm

Please also contact BET and tell them what you think of the show:
https://bet.wufoo.com/forms/contact-us-bet-programming/

2/4/10 Update: Nivea ended their commercial sponsorship of the show after being inundated with customer e-mails complaining about their support of the program.

2/5/10 Update: Pizza Hut issued a press release informing the public that they asked BET to end their commercial support of the show.

2/5/10 Update: Denny's Restaurant contacted BET and ended their support after receiving e-mails from concerned customers expressing their opposition to the show.

2/6/10 Update: L'Oreal issued a press release that they have terminated their support of the Michael Vick "Reality" Show and apologized for offending L'Oreal customers.

2/8/10 Update: Nationwide Insurance issued a press release announcing that they asked BET to pull their ads from the Michael Vick Reality Show and that they do not support the program and do not wish to have any association with it. They stated the huge volume of calls from customers prompted them to change their position. Initially, they stated they were not in the business of judging shows that aired their commercials.

2/9/10 Update: I spoke with a representative from Customer Relations at Dave and Busters today. She told me that they contacted BET and insisted that they pull their ads from the show. She stated they have been receiving calls all week and got the message.

2/10/10 Update: Walden University, Ballys, Applebees, and TurboTax all ended their sponsorship with the Vick show today citing that it is inconsistent with their values after receiving countless e-mails and phone calls from irate customers.

2/11/10 Update: Maybelline and 5-Hour Energy pulled their ads from the Vick show.

2/12/10: Progressive and Avon contacted BET and told them not to play their ads during the Vick show.


(I will DVR the next episode and FF to the commercials to confirm these
advertisers' commitments and identify any new advertisers who may have
filled their shoes.)

If Vick hadn't killed dogs, he would never have this show. He's making money
off his killing spree. He recently said the reason for the show is to clear
his family name. He also said that he will not speak about dog fighting
anymore after the show. When Vick said he was going to dedicate his life to
speaking out against dog fighting, apparently he meant he would do it twice
per month for a year until people forgot about it and it was safe for him to
be rich and famous again and profit from his crimes. He did a masterful job
of using the HSUS to help him re-enter society. He was never sincere. He
still thinks he's a victim as evidenced by his arrogant and callous remarks
after being nominated for the Ed Block Courage Award:

"I've overcome a lot, more than probably one single individual can handle or
bear," Vick said. "You ask certain people to walk through my shoes, they
probably couldn't do. Probably 95 percent of the people in this world
because nobody had to endure what I've been through, situations I've been
put in..."

Some people argue "everyone deserves a second chance...it's time to move on"
and "everyone makes mistakes". Vick did not make a mistake; it was a
conscious and calculated decision that he knew was wrong. He is diabolical,
transparent, and evil. There is no cure for evil. He doesn't deserve a
second chance for his heinous and unspeakable crimes against animals. Those
of us who speak for animals will not "move on" as Vick is emblematic of a
larger problem in a society that shows disregard for the welfare of animals
and believes lenient sentences and fines equate to justice. They do not.

If people want to idolize this sadistic killer, cheer for him from the
stands and wear his jersey, they can do it. We draw the line with a reality
show that allows him to profit from his felonies. Let us send a clear
message -- if you brutalize helpless animals, you will not be accepted back
into society and return to fame and wealth without opposition. Our silence
allows the opposite message to be sent. Complacency breeds acceptance.
Acceptance leads to continued violence against animals. We do not have to
accept things as they are and we will not.

Please help us send a message to the shameless sponsors of this show that we
will boycott their products until they end their support of the program.
Thank you.

On behalf of the dogs Michael Vick fought, kicked, shot, hung, electrocuted,
drowned, and tortured.

Andrew Kirschner

I wrote many of the sponsors and BET these are the responses I have received.
Hershey Company Responds to my letter:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about our advertising policy and
practices for television programming.

The Hershey Company has a long-standing policy of placing its advertising in
programming of high quality. We monitor programs closely and our agencies are
aware of Hershey's strict programming guidelines. Those guidelines would
include not supporting programs that feature or incite excessive violence and
antisocial behavior. If a change in format causes one of the previously
acceptable shows to become unacceptable, we contact our agency immediately. In
fact, this policy has not changed since Hershey's advertising program was first
launched in 1968.

The Hershey Company believes the public is the ultimate judge of our advertising
policies and our ability to implement them. Comments such as yours provide
valuable input in planning for future advertising campaigns. Your comments will
be shared with the Marketing Department.


This email address is restricted for outgoing messages only. For that reason,
please do not respond to this email as the inbox is not monitored.

We appreciate your loyalty as a consumer.



Pamela Tompkins
Consumer Representative

Wintering the Chickens

The Chickens have faired ok till this week. I have been worried about them all winter. I was hoping that the coop we built this summer would be warm enough to winter them in. But for the last week we have had single digit temps and below zero wind shield. Yesterday I went out to water and check on them and Isis now has a frost bit comb. I feel so bad. I wish I could do something for her. But from my research and the people I ask tell me it will fall off with time. I just feel like it is probably painful right now. I just don't know what to do. Some people say put Vaseline on it. I think I might try that tonight. Hope the rest of her comb is ok. My Chicken health handbook said I should isolate her. I'm not sure that is a great idea. And put Neosporine on her comb. When John gets home tonight I will do that. He has to help me because our big rooster, Titan, hates me. He attacks me any chance he gets. Hope she is ok. She really doesn't act like it bothers her. O' Yeah. went to the Feed store I get my straw at. Its called Main Street Trader. The guy who owns it or runs it.. Has chickens so I asked him.

Disclaimer:

Ahead is a conversation with a meat eater. Do not take seriously what he says and no one will be hurt... lol

He said it would just fall off with time. Not to worry about it.
Then he said
"If it gets to bad to "Shhhhhhhttttt... Off with her head, and turn her into stew"....
I'm like "I don't eat meat" nicely, kinda laughing... cough cough gag... :)
and he said
"Well chicken is hardly a meat"
and I said
"Well I don't know about that" so then he asked "
so you don't eat any meat"
and I responded with "Nope"
and he said "what about Egg & dairy and that kinda thing"
and I said "Nope" so hes like "So your a totally vegan" and I was like yep.
He was really nice through the who conversation. So that was good. But after a came home and told John. Johns said I should have said
"doesn't look like any vegetable I've ever seen"
"Wonder what tree they come from I could make a fortunate"
and last " Does that make the chickens egg a seed" "Maybe I should plant one to see"

lol... so we both had a good laugh. I wish John would have been with me. He probably wouldn't have said it anyways .. But It would have been really funny if he would have.

The rest of the chickens; though not happy with the snow seem to be fairing ok. Everyone has been staying inside the coop because it coops snowing under the roofed in enclosure. I keep putting new straw out for it to only be covered once more by snow. I am thinking about hanging a light up in the coop so that I can keep the door closed all day so it will keep them warmer when it is snowing or below 10F. This has been a very very cold week. Not normally for us. We normally stick to around the 20F's. I think this summer I am going to insulate their coop. So next winter it should get warmer. I really wish I would have thought of it this summer. Hopefully it will start getting warmer. Bit for the next week or so it is supposed to stay pretty cold. :(

Update: Got the Antibiotic put on Isis's comb. Its not looking any better today. But there isn't any open spots. She just cooed and let me put on the meds. she didn't act like it bothered her any. Maybe she knew I was trying to help. She didn't really want John to touch her though. But what I really didn't think about was how the straw was going to stick to her comb after the meds were on. Oops. So I bet I know why they want her isolated. Ivy was nice enough to easily pick the straw bits off. We put up another perch inside the coop for them to sleep on. I noticed lastnight that they have grown so much that one night perch wasn't enough. I also pu some straw bats going up the sides of the coop walls on the inside to insulate better. I hope this helps them stay warmer. Going to send John out to check on Isis later. Make sure noone is picking at her comb.

Books, Arts Supplies & Coupons, My day in a nut shell

Well as I mentioned in the previous post I have yet again went shopping for books & art supplies, as well as used alot of coupons.

First coupon use of the day was at AC Moore. I Purchase a Book called Tasty Crochet. It looks awesome. Although they want you to use wool. So I hope things turn out ok using Cotton..... Why does every knitting book tell you to use wool & other animal fibers...? So annoying. I have been looking for a cotton or cotton blend pattern for a Shrug but have yet to find one....So evil... Someone please point me in the right direction :) Originally 18.95

Went to Krogers to use some coupons on some new meals Healthy Choice has out. They are Pot Stickers with Asian flavored rice & veg. What I can see of them I am assuming they are vegan. I hope they are and that I am not just missing some chemical word some where. If I am please let me know. But I didn't spend any more money on them. I had 2- $2.00 off coupons. The meals range from $1.88 to $2.12 around here. So sometimes buying them paying me... :) which is always a good thing. They are pretty good. The Pot stickers have tofu, cabbage, & carrots in them. Then the rice & veg has something like sweet & sour sauce but its a little tangy too. Pretty good though!

Then went back to AC Moore and used another 50% off coupon for Martha Stewart's glitter set. I want to do all the animals portraits in her glitter painting to hang up around the house... Might take some time and patients but hopefully I will get it. It was originally $29.98 and I got it for $14.99. I also got a .99 cent bottle of craft glue...

Then went to target. Got some Salt & Vinegar baked chips. The only ones I can find without whey in them. There is one other brand but they are really sour/bitter.. not sure but I make funny faces of pain.... :) Christmas gifts, and some cleaner.

Also went to Marshalls- browsing bought books & Christmas presents, Toys R Us- Looking for Zhu Zhu Pets, Subway- Had a veggie sub, Tractor Supply Co- looking for a dog harness & chicken supplies ... its crazy what you can find at a farm store... I mean outside of chicken stuff.. lol... Biglots- Browsing, Jo Ann Fabrics- browsing, Borders looking through some of the vegan cook books I have been wanting.. and have I mentioned the ladies working there tonight where useless? and Walmart- Got a couple groceries.... Grand total.. although I saved a lot using coupons.. is still to much for me to post today.. so embarrassing.... :)

Also picked up a couple Christmas presents. I think my next rant just might be about consumerism & Christmas..... yay....

Action For Animal Holiday Leafletting

I just received my Action for animals recipe leaflets and am so excited to go leafleting.... for the first time ever. Maybe a little scarred too... I haven't had the best experiences with people finding out I was a vegan so this will be an anxiety trip for me. But I am sure everything will go good Can't wait to do it so. Maybe I will have John do photos so I can put them up here. You know I ordered 250 copies and I didn't realize how many copies that was.... wow....

The Chickens

The chickens are full crown now. All the Hens are laying. My Lil Banti Chicken just started laying last week. She has small cute little eggs. The chickens like to eat their eggs. They will break them and Drink them with the heads up just like they do when they drink water. Sometimes we do have to remove the eggs though. They build up and they don't do anything with them. But alot of the time they do eat them.

Morningstar Crmbles now include Milk & Egg

There is now another product that I will not be purchasing from Morningstar Farms. They have added egg & milk back to their Crumble product. I never liked them before when they had milk and eggs many years ago and I am not sure why they just ruined a perfectly good product but they did. So until they change it back... BYEBYE Crumbles.

Hey everyone write letters to them! When they see how many people want them back maybe they will change them. I hope so. I write them we aill see what they have to say. Probably the same thing that is posted on vegweb.

Boca on the other hand still have their Vegan crumbles. I used to be able to purchase them for $2.80 a box and now when I can find them I have to pay $3.99 a box. But I will pay that if I have too or back to making my own veggies substitutes... or just using TVP crumbles.

They have also been discontinuing some of their products...

Shame on their company for ruining everything!!!!!!!!

Here are some other web posting ....

Quarry Girl
Vegweb- With MS company response.
Crazy Vegan Mom
PPK