Gaia Chickens 1st Vet Appointment, Chicken Xrays! & A Surprise visitor at the Vet Clinic!

Today I took Gaia to her 1st vet appointment. She was a good little trooper through all the exams & shots. But I also have to say the Vet and staff are so good with the chickens and kind.. I can't help but smile when I see how well they treat and handle the chickens just like any other animal that has been brought in. And I love that about them! I have been to vets that question treating chickens and ask why I just don't kill her and to have a vet and staff that show respect and love for them it is heart warming and I could never trust anyone else to treat them.. :)
She had lots done and she was a good little trooper all day. First they weighed her and she weighs 4lbs. She is under weight and her keel bone is sticking out. I think she should be around 6lbs. Then we had to wait for a few minutes so she decided to try to fly and land on the chair and fell off so I picked her up and sat her back on her chair... where she stayed till the vet came in and she walked over onto my lap and was trying to peck me in the face while I was talking to our vet...lol ... He examined her and her belly is distended a little bit...Then they took a fecal sample to check for worms... Then swabbed her Crop to check for sour crop which is a fungal infection, while he gave me a mouth & throat anatomy lesson.  Then she got to walk around the room for a while and poop on the floor...lol... Then they came back and got her to get an ultrasound which they didn't find anything on so the did two xrays.

Test results...
Fecal: as far as they can tell she didn't have anything. But they gave her a shot for worms just in case...
Crop Swab: Not sure but she is on sour crop meds now to see if that helps her.
Ultrasound: Inconclusive
X-rays: They showed a few things... One her bone health is not very good. Her bones should be pretty solid in the xray and they are speckled...very speckled! Which means she is not getting enough calcium, or not absorbing it properly, or something is leaching calcium from her.... 2nd her crop is very full. Not as big as it was the other night..and he said that could be the right size for her..maybe.. but it looked pretty full.So he was a little worried about that... It also showed a very white round"something" in her belly/intestine... I am not sure where exactly... he said it could be metal causing metal toxicity or just a dense small rock...

So for now she was given a shot for worms and other parasites.
She was given a shot to slow the diarrhea
She was given meds for fungal infection in her crop (Sour crop)
And she was given an antibiotic just in case she picked something bacterial up...
O yeah and she also had some Sub Q fluids

We are going to watch her. Make sure she is eating and drinking... And hop that she gets better. If not next is blood work to show if something else is going on. He sounded pretty worried about her bones and said if this doesn't work it could end up being something rare like Leukemia! So please keep her in your thoughts a prayers...  He said if she doesn't get better with this that the next step would be blood work, and then exploratory to see what the opaque white round thing is...

So I really hope this works and we don't have to take it that far.

So since she was so great and had such a long day I brought her home and let her free range in my moms front yard for an hour of so. She also had some spinach, blueberries, and strawberries on the way home. Plus the girls gave her 3 grapes and some more blueberries when she was running around in the yard enjoying the sun and grass. She looked very happy and didn't seem bothered by the days events at all!

But I will post Xrays later if the vet will send them to me...

On a brighter note... There was a Bald Eagle (Thunder) (click the link and it will take you to her page)at the vet clinic when I was leaving... Well I was supposed to be leaving ... I stopped and talked to the guy who had brought her in first.  She is gourgous and is part of the West Virginia Raptor Rehab. She was found after being shot when she was 3 or 4 years old. She didn't have her white head yet at that point. Eagles don't get the white till around 5 years of age...  She was shot through the left leg and it caught her wing and her wing had to have part removed at the end so she has lived with the Raptor guy for 20 years now. She weighs 14lbs her wingspan is 7 1/2 feet (if she would still have her wing tip) She can't fly. But she was so gorgeous! It was amazing to see her so up close and it just gives you such respect for them. She is having problems with the muscle in her left leg now so she was going to be xrayed

They also have facebook
And a running list of things needed on a donation list on amazon
I take all our Ferrets and Chickens to The Cheat lake Animal Hospital in Morgantown WV. They are all awesome. The staff is great and answer all my questions. Our chickens normally see Dr. Fallon but can be seen by Dr. Amy too. And our ferrets see Dr. Amy but can see Dr. Fallon too... They are both great!!!

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to my Wonderful mother. I love you very much! I hope you have a great day and that you start feeling better.

I went to My moms this morning and I wanted to make her breakfast but I didn't get the chance...So I made her a Giant Chocolate Chip cookie (The Joy of vegan baking recipe)... That turned out pretty good. this is the first time I have ever made a Big Chocolate chip cookie and I was hoping it would cook right and luckily just like when they are little they cook up nice and soft/chewy and yummy! I cooked it for 20mins in a spring form pan and I only used about 2/3 to 3/4 of the actual cookie dough. I didn't know how thick I could make it and it still cook through without burning on bottom.

Yard Sale Trip #2 (#1 Sucked)

Ok...at the beginning of Spring.. the very beginning.. probably before spring was even here I went to my first few yard sales after stocking the classifieds online for...alongtime!... But guess what.. I learned that early season yard sales and small and they suck!!!

So I gave it a month or so....

Friday night I decided I was going to go a town close to us that was having a town yard sale... Plus there was an estate sale and I love estate sales!!! You always find the best stuff at those!!!

So after planning my route I headed out Saturday morning... The first couple I stopped by was a total bust... But when I made it to the estate sale I got some really great deals on especially 1 item that was my find of the day and I have been wanting one for forever!!! And I can't believe I found it at such a great price... I also purchased a 4 slice toaster for $2... haven't tried it yet..hope it works...

My awesome TexasWare Bowl!!!! The price....   $.50 cents... and at the antique stores they sale for $30 dollars!!!

It did look like someone had sat it on a burner.. but it was still in awesome shape!

I also found this little crock to put more kitchen utensils in for $1buck! Same day I found another one of these at a yard sale for $12 dollars.

Orignaly thought this was pyrex but it turned out not to be. But I love the way these types of bowls are made and I use my pyrex ones all the time and I don't have lids for them. This one was $.25 cents so it was well worth the quarter even if it isn't pyrex!

After the estate sale my list of yard sales went out the window because they were literally everywhere... The news paper didn't have half of them and I am sure I missed some of them just because there was so many.... I went to atleast 25 in under an hour.... maybe 30...

My 2nd favorite find came from the basement of a small museum the town has. The have a small yard sale a few times a year.. Not of the museum stuff but of other misc. items....

This is my new rooster lamp! I think he is so hansom! and I really like him.. He is sitting on my 60's credenza  that I keep forgetting to blog about oops.. coming soon I promise! But he was only $3 bucks!

I also found these wonderful finds at other misc yardsales.....

Didn't have a lid but for $1 who cares. I have a lid that I can use and it is less for me to find shelf space for!

Love this Fireking bowl.. Its another fave of the day.. and It was $1 buck !

Got this Pyrex bowl at the same yardsale as the Fireking. Just $1 and an awesome find I love!

Same yardsale as above bowls. Don't really drink coffee not sure what I will do with it. Tried to talk myself out of  buying it... Just couldn't leave the CorningWare Friendship Coffee pot for $2 bucks!

Old fashion but It is Pampered Chef Apple peeler.. Hope it works good..  $1

When I find whole sets of Pyrex bowls at a good price it is so hard or me to leave them. The lady I purchase these from had just been bit by a dog that had been hit by a car. She took the dog and its owner to the vet but had yet to get her stitches...  Her mother was taking over for her.. $5 bucks!

Then I headed to Fairmont because there was a church sale... and church sales mean old people..and old stuff... right? and I don't mean it rudely I just mean if I am looking for 1960's or 1070's stuff I need older people... and good prices... sadly the church yard sale wasn't as good as I was hoping but I did find a couple of things... and I missed another church yard sale my mom told me about after I left town :(   ....

I really like this style jar.. I see them at antique stores all the time for big bucks and so I have never got one. I doubt this one is an antique. It has no marking and also seems like more modern glass. Paid $2 bucks. I also purchased a small 60's suit case that John calls ungly. Not sure if I will ever use it.. But I haven't taken a picture yet...

Then I went to a park that was supposed to have some yard sales but there was some kids baseball games there so... I didn't see any yard sales but there was a ton of people there so I guess I could have looked harder... But there was 2 out the same road and I found my other two fave finds of the day out there at another great price!

These sets sale for around $15 dollars at the antique stores.  I would never pay that much for one. But I did pay $5 when I found this full set!

Also got this dispenser or juice container.. not sure... and it was only $.50 cents! Love it!

So before noon I was a little bit of everywhere... Places I never go but actually found my way back out of...lol... In the first town they were also having a canoe

I am so excited for the entire summer of yard sales...if I can find the money and time to do it!

1st Vegan Lasagna

My husband and I always loved lasagna. But when I stopped eating cheese I also stopped making lasagna because I thought I would really miss the cheese & because my fave Pre-made Pasta sauce had cheese in it and most store bought pasta sauces have cheese...So I gave up on red sauce with pasta all together really....

But my husband has been asking me to make one for some time. So the other day I bought a couple containers of pasta sauce that I thought I would hate... and decided I could always eat something else if it didn't turn out good.

I boiled the pasta (whole box),  Browned the Yves veggie burger (used 2 freezer packs) and added some light life sausage { 1 whole role) , then added the pasta sauce to the burger (whole jar plus some of the next jar) . (I never used veggie burger in my lasagna before, I always used to just use cheese, sauce, and pasta... )

Layered the sauce, pasta, burger mix, small amount of Daiya cheese, and a small amount of vegan parm. Made three layers than throw it it in the oven.. It smelled so good while it was cooking... We couldn't wait to try it....

Ready to go into the oven for 45minutes.. Covered with aluminum foil

And..............Success... It was really good. It filled my husbands craving and even with my husbands appetite we had left overs for the next day... Well two pieces and they were finished for breakfast. Plus I got to use one of my new Friendship casserole/cake/dishes....

All done and ready to go to our tummies! Yum!!!

Next time I will add less Yves, No light life sausage, and add some veggies. I really missed having veggies in it!

And I am also thinking about trying the Spinach Lasagna  recipe in The Vegan Table (Link includes the Spinach Lasagna Recipe) So maybe thats what I will make next time.

This one was my Fave.

As for the pasta Sauce, Surprisingly it was Muir Glen. I have never liked their pasta sauce before but I had never tried their Organic products until that day. It was really good and will now be my pasta sauce of choice!

Stewy the Dictator! Chaos in the Coop yard!

Its always something around here... I have yet to blog about Roxies Leg/tendon injury and I have a million other issues to deal with...

Todays issue... our Rooster that was born last Spring/Summer has began to fight with and now plain out attack our other two roosters.... Even though they take on a submissive role and run and hide he still picks at them and now has Titan (Our Big rooster) bleeding on his wing... So I am very frustrated with him. Today I have him locked up in the hen house so that Titan can have some time to ro-coop and feel better. I feel so aweful for them that they can't get along. I always thought since Titan was his "Father Chicken" (lol) and he grew up with the other two rooster that they would all get along just like Titan & Crownos did. But he has taken out the ruler and is being a Dictator and cruelly attacking the other Roos.... What do I do about this?  

Titan, With a beat up comb, used to be head of the coop... Now Stewy is beating him up!

Also doesn't like Stewy. Stewy started by picking on him!

Stewy, Titans Son... Big Bully, and is turning the chicken yard into chaos... 

I am thinking about adding an emergency extension to the coop yard tomorrow. Maybe if they have more space they will feel better and Stewy will leave everyone alone. If not I am going to have to build him his own enclosure by himself and his fave hen Jasmine... Thats the only thing I can think of doing... I don't want to give him away and someone cook him for dinner when they don't have a use for him, when he attacks a person, when he has some medical condition that I would take him to the vet for, but someone else would just off him.... So what else can I do? I am hoping that after he is locked in the coop all day he will be nice when we let him out. Fingers crossed... But I also know thats not how stuff like this normally works... 

So he is going to stay locked up in the hen house till my husband gets home and we can watch them closer. John can step in a separate them were they are to big for my hands to get a good grip on to pick them up. I guess if worst comes to worst I can put Stewy in the Brooder/Sick coop. Just to separate them for a while. I don't know. I want this to be his forever home.... He was born here. I have never brought in an animal and not fully devoted myself to his care. I am just not sure how to solve this problem and not separate them... and separating Stewy from everyone else just seems cruel to me... Should I just let them fight till they form a new pecking order? Some people say once Spring is over they will stop fighting... But I also know you are not supposed to separate Roos because it can make them fight worse.... hmmmmm.... I don't know. I will update soon to let everyone know what I chose to do.

PPK Cookbook challenge...

 I just seen some blog entries about the challenge.... I am so sad I missed out on this! :(

Gaia Chicken Undate & Spanxy Ferret Going to the vet

She is still fluffy... her comb is still not bright red.... She is looking unkempt...  She isn't walking around being a happy chicken... She is standing still, fluffed up, looking miserable.... So I am not sure if she is egg bound again... or if she has an infection from the last time she was bound... Maybe there was something left and it wasn't just a yolk ball... She is still eating... she spends alot of time at the feeder and if I throw the eggs in and bust them she runs over to eat them, all excited!. She even stalks the eggs... If someone has laid one she will stand there beside it till someone comes outside and busts it open for her to get.... But she used to be the chicken that would run over and bust the egg herself. She was the egg destroyer!  But I think it is time to have her spayed! So she can have a good guilty of life..

 We have an appointment Friday with a vet I have never had the chickens to. She is an exotic vet that I guess will see chickens. She is at the same location as my normal avian vet. But he is out for the rest of the week. So I am taking Gaia and Spanx our Ferret to the vet Friday.

Spanxy is the last ferret we have. He is doing well although he lost his cage mate over a month ago. He did seem lost without her for the first few days. But we have been visiting with him more and he has been doing ok. But he is showing more symptoms of Adrenal Gland disease. He is losing muscle around his back hips pretty severely and is what I am going to consider, getting a pot belly. He has minimal hair loss right above his tail that comes and goes and his tail is bare but normally it all grows back after his spring shedding. So I am not sure exactly what is going on with him. But I think I have a good idea and I am trying to decide if he has adrenal gland disease do I have the surgery? The same surgery that we lost Sade having? do we treat him with hormone or tummer killing drugs? do we let him live out his life as happy as possible? I don't want to give up on him... I want to do everything possible for him to have a good guilty of life. I am just not sure what that is right now...

So many hard decisions in a matter of a few days.... I wish everything would just calm done for a while and give me a chance to sit back and breath...

New Years Resolution updates....hmmmm... what resolutions... I don't know what your talking about??? :)

It has been a few days past 4 months now and how are the resolutions going...If the title of this blog doesn't tell you then let me explain... :)

1. Anger- I have a quick temper.  Unexpected things that happen at the most in-opportunistic times piss me off. And I know some of that is normal. But sometimes I believe my anger is a little more. I want to open my mind to knowing that change is normal and everything can't go to my expectation everyday. When I see other people who do this I think they are jackasses but then I go and do it. So I am going to work on being so snappy.- I have been working on this one. I try to look at things from both sides which I have always been good at but at the same time when someone tells me what is going to happen and then they totally change that it really irritates me...and I am trying to work on this.... Is this an entitlement thing... Because people who act like they are entitled to the world annoy me when it is over the top. Is it different when you are told one thing and then they don't come through at all about what they have said.... Am I entitled to what they have said they will do...Specially when it is a professional person telling me they will do something and then they don't. I have had many instances this year of professional saying one thing and doing another... and It  really kinda pisses me off.... On the other hand when I tell someone I am going to do something... I do it... I don't mess around... Other wise I think my temper has been very much under control and I have been working on calming and trying to work it out instead of blowing up... or just leaving the situation and coming back to it when I am less angry and won't sit there and yell at whomever has ticked me off.... unless u work for Frontier and then all bets are off.... err... lol
2. Read 15 books this year!!!!  yes it is back and I will do it this year! I have read any books in the last 2 months... I might have started one or 2 but never really went back and read enough to be considered...
3. Loss 15lbs by October 2011- I have gained 3lbs... yup... not going very far and 20lbs should be easy. Though I have been trying to be more active... I have just been eating crap...
4. 1 New recipe a week, or more, sugary baked goods can not count as the only new recipe for the week unless they are leaving my house :) - Well I have been making sugary things.. I have made a few new recipes but not 1 a week... :(
5. Take out no more then 4 times a month.- Sadly has failed every month but January
6. Return my library books on time! not a week late...- I haven't had that many out but I think all my stuff has gone back on time...  :)
7. Make our savings account grow while paying off $6,000 worth of debt....-We are working on this. I think I have only used my credit cards a couple times this year and that was my care credit on vet bills.. and my TJ maxx car on junk I should not have purchased... O yeah and we purchased a truck and took out a lone for it... 
8. Blogging, To have more entries than 2010. Plus to blog about some important topics instead of putting it off and forgetting to do it. :) - Have not been a consistent blogger. It kills my back to sit here on the computer and work, Pibbie hurt her leg and I have been working with her, and I have in general not felt well and it was all leading back to my back. But as of the last week I am feeling pretty good..So hopefully I can catch up on blogging... :)And I don't think I have blogged about one important public topic.,. although I did do some animal health blogs :)
9. To use more of the produce we purchase and grow.- Not doing that great on this one... Again my back has been in the way. I feel good one day I purchase a bunch of stuff to cook and the next two weeks I would be in a ton of pain and wouldn't raise a finger to cook... so.alot of wasted food :(
10. To organize and remove alot of junk from my life.- I have really been working on this one. When I feel good I go and go through some of the junk and though I still have a long ways to go I have a whole huge storage building full of yard sale stuff.... That includes some bigger stuff like a couch, entertainment center, mattress, and a ton of other stuff... but I still have alot of junk that I need to get rid of or find somewhere to put.... 

Well that is how I am doing... I hope everyone else is doing better than I am...

My Hope

My hopes are that one day people will see the error in their ways, in which have become a "normal" ok thing.
That people will see and learn the suffering their eating habits cause. For the animals, for those who have to live around factory farms and deal with the pollution, for the people who starve because so much grain is given to the animals, who are not even supposed to eat it in the first place, that could be used to feed millions if not billions and end the hunger and starvation issues around the world.  And see that all the suffering is not necessary and they could make this world such a better place if they lay aside their own wants and just think of how they effect others. My hope is that people will let go of the selfishness that they hold and learn from the love in their hearts that can be obtained through such simple acts of kindness. ( Info on the picture: The Sacramento Earth Day logo was created in 2009 by dana gray (www.grayna.com), exclusively for the lasting benefit of Sacramento Earth Day, and it is copyrighted. If you wish to use it for a purpose consistent with the spirit and practice of celebrating Earth Day, or if you just like it, please honor its creator by sending a tax-exempt contribution to Sacramento Earth Day at ECOS, P.O. Box 1526, Sacramento CA 95812.)

Garden Update 2011

Well I have almost everything planted now.

Tomatoes, Eggplant, hot peppers, sweet peppers, Red and Green Lettuce, Kale, Swiss Chard, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Dill .... I planted another herb too... but can't remember what it was.... lol.... Guess we will see in a few weeks... I do remember they were little yellow round seeds.... hmmmm....

I still have...

More Cucumbers, Basil, Parsley, Marigolds, and I think that is about all....Left to plant... and that should be done by this weekend if not by the end of today....

Started out with adding Organic peat to the garden beds to add some drainage and moisture retention....

Thats about an inch of peat that is going to get mixed into the soil.

I am so happy I have a headstart this year... I am so ahead of the game it isn't funny..lol... Literally... It isn't.. I planted the eggplant really early..oops... This is only my 2nd year planting eggplant and last year the flea beetles ate all the leaves and destroyed them before I even knew what happened.... errr.... So no eggplant..... But this year fingers crossed I get it right. I did purchase frost cloth and I put black felt at the base to help warm the soil up and keep it there. I am also planted Dill at the base. This is supposed to keep the flea beetles away... Guess we will see....

I did change up were I planted things this year.... I added a bed for Zucchini away from everything else. Plus away from the area that I had them planted last year trying to get rid of the squash bugs... But I figure I'm not that far away so I am sure they will visit sooner of later.

Planter is about 8'x2'... and I put 4 hills of zucchini which is a little close but I hope it works out. Only time will tell.

Right in my front yard... I know the dogs are going to love yet another bed taking over their space :) oops

I put my tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers all in the biggest bed. I am also adding basil around the tomatoes, the dill around the eggplant and marigolds throughout the biggest bed. The herbs and the marigolds are supposed to keep some of the bugs away... ? hopefully it works...

The tomatoes will have a screen set between them for them to grow up. 

This bed is about 10'x8'

 I planted all the greens in one bed, the cucumbers and soon to be a couple peppers plants in another... and now I have one open garden bed and haven't decided what I want to try yet. I think everything is really well organized at this point and I am loving it!

The dark bed is the greens bed. This bed had Organic peat and Organic soil added to it. This bed is  3'x4' I think...

Over the next few years I want to build some ornamental tower like structures to hold up some of the tomatoes &/or cucumbers because I love the way they look. This year though I think we are just going to either dig holes and put some landscaping timbers in the ground and attach some wire or netting to them or build small structures above the ground like last years.

Found this picture a couple nights ago online.. Not sure where it came form but I really like this and look forward to doing something like this maybe in my front yard next year :)

Next up though is adding untreated mulch around the garden beds. Everyone around loves to mow the grass and let the clipping go right into the garden beds... That is so annoying... why don't they get that they can turn the lawn mower around and let the grass clipping fly the other direction...?  So fingers crossed that the mulch will help keep the grass clippings and weed seeds out of the garden...