5-3-2-1-0, Now 8 & a Baby

It's been a very busy 5 weeks.  Sorry it's taken me so long to post.  We've had some very sad, and very happy things happening around our home.  First the sad - one by one, our five chicks died over the course of about 2 weeks.  First, Bertha was seemingly suffocated by the rest overnight.  She was fine the night before, though she still hadn't really been growing and was under the pile of chicks the next morning dead.  Then that same day, Ruthie died.  She'd been sick for a few days and I thought she probably wasn't going to make it.  So we were down to 3.  Then a few days later, I came home after being gone for about three hours to find Molly with her head stuck in the feeder.  I got her out and she was still alive but she seemed to have messed up her neck and she died the next day.  A few days after that, Ruthie came down with similar symptoms to Ruby and died in about two days.  Bob was the last remaining bird and she was doing great - until I came down one morning to find that she seemed to have hurt one of her legs and couldn't put weight on her right leg.  We worked with her, hand fed her and watered her but within just a few days, she also died.  I was sad, frustrated and determined to figure out what was causing my chicks to die.

I quickly ordered new birds, 8 this time, and Cathie was kind enough to pick them up for me.  It's convenient having Meyer Hatchery just a couple hours from Toledo.  I also decided to start them on organic chick starter feed just in case there was a food issue.  I'm now pretty sure that at least Ruthie & Ruby had coccidiosis.  In hindsight, they were exhibiting those symptoms.  It's possible other had it as well but they weren't acting like these two when they died.  I purchased some Corid so that I would have it on hand if the new birds showed any sign of  problems.  I'll talk more about the 8 new birds in a moment.

In addition to the 8 new chicks that we brought home two weeks ago this past Tuesday, we also have another new addition to our home.  5 weeks ago Thursday we received a call from Children's Services for our county letting us know that our boys' mother had a new baby, a girl, and wanted to know if we would take her to foster and possibly adopt.  We spent a difficult 4 hours talking on the phone from our workplaces and talking to our supervisors, family and friends before deciding to say yes.  That Friday, we brought our 8 day old foster daughter home from the hospital.  She was born 6 weeks early and only weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces.  In the last 5 weeks she's gained almost 3 pounds and will weigh just over 8 pounds today for her six week birthday.  Even though she was born with substances in her system, she's doing great with no physical issues or concerns.  Time will tell if there will be other developmental issues.  We have been very lucky that our youngest son, also born positive for substances, has shown no real impact from the drugs.  We just hope that she fares as well.

It's been raising a newborn, along with our two boys, that's kept me from writing these last 5 week.  Since I'm staying home with the baby, we decided to pull our boys from daycare to save money so I've been taking care of all three, which has been an adjustment for me.  As with most babies, she was only sleeping for around 3 hours at a time before needing fed, which greatly impacted our sleep, and my ability to write.  We've found a routine now and she's starting to sleep closer to five hours between bottles at night which has helped greatly.  We'll know in the next few months if her parents are going to lose custody of her or not & whether we'll have the opportunity to adopt her.  Hopefully we will be able to make her a permanent family member.  The boys are wonderful with her and are so excited to have her in our home.

The 8 new chicks have also been a blessing, and are growing much quicker than the last batch of birds.  I was able to get another Light Brahma and a Dominique, but the other's are different breeds than the first ones.  Our oldest son decided that he wanted to use the names from the recently deceased chicks for the new ones.  Here's the new flock - at about 3 days and two weeks old:

Our new Light Brahma - Bertha

Speckled Sussex - Ruby

Speckled Sussex - Ruthie

Golden Cuckoo Maran - Dolly

Dominique - Molly

Buff Orpington - Bob

Salmon Faverolles - Patsy

Delaware - Viney

All these birds seem to be doing great.  I got concerned that they may have had coccidiosis because I thought I saw some reddish tinted stool in their brooder.  I treated with Corid for 6 days and changed their brooder.  I'm no longer seeing irregular droppings and they are very energetic.  None of us can believe that these chicks are only two weeks old because they seem more like our old chicks did at three and four weeks.  We're not sure why but I'm guessing it's the change in feed.  Though all my research showed that they should have done fine on my ground grains, I'm wondering if these are faring better because of the organic chick starter.  By the time their fully grown I'll have them on grains.  Currently, I provide sprouts, ground grains, and hard boiled egg in addition to their starter feed.  They get egg every day and either sprouts or ground grain daily.

These girls are more curious and have more energy and are more active than the last bunch as well.  We're holding our breath to get past 5 weeks since none of our last set made it that far.  If things hold as they are currently, we should make it.  I'll keep you posted!

It's been a very busy 5 weeks.  Sorry it's taken me so long to post.  We've had some very sad, and very happy things happening around our home.  First the sad - one by one, our five chicks died over the course of about 2 weeks.  First, Bertha was seemingly suffocated by the rest overnight.  She was fine the night before, though she still hadn't really been growing and was under the pile of chicks the next morning dead.  Then that same day, Ruthie died.  She'd been sick for a few days and I thought she probably wasn't going to make it.  So we were down to 3.  Then a few days later, I came home after being gone for about three hours to find Molly with her head stuck in the feeder.  I got her out and she was still alive but she seemed to have messed up her neck and she died the next day.  A few days after that, Ruthie came down with similar symptoms to Ruby and died in about two days.  Bob was the last remaining bird and she was doing great - until I came down one morning to find that she seemed to have hurt one of her legs and couldn't put weight on her right leg.  We worked with her, hand fed her and watered her but within just a few days, she also died.  I was sad, frustrated and determined to figure out what was causing my chicks to die.

I quickly ordered new birds, 8 this time, and Cathie was kind enough to pick them up for me.  It's convenient having Meyer Hatchery just a couple hours from Toledo.  I also decided to start them on organic chick starter feed just in case there was a food issue.  I'm now pretty sure that at least Ruthie & Ruby had coccidiosis.  In hindsight, they were exhibiting those symptoms.  It's possible other had it as well but they weren't acting like these two when they died.  I purchased some Corid so that I would have it on hand if the new birds showed any sign of  problems.  I'll talk more about the 8 new birds in a moment.

In addition to the 8 new chicks that we brought home two weeks ago this past Tuesday, we also have another new addition to our home.  5 weeks ago Thursday we received a call from Children's Services for our county letting us know that our boys' mother had a new baby, a girl, and wanted to know if we would take her to foster and possibly adopt.  We spent a difficult 4 hours talking on the phone from our workplaces and talking to our supervisors, family and friends before deciding to say yes.  That Friday, we brought our 8 day old foster daughter home from the hospital.  She was born 6 weeks early and only weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces.  In the last 5 weeks she's gained almost 3 pounds and will weigh just over 8 pounds today for her six week birthday.  Even though she was born with substances in her system, she's doing great with no physical issues or concerns.  Time will tell if there will be other developmental issues.  We have been very lucky that our youngest son, also born positive for substances, has shown no real impact from the drugs.  We just hope that she fares as well.

It's been raising a newborn, along with our two boys, that's kept me from writing these last 5 week.  Since I'm staying home with the baby, we decided to pull our boys from daycare to save money so I've been taking care of all three, which has been an adjustment for me.  As with most babies, she was only sleeping for around 3 hours at a time before needing fed, which greatly impacted our sleep, and my ability to write.  We've found a routine now and she's starting to sleep closer to five hours between bottles at night which has helped greatly.  We'll know in the next few months if her parents are going to lose custody of her or not & whether we'll have the opportunity to adopt her.  Hopefully we will be able to make her a permanent family member.  The boys are wonderful with her and are so excited to have her in our home.

The 8 new chicks have also been a blessing, and are growing much quicker than the last batch of birds.  I was able to get another Light Brahma and a Dominique, but the other's are different breeds than the first ones.  Our oldest son decided that he wanted to use the names from the recently deceased chicks for the new ones.  Here's the new flock - at about 3 days and two weeks old:

Our new Light Brahma - Bertha

Speckled Sussex - Ruby

Speckled Sussex - Ruthie

Golden Cuckoo Maran - Dolly

Dominique - Molly

Buff Orpington - Bob

Salmon Faverolles - Patsy

Delaware - Viney

All these birds seem to be doing great.  I got concerned that they may have had coccidiosis because I thought I saw some reddish tinted stool in their brooder.  I treated with Corid for 6 days and changed their brooder.  I'm no longer seeing irregular droppings and they are very energetic.  None of us can believe that these chicks are only two weeks old because they seem more like our old chicks did at three and four weeks.  We're not sure why but I'm guessing it's the change in feed.  Though all my research showed that they should have done fine on my ground grains, I'm wondering if these are faring better because of the organic chick starter.  By the time their fully grown I'll have them on grains.  Currently, I provide sprouts, ground grains, and hard boiled egg in addition to their starter feed.  They get egg every day and either sprouts or ground grain daily.

These girls are more curious and have more energy and are more active than the last bunch as well.  We're holding our breath to get past 5 weeks since none of our last set made it that far.  If things hold as they are currently, we should make it.  I'll keep you posted!

It's been a very busy 5 weeks.  Sorry it's taken me so long to post.  We've had some very sad, and very happy things happening around our home.  First the sad - one by one, our five chicks died over the course of about 2 weeks.  First, Bertha was seemingly suffocated by the rest overnight.  She was fine the night before, though she still hadn't really been growing and was under the pile of chicks the next morning dead.  Then that same day, Ruthie died.  She'd been sick for a few days and I thought she probably wasn't going to make it.  So we were down to 3.  Then a few days later, I came home after being gone for about three hours to find Molly with her head stuck in the feeder.  I got her out and she was still alive but she seemed to have messed up her neck and she died the next day.  A few days after that, Ruthie came down with similar symptoms to Ruby and died in about two days.  Bob was the last remaining bird and she was doing great - until I came down one morning to find that she seemed to have hurt one of her legs and couldn't put weight on her right leg.  We worked with her, hand fed her and watered her but within just a few days, she also died.  I was sad, frustrated and determined to figure out what was causing my chicks to die.

I quickly ordered new birds, 8 this time, and Cathie was kind enough to pick them up for me.  It's convenient having Meyer Hatchery just a couple hours from Toledo.  I also decided to start them on organic chick starter feed just in case there was a food issue.  I'm now pretty sure that at least Ruthie & Ruby had coccidiosis.  In hindsight, they were exhibiting those symptoms.  It's possible other had it as well but they weren't acting like these two when they died.  I purchased some Corid so that I would have it on hand if the new birds showed any sign of  problems.  I'll talk more about the 8 new birds in a moment.

In addition to the 8 new chicks that we brought home two weeks ago this past Tuesday, we also have another new addition to our home.  5 weeks ago Thursday we received a call from Children's Services for our county letting us know that our boys' mother had a new baby, a girl, and wanted to know if we would take her to foster and possibly adopt.  We spent a difficult 4 hours talking on the phone from our workplaces and talking to our supervisors, family and friends before deciding to say yes.  That Friday, we brought our 8 day old foster daughter home from the hospital.  She was born 6 weeks early and only weighed 5 pounds, 3 ounces.  In the last 5 weeks she's gained almost 3 pounds and will weigh just over 8 pounds today for her six week birthday.  Even though she was born with substances in her system, she's doing great with no physical issues or concerns.  Time will tell if there will be other developmental issues.  We have been very lucky that our youngest son, also born positive for substances, has shown no real impact from the drugs.  We just hope that she fares as well.

It's been raising a newborn, along with our two boys, that's kept me from writing these last 5 week.  Since I'm staying home with the baby, we decided to pull our boys from daycare to save money so I've been taking care of all three, which has been an adjustment for me.  As with most babies, she was only sleeping for around 3 hours at a time before needing fed, which greatly impacted our sleep, and my ability to write.  We've found a routine now and she's starting to sleep closer to five hours between bottles at night which has helped greatly.  We'll know in the next few months if her parents are going to lose custody of her or not & whether we'll have the opportunity to adopt her.  Hopefully we will be able to make her a permanent family member.  The boys are wonderful with her and are so excited to have her in our home.

The 8 new chicks have also been a blessing, and are growing much quicker than the last batch of birds.  I was able to get another Light Brahma and a Dominique, but the other's are different breeds than the first ones.  Our oldest son decided that he wanted to use the names from the recently deceased chicks for the new ones.  Here's the new flock - at about 3 days and two weeks old:

Our new Light Brahma - Bertha

Speckled Sussex - Ruby

Speckled Sussex - Ruthie

Golden Cuckoo Maran - Dolly

Dominique - Molly

Buff Orpington - Bob

Salmon Faverolles - Patsy

Delaware - Viney

All these birds seem to be doing great.  I got concerned that they may have had coccidiosis because I thought I saw some reddish tinted stool in their brooder.  I treated with Corid for 6 days and changed their brooder.  I'm no longer seeing irregular droppings and they are very energetic.  None of us can believe that these chicks are only two weeks old because they seem more like our old chicks did at three and four weeks.  We're not sure why but I'm guessing it's the change in feed.  Though all my research showed that they should have done fine on my ground grains, I'm wondering if these are faring better because of the organic chick starter.  By the time their fully grown I'll have them on grains.  Currently, I provide sprouts, ground grains, and hard boiled egg in addition to their starter feed.  They get egg every day and either sprouts or ground grain daily.

These girls are more curious and have more energy and are more active than the last bunch as well.  We're holding our breath to get past 5 weeks since none of our last set made it that far.  If things hold as they are currently, we should make it.  I'll keep you posted!

Where's Your Abundance?

Why do we always fool ourselves into thinking that we never have enough?  The culture we're in reinforces every day that we are never thin, rich, smart, accomplished, and good enough.  We're taught to always want more, which in some ways isn't a bad thing.  However, we're not just taught to strive, the world we live in teaches us daily not just to want more, but that we're not good enough until we get or accomplish more.  This creates an impossible paradigm in which many people push themselves throughout their lives to accomplish the next thing, hoping that it will bring happiness, only to get there and identify something new that they must make happen in order for happiness to be in there grasp.

I have fallen in this trap often, as I'm sure many have.  I've come to realize that if you don't force yourself to make very intentional choices of how to want to live your life, you end up going with the flow and not realizing often that the values you're living out aren't really consistent with the values you hold.

I, today, can say that I live a live of abundance and am grateful for all (or at least most) of ways that my life is abundant.  The days I see something on the internet or in a store and think "I want that," or the times that I feel like there's never enough time to get everything done, I try to feel the coin above (and below) that I carry in my pocket.  Remembering how abundant my life is reminds me that I need very little in my life and helps me to remember to really intentionally spend some time every day thinking about the things in my life I'm grateful for.

The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote, "Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance."  I think that is so true.  I think the problem for our world today is that many people don't even stop to think about or realize what they enjoy.  We're always too busy going on to the next thing.

Bryant McGill wrote "Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive."  When I let go of the 'should's' and realize that I really am enough, today the way I am, I free myself up to be open to realizing the abundance around me.

I choose to recognize the beauty and abundance that is everywhere - the joy I get from spending time with my family, growing things, playing and listening to music, driving on a country road on a sunny day, helping people struggle to find their truth and make changes in their life, watching the chicks scratch and eat, playing with the dogs, cooking great food, taking photographs, building things, looking at a starry sky, reading a great book, sitting in my backyard, and walking across the campus of the college where I work, just to name a few.  The truth is there really is abundance in everything under the sun.

Challenge yourself to spend time everyday recognizing the abundance in your life.  Where is your life abundant?

Why do we always fool ourselves into thinking that we never have enough?  The culture we're in reinforces every day that we are never thin, rich, smart, accomplished, and good enough.  We're taught to always want more, which in some ways isn't a bad thing.  However, we're not just taught to strive, the world we live in teaches us daily not just to want more, but that we're not good enough until we get or accomplish more.  This creates an impossible paradigm in which many people push themselves throughout their lives to accomplish the next thing, hoping that it will bring happiness, only to get there and identify something new that they must make happen in order for happiness to be in there grasp.

I have fallen in this trap often, as I'm sure many have.  I've come to realize that if you don't force yourself to make very intentional choices of how to want to live your life, you end up going with the flow and not realizing often that the values you're living out aren't really consistent with the values you hold.

I, today, can say that I live a live of abundance and am grateful for all (or at least most) of ways that my life is abundant.  The days I see something on the internet or in a store and think "I want that," or the times that I feel like there's never enough time to get everything done, I try to feel the coin above (and below) that I carry in my pocket.  Remembering how abundant my life is reminds me that I need very little in my life and helps me to remember to really intentionally spend some time every day thinking about the things in my life I'm grateful for.

The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote, "Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance."  I think that is so true.  I think the problem for our world today is that many people don't even stop to think about or realize what they enjoy.  We're always too busy going on to the next thing.

Bryant McGill wrote "Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive."  When I let go of the 'should's' and realize that I really am enough, today the way I am, I free myself up to be open to realizing the abundance around me.

I choose to recognize the beauty and abundance that is everywhere - the joy I get from spending time with my family, growing things, playing and listening to music, driving on a country road on a sunny day, helping people struggle to find their truth and make changes in their life, watching the chicks scratch and eat, playing with the dogs, cooking great food, taking photographs, building things, looking at a starry sky, reading a great book, sitting in my backyard, and walking across the campus of the college where I work, just to name a few.  The truth is there really is abundance in everything under the sun.

Challenge yourself to spend time everyday recognizing the abundance in your life.  Where is your life abundant?

Why do we always fool ourselves into thinking that we never have enough?  The culture we're in reinforces every day that we are never thin, rich, smart, accomplished, and good enough.  We're taught to always want more, which in some ways isn't a bad thing.  However, we're not just taught to strive, the world we live in teaches us daily not just to want more, but that we're not good enough until we get or accomplish more.  This creates an impossible paradigm in which many people push themselves throughout their lives to accomplish the next thing, hoping that it will bring happiness, only to get there and identify something new that they must make happen in order for happiness to be in there grasp.

I have fallen in this trap often, as I'm sure many have.  I've come to realize that if you don't force yourself to make very intentional choices of how to want to live your life, you end up going with the flow and not realizing often that the values you're living out aren't really consistent with the values you hold.

I, today, can say that I live a live of abundance and am grateful for all (or at least most) of ways that my life is abundant.  The days I see something on the internet or in a store and think "I want that," or the times that I feel like there's never enough time to get everything done, I try to feel the coin above (and below) that I carry in my pocket.  Remembering how abundant my life is reminds me that I need very little in my life and helps me to remember to really intentionally spend some time every day thinking about the things in my life I'm grateful for.

The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote, "Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance."  I think that is so true.  I think the problem for our world today is that many people don't even stop to think about or realize what they enjoy.  We're always too busy going on to the next thing.

Bryant McGill wrote "Abundance is a process of letting go; that which is empty can receive."  When I let go of the 'should's' and realize that I really am enough, today the way I am, I free myself up to be open to realizing the abundance around me.

I choose to recognize the beauty and abundance that is everywhere - the joy I get from spending time with my family, growing things, playing and listening to music, driving on a country road on a sunny day, helping people struggle to find their truth and make changes in their life, watching the chicks scratch and eat, playing with the dogs, cooking great food, taking photographs, building things, looking at a starry sky, reading a great book, sitting in my backyard, and walking across the campus of the college where I work, just to name a few.  The truth is there really is abundance in everything under the sun.

Challenge yourself to spend time everyday recognizing the abundance in your life.  Where is your life abundant?

Working on the Chicken Coop

This weekend I was able to make some headway on the chicken coop.  The girls are one week old and continuing to grow fast.  I think that by next week they'll have outgrown their brooder and I'll have to make them a bigger one.  They won't be ready to be outside, but I'm hoping that somewhere between four and six weeks they'll be big enough and the weather will be warm enough that they can go in the coop.

I was able to work for about five hours and made good progress.  Our friend Cathie was able to come and help some for a few hours.

The last two walls are up and the doors and windows are finished and installed.

Door & window inside the coop

A closer view of the window

The Side Door

We also installed inexpensive floor tiles in the inside to make it easier to clean and cut the hole in the floor for the flip up door.

The interior of the coop.

The main entrance and exit for the girls.

The door in its open position.  

The wood around the opening will keep the deep litter that I'm putting in the coop from getting pushed down the hole.  I'm in the process of building a ramp for them to use, as well as rigging the door to be opened and closed from the outside.  The next part of the project is to start weatherproofing and get the roof on.  Hopefully those tasks will be completed next week.  I'll keep you updated.

This weekend I was able to make some headway on the chicken coop.  The girls are one week old and continuing to grow fast.  I think that by next week they'll have outgrown their brooder and I'll have to make them a bigger one.  They won't be ready to be outside, but I'm hoping that somewhere between four and six weeks they'll be big enough and the weather will be warm enough that they can go in the coop.

I was able to work for about five hours and made good progress.  Our friend Cathie was able to come and help some for a few hours.

The last two walls are up and the doors and windows are finished and installed.

Door & window inside the coop

A closer view of the window

The Side Door

We also installed inexpensive floor tiles in the inside to make it easier to clean and cut the hole in the floor for the flip up door.

The interior of the coop.

The main entrance and exit for the girls.

The door in its open position.  

The wood around the opening will keep the deep litter that I'm putting in the coop from getting pushed down the hole.  I'm in the process of building a ramp for them to use, as well as rigging the door to be opened and closed from the outside.  The next part of the project is to start weatherproofing and get the roof on.  Hopefully those tasks will be completed next week.  I'll keep you updated.

This weekend I was able to make some headway on the chicken coop.  The girls are one week old and continuing to grow fast.  I think that by next week they'll have outgrown their brooder and I'll have to make them a bigger one.  They won't be ready to be outside, but I'm hoping that somewhere between four and six weeks they'll be big enough and the weather will be warm enough that they can go in the coop.

I was able to work for about five hours and made good progress.  Our friend Cathie was able to come and help some for a few hours.

The last two walls are up and the doors and windows are finished and installed.

Door & window inside the coop

A closer view of the window

The Side Door

We also installed inexpensive floor tiles in the inside to make it easier to clean and cut the hole in the floor for the flip up door.

The interior of the coop.

The main entrance and exit for the girls.

The door in its open position.  

The wood around the opening will keep the deep litter that I'm putting in the coop from getting pushed down the hole.  I'm in the process of building a ramp for them to use, as well as rigging the door to be opened and closed from the outside.  The next part of the project is to start weatherproofing and get the roof on.  Hopefully those tasks will be completed next week.  I'll keep you updated.

Remember You're Beautiful

It saddens me to realize how true this is and how many people need to hear this message.  Extremely beautiful and moving!

It saddens me to realize how true this is and how many people need to hear this message.  Extremely beautiful and moving!

It saddens me to realize how true this is and how many people need to hear this message.  Extremely beautiful and moving!