Turkey soup and tummy aches

I had good intentions when I made turkey soup for our dogs and cats.  We were cooking the white tom turkey that came from our Bourbon red turkeys for Christmas.  I took the neck, giblets, tail and some turkey wings frozen from a previous turkey meal and put them in the crockpot where they cooked as our turkey roasted.  I added a box of stuffing mix to the pot to soak up the broth in the evening and everyone got some.  We gave each dog their own little paper bowl so there wouldn’t be any fighting.  They loved it of course but we regretted it later in the night when Sadie got a tummy ache. 

Sadie is an old, small Jack Russel that sleeps with us.  She has had tummy problems before - she gets gas I think.  She shakes and her ears are up on alert and she can’t stay still.  The only thing that helps is for me to pat her back like you do a colicky baby. I don’t know why that soothes colic but it does. If I start drifting off to sleep and the patting slows down she scratches at me.  I tried just putting her off the bed but then she paces around the floor and I can hear her nails tip tapping, click, click, click and she goes under the bed and scratches at the floor.  

It took hours last night before she settled down to sleep. I patted and patted and patted. No more soup for her.  We are actually making some more today from the carcass of the turkey but she will get something else.  All of the other dogs and cats were happy though and the other dogs were quite content last night.

We have a light dusting of snow on the ground and more on the way.  I have kept the birds locked in the last few days so the coop stays warmer but they aren’t too happy about that.  One of the ducks is starting to lay again but I have news for her, the eggs will be cooked and fed to the cats if the egg eater doesn’t get them first.  I am picking up the frizzle eggs too and cooking them for the cats.  No chicks or ducklings are wanted until its warmer.

I had to separate the big male ducks.  They were doing a lot of fighting and chasing and keeping everyone stirred up.  I moved the younger one into the chicken side of the coop.  He spends all his time in front of a ventilation opening between the coops that has netting over it.  The old drake parks himself on the other side of the net and they fight through the fence.   But at least they aren’t chasing each other wildly and fighting beak to beak. 

The two little frizzle roosters that were running free separated themselves.  One of them moved into the side with the ducks.  Two Ameraucana hens live there and he went to live with them.  The other little rooster is a real meanie and he has stayed in the front of the barn.  One or two big hens are always out there with him. They run by me when I open the coop door to feed and I let them hang around in the front of the barn.  They like to lay in the tub of hay I put out for the cats to sleep in.

I have cooked and baked so much in the last few days we are only going to eat leftovers for a few days.  Went and got feed this morning and Pepsi for me and we are ready for the snowstorm.

Let's talk and eat chocolate

What can you say about last week?  I have been eating chocolate and listening to quiet country Christmas music to try and keep from crying all weekend.  Sometimes the news is just too much.  Those innocent little kids, killed by another kid who our system failed.  So sad.

Our country does need to talk and gun control has to be a part of it.  As a country person I know guns are a valuable tool.  We own a gun.  But our country just doesn't have a sensible attitude about guns.   No one other than the military needs semi-automatic or automatic weapons.  Things need to be done, its obvious what we have doesn't work. 

But there are other things we need to talk about too.  Our mental health system is failing people.  We are holding the rights of individuals over the rights of society as a whole.  People cannot get the help they need for those they love unless they do try something horrendous.  Our prisons serve as mental hospitals.  It’s a system that desperately needs an overhaul and we need to discuss it. 

The video games and movies we let children watch or play do have something to do with the disconnect from reality, the tolerance of violence, the normalizing of abnormal behavior.  You can trace the upswing in violence to the rise of more and more violent and realistic video games and movies.  There’s no doubt in my mind they play a part in this mess we are in.  We need to talk about that.

And the media - and ultimately our fascination with violence, the competition to outdo the last guy who did something violent, the media shrilling everyday about this or that “record” in violence, all of that feeds violence and we have to talk about it.  Here in mid Michigan the media can’t stop reminding people that the Newtown shootings are not the worst school murders, citing an 80 year old incident in Bath where a bomb killed many elementary school children.  It’s not the same and we aren’t in a competition. 

We don’t need the honor of having “the worst” record.  Children don’t need to worry about bombs as well as shooters when they go to school.  As adults we know of all the horrors that are in this world.  But our children shouldn’t.   We shouldn’t even be bringing up the Bath bombing.  It’s not relevant and I repeat we don’t want the distinction of holding the record for most dead school children.

Every night the media reminds us that the last shooting or other violent death brings us closer to the “record”  or has exceeded the record.  We count the senseless acts of violence up and it takes more and worse violent acts to get our attention.   Let’s stop announcing the shootings and other violent acts.  It hasn’t seemed to help. No publicity for the stupid and evil.  Let’s make it news when there hasn’t been any violent deaths and announce how many days we have accumulated to a violence free days record. 

Candle light vigils and piles of memorial junk don’t help anything so let’s stop showing them.  Let’s focus on kids doing good things, adults helping others, and stop focusing on the terrible and sad things in the world.  If we portray a sad and hopeless world filled with violence that’s what we will have.

Oh yes this country needs to talk, about a lot of things.  There can’t be sacred cows and political correctness needs to take a vacation.  We need to get it out, work it through and just make the changes we need.  A New Year is beginning and we don’t need to accept violence any more.  Let’s talk - and eat a lot of chocolate.

Egg thief is still around

It’s a clear crisp morning here in Michigan.  The sun makes the 30 degree temperature bearable.  I went out to the barn early this morning, in attempt to foil the egg thief but I may have been too early for some of the hens to lay.  I set the light timer back an hour a few days ago so there would be less time between when they got up and started laying and when I got to the barn.  However I only collected 4 eggs from the 15 hens in there.  I also collected 4 eggs from the silky chickens and there are only 5 hens in that pen.

Last week I put a dozen large plastic Easter eggs, the kind you open and fill with candy, in the nests as an attempt to confuse the egg thief.  It crunched some of them in its teeth cracking them apart.  Some were under the nest boxes, where I often find eggshells.  It’s obvious from the teeth marks that it isn’t the hens eating their own eggs.  I don’t think a cat could open its mouth that wide to take the whole plastic egg in it and bite down.  I am leaning toward an opossum even more.  Now I just have to catch it and kill it.

I opened the outside hen run up so they could go wander this morning.  There is a little dusting of snow here and there and they ran over and were picking at it.  I think they confused it with bread crumbs.  The grass is still green and I wanted them to be able to harvest a little of it.   They will be all over the yard I know and in the front of the barn eating cat food but it keeps them from being bored.  Some of the hen ducks are also flying over the fence and wandering around.

I finally got the white turkey butchered.  He dressed out at around 15 pounds with a decent breast, good for a young heritage bird.  He had grown a few dark feathers in his wings.  The older toms were starting to pick on him and he was starting to gobble and strut so it was time.  I may cook him tonight or tomorrow or freeze him for Christmas, haven’t decided. 

Another stray cat has shown up at the house.  She’s a big black and white fluffy cat, very friendly but it looks like she was well groomed and although she’s thin now she was probably well cared for at one time.  She rubs around my feet and meows in the barn.  I gave her some dry food off by herself because she seemed reluctant to get in the feed bowls with the other cats.  She eats a little but it seems like she’s looking for something else.  Maybe her family. 

I don’t know if the fluffy cat was dropped off or wandered here.  But Steve told me I needed to stop sitting out in front of the yard with cats on my lap and draped over my neck where people could see me and think about how much I love cats and how I might like theirs.  I like cats but I don’t really want another female one.  I am hoping she’s spayed because her head is large like a males and she is big, sometimes cats spayed early take on male traits.   But the underside is definitely female.  I haven’t been able to pick up the black stray that has been here a couple weeks now although he’s no longer afraid of me.   I think it’s male but who knows.

The bad thing about strays is you don’t know if they are carrying fleas or diseases.  But when you have a barn and feed cats there you always end up with more cats.  And the new research that shows cats carry a parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, that can cause depression and mental illness in humans doesn’t make me feel better about having a lot of them around.  Read more about that here;  

http://www.examiner.com/article/common-cat-parasite-is-linked-to-mental-illness-and-suicide-humans  It gives new meaning to the crazy old woman hoarding cats stereotype.

I am off to taste test 3 types of chocolate peanut butter cups I am experimenting with for a cooking article.  They are cooling and hardening and Steve is waiting impatiently to tell me which one tastes the best.  I’m going to run out and check for more eggs too.

Bugsy is gone

We lost another one of our old dogs.  It wasn’t unexpected in some ways; Bugsy was the dog whose soul mate Hazel died last month.  He had never been happy since she was gone.  He was bladder incontinent but still was able to go out to poop.  Before his friend Hazel died he waited for her to finish what she wanted of her special chicken soup then he got to finish the bowl.  I wanted to quit making the chicken soup but Steve kept making it for Bugsy and Sarah, our old dog in the barn.  We spoiled him in other ways, trying to make him happy again, but he still searched for Hazel and seemed sad. 

Bugsy had been eating pretty well and he had taken to following me around in place of Hazel.  He loved to lay at my feet while I was in here in my office typing.   He has never walked well- even when younger.  He was dropped off at our place 15 years ago with rickets so bad he was bowlegged.  His brother Mugsy was dropped off at the same time and my sister took him.  He died 2 years ago.  They had been terribly mistreated, with cigarette burns and other scars and Mugsy’s jaw had been broken and healed.  They were only about 6 weeks old then.  But both had pretty good lives with us and with my sister.

We had noticed early last week that Bugsy wasn’t eating well.  Then Thursday I had to be gone most of the day at doctor’s appointments and Steve went with me.  When we got home we saw that Bugsy was in the same spot he was in when we left- a bed in the living room.  (We have dog beds throughout the house.)   A little later I tried to get him up and he seemed too weak to stand.  I changed his bed because it was wet and told Steve we would take him to the vet Friday to be put down.

On Friday however Bugsy was up and though he wouldn’t eat he drank well and followed me to the office.  I decided to wait and see what would happen and didn’t make the vet appt.  By late Friday evening I regretted that as he began whimpering and shaking, a sign he was in pain.  I fixed him a nice soft bed and sat by him all night; the only thing that soothed him was me stroking him. 

The closest emergency vet open at night is 50 miles away.  Every time I moved him to change his bed he cried in pain.  Since he was still a heavy dog for me to carry, I wouldn’t have been able to get him in a car easily and I knew he would be hurt even more.  He never liked cars either.  So all night I was up with him, stroking and talking to him, and giving him water from a syringe until he passed at 7 am.  It was a horrible night.  Steve buried him next to Hazel.  I warned the other dogs that if they quit eating they will go right to the vet. ( There's a picture of Bugsy in the Nov 20 blog entry.)

If there is a God that accepts dogs in heaven Bugsy is happy again, following his love Hazel around.  We will all be together again soon.

Who's eating my eggs?

It’s snowing here today, with about an inch of mushy stuff on the ground.  It’s damp and gray and cold, the kind of day to spend inside.  Looking through the window is pretty enough with the trees draped in white fluff.  I thought about going out to take pictures but I have a hard time motivating myself this time of year.  My body says stay in, eat and hibernate.  Last night I made a banana sour cream cake- delicious- but not what Steve and I need.

I went to the little store in town this morning to buy my newspapers, the roads were slick and I thought about skipping the whole thing but we need the newspapers for slopping up after Bugsy, our incontinent dog.  I also wanted to buy a lottery ticket for the powerball game which is up to some fantastic amount.  But it was a struggle to get my mind and body in gear to make the trip.

The hose at the barn was froze this morning and all day yesterday.  Friday I filled two buckets and left them in the barn and that was used up this morning so tonight I will be carrying water unless some really bright sun comes out and warms us up, which I doubt.  I thought the chickens would all stay inside but they and the cats came running to meet me when I came out.  I saw chicken tracks all around the front yard in the snow so I guess their little bare feet were tolerating the snow. 

Usually I shut up all the birds before the first sticking snow but last year I regretted not letting them out more when it was nice.  I kept thinking if I let them out someone would get left out over night and freeze.  This year I haven’t closed up everyone yet- I have yet to find all the turkeys and ducks roosting inside.  All the chickens come in each night but the others are more stubborn.  Tonight though, I may go back out after it gets good and dark and see if I can shut them in.  That will guarantee we get a warm spell.

Something is eating eggs.  I don’t think its chickens, doesn’t look like their work and it started in the frizzle pen.  The eggs look like they are being bitten open.  I hate to think it’s the cats because I can’t keep them out of the pens.  I found the shell from an eaten one in the big hens nest box this am and that bothers me because I don’t want to paying this much for laying feed and not get eggs.    We do feed the cats cooked eggs several times a week (and they always have dry cat food).  I confess I have on occasion given them raw eggs, usually after I find a cracked one.  It may be my fault if its cats doing it. 

There has been a big black cat hiding in the barn lately.  He sneaks out to eat with the other cats when he thinks I’m not looking.  You can tell he was once a pet, I think someone dropped him off so I don’t think he would be any more likely to eat eggs than mine.   I’m thinking maybe an opossum is eating them.  I do wish I had a night vision trail camera out there- maybe one day.

Speaking of eggs, my crazy canary laid one this morning on the cage floor.  I took her nest out last week because she has been sitting on it for weeks.  There were eggs once but they never hatched.  She got busy and tried to make a nest in a seed cup, pushing all the seeds out and scavenging little pieces of paper and feathers.  Today when I found the egg, which I broke trying to pick up, I took out the seed cup and replaced her nest and gave her some moss and yarn to re-build which she has been happily doing.  The male is still with her but I haven’t noticed them mating. 

I was getting ready to put the cage separators back in both cages and let them be separated for a while.  I know male and female canaries should be separated but mine don’t fight and seem happy and it does give them a lot more room with the cage dividers out.  I think I will put the one divider back in the cage with the older male and switch the hen that he is next to, since I got nothing out of that pair this year.  I have one poor little hen that has been in the bottom cage all year and in the winter it doesn’t get a lot of light.  Its time for her to have a chance to attract the male, although he took a big fancy to the hen he is with last spring.  Maybe he will get to like her because she will be “new”.

That’s news at the bird house.  Here's a picture of the hen  trying to nest in the seed cup.

Dogs who read calenders

It’s been a quiet week.  It started rainy and mild, ended up cooler and sunny. This morning there was heavy fog.  The hose has been running at least every afternoon, although there have been some mornings when the water on the animals dishes was frozen pretty deep.  Still the ducks have been out on the pond and the turkeys and chickens are ranging far and wide.  Its nice they don’t have to be shut up yet.

I wish I could keep the hens and young roosters from being out roaming in the front yard and garden.  It always gets bad in the late fall when they have to go farther to find yummies.  They think if they meet me at the back door they might get something extra.  That doesn’t work well when I am coming out of the door with a dog or two on a leash like this morning.  Lucky it was the cockers and not the Jacks I was taking to town with me.

I don’t know how they know the date but Honey, Barack and Ginger at least always know its Sunday.  On Sunday I go up to the little town nearby to buy newspapers and I usually take dogs with me.  The named dogs above, who love to ride in the car, like to go anyway.

Honey begins watching me the moment breakfast is done on Sunday.  I don’t know what I do different from any other morning.  Maybe it’s what’s on TV as Steve can’t be without TV in the background.  I think Barack and Ginger pick up on it from her - or maybe Ginger also knows as she’s pretty smart.  Anyway they won’t leave me alone until I pick one or two to go and leave.  I can handle Honey and Barack together but Ginger, although she’s smaller I take alone. 

Honey and Barack are the cockers.  They walk fairly well on a leash and jump in the car when told to.  Inside they sit on the console and passenger seat and behave pretty well.  Ginger is a Jack Russell mix and she is just itching to get away and chase something when she goes out the door.  I have to carry her to the car and I don’t let go until the door is closed.  Once inside she insists on sitting crammed between me and the driver’s door with her nose pressed against the window.  It makes it hard to get out but she does love it so.

It’s only about 2 miles there and 2 back but that little drive each week means a lot to some dogs.  Sometimes when the weathers nice I take Ginger for a drive after I get back with the cockers.  The things we do for dogs.  I am glad most of the dogs don’t care about going in the car.

Bugsy, our old farm terrier has started following me in the office to sit at my feet while I work.  I put a rug there for him.  It’s between the heating vent and the little heater I sometimes use in there.  Cricket, our little yorkie-jack mix lives in the office.  She is old and getting very blind as well as deaf.  She doesn’t mind old Bugsy in there but she barks when the other dogs come in.  She used to fight with them and that was why she was separated all the time as she was very aggressive with the other girls.  Now she is very docile, in fact I sometimes chase the others out if they threaten her.

Honey loves to come in the office and sit and eat Crickets food, which is the same exact food she has out in the kitchen.  Unless I pick it up she eats every crumb.  And she sure doesn’t need the extra food.  They all like to drink out of Crickets water bowl and they take turns checking out her kennel run, the ones who can fit through her doggie door anyway. 

When they sense I am going to my office all the dogs follow now. Honey beats me to the door.  It’s great to go to work with Mom I guess.

Bird talk

I brought in some of the inner leaves of ornamental kale, curly purple and white leaves, for the canaries in place of the usual chickweed.  As a bonus there was a tiny cabbage worm on one piece.  It went in the cage with the younger male, whose hen is still sitting on a nest, although she hasn’t hatched anything all year.  He appeared interested but a little frightened of the worm.  The hen finally came off the nest and picked at the kale but I guess canaries as seed eating birds don’t appreciate worms. 

It took the hen canaries only a minute to realize the odd colored plants were edible but the males didn’t seem interested.  Females are smarter after all.  Kale is a little tougher than chickweed and they had to hold it down with a foot to tear at it but they knew what to do.

 Last night I sold off all of the young ducks that were left, 19 of them.  Over the last week we sold all 30 young ones.  The feed bill was getting huge-80 pounds of pellets a week between the turkeys and ducks.  We are now down to a more manageable number 6 adult ducks and 5 breeder turkeys and 1 meat turkey.  Last year we butchered the leftover babies and I got a good price for the meat but this year they were not going to mature enough before the processors quit for the season. 

I have learned a lesson, cut off the hatching of ducks by mid-summer.  We had a late start because something was eating eggs in the spring but the late summer and fall duck bounty was not a money maker, that’s for sure.  Turkeys could hatch anytime and be sold for a good price, at least the heritage ones but not ducks.

 Speaking of turkeys I may not get my white tom butchered before Thanksgiving.  I called my usual meat processor at the end of September and she was already booked for Thanksgiving week.  So far no luck with a processor.  Steve said we could do it ourselves but I said no.  I can’t eat the ones we butcher until they have been frozen for a while and I have forgotten the whole smelly process.  I guess I am not as good a live off the land person as I would like to be.  We can get him butchered after Thanksgiving and have him for Christmas.   I do hate the thought that I raised these heritage turkeys all summer and I am not having one for Thanksgiving.  I hope we are able to raise more of them next season so we can sell breeding stock and have some left to eat.

We are hoping for some dry, warmer weather this weekend so that we can get some more winterizing projects done.  We need to repair part of the tarp roof over the chicken run after the high winds last week and cover the small coop run with plastic.   The mower needs to be run over to the old horse shelter for the winter and I need to put away some cages and other things so they are out of the way for the winter.  And I still have daffodil bulbs to plant.

 Winter is almost here and I dread it.  I hope we have a mild one like last year but not quite as warm, as that didn’t work well with the fruit crops.  Just above freezing in the day so the hose will run is fine and sunny would be really great.  We have had a long stretch of cloudy or overcast days and it gets very depressing. 

This morning it is foggy but I am hoping the SW wind will clear it off.   The pond is up a little, less evaporation, trees have quit drawing up water and we have had a little rain.   But I know that snow would be beneficial for the pond and the environment so I will try not to be too unhappy when it falls next week as they are predicting.  I am going to try and leave the birds free ranging longer this year, instead of closing up the barn with them inside.  Unless the snow is deep and it’s really cold they might benefit from being outside more.

 

I could see the neighbor’s house through the woods this morning.  That really tells me winter is here.