Loud Silence

So sorry y'all. I haven't felt like blogging lately. Brian has been saying to me "Angie, it will take time." He's meaning my sadness and missing Joe & Katie so much. It's just really hard in the mornings. Thursday morning, the day after we lost Joe & Katie was the worst. That's when I really notice it, my two "kids" who made the most noise in the mornings are gone. It was quiet.

Joe's crowing to wake the Seehafer Farm up every morning and...

Katie's meowing that reminded me that she was hungry every morning.

It's just a very loud silence now, every morning.

Temporary Home

"This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know, this is my temporary home."
- sung by Carrie Underwood

Yesterday was a rough day for Brian and I. In one day, we had to say goodbye to Joe and Katie. The only humane thing to do for the both of them, was to let him go. It was a hard decision but the right one for them. They both are no longer in pain.

Joe was with us only for a short time but left a big impression. He was one of the Seehafer crew, husband to JD, protector of the girls, crowed with a big heart and one of the best roosters we've ever met. We love that little man. Joe fought hard to stay with us but whatever had him, got him in the end. We will miss him so much.

Katie, our sweet baby, lost her fight with cancer last night. She gave us 13 wonderful, funny years with her. Katie was a comedian and didn't even know it. She was our alarm clock every morning... this morning was hard not to hear her meow. She was very special to us. Brian's buddy and partner-in-crime, the peacemaker with the other cats, kind to all critters big and small, one half of ying and yang (I'd call Katie and Angel that), big sister to Josie and my dearest friend who would sit and listen to me. We love you Katie.

This place, Seehafer Farm was their temporary home. We are honored that they spent their life with us here on earth.

GREAT NEWS!!

Long story short, I found Ms. Georgia May's parents!! I took her into VetMed this morning to get her shots and spay. The wonderful Dr. Gables called me to tell me that she has a scar where they make an incision for spaying. It got me thinking, I started looking on petfinders.com in the lost "pages." I found nothing but read about a cat that had been micro-chipped. I call Tracy over at VetMed to see if they could see if she's been micro-chipped. Well, low and behold, Ms. Georgia May is micro-chipped!! We got the name, address and phone numbers to her mom and dad. I just got off the phone with her dad AND THEY ARE SOOOOO HAPPY!! Ms. Georgia May is really Mercredi, it's French for Wednesday. Mercredi's mom has been calling for her every night since she disappear on July 3rd... just amazing. They love her and missed her very much. Tonight the family will be reunited and I'm so happy!!

There you have it, GREAT NEWS!

Thank you Lord!

William Jake is getting micro-chipped soon!

Dinner for Three Please

Here's three long time friends sharing dinner together.

William Jake, Bubba McCloud and Pumpkin enjoy a fresh bowl of sunflower seeds, cracked corn, fresh green lettuce, home grown tomatoes, cold green grapes and sweet ripe bananas.


Bubba is thinking of becoming a vegetarian.

Ms. Georgia May Needs A Home

A call out for help to find a kitten a good loving home...

This is Ms. Georgia May. Right now she resides at my place of work. The boys called me two weekends ago to tell me we have a cat here. We all think she's actually a victim of May's big flood here in Nashville... case in point Ms. Georgia "MAY."

Oh, the drawers and shelves are from a room upstairs that we are turning into another edit bay here at Rock Creative Images.

She is a little doll! Ms. Georgia never came up to anyone before but all of a sudden two weekends ago, when the guys were working, she made herself known! She's now everyones little buddy!

She waits now at the back door to be fed, petted and meows when she's lonely... by the way, that kitten has got a great pair of lungs... the guys upstairs can hear her when she meows!

We believe she's about 9 to 12 months old. Tomorrow morning I am taking her to VetMed to be spayed and get all her shots. By the end of week Ms. Georgia May will be ready for adoption! If anyone out there needs/wants a sweet, beautiful baby girl kitten, she it! Holler at me!!

Thanks everybody!!

Morning Fog Rolling In

Now that we have Joe on the road to recovery, we're faced with another ailment, BUMBLEFOOT. All the chickens except one has it, even Joe. We're only at stage one with Joe, J.D. and two of the other girls. Pumpkin is at stage two of Bumblefoot.

Here's a great explanation from...

http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/

BUMBLEFOOT
By: Peter J. Brown, First State Veterinary Supply, Inc.

I field many calls over the course of the year concerning that large bulbous growth on the bottom of the chickens foot. Bumblefoot as it is called is usually caused first by an abrasion to the skin of the foot pad and then an infection sets in causing the large growth on the bottom of the chickens foot. It doesn’t have to be a wide open cut just a small scrape or light abrasion to the foot pad will be enough to cause a problem. Most cases of bumblefoot involve the following bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, E.coli, Corynebacterium spp., and Pseudomonas spp. Once the infection takes hold in a matter of days the foot and or foot pad becomes swollen and is somewhat reddened and may be hot to the touch. The above mentioned bacteria that cause Bumblefoot are extremely aggressive and can and do infect humans. You would be wise to handle these birds with latex rubber gloves and be sure to wash your hands and change and wash your clothes before handling healthy birds.

Bumblefoot is preventable for the most part. Make sure that all roost poles or roosting areas are free from sharp objects such as,nails, screws,broken glass,jagged metal edges or other sharp objects that may cause an injury to the foot or foot pad. Make sure roost poles are not to high for the birds to jump down from so that they wont injure their feet or legs and cause an infection to get started. Even a rough roost pole can be enough to cause enough injury to the foot pad of the right bird and start a case of Bumblefoot. Over weight birds may be more susceptible as bearing excess weight on the foot pad together with a rough surface to stand on may cause injury to the foot pad and allow an infection to get started. Concrete floors can also be a problem if a bird is allowed to spend a lot of time on one or in an area where there are a lot of sharp edged stones.

The key to treating Bumblefoot is to catch it early. If the foot is swollen but is still soft to the touch you will stand a very good chance of curing the problem with antibiotics alone. If the foot swells and goes unnoticed generally the swollen area will become as hard as a rock and no amount of antibiotics will take the swelling completely away. The only alternative at this point will be surgery. Surgery can be successful if done carefully and properly. Antibiotics should be give for 5 to 7 days before surgery and until the surgical area is healed. Before beginning surgery the entire foot area and lower leg should be throughly washed and cleaned. Disinfect the area with a controlled iodine solution. Do not use pure iodine as it will burn the tissue and make the bird real uncomfortable and will slow the healing process. You can use a numbing agent such as ambesol to partially numb the area before making your incision. Make your incision with a new scalpel and just go slowly and avoid any tendons and blood vessels and slowly make your incision across the affected area making sure that you keep the incision as small as possible. Control bleeding with blood stop powder and by applying finger pressure to the upper part of the leg. Remove all of the hard pus material from the incision and flush it out with saline solution then apply some triple antibiotic ointment directly into the wound and suture or use gauze and adhesive tape to close the wound. It will heal faster and stay cleaner if the bird is not allowed to directly stand on the surgical area. In this case a cast can be made from just about any material that you may have around the house. Be innovative as long as it doesn’t add to the problem. In some cases a halved tennis or racquetball attached to the foot will do the trick. Change the dressing on the foot daily for the first week and then every other day or so as long as the wound is healing well.

If you are treating with antibiotics and not doing surgery the antibiotics of choice would be the following: Lincomycin 50 to 100 mg per bird per day for 7 to 10 days,or Doxycycline 50 to 100 mg per bird per day for 7 to 10 days,or amoxicillin at the rate of 250 mg per bird per day for 10 to 14 days and in some cases 500 mg per bird per day may be necessary but give it twice per day for 10 to 14 days. Cephalexin capsules work well in soft tissue and should be given at the rate of one 250 mg capsule once or twice per day for 7 to 10 days. After successful treatment all birds should receive probiotic in the drinking water for 7 to 10 days or until droppings return to normal.


"Farm livin' is the life for me."

A Sweet Moment

William Jake checking on Katie.

An August Morning

Mama and Katie enjoying the open front door view.

Updates:
A bunch has happened this weekend. You all know about Katie. She's still with us. Joe, the rooster was also very sick. This past Saturday, I had to take him to his vet, Dr. Corwin of Airport Animal Clinic. Dr. Corwin specializes in exotic pets... he's also Trigger's (the rabbit) doctor. Joe had a fever, fighting a yeast infection in his gut, depression and still had lice eggs on him but no live lice. I was the cause of his yeast infection. LEARN FROM ME... do not give a chicken the wrong antibiotics plus if you do give antibiotics to chickens, be sure to give probiotics. An antibiotic kills the infection but also kill the good bacteria in their system they need. Dr. Corwin said Joe had a 50/50 chance of making it through the weekend. If he would make it to Monday, we'd be somewhat out of the woods. Dr. Corwin sent us home with the right antibiotic, another medicine and a spray for the lice (spray Joe and the girls every other day). It was touch and go with Joe. We've had him inside all weekend and yesterday. I would check in on him every half hour to hour. Telling him to get better and that his girls needed him. Monday morning came... I went in checking on him, he was standing up! His tail feather were up and fluffy! He seemed back to himself again. And this morning, Brian and I hear a crow coming from the back bedroom. " JOE IS CROWING" we scream!! It's the best sound I've hear in a long time!! We let Joe out to see the girls for a bit. He tried to crow five more times. Joe's still a little weak but doing well. Brian is watching him closely and has strict instructions to put Joe back in if the weather gets too hot. He'll still be spending the nights inside till he's 100%.

Now news on Brian's pumpkin, it didn't make it. The pumpkin ended up getting "blossom end riot" plus Brian purchased some dirt to cover the vines over with and that dirt had some bad pathogens. It started killing the vine... not good. The other pumpkin plant under the peach tree is doing very well. That plant didn't get any of that dirt, it's surviving. There's a pumpkin on that plant. Brian thinks it weights in around 300 pounds. I'll pictures of both the pumpkin plants soon.

Seehafer Farm is going through changes, some good, some bad but such is life on a farm... or anywhere else.

Sweet Katie

We got some pretty sad news about Katie. I took her into VetMed on Friday for a check up because she just wasn't not doing right. Dr. Nicole Harris did an ultrasound and found cancer in her small intestine, kidneys, liver and pancreas. There's just nothing we can do for Katie at this point. We've got her home right now. She being spoiled with can cat food, spending time outside with everyone and tons of kisses.

Later this week we'll have to say good-bye to our sweet Katie girl. It's very hard on Brian and I. We love her very much.

Colors in the Garden

Yellow and Red

Yellow and Black

Blue and Purple

Pink

MUMS THE WORD!

We went to Lowe's on Sunday and just guess what I found..... Chrysanthemums!

I'm so excited!! These are one of my favorite flowers because it's a sign that FALL IS COMING!!!

A Good Lesson Learned

First of all, Joe is ok. I realized Saturday morning that haven't heard Joe crow for the past couple of days. I started to watch him all morning... noticed that Joe was weak and tired. I caught him really easy, which I know he's not feeling well, started picking at his feathers and saw all the body lice on him! I was feeling so bad about not seeing this earlier.

I took the poultry powder, dusted him with it and watched him the rest of the day. He wasn't doing any better so I sprayed him down with the hose. It took most of the dead ones off and made him feel a bit better. As soon as Brian got home we took out the "Chicken Health Handbook" and read that dog shampoo with permethrin (a plant based) will work on chickens.

Well, Joe got a bath. He is such a good rooster. We found the eggs attached to the base of his feathers under his wings. We cut most of them out and will dust him off again tonight.

We fed him worms for protein and Brian is heading for the Co-op for vitamins and electrolytes for me to put in the water. I cleaned out the roost and dusted that down too. We're going to kill these bugs! I also read that heavily feathered breeds like Polish and Cochin have to be watched for these bugs. I'll be inspecting him at least once a week now. The girls are fine. They take dust baths that help keep control of the bugs but I've NEVER seen Joe take a dust bath. He'll need extra care and love. We really do love that rooster.

WILSON COUNTY FAIR COUNTDOWN!

Check out the their website:
http://www.wilsoncountyfair.net/

We love the Wilson County Fair!

The Wonderful Thing About Pets

Today's "The Wonderful Thing About Pets" segment is about vices. Everyone has their vices, even cats.

Mama has her shoe box she sleeps in 24/7... that's from Brian's work shoes he buys...

and Josie has her blanket that she NEVER takes a nap without... which makes washing it very difficult at times.

They make living in this world much better... vices that is... and cats.

Cedar Hill, Tennessee

I can't but help fall in love with Tennessee's farm land.

There are moments that are just breath taking.

Morning Coffee with the Boys

This morning I was surrounded by my boys, William Jake, Bubba and Brian.

We all were enjoying our morning coffee before work.

The effects of caffeine didn't last long for at least two of us.

Dreams of Home

"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place.

A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home."
- Carl Burns


(No news on a new location for "Seehafer Farm" yet. We're still looking.)

Pumpkin Time

I had to look for this "baby" picture of Brian's girl. She's really small here but he had a feeling in the beginning that she might be the one. I took this picture on July 23rd.

About 10 days later, here's her picture now, well, over the weekend. I'm sure she's even bigger today!

Isn't she a beauty?!?!? She's got some beautiful lines.