The Sick Chick

Well, actually, the sick rooster. Our Cuckoo Maran has a bad case of laryngitis. I have never heard such a pathetic and funny thing as his almost whisper of a crow. We are not sure how he got it, but we separated him from the rest of the flock. He spent his day inside the house in a dog carrier, trying to get warmed up and rest his voice a little. I am concerned because once he lost his voice, the other roosters started attacking him. His comb was badly damaged, so I cleaned it off with some warm water and put some antibiotic ointment on it today. Mom and I spent about 90 minutes shoveling out about 1000 cubic feet of poopy pine shavings. We emptied the whole coop out and will put down some new clean bedding. I had read on the net to keep piling clean bedding on because the droppings will generate heat. Well, they also generate ammonia, which can be a contributor to the breathing problems. We want to eliminate all the possible causes because I am not sure I can lose another chick.

We lost another barn cat to the road this week. Our big boy, Cat, got hit by a car the other day. The remaining two kitties are just lost this week looking for him.

So even though we are not in a flood plain, we have gotten so much rain this winter, the ground is saturated and there is just no where for the rain to go. We got 3 inches in one day last week and had the worst flooding the property has seen since we lived here. We had to shovel the mud and gravel from the driveway when the rain stopped, we have so much run off from the fields above the house. I can't wait for Spring!

We are drying out and with the weather being nicer, it has been great to get outside and do some farm chores!

Last, if you ever decide to buy an old farmhouse, make sure you buy ready to assemble furniture that you don't even intend to move out of the house. Bob and I purchased some dressers for our bedroom this month and we could not get the dresser up the stairs. We tried for two hours to push, prod, angle, and dismantle that thing and had no luck. Bob got a hernia and we ended up tying a rope to it on Saturday and pulling it up on the porch rood and hauling it in through the bathroom window! What an ordeal!

Look for more updates as the weather gets nicer!