Nursing A Sick Chicken

Nursing a Sick Chicken-
Chickens can get sick at any time, for all kinds of reasons. Over the years I have dealt with worms, and hens just literally dropping dead for no apparent reason. With a small flock of three and all hand raised from chicks you can get attached! This week my favorite hen Gwynne was laying on the ground in 10 degree weather with bitter cold winds. Normally chickens will walk around outside or go into the coop. I went out and brought her in, her feet and combs were almost frozen. I warmed her up and set up my chicken hospital on my kitchen counter-

Some leftover spaghetti (looks like worms!) and fish

Basically I use 2 large laundry baskets, one on top of the other, with a thick towel. With food ad water, it's easy to just throw the towel in the washer when it gets soiled. After she warmed up she drank some water, ate some soft bread and applesauce, homemade of course! I noticed a little later she was heaving and breathing hard, and wheezing a little, no other symptoms. I started doing research and read about Vetrx, a natural remedy for poultry, with great reviews. Sadly no one locally sells it, so I ordered it online, still waiting-


                                                               

In the mean time I had to do something. It was a good sign she was eating, but she was very lethargic. I decided to use my essential oils I already had. I used my Tea Tree oil mix I use on myself. I put a tiny amount on her wattles, and turned on my vaporizer with Eucalyptus oil.

Vaporizer for essential oils

I kept her in overnight, she seemed to sleep a lot. The next day I had to go back to work, so I kept her inside. Her breathing was much better! Still lethargic, but eating some. We're on day 3 and put I put her out for the day yesterday, with the coop door closed due to steady snow. I didn't want her going outside and sitting there all day. I brought her in last night, she looked tired and didn't eat much. She slept. This morning I made her a scrambled egg and she ate some more fish. She dozes a lot, but seems to be getting some energy back. I debated putting her outside today, but with 8 degrees this morning, I'll keep her in. Tomorrow is the weekend so I may set up a bigger space inside where she can walk around. I have an old outdoor baby playpen I use for chicks. That would work great for the kitchen with some towels down. Time will tell, but she seems on the mend!

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Filling The Freezer, New Master Bedroom Paint Reveal, Thrifting Scores! Speaking Of Decorating

Filling The Freezer-
Last time I mentioned our freezer was about 1/2 empty, so it was time to stock up. I thought since we had tax refund money I'd fill it up with meats. Food is always a good investment, with times being what they are, with a possible economic down turn coming. I started at Costco this weekend, bought really thick pork chops, and country style ribs, all for $30.00.  I split up the packs and bagged them for the freezer, 2 bags for each cut-The beef cuts weren't want I wanted, so I looked at other stores. Before I added the meats, I rotated some frozen fruits to the top, so I could see the better.

Today I went shopping and bought this beef- two boneless chuck roasts, perfect for the slow cooker, total 6.5 lbs for $18.00 for both. Lots of meals there. Also two packages totaling 2 lb.s of flat iron steak for $12.00. I got the flat irons since they're great for a salad recipe I have. One package = 2 dinners, about $2.50+ per person. I may a couple of extra briskets, since they're hitting the stores for St. Patrick's Day. I don't know how this compares nationally as far as prices?

New Master Bedroom Paint Reveal-

Our peach wall paint from 10+ years ago needed a freshening and something lighter colored. Between low winter light, and heavy shade in the summer, the room is darker than we thought when I first painted. We loved the Behr Silverdrop 790C-2, a little darker than the Irish Mist we used in the master bathroom re-hab. It's a light gray and we went with it. Since we have sage green carpet and drapes we wanted something fairly neutral, but not beige or white. When I bought the primer/paint I bought 2 gallons. One might be pushing it and I would need to touch up later. Of course we used just under 1 gallon sigh. Good news we could re-tint it late if we wanted to use it. We bought all our supplies for under $100.00. Pretty cheap for a major update. We started about 10:30 a.m. Sunday by emptying the room, stripping the walls, vacuuming (under where the furniture was), and cleaning top of the windows and doors-

Very peachy

 Nest we put down tarps on the floor, some canvas, then plastic. We also covered the bed with plastic-

 Gray walls starting-

 All the little cobwebs, etc. need to go to paint. I brought in a flor lamp form the other bedroom for extra light. First I spackled all the nails holes with lightweight spackle. Nice to have a clean slate. I had back problems from the last exterior house painting, so no twisting for me! I asked Dave to do the upper edges and floor areas. I did the upper trim, windows, doors, and 2 closet doors. That was a LOT of brush work! I went behind him when I finished those with the roller. Rolling on paint is is so much fun! Suddenly the wall is different. Instant gratification. Even though it was cold outside, we had the window open 1/2 way. Midway thru painting dark clouds, strong winds rolled in, and it started snowing "corn snow", time to close the window-

A little later it was sunny-

We finished the wall color faster than I thought, by about 12:30 p.m. Sunday. I asked Dave to paint the white baseboards, pretty beat up from years of use, and a messy job from me the 1st time. I offered to do the closest and door trim, but he wanted to do it all. I vetoed him. I did the upper closest, etc, while he worked below. I also painted the trim on the window. Monday I finished the small amount of touch up work. I also touched up a couple of spots, in the kitchen, hallway and bathroom, filling screw holes from things we've moved. I may get a new duvet cover at some point, but this will work for now. We rotated a few prints and we love it! Nice and fresh.

Still loving the set I bought a few years ago over the bed-

More wall art coming on Dave's side-

Thrifting Scores!
Since I was off today, some vacation for me, I went to Goodwill and the place was empty! Right off the bat I snagged a like-new pair of navy corduroy slacks for work and some jeans. The jeans just need a little hemming. I saw this pillar, new $7.99- 

I thought of this, cute with the nests on top, might paint it-

From Confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com

Dave and I really miss the Oregon coast and we've actually been to this lighthouse, at Heceta Head. These kinds of things are SO expensive in gift stores there, $1.99 here! I'll hang it somewhere-

New table runner, $2.89, reversible-

New soap dispenser for my bathroom, $3.00 to get rid of my ugly Costco bottle-

Speaking Of Decorating-

I just LOVED this display at the local Kneader's bakery and sandwich shop! We had dinner there last week when I was too exhausted to cook. I never would have thought of decorating with ferns. Great combo for St. Patrick's day, Spring and just for fun. They always do a great job with their decor, all for sale of course! So cute. Ironically I have the exact same green edged light wood frame at home already.