Some days, it's better to stay in bed.

Some days, it's better to just tune out the world.

Block out the horror and misery that you can't control and can't do anything about.

Focus on the things that you can get right.

Be grateful for the good things and the quiet places where the biggest danger is waking up with straw in your hair.

The Middle Child

Farm Buddy was nagging me the other day to make sure I wrote a suitable birthday post for Miss Kelsey, who turned seven today.  I told her she should do that, but did she?

Nooooo.

Poor Kelsey, its not easy being the middle child.

I, at least, can empathize as I too am a middle child.  So, since FB just couldn't be bothered, here ya go Kelsey.

Happy Birthday!

Don't Get Attached

Do you remember the guinea house that became a green house after all the guineas got eaten by coyotes?

I swore 'never again'.  But guess what....it has now become a chicken house.  I am shaking my head just looking at this picture.

Really, its all Farm Buddy's fault.  We have friends who have a small farm and they are going to be moving.  They have spent several years building a lovely flock of free-ranging, organic egg layers and when FB heard they were going to disperse the flock she decided I really should have some laying hens and promptly volunteered me.

The difference between guinea hens and chickens is that the guineas truly were freaky and resisted all attempts to protect them.  Chickens, especially chickens who have been raised to be quite friendly and tame, are more willing to come home to roost every day where they can be locked up for their own safely.  The plan is to only let them out during the day while I am home and make sure they are tucked away each night before I leave for work.  These hens are very calm and settled into their new home within minutes.

I swore wouldn't have any more coyote bait, but here we are.  Here they are, God help them.

The two buff colored hens are Red Stars, the speckled ones are Silver Laced Wyandottes, the black one is a Black Australorp and the little bit of white fluff you can just barley see beside her is her chick whose parentage is anybody's guess.

Don't. Get. Attached.

Unscheduled Break

It's already been a busy week.  I can't say there is anything very interesting going on, just appointments, lack of time and a mind overly full of noise.  So, I'm taking a few days off from the blog.  I'll be back in a bit.

As a side note, I have a friend who is moving and disbanding a very nice flock of organically raised laying hens.  Is there anyone local who might be interested?

Somethin's Fishy Again

If you have been around for a while, you may remember some of my on-going pond saga.  I had my pond drained and re-dug in 2012. The following year I added some catfish who were supposed to keep it clean.  Then we had the Winter-From-Hell 2014 version and the fish all floated to the top of the pond when the ice melted.

Last year, the water weeds in the pond really got out of control and I went on an epic weeding campaign.   That was fun, but not something I want to repeat on a regular basis.  So, FB and I made another pilgrimage over tho the fish hatchery this afternoon to enlist more finned helpers.

After the weed battle last year, I spoke with more fish experts and they all recommended Triploid Grass Carp, which are sterile and require a permit to buy.  No one wants these fish escaping out into the wild as they would decimate native wetland habitats.  My pond has no outlet other than a stone lined seep into the woods so I was eligible for a permit.

I brought home another 30 catfish, which are all in that blue bucket and 6 Grass Carp.  Three each in the big tubs.

The catfish are all about 3-4 inches long....

...while the carp are a good 10-12 inches long.

Apparently, they can grow to be as much as 2-3 feet and often weigh more than 25 pounds.  From what I understand, they mainly eat plants and prefer them, but will also eat tadpoles, bugs, worms - pretty much anything if they get hungry.  Given the massive piles of water weeds I pulled out of the pond last year, they should have plenty to eat.  I hope they get along with all the painted turtles and salamanders who call my pond home as I am fond of both.

After some acclimating, I turned them all loose.  The catfish seemed quite happy to delve into their new home.

The carp seemed a bit stunned by their new environment and took a few minutes to think about things.  Once they got past the shock, they too took off to explore.

I hope the fish survive this time around.  I am a bit worried about them making it through the winter and I may look into installing some kind of bubbler that will keep a portion of the pond from freezing over.  That would ensure that the fish don't run out of oxygen.  I am wondering if there is some kind of solar powered option that does not cost a fortune.  I am also hopeful that the fish will will be a healthy addition to the pond.  If they all come bobbing to the surface next Spring though, I am going to give up and stick with a hardier type of aquatic creature....

Random Revue

Lyme Q&A

There were a number of questions about Lyme after I posted this picture of Emma and a description of the rash she had along with Lyme Disease last year...

I am no real expert on Lyme Disease, but I have done a lot of research.  This is my understanding of how the vaccine works based on that research.

Lyme is caused by a type of bacteria called a spirochete, which means it is corkscrew shaped.  The Lyme bacteria have proteins on their surface known as Outer Surface Proteins or Osp's.  The Osp's are named alphabetically, for example, Osp A, Osp B, Osp C, etc.  These proteins change depending on where the bacteria is.  When the bacteria is inside the tick, it is coated with Osp A.  When the tick feeds on an animal and the bacteria is transferred from the tick into the animal, the surface proteins change from Osp A to Osp C.  During the acute stage of Lyme Disease, Osp C is most prevalent.  As the infection becomes chronic, they alter to Osp F.

The way the vaccine works is that, rather than targeting the bacteria directly, it targets Osp A.  This is why it may work against the many different strains of Lyme bacteria.  It is also why the vaccine is not always as effective as we would wish, it is targeting a surface protein that may not always be present and is constantly changing.

The way that the Lyme bacteria change their outer surfaces is also one of the reasons that the animal's immune system has such a difficult time dealing with Lyme bacteria.  The immune system gears up and produces antibodies to attack Osp A or C, but by the time they are ready, the Osp has changed to F and the antibodies can't find the bacteria.

The corkscrew shape of the bacteria also plays a role in this because they burrow or "screw" themselves into parts of the body that are generally safe from bacterial attack.  The immune system has many ways to attack intruders in the digestive tract or the skin, but not so much in the sealed off portions of the body.  It is not as well equipped to deal with these kind of attacks and often has to fight back in unusual ways, which is why the symptoms of Lyme are so varied and difficult to pin down.

In trying to reach these hidden bacteria, the immune system may make an all out, inflammatory response that is difficult to turn off after it has done its job.  This all-out immune response is one of the things that makes people and animals so sick.  This kind of response is very similar to an autoimmune reaction where the body actually attacks itself.

Unfortunately, such an all out response is difficult to stop once it has been triggered and may contribute to lingering effects of Lyme Disease.  While it is controversial, many believe that "Chronic Lyme" is in fact an autoimmune reaction that is triggered by the Lyme disease and then becomes impossible to stop, even after the bacteria are all killed.  While it is possible to treat Lyme disease, autoimmune diseases cannot be treated.

There is some evidence, again controversial, that people and animals do develop a degree of immunity after infection and successful treatment.  However, there are many, many strains of Lyme so it is possible to get Lyme disease, get treated successfully and then get reinfected with a different strain the next time you walk outdoors.

Many horses have pretty severe reactions to tick bites.  They often develope a rash around the bite and I have seen numerous skin abscesses caused by bites.  Usually, bites occur in areas where it is impossible to tell if the rash is circular (such as under the chin or groin area) and I would never have seen the bullseye on Emma were it not for a quirk of grey color genetics.  The hair of grey or roan equines often grows back either lighter or darker after an injury, which is what happens here....

Emma lost all the hair in this circular area last year when she had this rash.  However, she did not lose the hair all at once, it came out in patches over the course of several weeks.  Her new undercoat grew back darker than the rest because she is a dapple grey with a tendency for small wounds to grow back in darker than her normal coat.  It is the only reason that it is visible.  A similar rash occurring on Tessa or Ramsey would never be visible this way because their hair would grow back the same color, which is what makes me wonder just how often a bullseye rash actually occurs in animals. 

I have yet to find any real way of preventing tick bites.  I have tried just about every concoction I have ever heard of, from herbal to toxic poison.  None of them work.  I check my animals and myself every day, but I know I miss some.  Tessa always gets a rash when she gets bitten and it is often this rash that tells me I missed another one.  

All the animals are vaccinated and I have to have some faith in it, if only for my peace of mind, but it is a wary faith.  The vaccine will not do anything for the other tick borne diseases that are becoming nearly as prevalent.  

My only suggestion is to do everything you can and have a SNAP test done at the least hint that someone is having a bad day.  The SNAP test is fairly cheap, about $30, and easy.  It tests for Lyme, anaplasmosis, eherliciosis, and heart worm in dogs and cats.  If you have a positive test, treat the animal.  Many vets won't treat unless they see obvious symptoms.  However, the signs are so often subjective and hard to see until after treatment, that I disagree with this practice.  Every animal I have seen with a positive test who got treated showed marked improvement.  Usually, the owners didn't even know they were seeing symptoms of disease until after they were gone.

I hope that this has answered some of the questions.  I neglected to write them all down and now I can't find them online.  If I missed any, let me know.