Chicken Orthopedics.

Are you my mummy?

This was taken about 13 weeks ago she's one of my first born Polands, and she is wearing a little bandaid shoe I made her to straighten her foot. Sometimes chicks can be born with this, it isn't a genetic problem but a hatch one, because the chick did not use its feet enough during hatching so the muscles did not strengthen. It can also be caused by letting a new chick walk on a slippery surface. Often it can be fixed by taping the chicken's toes straight or by making a "shoe" out of pipe cleaners or plasters, but has to be corrected within days or it will be impossible to fix.

This poor little thing had two scrunched up feet, I had to make two shoes..

And this has all the info about Chicken Orthopedics:

http://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/leg-braces

 

P.E teachers.

Why are all P.E teachers so difficult?.. why can't they accept that some pupils aren't interested or good at P.E?.
 There's definitely a different mentality that goes with these strange people, they need to stop drilling and learn to deal with people sympathetically who are physically not always up for the challenge, because it's not always about pushing enthusiastic people to their limits, as you would if you were coaching.
I remember at school watching the more hopeless specimens being shoved around, threatened, and insulted simply for being "bad at games", and understood I had more in common with them.
As far as I was concerned, PE was a twice-weekly period of chaos during which the school's most aggressive pupils were permitted to dominate and torment those they considered physically inferior.
My run ins with my P.E teachers gave me a lifetime dislike of pretty much all sport. A bit like how going to a religious school, as a child, turned me into a lifelong atheist.
There were a pair of butch teachers at our secondary school, who would put you through the hardest of tasks in bitter cold and intense heat, then get to watch you in the showers.
Seems like they were always having all the fun..

Red Mites...

Urgh today I have a red mite problem, I just went to clean out and replace straw in laying areas, and my arm was covered in red mite Grrrrrrrr..
I can't believe the faff this is going to cause, Poultry Shield to the rescue!

Red Mite Facts (I'm scratching as I type)......   :(

The red chicken mite is a common external parasite of birds. Although very small it can be seen by the naked eye. Mites feed on blood or feathers, skin or scales of birds. Mites are generally regarded as pests but heavy infestations can result in poor health, reduced performance (egg laying or weight gain) or, in extreme cases death.

The poultry red mite is considered one of the most important ectoparasites affecting egg layers in all types of production systems across the whole of Europe. This species, Dermanyssus gallinae, is an obligate blood feeding mite that attacks the resting hens mainly during the night for a blood feed that typically lasts 1-2 hours. After feeding the mites return to their hiding places in cracks and crevices where they mate and deposit their eggs. As a result of this behaviour daytime inspection may not detect large populations of red mites.
At high infestation levels mites cause increased stress to the birds which leads to reduced egg production, anaemia and death. Mites have been implicated as vectors of several significant diseases of poultry including chicken pox virus, Newcastle virus and fowl typhoid. Poultry mites will bite mammals, including humans, causing painful skin irritation.
The appearance of the red mite is dependent on when they last fed. When recently fed they appear red and this colour goes through black to grey as the time since the last feed increases.
Life Cycle
Red mites only feed on birds in darkness and blood feed for 1-2 hours each night.
Red mites spend most of their life in cracks and crevices and this is where the female mite deposits its eggs.
The eggs of red mite are small (0.4mm x 0.25mm) oval and pearly white. Under warm conditions the eggs hatch in 2-3 days into 6-legged larvae.
Before the first feed the larvae moult into an 8-legged protonymph (usually within 24 hours of hatching).
Protonymphs start to feed on the roosting birds and moult to a deutonymph that continues to feed before moulting into an adult male or female.
Under favourable conditions a mite can complete a life cycle (egg to egg) in 7 days.
Populations can build up very rapidly within poultry houses.
Red mite can survive for up to 8 months without a blood meal and, when hidden within cracks, are very resistant to desiccation.
Lovely........................

Chicky..

Now the colder weather is drawing in, chicken breeding should be put off till the Spring. This is the time in nature when the most eggs would be laid, and gives enough time for the chick to reach a level of maturity where it might stand a good chance of surviving the coming winter. It takes 21 days to hatch a chicken egg under the correct conditions of temperature, and if done using a broody hen, they will 'pop out' in cold weather and could suffer as a consequence.
The other important thing about looking after your chickens in winter is their security. Foxes find food more difficult to find during the winter month's and may try that extra bit harder to get into your coop, so ensure you do a daily inspection for any weak areas and see if there are any tell tale signs of something attempting entry, and this is a good time to carry out any repairs on your coop before the weather makes it just that little bit difficult.
Also check for signs of water leaking into the house, because birds cannot stand draughts or being wet.

Another weekend..

This weekend more work on the house, Graham the hubby is installing kitchen units into our new utility room, plan is a large butler sink in corner to wash my beloved hounds in..

There he is with hammer in hand accompanied by our friend Lee with coffee in hand, can't help thinking if us girls would have been on the job it would have been done by now, if only I could replay to you the waffle and chit chat that holds them back.. This could be a long process...

Meanwhile in the kitchen Ozzy is looking a bit better, yesterday he looked so down, maybe he's also amused by the faffing about that the men are doing.

And the last time I looked they had progressed.... into the kitchen hahaha still droneing on..and on...and on

Familiar sights from the end of the road.

I have lived in Southgate for the past 28 years, and really love the community spirit, which is why although I have thought about it, moving from here would be a big mistake for me, at my age to leave all my friends and to go somewhere new just wouldn't be easy, although I do rather wish I could have a smallholding, maybe I will one day.

The Cherry Tree Pub as seen above, dates back as far as the 1700's, the first landlord of the inn was a Mr Edward Lomas. Regarded by many locals as the centre of the community, Ye Olde Cherry Tree has been used for a number of different purposes over its lifetime including the headquarters for the Loyal Britain Society, a coaching inn and a posting house. It is at the end of my road and I'm pretty pleased about that!, It's a fantastic meeting place that has a lovely atmosphere and has a great garden area to sit outside, and it is also a 19 bedroom 'Inn Keepers Lodge ' which is quite handy aswell..

Lovely Pizza lovely owners..

We bought our house from here..

 Southgate underground station was built in 1933 in a glorious Art Deco style

Comfort from Food.

Today I am making Mushroom Soup.

So easy, Melt Butter, add 1 large chopped onion and 1 clove of garlic, cook till softens.

Add mushrooms (chopped) you can use any mushrooms, about 1lb of them, cook for about 4 minutes, sprinkle anout a tablespoon of flour over them stir, then add 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock and a bayleaf.

Cook for about 25 minutes in fact bring to boil then simmer, remove bayleaf and replace it with a few sprigs of chopped parsley, then liquidise using one of those handheld liquidiser thingy machines, they are brilliant, but wear a pinny because they splatter a bit.. add a spoonful of cream ..

All done!.. now wheres my Jane Austen boxset my daughter bought me, hmmmm?