NoobieChickenLady's Journal - SS Score and Mah Kitteh is HOME!! Yay!

[noobiechickenlady]

DD will be 8 next month. She LOVES being at Daddy School. I get called sir a lot, though. Force of habit
You know, I'm not sure about age restrictions. There isn't much of a website, so I'll double check at the extension office, but I think it's 5-18.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

TT, that's what I said!!
Got my fingers crossed for you!

Next up, the McHomestead will be learning the song by Offspring - Come out & play.
You gotta keep 'em separated

 

[Dace]

Next up, the McHomestead will be learning the song by Offspring - Come out & play.
You gotta keep 'em separated

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Hehehe Dace, that song has been going through my head since Mommy 2 kindled.

Okay, on the rabbit front Mommy 3 is a fail this go round. She had two babies and refused them, no nest, no fur pulled, no nursing that I could tell. Since there were only 2 and Mommy 2 kindled the previous day, I took a chance & slipped them in with hers after mingling their scents. Mommy 3 will get one more chance & then mmmm stew.
Mommy 2 took the babies and is nursing them & very protective. She will let me check them, but she hops over them & huddles when I first walk in. She hasn't been aggressive, just protective
Mommy 1 is fabulous, her babies are starting to open their eyes, she's protective as well. Motherhood suits her as she has mellowed out & lets me handle her with minimal fuss.
The outdoor hutches are nearing completion & the maternity ward will be moved outside, probably this weekend.

Dixie has started back giving me a bit of kicking. She's also got some clogging I think in her left teat (look OFG, I said teat! )
Don't know if the two are related, but I posted a Q on BYH & have ordered a CMT. This is not the teat that was scratched, the right one is almost healed.

Here's a cuteness overload for you

 

[TTs Chicks]

still no babies for me The lady I bought her from apparently breeds by just putting the doe in with the buck and leaving them together for a few days - so she had been in with him for 3 days when I got her. Wed would have been 31 days from the first day she was put in with him. She has pulled a little fur and she jumps in the nest box when I go out there, but still no babies - the way this month has been for me she probably didn't take and I'm gonna have to breed her to my new buck.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

TT, I don't know what to tell you, this is my first experience with rabbits. I'd give her a little more time tho, just to see. Good luck, still got my fingers crossed for you. Oooommmmm kindle...

I'm really glad Mommy 1 lets me fondle them, I have to do it daily.

 

[TTs Chicks]

Thanks - I'll probably give her a couple more days and see what happens

They are so cute - I can't wait to have some to snuggle

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Well, since the does have been separated from the bucks, we haven't had any more births (thank goodness!) although all the females have nest boxes in their cages. Gives them a place to get off the wire & somewhere to hide if they want.
Unfortunately, Friday night we lost the 2 kits that were slipped into Mommy 2's brood. She kicked them out. I thought she was doing well with them
Then, she starts squishing her own kits?!
3 of her original 5 are gone. The 2 that are left look quite plump & happy, already growing fuzz & starting to move about more. I can only hope they will make it.

Mommy 1 has done beautifully, her 6 are open eyed, fully furred and happy as all get-out. I handle each of them twice a day when I check her food & water.

Dixie's clog seems to be clearing out, but Friday she was apparently in a foul mood. Heifer worked her head loose from the stock & headbutted me! I may have pulled a hair though, she's about due for another trim. That's an adventure I am not looking forward to.
One of my EEs has taken to hopping on her back for a ride & Dixie lets this one eat some of her alfalfa & wheat sprouts. Any of the other chickens that venture close get chased off with a stompy hoof & tossing head.

She did a cute thing this weekend, Saturday afternoon. I had finished brushing her & she trotted off to browse some yellow dock. She munched for minute, then looked right at me and did the shampoo commercial head toss. You know that gently tossing, slow motion wave?

Talked to the local electric company & they have 3 wire spools I can take home for free
More goat toys. Got a tire in the front yard I am thinking about removing from the rim & half-burying like free did. I'm sure Shadow would like that. I'm on the lookout for a car wash brush for them to scratch on.

Up to 4.5 gallons of blackberries in the freezer, plus a friend has a huge mulberry tree. He's picked 3 gallons so far. We're splitting them halvies, he picks & washes, I clean & can them. Niiiice

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Does anyone have any experience dealing with a clogged teat?

I am not seeing any of the textbook signs of mastitis, she's eating well, normal temp, normal poops, no hot spots in her udder, no hard knots. Essentially, nothing feels different about her other than her left teat appears to be clogged and when I focus on that teat she gets kicky.

I do have a CMT on order, it should be here this week.

Feed store recomended a milk nipple. It looks like a meat injector, so I can imagine how it works. But that thing looked huge! I don't want to do that to my girl.

I want to keep her from getting worse, and possibly clear any blockage that is there.

I did use a warmer wash over the weekend & gently scrubbed her orifice. That helped a bit, but we're not back to normal.
After the initial getting used to each other period, I was able to milk both halves out fairly equally. Now it takes 20-30 more good squeezes to empty her left and the stream is noticably smaller.

Help?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

gosh i wish i could help... Vita had a bit of a clog last year.. but we just worked with it.. a gentle but firm squeeze to get things going... i dont even have a resource for you.... sorry!