Our sick pooch

Our rottweiler, Teddy, didn't seem quite right last Sunday.  He was just lethargic and had no appetite.  This was very unlike him, so off to the emergency clinic we went.  They did some blood work on him which showed he was anemic and had an extended clotting time.  They asked us if we thought he could have gotten into rat poisoning.  I couldn't say for sure that he hadn't, so they started treating him with Vitamin K. He was also running a fever, so started on antibiotics for that.  His condition didn't really improve or get better through Tuesday, and we took him in to see his regular vet for a follow up.

The blood work came back similar, except this time he was more anemic than he had been Sunday.  Sparing you all the details of how his diagnosis came to be, his veterinarian has decided he has a condition called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia.  Basically, the body decides its red blood cells are the enemy and starts to attack and kill them.  The treatment for this is a) suppress the immune system as much as possible.  This is done by use of steroids b) if red blood cell values continue to decrease, a blood transfusion may be necessary.  There are other steps to the treatment, but these are the main ideas.  With treatment, dogs have about a 50% chance of remission.  Without treatment, they will certainly die.  Age, physical condition, etc. seem to have nothing to do with how well a dog will do with this disease. The odds are just as good for a  young dog to survive it as the old, a dog with other health conditions may do better than a dog that is 100% healthy otherwise.

So here we are.  I'm embarassed to say how much we spent just to come to a diagnosis, and now we have to treat the disease.  He is taking steroids and an anti-rejection drug used in human transplant patients to suppress immune response.  And what caused this disease, might you ask?  Well, that is kind of up in the air among some professionals.  Some breeds are more predisposed to it than others.  Not rottweilers though.  Sometimes, the dog's immune system goes hay wire when attacked by another infectious agent and the dog gets IMHA as a secondary problem.  But most of the time, veterinarians are seeing this as a vaccine reaction to the vaccines we normally give our dogs to keep them healthy. Teddy can never receive another vaccine, he will have a medical waiver for rabies vaccine/tags that are required in our county.

Now I have to decide if vaccinating my other dogs is worth it.  Sure, I don't want my dogs getting parvo but I have to weigh my risks.  One out of four of my dogs was afflicted with this potentially fatal disorder from a vaccination.  It may seem drastic, but I am choosing NOT to vaccinate any more of dogs, current or future, after their initial puppy series and 3 year rabies after initial rabies. 

If you have a dog, especially a cocker spaniel or schnauzer or other breed that seems to have some genetic predisposition to this disease, do some research about IMHA and make your own decisions about the risks and benefits of vaccinating your dog every year.  Ask your vet. I should have. I do my own vaccines. I found out that my particular vet clinic has decided to recommend vaccinating with a regular 7-way vaccine once every 3 years due to the increasing incidence of this disorder.

Thanks to
Pets Emergency 
www.petsemergency.com
and Dr. Archer whose last minute decision to give Teddy a steroid injection might have saved him from a blood transfusion
and
Wellington Veterinary Clinic
http://www.wellingtonvets.com/
and Dr. Tracey Jensen for her wonderul care of Teddy during this adventure!  Wellington Vet clinic has provided excellent care for our personal pets and many foster kittens from Weld County Humane Society over the last 4 years and has been a great resource despite seeing NONE of them on a regular basis, since we do all routine care ourselves.

A Bento on the go!

We have been on the go since Sunday morning, as one of our dogs is very ill and we spent most of the day Sunday at the emergency clinic with him.  I will do a post about what is going on with that in the next day or so, because the information applies to anyone that owns a dog.  For now, here is a slightly prettier bento then the one I prepared for Rose the other day.  She had diced hot dogs, Annie's organic cheddar bunnies, banana slices, and some panda cookies. 

Biscuits, the ultimate comfort food

I have been sick the last 4 or 5 days, so nothing really sounds good to eat. The plus is since I am not that hungry and can't really taste anything, I think I have lost a couple of pounds.  Yesterday, biscuits sounded good.  I have been semi-successful in crafting biscuits in the past so I thought I'd try a batch.

My master helpers and I whipped up a batch of these heart shaped biscuits.  Rose thought they were cake and wanted icing and sprinkles on hers. What could it hurt? She ate every bite.  Later, my neighbor Tonya stopped by to look after the horses she is keeping here and she came in for a taste test.  She thought chocolate icing sounded pretty good too, so she had one a la Rose and also one with just butter and gave it a thumbs up both ways. I thought they were a little lacking in the salt department, but that may be because my taste buds are on hiatus. Once taste buds return I'll probably make them again and find they are as salty as hard tack made with sea water.

 

So here is the easy recipe:

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt 

3/4 cup milk

4 Tbls. butter

Dice the cold butter. I used salted butter.  Salt is good, I like it. I rarely by unsalted butter. As Ina always says (www.barefootcontessa.com), cold butter is the key to anything flaky (crusts, pastries, etc) Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together.  Cut in the butter chunks. Rose did this, she liked stabbing at the stuff. Slowly add the milk.  I used my hands to mush it all together. Oh, you are supposed to pre-heat the oven, right?  400 degrees.  Now that you have flour all over your oven knob, roll out the dough on a floured surface.  Me? I hate rolling pins, so we just used our hands to push it out to about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut out your biscuits and you are ready to roll.  I got 11 heart shaped biscuits and one random dough ball out of it. 12-15 minutes in the oven. 

Rose's Lunch

I was reading a Parenting magazine this fall when a saw a little blurp about a blog and had an inkling to check it out. The blog was www.wendolonia.com. For some reason, her cute little lunches she packed for her son to take to preschool just seemed so cool. So I started doing some research on Bento lunch packing, which is a traditional japanese style of packing to go. There are many interesting types of food that that japanese use, and some folks get really fancy in their crafting of Bento lunches. You can see what I mean here www.hapabento.com/.

Not wanting to devote my life to making lunch, but still intrigued I ventured on my quest to create some Bento lunches for Rose. Much like those on Wendolonia, they are simple and not too artsy. The goal of the Bento lunch for me is to be fun and visually pleasing. Visual pleasing = color. Color = lots of fruits and vegetables. Bento boxes = reuseable = sustainable. I pack a Bento for Rose many days when we will be out for lunch. Today, I packed one at home. It isn't the prettiest. Rose had apple slices, peaches with sprinkles, 2 baby carrots, 2 miniature peanut butter hearts on multi-grian bread, and the "scraps" from the hearts. Rose at everything but some of the peaches and 1 apple slice. I think that is pretty successful for a pre-schooler for lunch.

I use a stainless steel Lunchbots container that is the perfect size for a pre-schooler. LunchBots Pico Stainless Steel Lunch Container
I hope to add some Hello Kitty and other themed Bento boxes. I purchased some silicone baking cups to use as dividers. That is what the peaches and apples are housed in. I also have some pics for food like grapes or ham cubes, but I didn't use those today.  Today I couldn't get too pretty because Wyatt was very fussy from having his shots yesterday afternoon and I had to do most of the lunch preparation with him in my arms, but I will post more Bentos in the future.

Sustainability : On Beef, Pork, and Venison

Photo: Our happy charolais cows on pasture and hay, about 30 days prior to slaughter.
If you live in Colorado, you have probably seen a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) somewhere along the way. This is in effect assembly line meat. The animals are kept on dirt lots with no shelter from the sun, wind, or snow. They are fed a grain based diet. What is wrong with this picture? Cows, pigs, goats, and sheep are grazers and browsers and all are nomadic. They cannot fulfill their natural desire to graze and roam in these confinement situations. In addition, these confinement situations are a management nightmare when it comes to waste. These animals are meant to fertilize the ground they trod upon and spread it with their own "engines." Lets not forget all the grain that is grown in this country that is fed to meat animals. Nearly 80% of the grain grown in this country is used to feed animals to produce meat, which is extremely inefficient (I'll blog another time about the feed and seed industry)

I am not a vegetarian by any means. I like chicken, pork, beef and venison...pretty much in that order. I refuse to feed my family commercially produced meat. It contains antibiotics required to keep animals healthy in filthy confinement operations. It also contains hormones purposefully injected or implanted into the animal for optimum growth and production.

Our cows are happy cows. They eat grass, like they were made too. They aren't fed ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS, which are frequently fed to feedlot cattle. Cattle are HERBIVORES folks. My cattle have a clean place to lie down, room to run around, and a shelter from blowing snow or driving rain. Rarely do they need antibiotics, because they are not in a stressful and filthy environment. Some people tell me our beef tastes different than meat they buy at the supermarket. I think our meat tastes BETTER. It is also lower in fat. I know my cow was happy and healthy and EXACTLY what it ate from the time it was born until the day it died.

We eat a lot of pork. I like sausage and pork chops. Not together. But anyway. I haven't gotten the courage to venture into raising pigs, but I think I will try this year. I buy my pork from a family farmer in Sidney, NE. They keep 10 sows, and feed them an all-natural diet. I pay $3.00 per pound for my pork, vacuum packed and delivered to my door. You can't beat that.

Braden hunts for deer and elk each year. With the cost of the tag to the D.O.W and processing fees, venison and elk meat end up costing about $2.00 per pound. I am only in favor of hunting if you plan to eat your kill. Or, if you want to trophy hunt, cough up the money to have the animal processed properly and donate the meat to a worthy cause or a friend or neighbor in need. Lets not be wasteful people.



So, if you live in town and can't raise your own meat, how can you go farmer direct?

1) Purchase a chest freezer. Cattle are usually sold by the 1/4, 1/2, or whole. A 1/4 cow will be approximately 100 lbs. of meat. This will feed your average family of four eating beef a few times a week for a year. In Colorado, you will pay anywhere from $3-$6 per pound for the meat, but this is for ALL CUTS. So basically, you are getting roasts, t-bones, and ribeyes from the same price per pound as ground beef. The price range varies between producers and their practices. We charge our friends and family $4.50 per pound.

2) Go to Craigslist. Click on the "Farm and Garden" section and type "beef" "pork" or "hog" into the search engine. If there isn't any, post a wanted ad. Here are some of the terms you might run into:
A) Live Animal, or "On the Hoof" means you are paying by the pound for the weight of the live animal. You will most likely also pay the processing costs directly to the slaughter house and be able to provide your own cutting instructions and wrapping instructions. Market price is currently about $.90-$1.00/lb on the hoof for beef. Then, you will pay a processor a fee to slaughter the animal (usually between $40-$60) and by the pound for cutting and wrapping. Your average 1,000 pound cow will hang at about 650 lbs. and result in about 425 lbs. of meat for your freezer.

B) Hanging Weight means you are paying by the pound for the weight of the live animal with the limbs removed (below the knee), head removed, and viscera. You will need to ask the producer if they have included the costs of slaughter and packaging in this price. Sometimes they have, sometimes they haven't. If they have included all costs, you are probably going to be paying around $2.50/lb for hanging weight for beef, as of the date I write this.

C) By the 1/4, 1/2, or whole. The meat will be cut, wrapped, frozen and ready to deliver. Typically you end up with about 1/3 ground beef, 1/3 roasts, and 1/3 steaks. Depending on the type of beef (organic, all-natural, grass fed, etc) and your area, it will cost anywhere between $3.00-$8.00 per pound. This is a good route to go, since the per pound cost won't change.

Obviously, these specs will be different for a sheep, goat, or hog and usually they are only sold by the half or the whole, not by the 1/4.

3) Call your local Cooperative Extension office.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/
Nearly every county in the country has a Cooperative Extension office. Ask for the Livestock Agent. If they are worth the tax dollars you are paying them, they should be able to provide you with names of producers in your area.

Hopefully this will get you started on your quest to find local meat that is both of better quality and nutrient value than anything you can find in the supermarket.

Sustainability : On eggs and happy hens

Do you know how the eggs you buy in the supermarket get to you? We won't go back to the chicken and the egg but we'll start with the chicken. She starts laying at about 5 months of age. So, she is crammed into a cage about the size of a filing cabinet drawer with 8-10 OTHER HENS. For comparison, pretend that you are living in an average size elevator with 10 other people. Seriously. Horrible. The hens are afforded food and water but in most instances NO natural light. They are fed antibiotics in their feed due to the large number of pathogens in these poorly ventilated facilities. They spend the next 7-10 months in these horrible conditions until the hen is no longer producing an egg each day and then she is transported, in an entirely inhumane manner, to be slaughtered and not surprisingly in an entirely inhumane manner. You'll find that I will repeat myself a lot when it comes to these matters. Please look at this page on wikipedia for more information on the battery cage operation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_cage

Now, the eggs are washed and cleaned of the natural protective coating put on the egg by the hen when she lays it to prevent bacteria from entering it, sorted packaged, and sent to your supermarket. This process can take 2 WEEKS OR MORE. So much for "fresh eggs" on the shelf. But, I digress.

My chicks start out in a nice spacious brooder here on the farm.

At about 3 months of age, they are let out in the yard and live there ALL OF THEIR LIVES. I can't lie, sometimes that life isn't as long as it could be due to some pesky predators like foxes, coyotes, and owls. But we try to keep them safe. Most hens will produce eggs for many years, just not as efficiently as a younger hen. A hen can live from 8-10 years.

I pick up my eggs twice daily

I wash my eggs just prior to using them, only if they are dirty.
In this photo, the egg in the middle is a grade AA EXTRA Large egg from Sam's Club. The white one on the right was laid by a White Leghorn and the brown one on the right was laid by a Rhode Island Red. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture in the photo the "sheen" that is on the eggs laid by my hens vs. the "matte" appearance of the supermarket egg.

On average, it costs about $7/month to maintain 10 hens. We eat about 18 eggs a week (yes, I know that is excessive for 3 people, but I bake alot too) so if we were buying them at the supermarket we might be spending approximately $6.00, assuming eggs are $.99 per dozen.

So why would we have our own flock for eggs? After all, we are paying MORE to maintain them AND we have to care for them twice per day every day in all sorts of weather.

-Hens are cute. They are great for kids to feed and care for, as their care is uncomplicated.
-Our hens are happy. I get satisfaction knowing that our girls are happy, healthy, have companionship, room to roam, scratch, sunshine, and fresh air.
-The eggs are better quality. They are tastier and larger than supermarket eggs.
-Hens are excellent garbage disposals. They will eat all types of vegetarian food scraps like bread, pasta, and of course fruits and vegetables. Just put a "trash bowl" on your counter and take it to them each morning.

Should you by farm fresh eggs from your neighbor or co-worker that might have them available for $2.50 or more a dozen when you could be buying them at the store for $.99? Of course! No one is going to get rich selling eggs, so you can assume that most folks are doing it because they enjoy tending to a happy flock and selling eggs to happy customers. The eggs will be of better quality and last longer in your fridge (several months!) than supermarket eggs. And best of all you will be supporting sustainable operations instead of battery operations that are unhealthy and abusive for the chickens. It is the least you can do for the hen that is providing your breakfast.

Wyatt is 6 months old today

Wyatt is 6 months old today! He sprouted 2 pearly whites at the same time. Here he is decked out in his, er, my favorite organic cotton onsie. Is that why it is my favorite? Of course not, it is because it has a zipper instead of all those peskie buttons. He is sitting atop the tie blanket I made for him last week. You all can do this too

http://www.customscrapbookmaker.com/crafts/fleece-tie-blanket-instructions.htm

All you need is fleece, some scissors, and a rainy or snowy afternoon. I made 2 of these for Rose, one for Wyatt, and one for my niece for her upcoming birthday. Domestication without a sewing machine. Love it.