So You Ordered Chicks…

I know MANY people who order chicks from hatcheries or breeders, and they come in the mail alive and happy. Not me. I NEVER have good luck ordering chicks. I think our post office hates me.

Every time I have gotten chicks through the mail they have all either been dead already, or barely clinging to life. Small and large orders alike. Last February we ordered nearly 50 chicks but when I opened the box, it appeared as though they were all dead. I quickly sifted through the chicks to try to locate any that might still be alive. As I found live chicks, I handed them over to a friend and between us we soon were holding 7 barely-live 5 day old chicks. Yes, 5 days old. That’s how long it took the PO to get them to us. The question was, could we save them?

beauty-6daysoldI set up the heat lamp and we started giving the gasping babies water through an eye dropper. Two quickly gave up. The rest started to come around, then another one passed. Soon we were left with three. An Austra White, a Buff Orpington, and a Cherry Egger. The BO kept having these seizure like fits, and we knew she probably wouldn’t make it. We fed all three some watered down egg yolks through the dropper. The Buff baby had one more seizure and died. The other two soon after perked up, though the Austra White couldn’t really stand or walk, and her wings were limp.

Throughout the day, the chicks were given water with the dropper and egg yolk. The Cherry Egger, who my 4 year old named “Beauty” started to get up, walk around, and drink from the chick waterer of her own accord. The AW, who my 2.5 year old named “My Bella” wasn’t faring as well. I suspected she wouldn’t make it through the night. After the boys were in bed, my suspicions were confirmed, and she died.

Little Beauty slept in my room so I could monitor her throughout the night (after all, I would already have one very sad little boy in the morning). She pulled through the night with flying colors, and started acting like a normal, active little chick (albeit a little lonely), eating chick crumbles and drinking water from her waterer.

So while we didn’t get many chicks from this order, I don’t think you should write off chicks, as sometimes with a little work, they can pull through. This means she’s bound to be a good producer for us, right? 😉 We got some chicks from a small local feed store the following Sunday to give her some company. And I promised my 2.5 year old he could pick out his own special chick 🙂 ~ Nichelle

To Serve And Protect

Yes, I am a true advocate for wildlife. I believe wildlife is one of the most precious things that God has given us on this earth. Every creature has a purpose on this planet, not only humans, but animals as well. Animals are every bit as beneficial to us as we are to them; they keep our planet balanced.

There are a variety of wildlife organizations out there such as the World Wildlife fund and the National Wildlife Federation and they all share one major desire; to protect all creatures on the verge of extinction as well as educate the world on the importance of all creatures great and small.

Knowledge is power right?

If we have knowledge, then we have the power to change the unchangeable. To plan a course of action and not deter until we have accomplished what the world has told us cannot be done. To serve a glorious mission in life by changing and educating our world. To donate our time as well as our money to these federations for fighting a cause that some see as futile.

These wildlife charities can only do so much. This means that we as human beings need to stand up and be crusaders for them. Be a voice for the animals that cannot speak for themselves.  Help them achieve a mission that some have labeled impossible. Let’s step outside of our own little selfish existence and put ourselves in the place of these animals.

To have species die out because not enough people care enough to support the people who are trying to make a difference is very sad.

Imagine your life without wildlife in it; now imagine your children’s lives without wildlife. What a sad childhood that would be. We as parents owe it to our children to educate them about wildlife and how to protect it. We all have a responsibility and duty to help them with their mission. That duty my friend is to serve and protect.

staginforest

It’s a Matter of Being Prepared

storm-is-coming

It seems to me that those people who have made the decision to start living off the grid are essentially preparing themselves for any event where grid power fails. This doesn’t mean that we are waiting for an impending apocalypse where life as we know it crumbles. And it isn’t expecting an attack on home soil where the grid goes down and people are left without power. While missing out on or being able to continue unaffected by these potential situations are things that could be highlighted as a strong benefit of living off the grid, they aren’t (we hope) particularly likely to happen – but there are other things that do happen quite regularly.

In winter, storms can be a problem for people in certain areas. Ice storms and heavy snows are a common threat to causing power to be lost. Power lines fall as they are hit by falling branches or cars skidding into the poles after losing control on the slippery roads. A lack of power and heat is a horrible situation to find yourself in but for many it happens all too often.

It might only be a matter of hours that the power is off but for some these situations have been know to drag on for days. Winter storms are not the ideal time to be without electricity and heat. These are the times where having your own back up system or perhaps even living off the grid completely could be a huge benefit.

Not only are you protected but those close to you can also have a safe place.

Winter іѕn’t the only tіmе that storms саn happen. Hurrісаnеѕ and tоrnаdоеѕ are a rеаlіtу fоr many. In thоѕе саѕеѕ іt could bе weeks thаt уоu are without power аѕ communities and power sources аrе being rеbuіlt. It соuld even be that you аrе сut оff frоm civilization аnd left without соmmunісаtіоn for a lоng реrіоd оf tіmе. Having your own sources of water, electricity and heat means that it is  ѕоmеthіng thаt you at least have some control over, rather than being forced to wait helplessly whilst someone else gets it all going again.

Thеn there аrе flооdѕ to consider. The роwеr соmраnіеѕ thаt we hаvе become dependent оn аrе not іmmunе tо the fоrсеѕ of nаturе. Off grіd lіvіng doesn’t mаkе уоu immune frоm thе соnѕеԛuеnсеѕ оf thеѕе nаturаl оссurrеnсеѕ but it does enable you tо bе in more control of the situation and in some instances may help avoid it altogether.

Thіѕ іѕn’t thе оnlу situation that роwеr соmраnіеѕ and оur dереndеnсе on thеm саn bе a problem fоr us. Aѕ costs аnd taxes rise аnd fоѕѕіl fuеl runѕ scarce fоr a vаrіеtу оf rеаѕоnѕ wе bесоmе еnѕlаvеd tо thе big suppliers. While thоuѕаndѕ and еvеn mіllіоnѕ аrе еffесtеd bу blасkоutѕ and brоwnоutѕ оr thе rоllіng blackouts thаt реорlе have hаd tо еndurе, you can hold оff аnd wіthѕtаnd the effects bу using your own resources. It is something I think is worthy of consideration. Everette Wooten