I’ve decided that Tua and Matt probably are suffering from Avian Pox. Their heads and combs are all full of scabs and stuff. Matt is also acting confused and lethargic. I thought honestly she’d be dead by now but she is hanging on. We try to keep her cool during the day. Rob setup some sprayers behind the house to keep all the chickens cool on the hot days. Not a lot I gather we can do about the pox, just hope they recover. Theoretically we could quarantine the ones that have it but that seems overwhelming in terms of setting up a secondary coop and all that. Maybe if we just had chickens, but with these pups, it’s not gonna happen. Anyway, sad to see Matt in this state.
This got me to wondering why the people pox is called “chicken pox”. Explanations on-line are not convincing. So maybe, to be fair, I should say two of our chickens are suffering from “human pox”.
Since the pups were doing so well on housetraining, we unblocked the family room. That was premature. Within a couple of days, they had peed twice on the rug! We reconstructed our wall of cardboard boxes so once again we all share one large living space so we can keep an eye on them. Whatever is going on, we feel that once they mature more this will stop. Similar problem with getting up too early in the morning (intermittent whining began today at 4:15). Grow up, boys, please!
I made one loaf of homemade sourdough bread which came out edible but not great. Hoping I can improve.
Landscaping guy took a look at our yard and was like, oh, yeah, sure you could have a large tortoise here! That was all it took to get me back to obsessing over getting a sulcata (the large kind of tortoise). Rescue place is so nitpicky…realizing you can also get one off craigslist/facebook marketplace- people often need to re-home them for various reasons. But the last sulcata I saw for sale they were asking $1,000! In any case, we need to wait a while on that project.
There’s a small flowerbed in front of house where nothing seems to grow well. Thinking long-term I will plant donkey cactus around periphery and then a toad home with shade plant inside. May see if Rachel can make us the toad home as she likes to make ceramics. Similarly, we have a large space to fill with art in kitchen eating area. We may commission Raine to paint us something. I’m envisioning a blend of dog/chicken/tortoise and “A” and “R”. Maybe coat of arms style?
Given that we are sleep-deprived and Rob also has some allergies right now, we’re not exactly feeling perky these days. Rob did manage to get a layer of stain on the entire deck, however, even in 100 degree heat! He was also a pro at sitting with the pups during fireworks noise on the 4th. Heroic!
Video of me returning with the mail while riding Jenny! Slowest longboarder ever!
Meanwhile, COVID getting worse and worse in Austin area. We are just staying put as usual. Just basic errands and otherwise staying home. Here’s a few pics below.
