Tick Me Down

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur for me. Along with raising baby kittens and doing farm chores and planting crops, I have been fighting fatigue and illness. I was bitten by a tick and it got me very sick. My lymph nodes in my throat swelled  and cause a lot of pain. I had a fever, chills and muscle aches. Then I could not breath nor swallow so off to the ER. I was giving Ibuprofen and an antibiotic, but that did nothing. So I went to see my Dr and got a stronger antibiotic. The nodes went down on their own. I am still not back to normal. All thanks to a tick bite.
Turns out Lyme Disease is just one of many things ticks can do to you. You can die from lack of white blood cells with the same symptoms as the flu.They call that the Heartland Virus. So if you get bit and have a fever and chills, go see your Ozark Doctor. A doctor that has experience with recognizing tick symptoms and how to treat them. I am glad our pets all have tick meds on them. Wish I had that as well.

Life on the farm is never dull.

New Ducks

These are Rowen (Mallard colored) and two Silver Appleyard ducks

Our local farm store had a mixed lot of ducklings and I chose these Appleyards along with the Rowen.

They are about the same age and have their own flock. We hope they lay lots of eggs like our older ducks. Ducks seem to be more predator proof than our chickens during the day. At night all the poultry is put up into the coop.

Two Sunday Surprises

We came home after a long Sunday in Mt. View. I sat down and checked the phone messages. The Animal Shelter called asking if I could take in a pair of newborn kittens whose mother cat had died. I called the rescuer and we met at the local feed store that evening. 

These were not newborn but 6 week old starved kittens. They were very bony, full of ticks and females. I promptly de-ticked them and gave them DE with soft food and water. After the meal they climbed up into my lap for petting.They used the litter pan and were very active. 

The next day I contacted the shelter to find a foster or adopter for these girls. I also found a ride to Houston, MO for them so I did not have to waste the gas. They will be put up for adoption once they get some fat on them. Now I can get back to feeding my 5 bottle babies who are now 3 weeks old and just starting to try solid food.