New life on the Third Hill

It has been awhile since I have updated our blog.  The good weather hit and I got our garden ready and as soon as I had that set I went for back surgery.  After that I was starting to get back on my feet when canning season hit and I got really busy with that.  we did over 200 cans of tomatoes, salsa, pickles, spaghetti sauce  and beans then right into Peaches, pears and apple sauce.

When that was done I had to have a bunion on my foot operated on.  I am now recovering from the foot surgery and in between times we have been spending tons of time getting out online store ready for Christmas.  During all of this as fall set in several things happened that were sad, uplifting and joyful.

I will update you on them in the following entries.

We keep a small flock of laying hens and a few Bantams on the hill for farm fresh eggs and the bantams keep the ticks down around the yard.  Our laying hens have their fenced yard to stay in for their safety.  The Bantams on the other hand are small enough to fly into the chicken yard and out of the fence to hunt and peck in the rest of the yard.  

As fall was setting in a couple months ago and I had to get the hen house ready for winter.

I was out in the garage this morning looking for some plastic to put over the chicken coop door and I kept hearing one the the chicks squawking in its little high pitched peep. 

I went over to the brooder where we have a mom with two chicks on the top floor and  on the first floor where we have 5 little chicks that our dear friend Ilene hatched for us.  I am standing there looking into the two layers trying to see what chick is making a loud peeping.  I could not see anything wrong with any of the chicks so went back to looking for the plastic. 
I no sooner got back to work and there it is was again.  It sounded like a chick was unhappy or in distress and letting the world know about it.  I went back over to the brooder and was standing looking in and still could not see any chick in trouble.  While I was standing there it sounded off again and this time it was coming from between my feet. 

I had forgotten about the little bantam hen that laid her eggs on top the the plastic bag of pine shavings that I was standing over. She had been silently sitting on this nest for 21 days and it paid off.  When I looked down I saw mama hen and one little black chick behind her tail that could not figure out how to get back under his warm mothers feathers.  I gently lifted her tail and shoved him under and all was quite again. 


There is a tiny black head sticking out of mama's feathers next to her head.

I lifted mama hen while my partner took a picture of the little ones.

Mama was soon back on nest and kids were happy again.  They they discovered their food in the dish and started eating for the first time a couple of minutes later.  It is cool here today so they had their first meal and scooted back under mama with their little bellies full.

The brooder is full and all the other chicks are feathered out now I have to find a way to keep mama and these guys warm and safe as winter moves in.  It is supposed to be a low of 39 degrees but mama is well insulated and her body runs a 100 degrees so even though it is cold they are safe in their pine shavings under their 100 degree heater.  I even hung a light over them so they can sneak out for a snack when they want to. 

Hope you all have good warm night.
Roy and the Third Hill Gang.

We Never Thought We Would Be a Failure at Our Age But Some Nice Folks Pointed It Out to Us!

So much as happened since the first of the year.  About 40-50 more dogs and puppies were saved from death in our Southern Shelters and shipped to new homes in the North East.

Tereasa had me pull a young boxer mix from the local shelter where he was scheduled to be put down.  She wanted me to find him a foster until she could get him scheduled for a transport north.  Everyone was busy or "dogged out" so we decided to keep him ourselves it would only be a couple of weeks.  Well we called him Bensen.  He was a really beautiful and active 1 year old boxer mix.  He settled into the pack okay but within two days had gotten out of the yard and killed 2 of my little chickens that run around our yard outside of the dog yard.  He was fast, smart and powerful.  I have one chicken yard that is up against the dog yard fence at the end of the yard. Our dogs could care less about the chickens but Bensen was totally consumed with scaring them by jumping against the gate.  I used to have an electric fence that around the perimeter of the dog yard to discourage digging out from under the fence and it worked real well. We have not had to use it in years but to keep our chickens safe from Bensen, I set up a short piece along the side of the chicken fence and actually wrapped it around the gate where he liked to jump up against.

It did not take long to convince him that the chickens were really not that much fun.  After the second run in with the electric fence he actually lost interest in the chickens the other side of the fence.

He was much easier to get along with after that.  His transport day came and we entertained Tereasa and a van load of dogs and puppies on the road to new forever homes in the north.  Early the next morning We loaded the last of the ones we had collected and I followed her to the Shelter where Alice was waiting with a couple last minute puppies that needed to go north also.

We had about a month and a half  to enjoy the return to normal here on the Third Hill.  As the fates would have it we received a call from Tereasa in Michigan.  She had heard from Alice, (the Patron Saint of Dogs and Cats), at our local shelter and she had a really wonderful boxer mix that had been there too long and was going to be put down unless she could find a rescue to take her.  She had grown very close to this dog as it would stay with her in the office when she worked and was a great ambassador of good will.

I again tried all my friends but "there was no room at the inn".   Lexis was six years old and surrendered  by her owner.  They claimed she was a fence jumper and could not keep her home.  While at the shelter Alice had her tested for Heart Worm and she was positive for them.

We had our dogs on Heart Worm preventative and were not worried about them so we took Miss Lexis home to meet our pack.  She fit in almost immediately and within 24 hours had picked out her favorite spot on the couch.

We knew we had a month to wait for the transport so decided to talk with Tereasa about having her heart worm condition treated while she was with us.  It would make it easier to place her if she traveled as a healthy dog and not in need of treatment.

Tereasa is part of an online group that I have come to learn helps out dogs with financial donations to get treatment for dogs in need with no sponsorship.  This group of wonderful souls came together and came up with the funds for Lexis's treatment.

Tereasa and the group thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and treat her for heart worms before she went on the transport.

We took her to the vets and got an xray to see how far advanced her heart worms had progressed.  We found that she had not become "Clinical" yet but there was some enlarging of the heart and arteries that these worms infest.

By not being "Clinical" she likely would respond to a single treatment of the meds and not have to do a second shot.

We put her on Doxycycline which keeps the adult female worms from being able to give off more eggs and to fight secondary infections.

Two days later we took Miss Lexis in to the vets for her treatment.  This is the same vets that had saved the lives of the two Parvo puppies from back in the winter.  We left her overnight and I called early next morning to see how she was doing.  The response was positive and she was doing well.

We brought her home that afternoon with instructions to keep her quite and on a leash for the next 30 days.
Also that the next few days would be critical as this is when they will be dying and things could go wrong.  We kept her on a leash for 30 days but at the beginning it was a learning experience.  I was with her 24/7 and Dave would help out on the weekends.  The first time I took her into the back yard at night, it was in the wee hours of he morning.  All the dogs  wanted to go out so I put Lexis on her leash and we walked out into the early morning mist and very dark back yard.  Lexis has that wonderful nose to help guide her and all I had was an uneasy feeling that I would run afoul of some of the bushes in the back yard.

We proceeded into the dark yard with Lexis in the  lead and me following like a sightless man on the end of the tether that bound us together.

Lexis was doing good as she searched for the perfect place to go to the bathroom, I on the other hand was trying to do my best to not trip over something and fall flat on my face or a pile of dog poop.  Lexis walks very good on my left side and she guided me through the dark and foggy back yard.  All of a sudden I was attacked by the cold, wet hanging branches of our Butterfly Bush.  Lexis never missed a step as she passed to the left of it and just dragged me straight though the cold, wet limbs of the vicious Butterfly Bush in the dark.  The only good thing with getting dragged though a cold and wet Butterfly Bush is that I was now sure where we were in the layout of the back yard.

She  stopped right after the Butterfly Bush and did her business and made a U turn and led me back to the the safety of the motion light at the end of the porch which turned on right in my face  blinding me.

Once back in the warmth of our living room, Lexis hopped back up on her end of he couch, settled down and resumed her nap.

I, on the other hand, had to go and get a towel and get the wet Butterfly Bush off of my shirt and head.

About the second week into her treatment Lexis had made herself part of the pack and was doing really wonderful.  She had settled in with all 5 of the other dogs and even the cats gave their approval by ignoring her.

One evening Dave and I were at the sink doing dishes and Lexis was setting on the rug behind us watching to see if we dropped any crumbs.  I looked down at her sweet face and said to him, "are we going to be able to give her up when it comes time for her transport?"  He said, "I don;'t think so."

That was all it took and we started the wheels rolling to adopt her.  I called Tereasa and told her of our decision and she said Great!! She was happy as she still did not have a rescue committed to her up there and she was a free agent.

Tereasa posted on the group that had paid for her treatment and fees to get her out of jail and asked if they would mind if Dave and I adopt her.  We had been giving them updates on her and they were more than happy to see her adopted by us.  One person actually told us that we have become Foster Failures by falling in love with this wonderful animal and adopting her.  Well if that is a failure, I am proud to own it.  She has been a real treat to have as part of our family and loves being here.  She even has no interest in the chickens which is a relief.  She does want to be with you as long as you are home and prefers following us around rather than being with the pack on the porch.

We are so lucky to have this sweet girl come into our lives and take up residence.

Here are a few shots of her.

Lexis and Lucy Sharing the couch.

How could you not love a face like this. 

 Oh good, another pillow I can sleep on.

I have received so many emails in the last few days and the need for homes and fosters is at a real high.  Dogs and cats everywhere are flooding the shelters and ending up dead.  We are so thankful we could save this girl and all the others that we have had a hand in sending North.  I am so in awe of the number of people so committed to saving these wonderful animals in fostering, transporting, rescuing or just looking after them in the shelters.

It really does take a pack to save a dog and we are really proud to be  Foster Failures and  members of our pack.

Roy and Dave
From the third hill pack.