May is here (already!) and fur most growing zones, it's officially gardening season! Is anyone growing a garden? I'd love to hear about it! I'm very behind in my garden revamping project and going slowly but surely. My husband and I built raised garden beds...one 8'x8', two 2'x12', three 4'x12', and five 4'x14' beds. We had over 16,000 pounds (yes, you read that right...8 tons!) of soil compost mix delivered to our house and moved it from the front driveway to back of the yard by shovel and wheelbarrow. So many trips back and forth, miles walked, and we still need the 563 cubic feet of garden space is only half full. I built hoop row covers and we got irrigation kits to install. We got 3 varieties of raspberries, 2 blackberries, two blueberries, 2 peach trees, a fig tree, 2 varieties of asparagus, a concord grape vine, and 6 small pomegranate seedlings. More kinds of veggies and herbs than I can list here. It's been a massive project but it's going to pay off! I'm exhausted but excited about our future mini farm.

A little background info: You may or may not know that our group is blessed to have an avian vet as a member! Earlier this year I asked Nisana Miller for advice about my girl Hennietta, who had an infection in the spring of 2025, was treated by my local avian vet, and she hasn't laid an egg since last April. A few days ago she was injured when she fell from her roosting bars overnight, and I reached out to her again for advice. I'm sharing our conversation with her permission. Thank you for everything, Nisana!! Jan 17th 2026 Nisana Miller 6:55pm Hey! Just wanted to ask a couple questions. So she stopped laying before going onto antibiotics? Jan 18th 2026 Debbi Jesse 9:55pm Yes. About a month before. At first I thought she might have vent gleet, even though it didn't look like "textbook" case. I treated her with Monistat 7 day, no change, so I took her to the vet. They did X-rays and vent swab. Doc said she found coccidia, but it wasn't coccidiosis. They put her on antibiotics. She's been healthy and normal ever since. She even gets in the nesting boxes from time to time. She wants to lay an egg, but nothing ever happens. She even sings when she leaves the box like she laid an egg. It's so weird! Jan 19th 2026 Nisana Miller 11:07am That is odd, I know the antibiotic she was on can cause a delay in coming back to production, usually about a month or two but not this long usually. It was likely a bacterial infection, hence why she got better after treatment. Sometimes they can get infections in their reproductive tract that mess with the tissue and they aren’t able to form an egg correctly. As we come into spring, let me know how she does. Sadly it may just be that the infection messed with her reproductive tract enough that she isn’t going to lay anymore, but it might just take time to heal. I’m glad she is at least feeling better and acting normal. May 13th 2026 Debbi Jesse 10:06pm Hey Nisana! Two days ago, my 2 year old hen, Hennietta, fell about 4 feet from her roosting bar during the night. She had minor injuries, a swollen ankle and bruised on her chest below her crop.

12 - 1 = 15... After mysteriously and suddenly losing my favorite girl, Morticia, my husband felt bad for me. For my birthday at the end of March, he surprised me and took me to get new chicks! He even gave me permission to have a house chicken (now or in the future)! My new girls are now a month old, zooming, flapping, jumping , and enjoying their new feathers. What a wonderful age! Is anyone else currently raising spring chicks? Share your pictures with us!

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