Chickens with Salmonella: Should You Worry?

The recent recall of eggs has caused much concern among egg lovers everywhere. It's actually the treatment of chickens in large factory farms that led us to get our own backyard flock. Our chickens are pets, and we do not eat them, but we do love the eggs they give us.

Thelma Lou, Butterball, and Cream Puff

Do we have reason to worry that our chickens might come down with salmonella and pass it on to us through their eggs? 

According to what I'm reading, my chickens have less chance of becoming infected than those in the large farms. Our chickens are our pets, and they roam free in our yard and garden all day. But, we do have some cleaning to do. Barney, Thelma Lou, and the rest of their family sleep in the greenhouse every night to be safe from predators. It's been a while since I've cleaned it. 

Factory raised chickens usually get salmonella when rat droppings get mixed in with their food. We have frisky cats to keep rats out of the greenhouse, so hopefully we don't have to worry about the chickens accidentally eating rat droppings. However, food and water can get soiled with droppings from the chickens too. We do keep the food and water containers clean, but I think it's time for me to scrape all the bedding and soil from the floor of the greenhouse. This material makes wonderful fertilizer when sprinkled in my flower beds, since it is full of chicken manure. That's a chore that is long overdue, so I'll be tackling it later this week.

If you'd like to read more on this topic, there's a wonderful site with much information on raising chickens. I found some useful suggestions about about protecting chickens from salmonella on this site: My Pet Chicken.

Cocoa Mulch: Poison to Pets

Cocoa mulch smells heavenly, just like chocolate, which is why you should not use it if you have a dog. Dogs, like many of us, love chocolate, but chocolate is toxic to them.

Shadow loves sweets

Cocoa Mulch is advertised as a method of keeping cats out of the garden. Cats usually are not attracted to candy, chocolate, or other sweets. 

Lady eats anything!

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's and sold at many home and garden centers in the United States. While Hershey's claims that 98% of all dog's won't eat it, most dogs I know will taste of anything that smells like chocolate. Our beagle pup, shown above, eats plain mulch, so I'm sure she'd eat it if it smelled like chocolate.

For more information, read the entire report on the trusted website for the ASPCA: Cocoa Bean Shell Mulch.

Poison Plants Mean Danger for Your Puppy

As a gardener, I know that many poisonous plants are widely grown both in our homes and in our gardens. This knowledge has never bothered me much. I just made sure poisonous plants were out of reach of my children, just like my cleaning supplies in the cabinet. 

But recently we adopted a new baby--a 5 week old Beagle puppy. And boy let me tell you, she eats everything! 

When I ran across a forum comment today about poisonous plants, I thought, this is something I better check in to. 

A 'poison plant' rating can be earned for many different reasons. Some plants are poisonous only if ingested while others contain or excrete a sap which can be irritating to the skin when touched. Upon reading up on the subject, I learned of at least 393 plants that are poisonous to my little puppy, and I have many of them growing in my garden! 

Many plants commonly grown indoors are poisonous if ingested, so if you have a puppy or a kitten, you should place all plants up out of reach of your little baby. Remember this though, kittens can climb very well. Since my little beagle is too fat for climbing, her short legs won't let her reach my indoor plants. But I'll have to watch her constantly when outdoors.

Holly is a common plant all over the country. If eaten, berries and foliage cause vomiting and diarrhea.

Yew carries more serious complications such as breathing difficulty, seizures, tremors, and sudden death, in addition to vomiting.

I was very surprised to learn that leaves and stems of the apple tree contain cyanide which, if ingested, can cause difficulty breathing. 

Nothing is more beautiful than a Red Maple in fall, but once wilting begins, toxicity increases and ingested leaves are poisonous to cats, dogs, and horses. 

Ingestion of Azalea blooms or foliage carries many symptoms from diarrhea to paralysis or even death. 

This knowledge makes me wonder if I should rethink gardening as a hobby. Our love for animals has always been large. And I wonder how so many animals live so well among all these hidden dangers? 

The truth is, most dogs and cats don't go around eating plants in the garden. But puppies and kittens are babies, and just like a ten month old child crawling and exploring the world around him, everything goes in the mouth. 

It is our job to protect that little puppy, so container plants must go up off the floor. And when outdoors, my eyes will be on that little pup (we haven't named her yet!) to insure that she doesn't come to any harm. 

The ASPSA website has an extensive list of both toxic and nontaxic plants. A whopping 445 toxic plants are listed, so you might want to follow the link below to find out which plants in your garden are toxic.

ASPCA Toxic Plants List

Beneficial Insects in a Georgia Garden

When many people see an insect, the first impulse is to kill it. But not all insects are pests, and many are beneficial insects, meaning they do good things like eat harmful insects and pollinate flowers. When we use pesticides to control insect pests, we also kill the good bugs. 

You probably already know Ladybugs or Lady Beetles are beneficial insects, feeding on aphids, scales, and mealybugs. But did you know that the larvae of ladybugs look like tiny little alligators and eat even more pests than their parents? 

Ladybug larva

Lacewings are fragile-looking insects with delicate, lacy green or brown wings, large eyes, and long antennae. Their larvae feed on aphids, scales, mealybugs, whiteflies, and young caterpillars. 

Lacewing

The Praying Mantis will eat almost any insect (yes, they will eat the good bugs too and will even eat each other!) 

Praying Mantis

Parasitic Wasps are usually too small for you to see, but you might spot signs of their presence. If you find a crispy-looking brown, inflated aphid attached to a leaf, it was probably the victim of a parasitic wasp that laid its eggs in the aphid so its offspring would have something to eat when they hatched. You might also see caterpillars, cabbage loopers or hornworms carrying around cocoons of developing wasps. Parasitic Wasps lay their eggs on the back of soft caterpillars so their young will have a convenient food source upon hatching. (Yuck!) This summer you might see the Tomato Hornworm eating up the leaves and even the green tomatoes on your tomato plants. The best control is to pick them off and destroy them, but if you see one with loads of small white things that look like clusters of rice, just leave it alone—the white things are eggs of the wasp. 

Larva of the Parasitic Wasp on a Hornworm

Granddaddy Spiders, or you might call them Daddy Longlegs, though perhaps not insects but arachnids, are indeed helpful in the garden. They eat aphids, mites, and other garden pests. I didn't feel like uploading a picture of a spider, even though they are beneficial creatures.

These are just a few of the many beneficial insects in our gardens. Beneficial insects can be purchased from mail-order sources, but you can attract them into your garden without purchasing them. The best way to attract these beneficial insects to your garden is to just plant more flowers and herbs!

Gardening Shady Style: Blog Encompassing My Thoughts on Gardening and Family Life

In an effort to consolidate my time into one blog, thus having more time to spend with my babies, all announcements, articles, posts, and updates will be entered on our main blog: Gardening Shady Style. 

I am a woman of many interests, but all center around family, gardening, and animals. Please visit me there when you get a chance, and read my thoughts which might be about any one of my particular interests. I hope to be a help to some and an inspiration to others. Please feel comfortable to share with me your thoughts. Please enjoy Gardening Shady Style.