The Boston Flower Show used to be a prestigious event that filled a cavernous convention hall. Things changed, the organizers had financial difficulties, and it disappeared for awhile. Last week the The Flower Show returned to Boston, and although it was in a smaller space, with far fewer exhibitors, it was still worth the drive into the city.

It’s a place to take note of plants that I’m not familiar with – which is a good many of them! I’m not much of a plantsman, (don’t ask me to name what I’ve planted a year after they’re in the ground) but I do have a good eye for texture and color. I think that this shiny fern would fit nicely into my shade garden.

The garden show is always a source of inspiration for my patio. Just look at these garden poufs. I think I need to learn how to knit with very big needles!

I enjoyed browsing through the vendors’ stalls. I bought some seeds and gardening gloves. I did not buy these pricey soaps, but I did stop to admire the packaging.

The Boston Flower Show used to be a highlight of the social season, and the “ladies who lunch” would dress up and spend a day strolling the aisles. There was still fashion to be seen, but this time the hats needed watering.

There were a few grand garden displays, but this twee exhibit was my favorite. There’s even a chick tractor. Charming, isn’t it?

It’s a miniature!

The Flower Show is always held in March. I’ve driven home from the show in sleet, and in snow, and bundled up in a winter coat. This year I drove home with the windows down, went right out to the garden and planted the braising mix seed pack that I bought at the show. Gardening season is officially here. Early.

Only two weeks after my cochlear implant surgery, the swelling had subsided enough that I could be “activated.” Last Thursday I spent a couple of hours with my audiologist getting the device turned on. There’s a tiny string of electrodes coiled inside my cochlea. It’s powered by a small, battery-powered device that I wear propped behind my ear, and that is connected to my head with a magnet. It looks like a hearing aid. An external microphone picks up sounds and sends signals through the magnet, to the electrodes which zap my auditory nerve. The nerve sends a message to the brain. Sound! But, it’s nothing like the sound that comes naturally through the eardrum. The brain has to learn what these signals mean. It’s different for everyone.

I’ve worked with my audiologist, Nancy, for the last year. She’s an attractive woman, my age, with a clear and steady voice. I could immediately understand what she was saying! However, with the CI turned on, she sounded like Minnie Mouse. This was to be expected, but still disconcerting! With time, voices become more natural. By the next day, Steve was sounding like Miss Piggy, which was, if you can believe it, an improvement. It can take months for voices to become normal. I went through this with my left ear, and am now hearing full, rich sound through that CI. Each ear is different, and success on one side doesn’t guarantee success on the other. However, I’m confident that in a short time, weeks, maybe, I’ll no longer be hearing cartoon characters. My work is to listen, listen, listen. I’m watching captioned movies, I’m listening to the radio – it’s astounding that I can hear the radio at all, let alone understand the voices. And I must say, that I find it rather amusing that the sonorous and serious talking heads on NPR sound like Kermit the Frog talking to Alvin and the Chipmunks.

The CI is bringing in a lot of input that my brain has yet to make sense of. There’s a constant background noise of what sounds like a whiny bathroom fan. But, yesterday, walking across the yard, I heard a cluck. A definite, low-pitched cluck. I’m not sure who was talking.

When I turned around and looked, their beaks were closed.

On the other hand, the goats have decided to be very helpful with my auditory rehab.

Thanks, Caper.

I’m heading out to the Boston Flower and Garden Show this morning. I’m looking forward to seeing the display of flower arrangement “hats” that were inspired by the royal wedding. I’m looking forward to the pristine garden displays with every plant fully and perfectly in bloom. But, I have to confess that I really go for the vendor area. The last time there I found socks embroidered with chickens. And I’m hoping to buy interesting seeds for the vegetable garden. But not too many. Really.

Meanwhile, I have a few miscellaneous things to share with you.

The winner of The Chicken Encyclopedia is Stephenie (she blogs about homeschooling in Cajun country and has been giving lots of TLC to a blind hen.) Thanks to everyone for entering. It was very interesting to hear your questions.

I know that some of you are filling Easter baskets. Please consider adding Tillie Lays An Egg to the Easter bunny’s gifts. It lasts longer than chocolate!

There are still a few opening for the March 31 Chicken Keeping Workshop here at Little Pond Farm. I’d love to meet you!

Remember my post about the best way to hard-cook eggs and how steaming is THE way if you are using very fresh eggs? I use a pot and a steamer basket, but check out how cute this is! Looks just like Tillie, doesn’t she?

If you’ve ever searched for good, solid information about raising chickens, you’ve found it in Gail Damerow’s books. Actually, much of the advice out there on the internet originally came from Gail’s writings (often passed around so many times that she is no longer credited.) When I started out with chickens more than fifteen years ago, (before Google!) the go-to source for advice were Gail’s Chicken Health Handbook and her Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, and her books continue to be the first place that I look for answers to my chicken-keeping questions.

Over the years, I’ve learned from Gail’s sage advice, and adapted it to a climate, set-up and perspective that is different than hers. Gail has a sustainable hobby farm in Tennessee, with many productive animals; I have a small flock of hens, some laying, some retired, tucked into a suburban neighborhood in New England. Despite the differences, Gail and I have plenty of commonalities. So, when the folks at Storey Publishing asked me if I’d host a Q & A with Gail on my blog to promote her most recent book, The Chicken Encyclopedia, I jumped at the chance. And what do you think was the one thing I wanted to ask her about? Something pretty, like a fancy chicken breed? Or maybe what she thinks about using broody hens for incubation? No. Of course nothing that charming. I’ve been thinking about gapeworms. These are parasites that live in the chicken’s throat and actually makes the bird gasp for air. It’s an icky, disgusting topic – perfect for the interview!

Luckily, I’ve never seen gapeworm myself. But, every so often someone asks me about a hen who has her neck stretched out and sort-of coughing. Could it be gapeworm? Surely, Gail must have seen them firsthand. Here is my email conversation with Gail:

Terry: Have you had any cases of gapeworm on your farm?

Gail: Not on this farm, where we’ve lived for 30 years. Gapeworm is not all that common. But I recall seeing it some 40+ years ago, when I first started out with chickens.

Terry: Is it true that a chicken with gapeworms looks similar to one that has a respiratory disease?

Gail: Yes.

Terry: How is it the same?

Gail: The chicken gasps, sneezes, coughs, and develops general symptoms of disease (loss of energy, loss of appetite, etc.)

Terry: How is it different?

Gail: The chicken makes grunting sounds, stretches its neck and appears to be yawning, shakes its head in trying to dislodge worms from its windpipe, and sometimes coughs up a worm.

Terry: Can you actually look down the throat and see the worms, or is a firm diagnosis only done with a necropsy? Fecal test?

Gail: Looking in the throat you might see lumps, which may or may not be gapeworm. If the infestation is really severe, and you can crank the chicken’s mouth open and peer down with a flashlight, you might spot attached worms. Finding a gapeworm (which can be up to 2 cm long) that’s been coughed up would offer a definitive diagnosis. A fecal test would reveal gapeworm eggs in the droppings.

Terry: Do you recommend a wormer?

Gail: The most common parasitic worm in chickens is roundworm, for which the most common wormer (and the only one approved for use with poultry) is Piperazine, which does not affect gapeworm. For that you need something stronger and off-label, such as ivermectin.

Terry: Thanks for shedding some light on this rather icky, wiggly, subject!

This exchange is a good reminder that you should seek advice from chicken keepers with years of experience. Use caution and commonsense when looking for answers on-line. If you do an internet search for chicken respiratory issues, gapeworm will pop up, as if this is a prevalent cause of breathing issues. I’ve seen countless on-line discussions which toss up gapeworms as a probable cause for coughing in a flock. It’s like when you have a sore throat, troll online for ideas for relief, and an hour later you’re sure that your windpipe will have to be removed due to a rare, tropical disease! If Gail hasn’t seen a case of gapeworms in 40 years, then it’s unlikely that you will. Which is a good thing. Gapeworms sure sound nasty.

(If you do have first-hand experience with gapeworms, I’l like to hear about it!)

GIVEAWAY! I have one copy of The Chicken Encyclopedia to give away. All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this blog telling me what you would have asked Gail. (But, since I can’t do another interview with her, I’ll answer them the best that I can.) The contest ends March 17 at 10 pm EDT. Storey will be mailing the book directly to the winner, and has limited this giveaway to addresses in the US. (I appreciate my international readers, and I promise that I’ll have another giveaway soon that will include you!)

update: this contest is now closed. Thanks to everyone for entering!

More than a dozen blogs were on this tour. You can see the other stops here: