Free Republic

I would just watch them for the next few days. The stress of the move & the change in food(including the cabbage)may be to blame.
If they look otherwise healthy & active, I don’t think you should be concerned. If they’re seriously ill, they definitely won’t look like happy chickens.

I’ve never raised Orpingtons, just Barred Rocks, R.I.Reds, & the standard brown-egg hybrid layers. I’ve heard good things about the Orpingtons’ personalities.Friends who raise them say they’re one of the friendliest breeds & I hope that everything works out well for you. Please let us know how it turns out. Good Luck!!!!

That’s blossom end rot, just as several people have said.

And like a few people have advised, adding lime to the soil helps. But there’s more to it than that....you also have to water thoroughly.
Blossom end rot usually shows up in dry years. The plants don’t have enough water to transport the naturally occurring calcium(in the soil)to the rapidly developing fruit(pepper,tomato,etc).

My own garden contains plenty of calcium(limestone bedrock in my area) yet I get tomato & pepper blossom end rot during droughts, when the fruit is developing.

Water very thoroughly, at least once a week & the new fruits that are just forming should be just fine. You can apply lime,too, if you feel your soil lacks it...But unless you water more thoroughly, it won’t do any good.

http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Tomato_BlossRt.htm

Good Luck

Please try to cheer up. I’m sure your dog is fine.
And I don’t think anyone’s lying to you, either. The mother told you they were going away & they planned to take your dog along with their own dogs....You had the opportunity to say “no” at that point, but you OK’d it.

(They may have had every intention of staying home,when they agreed to doggie-sit, but their plans may have changed & they felt this was the best solution for both of your families.)

Now it seems their mother’s ill & they can’t come home on schedule.
You’ve told us these people aren’t lowlife or criminals. They sound like a respectable family & responsible petowners, themselves.
I think you should just be patient in the knowledge that they’ve cared for your beloved pet previously & that they’re caring for her properly now.

This is absolutely NOT a police matter, in imo.
No one’s stolen your 1.5 yo dog.(For heaven’s sake, this is your daughter’s friend & you’ve known them over a year.)
It just seems like an unavoidable,unexpected delay & I’ll bet they want to get home ASAP themselves.

I hope you find it in your heart to say a prayer for their sick mother & I’ll say a prayer for your father.
Please try to be calm & put this all in perspective.....plans change & ****(stuff) happens. Let us all know when your pooch arrives home ....I just know she will soon.
God Bless

I took the trouble(actually it was a pleasure!) to read seven other essays before I voted.....this one is certainly the best written & most interesting! Your nephew earned my vote & I’m sending links to my friends.

Wild grapes (vitis riparia & vitis labrusca) still grow in Quebec, all along the St. Lawrence. They are much more cold-tolerant than European grapes. Native N. American grapes in no way indicate a warm climate at that time (or the present time, either.)