Keeping hens and ducks chat.

edwink

Cheery_Daff said: Indeed - that's exactly how I feel about it. He just gets so attached to them, and then so upset when they go. 

We're talking about possibly having a core flock (2 or 3) of heritage breed ones that will last a while, then a couple of rescues at a time on top, then at least we're not likely to lose them all to old age around the same time. But obviously there are no guarantees! 

Anyway, no decisions yet. Primary goal is to get Bessie through to see the specialist vet on Monday morning...

Cheery that's exactly what we did before we lost the last of our first 12 rescue hens.  Because we felt the loss of these girls was, for want of a better word, quick and definitely quicker than we expected and I'll be honest and say it made us feel very sad that their lives were so short.  The first rescue girl, we lost within 6 months, then another before the first year was up and then slowly one after the other until we had 4 rescue girls left at around 18 months. 

We knew that we wanted to keep rescue hens because from our short experience at that time we were certain we could make a difference to their lives and give them a nice retirement with us, or should I say a jolly spoilt one with us? 😊  We went down the route of purchasing 8 hens of different breeds for some variety of their characters and their different colours as it was much easier to give them names especially with a big flock.

We chose a white star (white with big floppy comb), an Amber Star (Cream coloured), 2 Bluebells (silver-grey coloured), 2 Black Stars (black with gold head & necks) and a Speckled hen (mixed grey/white colouring). There was another but at silly-o-clock, in the morning I can not recall her colouring, Mmmm!! I'll add that info tomorrow  😊  We then had 4 old rescue girls and 8 new hens so back to the 12 we started with. They mixed very well and I will admit that it was lovely having the different breeds as they all had different characters.  The lovely White Star was very Skittish and ran around the place like a looney, quite nervous initially but in her older years, she became very tame.  The Amber Star had such a beautiful nature and was very tame from the start, sat on my lap almost immediately and followed me about. One of the Bluebells became the top hen in the end and both were relaxed and calm and they were sort of posh girls in a way, always washing and really looked after their feathers the whole time. Now to the Speckled hen, she was lovely and in her older years became extremely tame but growing up she drove me mad because every year without fail she was broody. I would get her off the eggs, remove the eggs but within minutes of turning my back she would be sitting in the nesting box again waiting for more eggs to be laid so she could sit on them. She was such a character she really was, I truly miss her even though she drove me mad, bless her. 

Later as the number of our hens went down we added more rescue girls again and again. We will certainly rehome some more ex-battery girls eventually but before then we have decided to purchase some.  Our experience of doing this before worked extremely well and we were very pleased we chose to go down that route. For sure they can and do live a lot longer than the ex-battery girls and we certainly found that was easier to live with. It was nice having the variety of colourings and different breeds but we will still always have rescue hens because we know we can give these little hens a good retirement home which is something every one of them deserves.

I wanted to share our little adventure story with you Cheery because your thoughts on adding other breeds is an excellent idea and it does work, really it does. I do hope it goes well at the vet's on Monday and you get some answers to what is happening with little Bessie.  I know how difficult it is when they are unwell and you are desperately searching for answers so you can treat them to make them better again.  Keep your chin up both of you.

Take care

Edwink x 

ETA:- I've slept on it and now I remember the 8th hen was a Light Sussex (white with black head and neck feathers) another posh hen. 

Pyxis

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CHEERY'S HEN DO CLUCKDOWN!:

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

🐓🐓...hen days to go ...and clucking!

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Cheery_Daff

We're currently sat waiting for Bessie to come out of the specialist chicken vets 🙄 They're draining her abdomen which is full of fluid - that will be why she's not breathing properly as chickens don't have diaphragms (did you know that?! I didn't!) so any fluid will affect heart, lungs etc too.

Vet said from looking at fluid (which is clear) it's not egg peritonitis, which is good - but it could be some kind of heart disease or something 🙄 we're sat in a car park by some trees while they drain her fluid off, and do some blood tests. She's rapidly turning into our most expensive chicken... 🙄

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff said:

We're currently sat waiting for Bessie to come out of the specialist chicken vets 🙄 They're draining her abdomen which is full of fluid - that will be why she's not breathing properly as chickens don't have diaphragms (did you know that?! I didn't!) so any fluid will affect heart, lungs etc too.

Vet said from looking at fluid (which is clear) it's not egg peritonitis, which is good - but it could be some kind of heart disease or something 🙄 we're sat in a car park by some trees while they drain her fluid off, and do some blood tests. She's rapidly turning into our most expensive chicken... 🙄

Aw! Poor Bessie. ☹️
Let's hope the tests are ok.
You are her loveliest mum!



Which reminds me....sorry, got sidetracked this morning by some family upset stuff.....

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

CHEERY'S HEN DO CLUCKDOWN!:

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓🐓

🐓...hen days to go ...and clucking!

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Cheery_Daff

Thanks Pyxis x

Please don't feel you need to apologize for missing the countdown! I've stopped counting altogether anyway while we sort Bessie out!

Speaking of which... they drained 240ml of fluid from her abdomen (half a pint! That's a lot for a chicken!) She's on diuretics for a while, they're doing blood tests, and we have to go back next week for a check up (it's a 3 hour round trip so this is not a minor undertaking!) 

She's parked right up though, apparently breathing was looking better and she was being more pesky even while they were draining it 🙄😂 Such a good girl in the car and showed great interest in mealworms and grapes when we got her back.

Definitely winning the Most Expensive Chicken Award though - £162 today, and that doesn't include the £50 from the other vet on Friday, or going back for a check up... 😮

Pyxis

Cheery_Daff said:

Thanks Pyxis x

Please don't feel you need to apologize for missing the countdown! I've stopped counting altogether anyway while we sort Bessie out!

Speaking of which... they drained 240ml of fluid from her abdomen (half a pint! That's a lot for a chicken!) She's on diuretics for a while, they're doing blood tests, and we have to go back next week for a check up (it's a 3 hour round trip so this is not a minor undertaking!) 

She's parked right up though, apparently breathing was looking better and she was being more pesky even while they were draining it 🙄😂 Such a good girl in the car and showed great interest in mealworms and grapes when we got her back.

Definitely winning the Most Expensive Chicken Award though - £162 today, and that doesn't include the £50 from the other vet on Friday, or going back for a check up... 😮

Sounds like her eggs are the most expensive eggs ever, as well! 😁😁

You're being rewarded, though! 👏👏👏

edwink

Cheery_Daff said:

Thanks Pyxis x
Please don't feel you need to apologize for missing the countdown! I've stopped counting altogether anyway while we sort Bessie out!
Speaking of which... they drained 240ml of fluid from her abdomen (half a pint! That's a lot for a chicken!) She's on diuretics for a while, they're doing blood tests, and we have to go back next week for a check up (it's a 3 hour round trip so this is not a minor undertaking!) 
She's parked right up though, apparently breathing was looking better and she was being more pesky even while they were draining it 🙄😂 Such a good girl in the car and showed great interest in mealworms and grapes when we got her back.

Definitely winning the Most Expensive Chicken Award though - £162 today, and that doesn't include the £50 from the other vet on Friday, or going back for a check up... 😮

Wow, Cheery definitely the most expensive little hen there is.  We've had some vet bills over the years but never that amount from memory for a single hen.  Our bills have been in the region of £40 to £60 at a time but we have not had to take any hens for specialist treatment like you have today.  Hope all will be well with her blood test results next week, fingers crossed 😊

I am glad her breathing has improved as that is good positive progress with her and a good sign as you know that she is wanting to eat.  What a lucky hen to be given grapes and mealworms when she got back home.  I've mostly found mine have been good on car rides, just sitting on my lap watching the world go by 🐔🚗

Let us hope she continues to improve, bless her.

Edwink x

Cheery_Daff

Impressed that they sit on your lap in the car! Bessie was in a kind of crate thing in the back, all comfy cosy with food etc. But she was still very good. We had Rusty loose in the car once when we spotted her in the neighbour's garden on the way home - she stood on Mr Cheery's knee while I drove down our drive, flapping and balancing and squarking and definitely not sitting quietly! Wouldn't risk one of our pesky menaces in the car without being locked up 😂

Pyxis

Just thought..........how does one become a hen specialist (vet)?

Given that very, very few commercial hens would be bothered with, if any, if they were unwell, but would just be culled, it's amazing that a vet would specialise in them.  

Cheery_Daff

I don't think any of them are specialists in ONLY chickens - you're right that so many of them are commercial it wouldn't really be worth it. This practice specializes in 'exotics' so I think maybe they attract vets who do more unusual stuff, or perhaps they're more likely to be knowledgeable about birds generally. The other practice that's a bit closer just has one vet who has a special interest in chickens (he's on holiday at the minute) - not sure whether he's been on a special course or not but they're registered on the Chicken Vet website too. 

I suppose a fair bit of bird stuff would transfer to chickens, although they'll have some stuff that is particular to them. But I'm guessing that most vets see mostly cats and dogs and rabbits, so don't get much practice. Certainly one of the local vets we saw recently with one of the others said he was dredging stuff up from his university days so clearly not done much chicken vet work lately. 

Anyway I was very grateful for the knowledgeable woman I saw today!