Keeping hens and ducks chat.

Cheery_Daff

Evening chicken pals! 

Edwink, how is Hoppy? Is she venturing out? Our two old ladies have spent most of today in their little hen house, for no good reason I can see. I spent most of the day thinking it was a protest at us taking them to the vets, but actually that was Friday and they came out yesterday, so I have no idea. The weather has been vile, and we have had some shouty small child visitors, but we've not really been outside so they've had no interaction with the chickens. 

Anyway, Bonnie and Bunty came in the house, and Bonnie took her medicine like a good girl (it was disguised in a series of grapes). Rusty, as usual, was slightly less cooperative - she had 3 out of the five 'poisoned' graps but then got suspicious and wouldn't eat the other two. Pesky creature. I'm less worried about that - the vet couldn't actually find anything wrong with her, and just gave her anti-inflammatories as a precaution in case it made her feel a bit better, so I'm not going to make her too stressed trying to get them into her. If it was antibiotics I'd persist more. She did blood tests, so we'll see what the results say. 

It looks like the electrician is coming tomorrow, and I am off to work, so they'll be shut in the run all day, but I *think* we have no builders for the rest of the week, so maybe it'll feel a little more back to normal for them? Who knows. 

Hope you and all your feathery pals are cheerful and well

edwink

Cheery_Daff said:Evening chicken pals!  Edwink, how is Hoppy? Is she venturing out? Our two old ladies have spent most of today in their little hen house, for no good reason I can see. I spent most of the day thinking it was a protest at us taking them to the vets, but actually that was Friday and they came out yesterday, so I have no idea. The weather has been vile, and we have had some shouty small child visitors, but we've not really been outside so they've had no interaction with the chickens. 

Anyway, Bonnie and Bunty came in the house, and Bonnie took her medicine like a good girl (it was disguised in a series of grapes). Rusty, as usual, was slightly less cooperative - she had 3 out of the five 'poisoned' graps but then got suspicious and wouldn't eat the other two. Pesky creature. I'm less worried about that - the vet couldn't actually find anything wrong with her, and just gave her anti-inflammatories as a precaution in case it made her feel a bit better, so I'm not going to make her too stressed trying to get them into her. If it was antibiotics I'd persist more. She did blood tests, so we'll see what the results say.  

Hi Cheery and everyone with feathered friends

Thank you for asking about Hoppy, Cheery.  She is indeed venturing out so it appears she was just having a lie in bed day but still eating and drinking and having a day off. It was only the second time she has ever done that so thankfully it isn't a regular occurrence, bless her.  She has become a bit snappy these days and does get grumpy with us which I wish she wouldn't to be honest. She doesn't waddle/walk very well and hasn't for years now so as she has got older and slower we pick her up and lower her into the pond and when she has finished paddling about she will get out in her own time then later she will waddle back to her run and we'll keep an eye on her and shut the door behind her.  The things we do for our feathered friends eh?. She would struggle to walk there and back to the pond these days.  It is normally when we pick her up that she has started snapping at us and has bitten Mr Edwink twice now. She hasn't drawn blood from his arm but she snaps and won't let go of the flesh, naughty girl she is. We have carried her to her pond for a good couple of years now so you would think she would be fine with the experience, maybe she is but is just getting old and grumpy. 

Glad Bonnie is being a good girl for you, it really does make all the difference if they cooperate with medication as you know.  How about Rusty now have you managed to get it all into her yet, the "poison" grapes I mean?.  I did have a chuckle when I read that in your post. Not that she didn't take the grapes of course but the fact you called them poisoned. When will you get the results of the blood tests?.  Sometimes hens just have a few off days so maybe she was having some of those, I know mine do from time to time.

I've got a hen here that was acting a little strange yesterday but today she appears to be fine although her comb is not as red as it was. I do like to see their combs looking like the hens comb on the front of the Kellogs cornflake packet 🤣🤣🤣🤣 because that is one bright red and healthy comb for sure. 

Take care

Edwink x

Otorra

I am very happy when people have their own village pets.   But I am very afraid of them. And if I find out that they were killed, I somehow feel uneasy. Although I love to eat products from them.

edwink

Otorra said:

I am very happy when people have their own village pets.   But I am very afraid of them. And if I find out that they were killed, I somehow feel uneasy. Although I love to eat products from them.

Hi Otorra

Thank you for posting on our hen and ducks friendly thread.  

Before I kept hens myself I was afraid of them, in fact, I was terrified of all birds and anything that flapped its wings, and that included moths and butterflies too. Thankfully now as a hen keeper of 12 years, I am not in the least bit frightened of them but I am used to them now of course. All of the hen keepers on this thread keep their hens as pets which is so nice and all of us have names for our hens, not forgetting my little duck Hoppy of course. 

Hens that are looked after well often produce beautiful orange egg yolks, unlike the pale yellow yolks that are often sold in the shops. Not all are pale yellow though as a lot depends on how the hens are fed and looked after. The keepers on here often spoil their feathered friends because they are kept as pets and also because there is nothing better than watching a hen run off with a grape sticking out of its beak. 

Some of the hen keepers on here have had rescue hens that have reached ripe old ages in fact one of my rescue girls lived until she was nearly 5 years old.  Rescue girls at age 18 months at rescue date are expected to live for around 2 years to 2.5 years after rescue so would normally reach around 4 years of age. Like others on here, we would never just get rid of our hens even when old and frail and if they are very poorly we would take them to the vet and let the vet decide on what course of action is in the hens best interest. Normally Non-rescue hens live longer than rescue girls and indeed that has been the case here with the hens we have kept that were not rescue girls. Cheery_Daff on this thread has a mix of both hens like we used to, I really liked having a mix and hope to again one day. It is easier to give them names and identify them with a mix of colours because the majority of rescue hens are ginger or any shade thereof whereas non rescue hens come in so many different colours.

Edwink x

Cheery_Daff

Welcome Otorra  

Edwink, glad to hear Hoppy is doing ok, and I hope your other little hen has a nice red comb again now! 

We had the blood test results back - slightly high levels of uric acid, which might be as a result of previous illness, or because she's not eating properly, or just 'one of those things'. Not really high enough to justify medication, but not low enough to be happy about. We're taking both of them back for a check up this afternoon. 

And - big news - I'm just about to reserve a couple of new hens We're down to four, and while I don't want to think what might happen in the future, two of ours are old, and one of the old ones and one of the new ones are poorly.... Going to ring up now to reserve them, and they'll be ready in a couple of weeks

Cheery_Daff

Evening chicken pals,

All a bit gloomy here. We took the ladies to the vets yesterday, and sadly our usual vet was off. On the good side, Bonnie seems to have recovered and is no longer on medication, thank goodness. She seems bright and bouncy and cheerful.

Rusty isn't though 😕 Vet still couldn't see anything specific, although I thought her crop was a bit too full of liquid given how little she's been eating. Got some steroids to try to perk her up enough to eat something, and an appointment next Friday, with maybe an x-ray if she needs it. 

Today though, she seems worse, and I now suspect sour crop 😕 Crop is still liquidy,  and when you pick her up her breath smells, which is a classic sign, although we've not had one with it before.

I did manage to get hold of the vets before they shut, and he emailed me a prescription for anti biotics, which I should be able to collect from another vet on Monday - we found some here leftover from a sadly departed chicken. 

Not entirely convinced antibiotics are the right thing for sour crop... and I do wish the usual vet had been there, but we've done all we can really. I'm glad we've got the hang of giving tablets to the older ones now. She's had two doses of steroids and two doses of antibiotics now, so I do hope she perks up a bit overnight. All fingers crossed xx

I've given the house and run a good clean out, washed all the food and water bowls, removed old bowls etc and generally spruced things up, and I don't think there's really anything else we can do now 😕 The vets opens 8am Monday and they've said we can ring and go if we need to and they'll be able to drain her crop if necessary. So fingers crossed she lasts that long 😕

edwink

Aww, Cheery, your poor little hen.  From what you say especially about her breath smelling it certainly does indicate that she has Sour Crop. Do you have any apple cider vinegar? if so you could withhold any food and water from her which will allow her crop to naturally drain over say 24 hours. Then syringe some dilute apple cider vinegar into her mouth and make sure she swallows it all.

The only problem I can see is that she is on meds from the vets so I really don't know if the apple cider vinegar would maybe stop them working. Really could not answer that one I'm afraid.  I just know about the home remedy for Sour Crop which poultry keepers use.  I would also be worried that perhaps her meds would stop the Apple Cider Vinegar from working. 

It's so difficult to know what to do sometimes, isn't it?. I am glad you have managed to speak to a vet but as you say that vet is not your usual one. 

Please do let us know how she is when you can.  The best you can do for now is make sure she doesn't get picked on by the others if she is being quiet, bless her.

Edwink x

Cheery_Daff

Thanks edwink xx

The vet is at our usual practice, so I do have some faith, but just not as much as with our usual vet. We've put ACV in their water, but she's not really eating or drinking anything anyway... I'm hoping it will drain away over the next day or so, especially with this medicine. He did say to massage her crop gently every now and then to see if we can help things along, which we've been doing.

Fortunately she's not being picked on - Bessie (our leader) is her good pal, and the youngsters wouldn't dare... 

They're all nice and cosy in the hen house now, all snuggled up together in one nest box, so I hope she'll at least have a good rest.

edwink

Cheery_Daff said:

Thanks edwink xx

The vet is at our usual practice, so I do have some faith, but just not as much as with our usual vet. We've put ACV in their water, but she's not really eating or drinking anything anyway... I'm hoping it will drain away over the next day or so, especially with this medicine. He did say to massage her crop gently every now and then to see if we can help things along, which we've been doing.

Fortunately she's not being picked on - Bessie (our leader) is her good pal, and the youngsters wouldn't dare... 

They're all nice and cosy in the hen house now, all snuggled up together in one nest box, so I hope she'll at least have a good rest.

Yes, do massage her crop as that can help with getting things moving.  Have you got a syringe? If so you could get some ACV into her mouth in the morning and make sure she swallows it.

Edwink x

Cheery_Daff

Thanks edwink 😊

We've been to the vets again today, and they've flushed out her crop. Apparently it had a bit of scrunched up long grass stuck right at the bottom, which may have been causing an issue. It was a bit fermented in there, but not as bad as some they've seen. 

They also gave her some Critical Care (which they described as the chicken equivalent of lucozade) and she did seem a little brighter after. She's had a bit of actual food this afternoon as well - first time I've seen her eating for a few days. 

Still on antibiotics, returning on Friday, and we'll see. She has a small tumour near her rear end which they've been keeping an eye on, but which doesn't seem to be the issue, but they said there may be another one in there somewhere. Sigh.

But we'll keep encouraging her for now. The Critical Care stuff seemed to be passing through, so fingers crossed there isn't a blockage. 

Hope all your beaky friends are doing ok.