Carol's Chickens

I have agonised over the decision about Dandelion.  I have had many tearful moments. I have gone round and round the options and keep coming back to the same thing. With no tylan available to me I can’t risk keeping Dandelion. If she relapses again with no treatment our whole flock is at risk.

I decided to make an appointment at the vets for Monday afternoon giving us the weekend with Dandelion. I will spend time with her, take photos and give her treats. She can have as many sunflower hearts as she likes.

Dandelion

I have just taken this photo of Dandelion. She looks so beautiful. It is breaking my heart.

Yesterday I rang the vets to ask for some more tylan as I have just used the last of my stock on the recent treatment.  The receptionist looked up my records and I mentioned in our conversation that I now have twelve girls in the flock.

The receptionist said that she must talk to the vet first and that she would get the vet to call me back. I wondered why the vet needed to call me when I had always been given more tylan before.

The vet called me half an hour later and had a long chat with me. This was a different vet that I hadn’t spoken to before. She said that it wasn’t a good idea to keep using an antibiotic treatment. She said that things have changed in the medical world since I began giving tylan, three years ago, and that in humans and animals the medical profession are now much more worried about antimicrobial resistance.

This basically means that the ongoing use of antibiotics could cause bacteria or diseases to alter to become immune to antibiotics.

I said that I had been advised that I could keep tylan in stock to treat my flock when needed. She said that it had been assumed that I would let my flock age and die out and that it wasn’t expected that I would add new girls. I said that I wished they had had this conversation with me before as it had never been mentioned until now. I can’t believe that they made that assumption without ever discussing it with me.

I said that my research had shown that as long it is a closed flock, meaning girls don’t go out of the flock, that it was okay to manage it with treatment when needed. She said that she felt that only applied if you didn’t add new girls. She said that it was irresponsible of me to bring new girls into the flock.

She also said that I could be endangering the wild bird population. I explained that my run is completely self contained and roofed and that there is no contact with the wild birds.

She asked me if I had lost any girls to mycoplasma since I had been treating with tylan. I explained that I hadn’t. I had lost three girls to prolapse and two girls to old age. This reduced my flock from ten to five so I took it up to twelve to maintain the flock size.

I said that I thought Dandelion was the carrier as she is always the first to show symptoms during moulting or frosty weather and she is the only one to have bubbles in her eyes. I said the other girls just had sneezing and recently when Dandelion had shown symptoms I have treated them all even though none of the others showed symptoms, to nip it in bud and be on the safe side.

She then dropped the bombshell on me that she seriously advised that I have Dandelion culled, I prefer the term, put to sleep! She said that they wouldn’t give me more tylan until Dandelion was gone and we had had one clear winter without mycoplasma.

She said that she knew it sounder hard hearted but that if Dandelion was becoming ill every winter then it was not fair on her to keep her going. Without Dandelion there is a chance that myco may not return to my flock.

I was by now in tears and asked if I could discuss it with my husband later and get back to her soon.

It is heartbreaking to think of having to let Dandelion go. It’s difficult enough making the decision to have an unwell girl put to sleep but to have a well girl put to sleep is a much harder thing to do. We have talked in the past of having to let Dandelion go but she is now fully feathered and beautiful, laying eggs and is so friendly and Cinnamon will be lost without her, not to mention how much we will miss her.

But I have to weigh up the good of the flock and her long term well being too. I have wondered how many more winters I could get her through. I have been thinking that as she gets older the winters will become more and more difficult for her and maybe there is a chance that the flock would be free of this without her.

The vet made it clear that if I didn’t do this there would be no more tylan available for me. I discussed this with my husband and he suggested we could just keep her or we could say that we had culled her, these suggestions were not really serious, but we were just trying to look at all the options. My husband also suggested that I ask Dave and Sophie what they think about this but I know that at the end of the day it is my responsibility.

What I kept coming back to was that if we keep Dandelion and she relapses and I am not allowed tylan then she will get very ill and if she passes that on to the others and they get ill too then without treatment I could lose the whole flock.

The vet said it would be very irresponsible of me to keep Dandelion and that I should discuss it with my husband and get back to her. I am so upset by this but I don’t see that I have any choice.

I even considered giving her one last summer and then giving her up but if something stressed her and she relapsed I could risk the whole flock and anyway how do you decide when it should be. I can’t go through summer with this hanging over me and worrying about the possible consequences to the rest of the flock.

I had only been saying recently what a lovely flock we have now and that I think it’s the best it has ever been. This has come as a shock and a huge blow. I keep getting tearful about this and yet I know in my heart of hearts that I don’t have a choice.

Vanilla’s, fair sized, beige, eggs are laid in the corner of the chicken shed and I often find them next to Flame’s or Ebony’s eggs.

Yesterday Ebony was in the corner of the chicken shed and Vanilla was also in the shed being very vocal. I wondered if Ebony was sitting on Vanilla’s egg but Vanilla kept getting closer and closer to Ebony.

The next time I checked in on them Vanilla had managed to squeeze into the corner of the shed behind Ebony.

Vanilla peeking out from behind Ebony

A bit later Ebony was out in the run and when I checked her egg was in front of vanilla who was moving it around with her beak. I removed it and when I checked back again Vanilla was out in the run and her egg was in the corner of the shed.

It is definitely proof that in our flock there is no problem at all with bigger girls and little girls being happy alongside each other. It is heartwarming to see this.

I had a feeling that Marmite’s broodiness was weakening. Yesterday morning she was out in the run, when I went in first thing, rather than me lifting her from the nest box for the morning sunflower seeds. She returned to the nest box but she stayed out in the afternoon for a communal dust bath just like the day before on my previous post.

This morning she was again out in the run when I went in first thing. I checked back an hour later and she was still out, hurrah! Marmite stayed out all day. After exactly a week she has come out of it.

For the last few days Smoke has been looking as if she was getting ready to lay again. She has been going to the grit and checking out the nest boxes. Late this morning Smoke settled in the nest box. When I next checked on her she had laid an egg after a two week break.

Smoke in the nest box

Marmite has stayed out of the nest box today

Then to my surprise this afternoon Jasmine was in the nest box. A few minutes later she laid her egg in front of me with no time to get a photo of her.  Jasmine has only taken a one week break from laying. As I have found before the shorter time they are broody, the quicker they come back into lay.

I am surprised that I am still able to tell which girls are laying, at the moment, for my egg record. There are several reasons for this. Speckles has given up after one egg and Ebony has beige eggs and Flame has white eggs so the bigger girls are a doddle.

Of the smaller girls there are usually three on a broody break at any given time so that narrows it down. Sienna, like Salmon before her, hasn’t really got going properly yet. Cinnamon has only laid one egg so far this year.

Dandelion lays tiny eggs, every other day and Smoke and Vanilla lay bigger and rounder eggs but Smokes are white and Vanilla’s are beige. The rest of the girls lay longer, beige, eggs but lay every other day so are fairly easy to predict.

I am also here a lot of the time so I can usually catch them missing on parade and they tend to be quite vocal before hand. Even when we are out like Sunday when we were at the allotment for five hours I can predict who will probably lay.

Ebony lays every other day so I knew she was due to lay and Vanilla was being very vocal and in and out of the chicken shed before we left. Salmon and Spangle also lay every other day and on the same day so I predicted they would lay too.

On our return Ebony’s and Vanilla’s biggish, round, beige egg, were together in the corner of the chicken shed. Salmon and Spangle’s eggs were in the nest box. It also helps me predict because most of the girls have a favourite place to lay their eggs.

A selection of eggs

To demonstrate this Flame’s egg is on the left to give scale. Next is Dandelion’s tiny egg. Next is Smoke’s round, white egg. As it is her first one back in lay it’s not quite as big as usual. It would usually be the same size as Vanilla’s egg, which is next and is round and beige. On the right is Spangles egg which is beige and a longer shape.

It is fun being able to tell who is laying but I expect there will be times in the summer when we are out all day and it may not always be possible. It is good to have Smoke, our best layer, back in lay again and no broodies for the moment!

Marmite is a determined broody. I lift her out from the nest box each time I go in the run but most of the time she just goes straight back in again whereas Smoke used to have a quick dust bath or food and water or a scratch in the run.

Sunday we were at the allotment from eleven o’clock in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon. I expect Marmite had been the nest box for the whole time we were away because when I lifted her out, on our return, she actually went off to the run for a dust bath which was good to see.

It wasn’t long before it turned into a communal affair.

A heap of dust bathing girls

It’s a communal affair with Smoke spectating

The girls are having a lovely time

Marmite was the first to leave but did have a quick preening session before returning to the nest box.

Meanwhile Cinnamon perches with the bigger girls

If Cinnamon is not with Dandelion then she will be with the bigger girls. Cinnamon spends all her time with Dandelion and the bigger girls and has nothing to do with the amigos or the silky girls.

Cinnamon dust baths with Dandelion or with the bigger girls but not with the others whereas Dandelion mixes with all the girls. It is interesting to watch the changing dynamics within the flock.

Our three groups arranged to meet up at the allotment Sunday morning at eleven o’clock. The plan was to plant everything that is ready to go outside and to get the netting around the plot to keep out the deer and to net over the raised beds to stop the pigeons eating the tender crops.

Our friends opposite were bringing a barbeque and supplying sausages and rolls and we all bought some beer and wine along.

It was such a great day. We stopped to eat at half past one and finished the work at four o’clock but we got so much done and had such a good time. The sausages tasted amazing and it was good to spend time together. The children joined in with planting and watering.

Our car is loaded and ready to go to the allotment

The planting begins

Potatoes and onions going in

We took the maris peer and red fir apple potatoes that we had chitted. We also took white onions, red onions and garlic. We took broad beans but not the runner beans or dwarf beans as it’s too early to put them out yet. We are still hardening them off during the day and taking them inside at night.

Strawberries, cabbages and marigolds being planted

D had taken strawberry runners from the strawberry patch in his garden and had grown cabbages and marigolds from seed. We planted the marigolds around the edges of the raised beds.

D also planted two of the raised beds with seeds for carrots, parsnips, beetroot, leeks, spring onions and spinach. He is also growing from seed, at home, courgettes, broccoli, tomatoes and cucumbers.

I planted the broad beans

The tall canes to the right of the broad beans are in place ready for the runner beans and dwarf beans.

Behind the broad beans D planted a couple of sunflowers and some more marigolds.

In front of the broad beans D planted a rhubarb plant. The raspberry canes were already in, supplied by T. T is going to plant a pumpkin and wants to enter the end of year veg competition. He wants to try for the longest bean, longest carrot, biggest pumpkin, weirdest shaped vegetable and tallest sunflower!

The netting is going up over the raised beds

T supplied the pallets as he is able to get them from work when they are finished with them. We all contributed equally to the cost of the netting.

The sausages go on the barbeque

I forgot to take a photo after the sausages were cooked when they looked delicious. The sausages were German bratwurst and tasted amazing.

The netting is taking shape

The netting is almost finished

The work is finished for today

We were all pleased with our accomplishments and are now looking forward to seeing how everything grows. We are looking forward to spending time together during the summer with the odd barbeque and beers on some occasions.

We also look forward to lots of lovely produce.

Although we keep getting a very cold wind and some showers we have also had some lovely sunny spells. It’s been that sort of weather that is warm in the sun and cold in the wind.

The sunny spells have bought out colour in the garden.

This is pretty

My favourite clematis

The sun on the quart pot is pretty too

This has suddenly burst out

A bit more sun and the tulips will open

The primulas are amazing this year

This is pretty too

The clematis opposite our back door

It is lovely seeing the sun bring a splash of colour to the garden.

Cinnamon is the only girl that hasn’t started laying this year which is unusually late for her.

Yesterday she followed Flame into the chicken shed and I thought she may be ready to lay but she just seemed to want to keep Flame company.

Cinnamon joined Flame in the corner of the chicken shed

Cinnamon moves around Flame adjusting the pine shavings around her

Flame looks as if she is warning Cinnamon not to get any closer

Whereas I can reach underneath Ebony and remove any eggs from under her if I try to do this with Flame she pecks me. Yet she was remarkably tolerant of Cinnamon. I thought she looked as if she wanted to peck Cinnamon but she didn’t.

The odd thing with Cinnamon’s position in the flock is that after picking fights with the amigos and the silky girls she lost her position and they now chase her away and yet because she didn’t do this to Ebony and Flame she remains above them in the pecking order.

Ebony and Flame chase all the little girls away except for Dandelion and Cinnamon. It is quite cute to see this interaction between different sized girls. Since Cinnamon went down the pecking order she often seeks out the company of the three bigger girls. It’s as if she feels safe and protected around them.

In other news Speckles hasn’t laid another egg since her first one on 8th March, nearly a month ago. I am not sure if she will lay any more. She continues to drink loads of water and do sloppy poops but looks well in every other way.

Dandelion looks back to her usual perky self so that is a relief. For now the crises has passed once more and I really hope that that will be the last time this year.

Edit

Today, before I had got round to putting this post out, Cinnamon finally settled in a nest box.

Cinnamon in the nest box

A little later Cinnamon was back out in the run and when I checked the nest box she had laid her first egg of the year. It was her usual, quite large, size. That means all the girls are now laying, at least all except Speckles, because I am not sure she can really be counted.

I am glad to see that Cinnamon has laid without a problem as it has reassured me that she is okay.

For two days Jasmine sat in her corner of the chicken shed and then on the second evening she was perched with the amigos.

I was surprised not to have to lift her and she has never perched there before either. She had been sitting just behind the amigos perch so at dusk she must have just jumped up and settled slap bang in the middle of the amigos.

The next morning she was out in the run and stayed out all day. Two days and Jasmine has snapped out of it just in time to make way for the next broody girl.

Marmite is now broody. She had been in the nest box for half the day so I lifted her. Her tail went up and she made the broody sound. I put her on the patio and she didn’t move. I put her in the run and she went to the food dish and then straight back into the nest box.

At least Marmite is a docile broody girl and she makes no attempt to peck me.

Marmite’s turn to go broody

Late afternoon I lifted Marmite and there was an egg. The current broody girls sometimes lay a last few eggs after they have started going broody.

At bedtime Marmite was back in the nest box and I lifted her out and put her on the perch in the chicken shed. I shall have to go back to closing the nest boxes at bedtime.

Oh well, I suppose at least they are going broody just one at a time, at the moment.

Today Dandelion has looked unwell. This morning when I gave out some sunflower hearts she wasn’t interested and I started to worry. A little later she was sitting with her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes I could see a thin crust around her eyes. It looks like the dreaded mycoplasma again.

Dandelion has a slight crust around her eyes

Dandelion has been sitting with her eyes closed

I decided to put the flock back on tylan again. I put tylan water in both water dishes and made up a dish of mash with tylan water.

Dandelion started laying a week ago and had laid four eggs laying every other day. She laid her fourth one the day before yesterday so I was surprised to see her like this again.

Usually it doesn’t stop Dandelion from eating and drinking so she soon gets a dose of tylan but this time she wasn’t interested. I decided to pick her up and using a dropper I dripped some of the tylan water into her beak. I thought if I could get her to take some it would start to work and then she would start to eat and drink thereby taking more by herself.

A little later when I checked on her again I thought she looked a bit brighter and the crust seemed to have gone from around her eyes.

Dandelion looks a little better

I am so disappointed that Dandelion is back here again. I thought that now we were through the worst of winter and she was laying again that we would be past this.

I have just enough tylan for about a week but it would have gone out of date in August anyway. I will use it up and then order some more from the vet so that I can keep it in stock.

A bit later I checked on Dandelion again and she was in the nest box.

Dandelion is in the nest box

A few minutes later she left the nest box and there was her tiny egg. This is her fifth egg this year and still every other day.

I have got Dandelion through more relapses than any other girl we have ever had. I hope that once again Dandelion will bounce back.