Carol's Chickens

I can’t believe I am writing this after yesterday’s post. I am heartbroken to have to say that Caramel has gone.

This morning as usual I poop picked the chicken shed at first light with Caramel beside me. I then bought her in and gave her  her meds and some water and put her in the cat box with her dish of treats and a dish of water.

I was a bit worried that she wasn’t eating but was sleeping, mostly with her head under her wing. It wasn’t until about two hours later that she started eating. I could hear her so went to check on her and was horrified to see that while she was eating from the dish she had both eyes firmly shut. The left eye which had been her good eye was now more swollen than the right and was weeping.

This was just the worst thing to see as it meant she hadn’t been pecked after all but had a serious problem. It was pitiful to see her lunging at the dish and randomly picking up bits of food. She was such a little fighter that even with both eyes shut she still wanted to eat.

She then pooped the dreaded green poop. I knew that things were really bad for her and she was struggling with her breathing.

Caramel’s other eye is now closed

Poor Caramel, this is heartbreaking to see

I rang the vet and they were fully booked but said they could get me in at their sister practice which was twenty minutes drive away.

The vet weighed her and said she was almost the same weight as the first time she was weighed which was surprising. Those two feeds a day had kept her weight level up. She then listened to her chest and said her breathing was very crackly and bubbly. By now her left eye was oozing mucus and she said her beak was sticky with mucus. I had thought her sticky beak was due to the spillage of her sticky meds.

The vet said it was bacterial and that there are contagious strains and non contagious strains. This was really worrying as she had been in with the flock but I said that there were no signs with the rest of the flock including Pebbles who sits with her every afternoon and perches with her at night. The vet was encouraged that this meant it’s not contagious but said at any sign of symptoms with the other girls to separate them and take them to the vet immediately.

The vet said that she hasn’t responded to the antibiotic and the only other treatment they could give her would be a different antibiotic, which they would have to order in, and give by injection. It would have to be given into her muscle and would cause painful muscle spasms and she said that being so tiny she didn’t hold out much hope that this could bring  her back at this stage but the decision was mine.

It should have been a no brainer and I have always made the decision quickly in the past to end suffering but I kept thinking that she had still eaten that morning and not given up and I so wanted to go on fighting. I cried and took quite a few minutes before I made the decision, which I made, because I knew I couldn’t let her suffer.

I held her while she was put to sleep and stroked her and talked to her and cried and cried over her. This is so hard to write because I can’t stop crying.

I can’t believe that we have only had this little girl for three weeks today and it has only been a week that I have been treating her. I have grown so attached to her because in that time I have handled her more than any other bird before and cared for her so closely. Oddly enough this has hit me more than any of the girls I have lost. She really got into my heart and I feel so upset at losing her and at Pebbles being left without her too.

I want to end with a tribute to a little girl that stayed with us for the shortest time but that got herself firmly wrapped around my heart.

Caramel, such a beautiful girl

Caramel and Pebbles

Pebbles and Caramel

Caramel and Pebbles share some yogurt

She was such a big character for such a little girl and although not with us long she was greatly loved and will be greatly missed.

This little girl has given me several scares since I have been caring for her, but goodness me, she has wrapped herself around my heart.

The first heart stopping moments were going out into the run first thing in the morning and seeing all the girls except Caramel. I have now got used to her not coming out of the chicken shed in the morning and have stopped panicking when I don’t see her.

In fact I think she knows the routine and actually waits in the shed in the morning for me to come and get her.

The second scare came a few days into her treatment. I had her in the cat box after her meds to have a feed without competition. I looked at her and saw what I thought was the same problem she has in her right eye, also in her left eye. It was cloudy and I panicked. If the problem was in both eyes then it could mean it wasn’t a peck or injury but something viral which would be much more serious plus her chance of survival with a problem in both eyes would be vastly reduced.

I called my husband and we looked at her together and her left eye was normal and looking at me as if wondering what was going on. It was just her third eyelid closed for a few seconds. Chickens have a third eyelid that helps moisten, clean and protect from dust especially when dust bathing. Many a photograph of a chicken can be spoiled by this spooky looking third eye lid being closed. Whew! what a relief! Her left eye is fine.

The third scare came today. From past experience with chickens I know a lot about telling their condition from their poop. Both Treacle and Sparkle had bright green poops just before I had to have them put to sleep. This means their internal organs are not working properly and usually occurs, as in both my girls, when they have given up and stopped eating. Caramel’s poop has been a good, normal, colour which indicates the eye problem is external not internal.

This afternoon I checked on the two little girls sitting on top of the nest box together and got a fright when I saw a few little blobs of green poop. My heart sank and at that moment, right on cue, Caramel did a normal looking poop. I then remembered that a bit earlier on I had seen Pebbles tucking into the spinach. What they eat also colours their poop. Whew! another scare and relief again. Caramel is really keeping me on my toes!

When I bought Caramel in at half past three for her second meds and a feed I was able to monitor her poops in the cat box and, thank goodness, they were normal.

Bedtime is causing a bit of confusion. Because I put the little girls in the little coop/nest box for the last few nights for safety, until the other girls had settled, Pebbles now thinks that’s where she should go and settled in there at dusk. I know it’s me that has made her confused but I did it to protect Caramel at bedtime.

Tonight I waited until dusk and then put both little girls on the bedtime perch. Tomorrow I will close the nest boxes at bedtime. I am sure that they will soon get the hang of it.

The two little girls on the bedtime perch

As long as Caramel is getting better, albeit very very slowly, the bedtime routine is the least of my worries. It will sort itself out eventually.

As usual when I went out at first light Caramel was still in the chicken shed. I left her in with me while I poop picked and then bought her in for her meds. I left her in the cat box with her dish of treats and water and she had a good feed.

There are a few positives here. Caramel is really easy to handle and already seems very used to me picking her and giving her the meds and for such a little girl she has quite a big beak. I have become very used to administering meds and water to her beak. She has a tiny head with a big beak in comparison.

I have also become very attached to her while caring for her so closely. I am really pleased she is eating but I wish her eye would show more improvement. It is still closed a lot of the time.

Later I put her back out in the run. It was better weather today and I want to keep her with the flock, especially Pebbles, as much as possible.

I am going to continue giving her a second dose of meds at half past three. This seems to be helping with her pain at the end of the day and also allows her to have two feeds a day instead of one.

Back in the run Caramel and Pebbles spent their time sitting together on the top of the nest box (little coop).

We decided it would be a good idea to give them a perch on the patio area and also to improve on the bedtime perch. The bedtime perch didn’t allow much space between them and the shed wall plus being attached to a wooden block it would give somewhere for mites to hide which is an added problem we don’t need right now.

We went to our local D.I.Y. store and bought some brackets.

The newly modified bedtime perch

I show Pebbles the new bedtime perch

The little girls doze on top of the nest box

Pebbles looks so cute with her head under her wing.

Another new perch on the patio area

I show Pebbles this new perch too

At bedtime Caramel wanted to go in early but Pebbles didn’t and then later seemed confused once more about where to go. Caramel had gone to their usual corner.

Once again I helped them as again the perch has changed. Once we get a proper routine established I think they will get used to it but at the moment while we are fine tuning the perches I think it’s best to help them along so I put them on the new perch.

I put the little girls on the new bedtime perch

I checked back ten minutes later and they were settled.

The little girls are settled on the new perch

I think this routine with Caramel may have to continue for a long time as she is improving very very slowly. She is eating, drinking and pooping and her poops are normal. At this stage in the game I know all about chicken poop and what is healthy and what isn’t from past experience, so this is all good. This afternoon on the top of the nest box she was preening a little so that too is a good sign.

I know from when Amber had a swollen face that these things can take a very long time to get back to normal. I would like to see her eye open more of the time but on the whole she is making progress so I am happy with that and prepared for the long haul back to recovery.

I went out at seven o’clock this morning and once again my heart missed a beat when I saw all the girls except Caramel. I found her in the shed looking around as if she was unsure how to get out. Instant relief!

I put her down by the food and water and was pleased to see her have a drink straight away. That’s a good sign. I poop picked the chicken shed then bought her indoors and gave her the antibiotic, pain killer and some sugar water. This is the last sugar water I will give her as I wanted to give her a bath and stick to plain water from then on so that she doesn’t get sticky feathers again. Her eye was open some of the time and I gave her the eye drops.

I put her in the cat box with the usual mix of food in her dish and was pleased to see that she started eating straight away this time.

Later in the morning when I felt she had eaten all that she was going to, I returned her to the run where she sat with Pebbles.

In the afternoon I bought her back in for a bath. I am aware that she must not get cold especially as the weather has changed from very hot to cool. I bathed her in warm water and then dried her as much as possible with the towel.

I give Caramel a bath

A little girl in a bath

I dry caramel in the towel

I sat on a chair with her on a towel on my lap and dried her as much as possible with a hair drier on a gentle setting.

She appeared not to mind her bath but didn’t seem to like the hair drier so I wrapped her in the towel on my lap and read a book while she dozed. Every now and then I moved her to a dry part of the towel and kept her wrapped up, on my lap, until she was completely dry. She dozed the whole time.

Once she was dry I gave her a little more of the painkiller and some plain water, this was at half past three in the afternoon. I then set her down on the towel with her dish of treats in front of her and was really pleased to see her have a good feed.

Caramel has a good feed

I put her back in the cat box as I wanted to keep her in until the end of the day so that she doesn’t get cold. I was pleased to see her eat again and drink some water.

looking better after her bath

Caramel has a drink with her eye open

I love this photo because she is having a drink of water, she has her eye open and she has just pooped. These are all good signs. I am feeling so much happier with today’s progress.

Next, my husband decided it was time to try to resolve the problem of the little girl’s bedtime perch. He removed the existing low perch and installed it in the corner where the little girls always sleep. He used a piece of wood to bring the perch out from the wall and put the perch on top of the wood.

A new perch for the little girls

Pebbles tries the new perch

The little girls on their new bedtime perch

I helped them along as it was their first night. I put the little girls in the little coop together the same as the night before and once all the other girls were settled I moved them to this position. I checked back ten minutes later to see if they were still on the perch and not only were they still there but Caramel had snuggled into Pebbles like she always does.

We will see if they go there tomorrow by themselves. As always it may take a little time but for now I happy with the way things are progressing. All in all it has been a good day.

We had a wild storm last night. From three o’clock until about half past five there was constant thunder and lightening and lashing rain. The thunder rolled around our valley sometimes almost overhead and sometimes miles away.

We couldn’t sleep and I fretted about the chickens, especially the little girls and Caramel in particular.  I went out to check on them and got drenched despite my raincoat. My husband thought I was crazy but he knows what I am like.

The little girls had moved away from their corner further into the middle of the chicken shed but the girls were all quiet and the shed was, thank goodness, completely dry.

After a wakeful night I went out at seven o’clock just as the automatic door had opened. There was no sign of Caramel and my heart was in my mouth.

I opened the chicken shed and she was sitting in the same position as the night before. I put her on the patio by the food and water and she just sat there motionless. She really didn’t need a dramatic night like we had just had and I was worried that the stress had been too much for her.

I put her in the cat box and carried her indoors shielding the cat box from the rain with an umbrella. I gave her the antibiotic, the pain killer and some sugar water and then put her dish of pellets, chopped grapes, sunflower hearts and corn and a dish of water in with her. I hoped that, like the day before, once the pain killer kicked in she would eat. She promptly fell asleep and I was really worried.

About forty minutes later she perked up and ate a good amount of the food and had some water and pooped. I was elated.

When I left to do my deliveries I decided to return her to the run. I didn’t want to leave her sat with poop and thought she would be better off with Pebbles. I left them sitting together.

When my husband got back from his deliveries and checked on her she was sitting in a part of the run that was dripping from the rain. He put her in the little coop and closed her in until my return.

This meant she could doze in the dry and keep warm and not be bothered by the other girls.

When I got back in I bought her back inside in the cat box, gave her some more sugar water and left her with her dish of treats. I was pleased to see her eat again and then once more returned her to the run as it had stopped raining.

As the day goes on she goes down hill. By late afternoon, just before bedtime I took her into the chicken shed with the dish of treats and once again she was so disorientated that she couldn’t peck at anything. She was walking in circles, walking over my hands and attempting to aim at the dish and missing. It was heartbreaking. We came to the conclusion that by the end of the day she is in too much pain to function.

As she is so tiny I don’t want to risk over dosing her on her meds but My husband and I both agreed that nor do we want to have her in pain. We agreed that I should give her a little bit more of the pain killer.

Oh goodness, what happened next was that I livened her up right on bedtime. She did go and have some pellets which is good but at bedtime she didn’t really want to go in and was cheeping away and attracting the attention of the other girls. For safety I put her and Pebbles in the little coop until the other girls were all settled and then moved them both back to their corner in the chicken shed when it was dark.

Caramel at bedtime

This was the first time I put her in before moving her. At least her eye is open. She looks a mess because I have dribbled some sugar water on her neck feathers and then before bed I dusted with her D.E. because she isn’t preening or dust bathing at the moment and I don’t want to risk adding red mite to her problems.

Tomorrow I am going to give her a warm bath and a gentle dry with the hair dryer and then settle her in the cat box inside for a while, after her morning meds and hopefully a feed.

I am learning as I go along and think that I need to trust my instincts. I don’t want to overdose her but I believe that pain killer in the morning only, isn’t enough and by the end of the day she is suffering. Today I made the decision to give her a bit more, too late in the day. Tomorrow I will give her a little more pain killer at about three 0’clock in the afternoon. This should mean she will eat again before bedtime instead of just in the morning and she should be more comfortable at the end of the day.

She has bounced me up and down today, but I am hopeful that she should have a better nights sleep tonight, and me too I hope. I hope tomorrow a bath will help her feel a bit better and better management of her pain killer may help her too. As my husband said it will be amazing if I can get her through this but if I can’t, we can’t let her go out in too much pain. I am still keeping everything crossed and will report back again tomorrow.

This morning I gave Caramel her antibiotic and her painkiller to her beak then gave her some sugar water to her beak.

I took her to the vets at nine o’clock for her check up and the vet sluiced her eye with saline and then gave her the eye drops. I struggle to do this when she has her eye closed so asked the vet to do it for me as we were there.

The vet asked me to bring Caramel back in at twelve o’clock as she was visiting a sister practice that had a chicken expert and an eye specialist. She said she would like them to take a look at her. She said with a larger chicken she would give a local anesthetic and check that there wasn’t anything in her eye but as Caramel is so tiny she doesn’t want to risk that and would like a second opinion from the eye specialist.

The vet said I was doing the right thing giving her sugar water as it makes sure she gets both water and a bit of glucose. I told her she has trouble pecking at the food and she said it was the pain that disorientates her.

I took Caramel home and put a dish of chopped pellets, chopped grapes, corn and sunflower hearts and a dish of mash in the cat box. Caramel tucked straight in. I think it’s because the pain killer has had time to work that she is suddenly able to eat. When she had stopped eating I put her back in the run and she went straight to the pellets.

A chicken buffet for Caramel

I took her back at twelve o’clock and said that she had had some food. I asked the vet to give her the second dose of eye drops. She was opening her eye a little at this time. The receptionist said she would call when Caramel was back.

An hour and a half later I got the call to go and collect her. The vet said it was good news. There was nothing in her eye and the eye expert said that as it’s so sore and swollen it will take a few more days to start to improve. The vet said that she is perkier today and eating is a really good sign. She said to continue with the present regime and in a weeks time if I am still worried to take her back but if I am happy that she is on the mend then I won’t need to go back.

The vet said I could call her any time if I was worried. I am so pleased to have found such a great vet.

Before bed time I gave Caramel some sugar water and her dish of treats again. I was disappointed that she didn’t seem able to pick up the bits very well. She does have her eye open some of the time though and when I returned her to the run she ate a few pellets.

I think she eats best in the morning when the pain killer has kicked in and it probably wears off towards the end of the day. I think as long as she has a good feed in the morning that is probably enough for her along with sugar water several times a day and I will keep up with this regime.

At bedtime Caramel was first to go in which isn’t surprising in her poorly state. She settled in their usual corner.

Caramel settles in the usual corner

The darker, sticky looking, feathers on her neck are where I have dribbled the sugar water. I don’t think I need to worry about this at the moment.

When Pebbles went in she went to the low perch we had put in for them.

Pebbles finds the low perch

The problem is that as soon as the other girls went in they intimidated her down from the perch. She went to the corner and settled with Caramel.

I realise that the problem is that the little girls like to go in earlier than the rest of the girls and once the rest of the girls go in, the low perch is in their path from the pop hole to the back perch, so they knock the little girl out of the way. This is why the little girls settle in the corner behind the door out of the way of the other girls.

This means that this is where their lower perch needs to be but there is no where to fix it to. We will have a think and come up with a way of putting a perch in this corner but at the moment I don’t want to add any more stress until Caramel is on the mend so we will manage like this for now.

I am feeling more hopeful today, that although it’s slow progress, Caramel is improving. If she gets a bit better each day I will be happy.

I am going to update even though I know I have covered a lot of this in the comments but I want to give the full story.

Yesterday we had our busiest day for a long time and I felt torn about wanting to take Caramel to the vet and needing to get the work done. We were flat out all day in the heat and I worried about Caramel all day but I felt glad that at least she was still eating.

This morning I was really worried because Caramel wasn’t eating and I know that if a chicken doesn’t eat they go down hill fast and she is too small to not eat for long. I decided to give her sugar water from a pipette to the side of her beak and it did seem to give her a burst of energy.

I then rang my usual vet and they said that the guy I usually see, who is the only one with chicken experience, was on holiday for a couple of weeks. They said they couldn’t help me and I should try somewhere else.

I remembered that I had taken my friend Jackie to a vet in Bourne End, which is near me, when she had to have her old girl, Clover put to sleep.

I rang them and explained the situation and they told me to bring Caramel in right away. They were amazing and I have now registered with them and will use them in the future. They had told me that they had their first appointment at 10.00am and if I went in straight away, it was now 9.00am, they would get me in first.

They were so good with Caramel. They weighed her first and then the vet sluiced her eye with saline and cleaned around it with a cotton bud in saline. She then gave her antibiotic eye drops to start treating from the outside. She then gave her baytril, antibiotic, through her beak and then a pain killer through her beak. She then gave her lubricant drops to her eye.

She has given me lubricant drops to give her twice a day and the baytril, antibiotic, plus the pain killer, to give in her beak once a day. She asked me to return at 9.00am tomorrow so that she can check on her.

I was pleased that when I returned her to the patio area she went straight to the food dish but I then had to go out to do my lunch deliveries.

On my return I separated Caramel and gave her sunflower seeds and corn and realised that she is having trouble picking them up. She wants to eat but pecks and misses a lot of the time, only swallowing a few seeds. She seems to be struggling to see them accurately.

I gave her some more sugar water to her beak to keep her strength up.

Unfortunately she is scratching at her eye which is probably what is adding dirt and making it worse every time it starts to get better. I am thinking of letting the vet clean it again in the morning.

At bedtime she went into the chicken shed first once more and was later followed by Pebbles.

My plan of action is to give the medications and drops but also to put her in the cat box a few times a day with a choice of food items. I will put in water and chopped pellets, sunflower hearts, corn and chopped grapes, to give her a chance to eat what ever she can without any competition. I will also give her sugar water each time I give her her meds.

I hope this will help to keep her strength up. The next few days will be crucial. If she can continue to eat enough she could recover but she must eat.

She has been sat by the water which is a typical poorly chicken thing.

She is staying by the water

She is trying to eat

She has been trying to eat pellets which is good. She has her eye open sometimes and closed at other times and I have noticed it closes when she tries to eat.

The next few days are going to be crucial to her. If I can keep her eating enough she has a chance of beating this but I know from past experience that she mustn’t give up on eating.

I will update again once we have been back to the vet tomorrow. I am keeping everything crossed.

Much to my surprise after one night of steering the little girls towards the pop hole they have got the hang of it.

I now realise that by putting them in I was confusing them because they didn’t know how they had got there. Tonight at half past six Caramel made her way to the pop hole and went in to the chicken shed and settled down in their usual corner.

A few minutes later Pebbles made her way to the pop hole and also settled in their corner.

I have been fretting about Caramel’s eye all day. Yesterday it had looked better but this morning it looked worse again. I decided to give her the eye drops again and once again it seemed better at first then worse. It was dirty around the eye so I think that she has been rubbing it and I worry that it may be infected.

It has been closed most of the day and although open at the end of the day I worried that she wasn’t eating as well as the day before. She is too small not to eat for long and I have cried this evening over the prospect of  possibly losing her. I intend to take her to the vet tomorrow. I tried to get her to eat some mash, sunflower hearts and chopped grapes, before bedtime, but she wasn’t interested which is really worrying.

At half past six Caramel made her way to the chicken shed

Her poor eye looked worse again today

Pebbles heads towards the chicken shed

Up the steps

And through the pop hole

They both settled in their usual corner and the rest of the girls went in about fifteen minutes later and perched up as usual.

I had planned to try lifting the little girls on to the low perch but because of Caramel’s eye I didn’t want to disturb them. I don’t want to add any extra stress to them at the moment. I feel we need to try to help Caramel get better before doing any thing else to their routine. I just want to keep them as stress free as I can right now.

I am so worried about her at the moment and we will just have to see what tomorrow brings. I really hope things will improve but I am scared for her and feeling heavy of heart tonight.

Last night I decided that I need to start moving the bedtime routine onwards. I have been putting the little girls in the chicken shed at half past six, as with Caramel’s eye problem, I didn’t want to add any further stress.

By doing this it means they don’t know how they get there and they are not learning the way to go to bed. At half past six each evening Pebbles starts looking for somewhere high to roost. I decided to stay with them and let the other girls to bed in the usual way in the hope that the little girls would follow them.

At half past six Pebbles discovered that by using one of the new little perches she could get up onto the wooden table.

Pebbles on one of the new perches

Pebbles uses the little perch to get onto the wooden table

Pebbles on the wooden table

Pebbles was still looking up as if to find a better place to roost. She flew back down from the table. Both little girls went to the food dish and the other girls started making their way to bed. Emerald is always the first one in.

As Pebbles obviously wants to go high I decided to put her on the bigger, higher perch, in the chicken shed.

I tried putting pebbles on the higher perch

Barley soon chased Pebbles off the perch

Emerald took no notice of Pebbles but as soon as Barley came in she intimidated Pebbles causing her to jump down. She came back out of the chicken shed.

I stood at the end of the patio blocking the little girls from leaving the patio area. Once most of the girls were in the chicken shed I ushered the little girls towards the pop hole using my hands behind them to steer them in. Once they stepped up through the pop hole I had to use my hand to block them from coming back out again.

I directed the little girls to the pop hole

Once they realised they couldn’t come out they went in and settled in their usual corner. Toffee and Peaches were last to go in and they took no notice of the little girls in their corner.

They settled in their usual corner

What I don’t understand is that Pebbles obviously wants to find somewhere high to roost and yet despite putting her on the perches in the chicken shed she always comes back down and settles in this corner.

I don’t mind if they want to sleep here but I feel that Pebbles really wants to roost up on a perch. What I might try tonight is moving the little girls to the little perch after all the girls are settled.

It will be interesting to see if the little girls go in on their own tonight. If they don’t I will once again steer them towards the pop hole until they get the hang of it. I feel that we are making progress and feel sure that in a few more nights they will get the hang of it.

Pebbles and Caramel have now found all the new, lower, perches that we put in for them. I missed most of the photo opportunities as they had moved on by the time I got my camera but I did just manage to catch them on this perch.

Pebbles and Caramel on one of the new perches

Are you looking at us!

The two of them remain inseparable and we have never yet seen them not together. The good thing is that the other girls are not bothering them at all.

I wrote the above part of this post yesterday afternoon. This morning I went out to the girls at seven o’clock and I gave them their morning corn and had a look at Caramels eye. I am so pleased to say that it is looking much better.

Morning corn

Caramel’s eye is looking a lot better

I am so pleased that she seems to be on the mend now. Her eye is staying open and is looking a lot better. She has a little bit of dirt around it where she has rubbed at it but I am reluctant to interfere with her. I think the drops made it worse before better so I am inclined to leave her alone. I am feel a lot happier about her today.