Carol's Chickens

Yesterday I lost my lovely Treacle. I cried buckets yesterday and was too upset to write this straight away. In the morning we syringed her medicine into her beak and then some sugar water. I made her a mash of pellets, tuna, yogurt, tomato and sprinkled sunflower hearts and dried meal worms on top and offered it to her but she wouldn’t attempt it. Later I offered her maggots but again she showed no interest al all.

She went to stand under the bush. Later she went and sat in the nest box which is something she never does. Pepper was very cross as she wanted to lay her egg so I picked Treacle up and took her indoors to sit on my lap for about half an hour. She kept closing her eyes and her beak would open which I know is a sign of stress. I stroked her and talked to her while the tears streamed.

I put her back in the nest box and a few minutes later she went out to the water. She would drink water and just remain standing by the water for a long time. Her poops were now bright yellow and green, a bad sign. She then went back to stand under the bush, then returned to the nest box.

I knew that she had given up and that if she wouldn’t eat there was no chance of her getting better. I couldn’t let her suffer any more so I rang the vet to see if I could take her to be put to sleep. I agonised over this all day and if I thought she would die in her sleep over night, I would have left her but I knew she could go on just drinking water for several days like this. With the other girls doing all the chicken things and her only standing doing nothing, she has no quality of life.

My husband drove me to the vet so that I could have Treacle on my lap for the half hour journey. I stroked and talked to her the whole way while raining tears.

The vet was very kind (my usual vet was on his day off), he felt her and said she was very weak. He said she may have a crop problem but we will never really know what was wrong with her. I held her while he gave her the injection and she went very quickly. He let me hold her until I was ready then laid her down and tucked her head under her wing.

My husband said he found it all very upsetting too but that I was very good with her and that it was the right thing to do. It is so frustrating not knowing what was wrong with her or why this happened.

I never thought I would get so attached but at fifty two years old this is the first time in my adult life that I have had pets and I think once your children are grown up, pets become your babies.

Treacle was the first one to sit on my lap or shoulder and when she was in what I think of as the teenage stage, she would follow me around and jump on my back when ever she could. Even a few weeks ago she would jump on my lap despite me keep picking her up for what ever reason. When she was standing in the coop yesterday she would still come to the coop door when she heard me open their gate. She was my most interactive girl.

Treacle was ten months old and had been laying for two months before she suddenly stopped at the first signs of her illness. She laid forty three eggs in total during a Sixty seven day period. She laid lovely dark brown eggs.

I am ending with some photos of her as a tribute to our beautiful Treacle.

Treacle likes to be stroked

Treacle gently nuzzles my arm

Treacle also likes to get on eye level

Treacle on my shoulder

Treacle on the coop roof

Treacle is about to lay her first egg

Treacle on the umbrella

Treacle’s comb and wattles

Giving Treacle a bath

This photo was a week ago before I first took her to the vet. In the following week she went down hill so fast. I didn’t take any photos at the end because I was too upset but her comb looked very different from this picture. It had shrivelled to half the size and gone very grey.

This morning it was so sad to be greeted by three girls instead of four. I opened up the nest box and there was what I thought was Pepper’s egg. I then remembered that Pepper laid an egg at lunch time yesterday and only usually lays every other day. I picked it up and realised it was paler and longer than Pepper’s eggs and had a little streak of blood on it. It suddenly dawned on me that it was Dotty’s first egg. Ironic how the circle of life goes on! My husband had said that Dotty was going “boc boc” yesterday for the first time. With all the worry over Treacle I had missed the sign. Dotty is nine months old and all grown up at last. I am saving the photo of her first egg for my next post.

After the girls had their breakfast, Dotty went and stood under the bush looking really sad. At first I thought there was something wrong with her or that it was the shock of her first egg, then I realised she was standing where Treacle had stood for the last few days. Dotty was looking for Treacle. Suddenly all three girls in a row explored every corner of the garden area then went to the patio area, they all trooped in a line behind the coop, under the nest box, to the side of the cabinet, to every corner. I realised they were looking for Treacle and it made my cry all over again.

I am sure they miss her too. Goodbye sweet Treacle.

This morning we had to syringe Treacle’s medicine into her beak again. Tomorrow morning after we have done this we will syringe some sugar water into her beak as well to see if we can give her a boost. She has only eaten little amounts of tomato, grape and tuna when picked up and won’t compete with the other girls for food on the ground. I have bought some more maggots to try her with tomorrow. My main concern is that she is not eating enough to build up her strength. She has been preening a little and did have a drink of water before going to bed.

My friend Jackie (who has chickens too) visited us today to give me another pair of eyes on Treacle. She said that she didn’t seem in any pain so thinks I am right to hang on for a bit. I don’t want Treacle to suffer but don’t want to give up if there is any chance of recovery.

We did discuss whether she had a sight problem as she flicks her head and sometimes doesn’t seem to see food items but my husband pointed out that sometimes she goes straight for her favoured food items in a dish held in front of her so he thinks she does see okay. I think we are clutching at all sorts of straws at the moment and will have to play it by ear over the next few days.

Treacle’s first day after her second injection didn’t go as well as last time. This morning at first light I took the syringe with her medicine in and a dish of tuna separately, so as not to waste the medicine if she wouldn’t eat the tuna. I picked her up and offered her the tuna and was disappointed that refused to touch it.

A little later we syringed the medicine into her beak once more. I then gave the girls the last of the maggots and this was the only time all day that Treacle joined in with the feeding. Other than that she only ate a few little bits of tomato and grapes. She is slow and just stands in the garden area most of the day, showing little interest in anything.

At bed time I sat in with them and the only thing Treacle went to was the grit. She looked up at me with such a sad look that it broke my heart. I noticed that her comb, which lost it’s redness, when she fist became ill, had shrunk some more and now looked quite grey. The other three girls have lovely red combs.

My only hope now is that today she is still suffering from the stress of yesterday, having anaesthetic and another larger injection, and that after another nights rest she may feel  a little better. I know that I am probably kidding myself though.

I know that if she is not better tomorrow, I will soon have a decision to make because I can’t let her suffer. I have been very tearful while struggling with this. I never knew this was going to be so heartbreaking.

I had never handled a chicken before getting these girls eight months ago but recently with Treacle I have picked her up, carried her round, had her sat on my lap, sometimes for long periods in the vets waiting room, bathed her and hand fed her. I have had the most intimate moments with Treacle. When I held her while the vet examined her she was calm but when he took her for her x-ray she squawked at him. She looks up at me and makes sad little noises and I know she wants me to help her, but I feel so helpless!

I am willing her to get better with all my strength, but I know I have done everything I can for her and if she doesn’t improve over the next few days then she probably won’t.  I feel so upset right now.

Treacle was the first to sit on my lap and used to jump on my back at every chance she got. She has been a good top hen and stopped Dotty from bullying. The flock dynamics will not be the same if she goes. I have loved having her sat on my lap for a bit of attention. I am finding this so hard but must wait to see what tomorrow brings and hope for an improvement.

For the last three days Treacle seemed back to her normal self, eating, scratching about, dust bathing and bossing the other girls. This morning when I went in at first light, I could instantly see she was back to where she was before we went to the vet. I picked her up and offered her the tuna with her medicine on and she refused it for the first time. She wasn’t interested in any treats and was slow and lethargic.

For the first time we had to resort to syringing her medicine into her beak. I had watched  this being done by Terry on “Hen Cam”. You squeeze open their beak and give them a small drop in the side of their beak then let them swallow and repeat until it’s all gone. You must never pour it down their throat as it could go into their lungs and drown them.

I had also e-mailed Terry and updated her on Treacle’s recovery and said that I wondered if she had got infected from being pecked. Terry said that it was unlikely that infection had come from an external source. She said it’s likely that Treacle had an egg-laying glitch that got infected. Egg yolks are the perfect medium for germ growth, and if one gets stuck in the tract, it can easily get infected.

This made us wonder if as Treacle had got better, she had starting making another egg and the same thing that may have happened before, was happening again. I knew that this time I needed to contact the vet quickly.

I called and updated him, and he said to bring her in at three o’clock and he would x-ray her to see if anything was stuck. He listened to her heart and lungs and had a good feel of her but could find nothing. He gave her a little anaesthetic gas so that he could lay her on her side for the x-ray. He then showed it to me, he said it didn’t show an egg or any evidence of anything being stuck inside. All it showed was a collection of grit in her crop, poor girl.

He said that he felt we hadn’t got on top of her infection and he would give her another steroid injection to kick start her appetite again, this time twice as much so that it would last twice as long, giving her more time to fight the infection. He said to continue with the antibiotics and hopefully this time she will be okay. He said we are doing everything we can for her.

When we got back I tried offering her some tuna but she still wasn’t interested. I started my evening sweep up while keeping an eye on her. She put herself to bed which didn’t surprise me, but then a little later she came back out, had a drink of water then returned to bed. I hope this is a good sign. I am hoping after a nights rest she will eat in the morning and start to pick up again. I now realise it will be a while before we will be able to tell if she is really recovered. I can only hope so, I have had a few tearful moments today and have dreaded the possibility of having to have her put to sleep, I just can’t bare to think about that yet. I really hope that tomorrow brings better news.

Yesterday I visited my new chicken friend Jackie and saw her lovely chooks and her set up. Jackie’s run is completely roofed and I was envious of the lovely dry soil for the girl’s to scratch in and dust bath in.

The real disappointment with my set up is that whatever I do to improve it, it still remains wet and muddy. It was only recently that I added fresh wood chip and already that is now muddy. The girls dry corner remains only a small triangle.The weather seems to remain wet and the run never seems to completely dry out.

I decided to buy another plastic sheet and cover the whole outside area for the rest of the winter. The sheets are inexpensive, the difficulty is how to put it up. I had the idea of threading stiff wire through two sides and throwing it over the top next to the existing sheet then securing inside with wire as before.

My husband said we would never be able to get it over the top. The corner we have already done is easily accessed from our garden but the other half of the roof area joins next doors garden and he said he couldn’t see how we would reach it.

Then my husband had one of his brainwaves. He suggested we fit the plastic sheet to the inside of the roof by stapling it to the wooden batons. We set to work then poured a can of water over it to make sure it would run off okay. We think this will work but will have to wait for the next rain (which shouldn’t be long) to see how well it works.

Plastic sheet on the underside if the roof to give a much bigger dry area

I hope at last the girls will have a nice dry outside area.

When the girls went to bed tonight Treacle ate the pellets again and looked like she had a full crop for the first time in ages. What a relief!

Yesterday my husband needed to go to our local D.I.Y. store. He bought me back a present, this caught his eye as he was about to leave the store.

Chicken cushion

Isn’t this adorable! such a lovely gift.

This morning I took a dish of fish for the girls and Treacle’s smaller dish with her medicine on top. Now she is getting stronger she didn’t want to sit on my lap and tried to jump down to join the girls. I have to keep changing my tactics! I decided to stand up while holding her under one arm and offering her the dish in front of her beak. The fish was tempting enough for this to work and she ate it all. I will do this from now on.

I then resprayed her with the purple (blue) spray as it had washed off after her bath and my husband said he had seen Bluebell give her bare patch a peck. I don’t want any more infection so will keep her covered until her feathers regrow. Treacle was quite vocal about not liking the spray which shows she is back to herself again.

I am still giving the worming powder on sunflower hearts and the girls quickly cleared them up. I will give maggots again each afternoon for a few more days too. It looks like things are getting back to normal here, thank goodness.

I am so glad that I took Treacle to the vet yesterday and now wish that I had done so sooner.

This morning I put some scrambled egg and chopped tomato in a dish with her medicine on top but she wasn’t interested in it. I have come to the conclusion that she doesn’t like scrambled egg as she has refused it each time I offered it. The other three love it. I knew I needed to come up with a better plan.

I went shopping and bought some tins of tuna in oil as she loved the fish when I last gave her some. I put some in a dish for the other three girls and just a little in a dish for Treacle with the medicine on top. I put the bigger dish on the ground and picked Treacle up and sat her on my lap with her dish. She ate almost all of it so I am sure she got the medicine. I will do this each morning from now on.

As the day went on she started looking brighter. She was scratching around which she hasn’t done for a while and she had a dust bath. She even gave Pepper and Dotty some swift pecks to show that she is back in her place as top hen.

After lunch I gave them the worming powder on the sunflower hearts as the vet said I should continue with this as I had started. Treacle ate her share.

I then went to the fishing tackle shop for more maggots. I am determined to get Treacle eating as much as possible. They all went crazy for the maggots and Treacle was scratching for them and pecking the others out of her way. This was looking like Treacle back to herself again.

Scratching for maggots

Treacle looking more herself

Apart from her shabby feathers Treacle looks pretty much back to normal. I am so relieved. In future I would know to go the vets sooner. At first I thought it was just the molt, then being pecked at, but I now know if ever they are lethargic and not eating that I will act straight away. I am glad I took her to the vet before it was too late, I hadn’t realised at the outset how hugely attached I would get to these girls and how heartbreaking it would feel when there is a problem.

The icing on the cake for me was this evening when I did my sweep up, Treacle went to the feeder and had a good go at the pellets before going in to bed. This is the first time I have seen her eat pellets since she went down hill. I can’t believe the rapid transformation in her.

The other change taking place at the moment is that Dotty has just started to squat. She is nine months old, so has taken a fairly long time to grow up. Maybe she will start to lay eggs soon. I am so happy tonight!

Yesterday afternoon when giving the girls the worming powder, I decided to coat sunflower hearts in olive oil then sprinkle with the powder. This worked really well as it was quicker, less messy and the girls soon ate them all, including Treacle. I will do it this way every day now, it needs to be given for seven days.

Last night at bedtime I sat on my little chair with the girls and picked Treacle up and put her on my lap. I felt her crop again and its normal apart from not being big through not eating much. She sat right down on my lap and I stroked her and talked to her. She stayed like this for about ten minutes then jumped down and went to bed.

This morning when I went in at first light and gave some corn, Treacle didn’t attempt any. I dropped some meal worms by her and again she didn’t attempt any of those either. I decided to try hand feeding her. I took in a little dish of oily fish and sat Treacle on my lap. Treacle ate about half of it while I fended the other three off, they were all trying to jump up too and get some. I gave them the other half once Treacle had finished. At least she has eaten something. She then went and stood under a bush and the other three went and stood with her. I have read that they often do this when one of them is unwell. I feel so helpless and sad for her and am so scared that I am losing her.

This afternoon I decide to give Treacle a bath in epsom salts as I have read that it is a really good “pick me up” and if it doesn’t make a chicken better it certainly can do no harm. I bathed her in a bowl of warm water with a quarter cup of epsom salts and kept her there for ten minutes.

Giving Treacle a bath

I then wrapped her in a towel, then gently dried her with a hair dryer on the lowest setting. She was good as gold. I offered some scrambled egg and chopped tomato but she only ate a few bits of tomato. I put her on the floor on a towel and she stood there not moving.

I then phoned the vet at my local pet store and told him everything so far. He said to bring her in at five o’clock. I decided to keep Treacle inside until then.

I took her to the vet and while waiting she sat on my lap and snoozed as it was her bedtime. The vet was very good and I was impressed. He felt her all over and said she had no eggs stuck or problems with her crop which was no surprise because I had already done this. He then listened to her heart and lungs and said they were fine and no respiratory problems. He said he could find nothing wrong apart from her being ill so could only think that it is an infection. He gave her an injection of antibiotic into her breast, she didn’t even flinch! He then gave me some antibiotic medicine to give her for ten days.

The vet said he couldn’t give a prognosis but hoped that the antibiotic would help her regain her appetite and he said that I was doing all the right things and to keep doing as I am. The cost was just over thirty pounds which I though was quite reasonable. I wish I had taken her earlier now but she has gone down quite quickly over the recent days.

Treacle slept on the way home as it was dark and once back I just opened up the side of the coop and popped her in. I really hope to see an improvement soon. Giving her the medicine is going to be tricky but I will try putting it in food and giving it to her on my lap like I did this morning. It comes with a syringe and the vet said I could choose to put it in her food or syringe into her beak which I imagine would be quite stressful so that will be last resort.

My husband observed that she had gone downhill from when she was having her bare patches pecked, before I put the blue spray on her. He wonders if this introduced an infection either from their beaks being in poop or unsavoury items or just the fact that a cut or wound can get infected. We will probably never know but I think he may be right as when I first noticed her bare bottom she was still her happy normal self. She started going downhill from being pecked and I assumed molt and pecking may be enough to stress her. I just hope she starts to get better now. I feel better for having taken her to the vet because I know that I have done all I can. We can only see what tomorrow brings and hope for the best.

Yesterday I went to the vets at our local pet store and ordered some Flubenvet worming powder and a ground sanitising powder as I have read this is a helpful product.

I also tried the girls with some cooked rice in the morning which they loved and although it’s not of nutritional value at least it meant that Treacle had eaten something. In the afternoon I gave them sardines in olive oil as I have read that oily fish is good for them and I was pleased to see Treacle eat this.

In the evening Treacle took herself off to bed first which is a sure sign that she is not herself.

I picked up the Flubenvet today, it says to use one level measuring spoon (which comes with it) per day for seven days. I mixed it with chopped tomato and grapes as these are things I know Treacle will eat. They all ate it and Treacle ate her share.

Treacle doesn’t seem any worse but then also not any better. I have been on the “Down the Lane” forum and everyone has been very helpful. I mentioned seeing some green poops and someone put a chicken poop chart up for me to see. I recognised all the poops classed as normal and none of the abnormal ones so felt a little better.

Then this afternoon I saw a bright green poop that doesn’t appear on the chart. I googled “bright green chicken poop” and was alarmed by what I read. lots of people had seen this and also had the same lethargic, not quite right symptoms that Treacle has. Every one said that the chicken went on to die. I am now totally alarmed. The theories were wide ranging form it being bile through not eating enough, internal infection, liver or kidney problems, ecoli or secondary poisoning. I started to worry about the jasmine that they were eating before I removed it, but the other three girls are fine and that was months ago.

Again on DTL they said not to panic it could just be from the spinach she was having up until a few days ago and that I am doing all the right things. I am trying not to panic but it’s hard and I am feeling really upset and tearful right now. I really can’t bare the thought that I might lose her. I have got to hang in there doing my best for her but I don’t want her to suffer. I hope to have better news soon.

I went out to the chickens before first light this morning. I disconnected the automatic coop door opener and took the side off of the coop. I took Treacle out and put the side back on then offered her the dish of scrambled egg.

The other three girls were calling to be let out as they always do every morning as soon as they hear me come through the gate, let alone opening the side and removing one of them.

Treacle looked upset and confused at being separated from them and couldn’t understand why they weren’t coming out. She totally ignored the dish of food. I knew then that it wouldn’t work separating her because she was just too stressed to want to eat anything.

I let the other girls out and took the dish away to split between two dishes and bring back in later. I thought this would give Treacle more of a chance to get some. That didn’t work either! The three girls quickly demolished it while Treacle stood and watched, making no attempt to join in.

I am really worried that Treacle isn’t eating any pellets and is only eating treats and even these less enthusiastically than usual. She is just not her normal self.

Later I took two pots in with live yogurt and some poultry spice mixed in. They all ate it including Treacle but again not as enthusiastically as the others. At least she ate some though.

Yogurt with poultry spice mixed in

After lunch I gave the girls the other half of the maggots. Once again they made short work of those and Treacle ate a share of them.

The other thing I have noticed is that Treacle has had some green poops. I put this down to her having greens each day and not eating pellets to dilute it but I have just done some research and read that it can also be a sign of worms. This has put me into my next panic and I am going back to the vet in our local pet store tomorrow to order some Flubinvet or any similar worming product. I also read that it is good to use a ground sanitising powder so will ask for this too. I will try cutting out the greens as well.

I have also read that a little oily fish is a good source of protein when they are molting so may try that tomorrow too. I hate to see her under the weather and will try anything to help her along.