Carol's Chickens

For the last few days I have been picking broad beans ready for our Sunday dinner. Broad beans are always the first crop from the veg plot and the first ones always seem to be the nicest.

The first crop of broad beans

The beans once they have been shelled

These will make two meals for the two of us. I am looking to them for dinner tonight.

The girls have quite a few big shrubs in their run but last year I put in a new shrub. As it was being stripped I enclosed it in a cage of chicken wire to allow it to get taller than the height that the chickens strip the leaves from.

A year later and is still hasn’t grown very tall. I was fed up with the ugly cage and the space it took up in the run so I decided to let the shrub free. I decided that if it got stripped it didn’t matter too much as there are plenty of established plants in their run.

As soon as I uncovered it the girls were straight to it to investigate. They scratched around it and set about stripping the leaves from it despite having had their mid morning spinach.

The girls are very interested in this plant

Only broody Topaz is missing as she is sitting the nest box.

I don’t think this plant will last long

There are plenty of other established plants in the run

The hypericum is just starting to flower

This shades the table which is probably why that is a favourite place to sit and they also have the apple tree too.

By the afternoon the shrub has been stripped to peck height

It will probably go further and get stripped to jump height next. Only tall things can survive the girls but luckily there are plenty of big and tall things in here already so this little shrub can just take it’s chance.

I did a post a little while ago about what I thought was a pretty weed that had arrived on our front drive. A few days ago I phoned my mum and she told me that my uncle had identified it as a plant. My mum gave me it’s scientific name and I googled it for more information.

Here is the plant on our front drive

A closer look

And a little closer

It’s scientific name is cymbalaria muralis. It has many common names such as:

ivy-leaved toadflax, kenilworth ivy, colseum ivy, mother of thousands, wanderingsailor or chaenohinum and blue dream.

It is an alpine rockery plant excellent for growing in between flagstones, crevices in walls, on rockeries, in gravel gardens, in containers or hanging baskets and in borders. It is easy to grow, takes little maintenance and self seeds.

All of this explains why it is thriving on neglect on our gravel drive.

It is a hardy evergreen and has a height and spread of eight by eight inches.

It has little scalloped leaves with tiny lilac-blue snapdragon like flowers. It has it’s heaviest blooms in spring but flowers all summer long.

So there you have it! I am so glad that we decided to keep it.

I have been having a terrible struggle  making a decision about Sparkle. This morning when I threw out the corn she didn’t even come down from where she was perched. I lifted her down and she had a few bits of corn then drifted away uninterested.

I had no lunches to deliver today but we are doing a B.B.Q. for sixty from five o’clock onwards so I thought it best to ring the vet while I have a free day. I got an appointment for eleven o’clock.

I picked Sparkle up and put her in the cat box for the last time. I thought that I would just take one last photo of her but seconds later her eyes gradually closed and I knew then that I was making the right decision.

Goodbye Sparkle

Sparkle’s eyes gradually closed

I think Sparkle may have been nearing her end anyway but I couldn’t let her suffer any longer.

The vet said that if she had still been eating he would have offered some different antibiotics but as she wasn’t eating there was nothing more to do for her. He said she felt much thinner than when he last examined her and said that I was doing the right thing.

He was very good and let me hold her while he gave her an injection in her tummy. She very quickly went to sleep but I was surprised how long it was before she went. I could still feel her breathing and talked to her, stroked her and cried for her.

The vet said it takes time to get round her bloodstream but that she was asleep and couldn’t feel anything. After about ten minutes he said he would give her a little more to speed it up and then he listened to her heart and said that she was gone. He said he would leave me for a minute and that I could take as long as I wanted.

I stroked her beautiful plumage and when he came back in I said that I was ready to leave now. He had asked me if I wanted to take her but I said that now that she was gone, it’s over and I don’t need to take her.

It cost sixty pounds which I think is quite a lot but I still think it’s worth it to give her a peaceful end. My husband and myself both know that we couldn’t do it so it’s the only way for us.

I carried the empty cat box across the car park while sobbing and hoping no one was watching.

Once back home I began to feel a bit better because I know it was the right thing to do and I have been wrangling with this for so long now. It has been seven weeks since she first showed signs of something being wrong and in all that time I haven’t seen her eat pellets and once did she have a dust bath.

I think it was probably because she had always had the most voracious appetite and was our fattest hen that she lasted so long. I have only had her a year and last year she was my best layer so this was really unexpected.

In four years of chicken keeping I lost Treacle right at the start at only nine months old and now I have lost two girls in two months.

As a tribute to Sparkle I thought I would end with a few photos of her.

Sparkle four days ago still beautiful even in ill health

Sparkle had the fluffiest bottom of all the girls

Sparkle

And then there were six. Goodbye Sparkle.

Yesterday morning Sparkle half heartedly joined in with the morning corn. After that she refused anything I offered her. The only thing she does now is a little preening. She was always the girl that preened the most and had the fluffiest feathers and in fact still does.

The rest of the day she just sits, sometimes in a patch of sun, sometimes on a perch and often on the table.

At one point her flock mates joined her on the table.

Five girls on the table

Topaz is sitting at the back, Peaches and Barley are the book ends and Emerald is on the right, Sparkle is in the front. Honey was in the nest box trying to lay her egg (she takes ages) and Toffee always a bit of a loner was wandering around the run.

I visited Jackie and her flock today and then bought her here to visit my flock and see what she thought about Sparkle. Sparkle was always a favourite of Jackie’s and I wanted her opinion on the situation. I told her that I am at a crossroads where I don’t want to give up on Sparkle too soon if there is a chance for her but I don’t want her to suffer either.

I am afraid of giving up too soon but equally I know that chickens hide their suffering and I don’t want Sparkle to starve herself to a slow death and suffer. I picked Sparkle up and gave her to Jackie to hold as she did a few weeks ago. Jackie said she could feel how much thinner Sparkle was. Sparkle had always been our fat hen which may be why she has survived this for so long. She always had the biggest appetite and was plump with a waddle in her walk. Now she doesn’t look so bad as she has the fluffiest feathers of all but when picked up she feels so much thinner than she did.

All she does now is eat a little corn in the morning, preen a little and then sit all day much of the time dosing. Sometimes when sitting she has her head down and her sad eyes keep shutting. I can see her in eyes that things are badly wrong with her.

Jackie said that she felt only a miracle could help Sparkle now and that I have to make the tough decision to end her suffering because keeping her going is for me and not what is best for Sparkle. I have done every thing in my power to help her but it’s been a month now and whereas with Emerald and Amber I could entice them to eat and build their strength with Sparkle the refusal to eat anything makes any progress impossible.

I can hardly bare to make this decision but I know in my heart that I need to make it soon for Sparkle’s sake. I almost hope to find her gone in the morning but that is only to make it easier for me and I wonder how long she can linger on if she just starves herself.

I know that I must make this awful decision very soon. I will give it one more day and then I must decide.

This morning as planned I separated Sparkle and gave her some corn and spinach as this is all she will eat now. I have given up on the pellet mash as she refuses to touch it. She ate some of the corn and a little spinach.

After an hour I let her out again as it was obvious that she wouldn’t eat any more. At lunch time I repeated the process. She voiced her complaint and refused to eat anything. Again I let her out after an hour.

Sparkle seems determined to only eat in the mornings so I think it’s a waste of time to separate her any more. It only distresses her. I think the time has come to leave her be and wait and see how she goes on. I can’t force her to eat. I am so frustrated by this but I am all out of ideas now.

Sparkle spent her afternoon perched up as usual

Her flock mates watch over her

Whatever will be will be.

This morning I separated Sparkle and set her up with her own feeding station. I threw out the morning corn and sprinkled some extra sunflower hearts as well into Sparkle’s part of the run. This is the only time she joins in with the food at the moment and it meant she was able to get more than usual as she didn’t have to compete with the quicker girls.

I sprinkled in some spinach and gave her water, mash, a little dish of fish and some bits of melon in the hope of tempting her to eat a bit more.

Sparkle’s feeding station

Sparkle spent the day perched here above the table she wasn’t looking very happy

Once again the other girls perched on the other side. By lunch time Sparkle was still sat here and everything on her feeding station was untouched. Even the sunflower hearts were still on the ground. Her dishes were just as I had left them in the morning.

At five o’clock I decided this was pointless and opened up the gate.

The girls rushed in

The girls soon cleaned up

It seems that Sparkle is determined only to eat once a day so there seems little point in shutting her in all day. When I checked back a few minutes later she was sat with the girls and was obviously happier with them. She stood up as I got close because she is wary of me keep picking her up.

Sparkle is back with her flock mates

So on to plan C. I will continue to separate her briefly in the morning to make sure she has the chance to eat as much as possible. I will then open the run and leave her to do as she wants. I can’t force her to eat and am beginning to feel that there is nothing more I can do for her. I would rather that she has the company of the flock and it will have to be up to her to eat or not. I think it’s time to wait and see how this goes.

I said earlier today that I would try Sparkle in a separated part of the run tomorrow but in the end I decided that there was no point in waiting until tomorrow and instead I would do it right away.

By the time I had it all ready it was three o’clock and I decided to leave Sparkle in there until six o’clock. She has water, a dish of mash, a sprinkle of sunflower hearts and some spinach. Of course she took no notice of any of these things and looked quite put out about being separated. Meanwhile the other girls were desperate to get in and were pacing the boundary.

Sparkle’s new home

Emerald was the funniest as she would go to the gate then go round the other part of the run to the hatch, then repeat this several times over. You could almost read her little brain thinking that she was certain she could usually get in through the hatch.

Sparkle looks distinctly unimpressed

Sparkle returns to her favourite spot on the table

At least this space is much bigger than the cat box and has her favourite spot which is where she spends most of her time anyway.

They all perch together

I love how they still find a way to be together with Sparkle on the perch one side of the wire and the rest of the girls on the perch on the other side with the exception of Peaches who is in the nest box and Topaz who is shadowing her so that she can sit on her egg once it’s laid.

I used to wonder what sort of sixth sense Topaz had as she always seemed to know when one of the girls had gone in to lay their egg and which box they were in. While getting the run ready for Sparkle I saw how she does it. Peaches quietly went into the left coop nest box. Once in there she did the usual scratching around to get the shavings how she likes them. As soon as Topaz heard this scratching she was straight over to the little coop. She peered inside then went in to join Peaches. Sneaky!

Just before six o’clock I opened Sparkle’s gate and threw the girls their bedtime sunflower hearts. Sparkle hadn’t touched any of her goodies so perhaps it wasn’t because she didn’t want to be in the cat box that stopped her eating after all.

The girls soon cleaned up in Sparkle’s part of the run and Sparkle took herself off to the bedtime perch.

Looking at her though she doesn’t look as if she is suffering and her comb and wattles and face are still a good red colour. If my theory of her eating once a day like a broody hen is correct then maybe in the morning if I separate her first thing and give her corn and sunflower hearts as well as mash, she may eat a bit more without the competition. I will also leave her with spinach and some fruit as I think just eating anything at this stage is better than eating nothing.

I feel that this is the best I can do for her for now and we will just have to wait and see how the new regime works tomorrow.

Yesterday I felt a bit more positive about Sparkle but today I feel back down again. I think maybe my theory about her was complete rubbish. I am just clutching at straws because I don’t know what else to do for her.

At bedtime last night I sprinkled some sunflower hearts in front of Sparkle but she ignored them.

This morning I put her in the cat box once more with a bowl of water and a dish of mash which I again sprinkled with a few sunflower hearts. This time she didn’t even take the sunflower seeds from the mash. After the usual two hours she still hadn’t made any attempt to eat anything. I offered her a spinach leaf through the bars and she just turned away. She sits quietly and spends time sleeping with her head under wing.

Sparkle sleeping in the cat box

By lunch time she had still not touched the food. I put a cube of melon in her dish to try to tempt her but she ignored it. At half past one I decided to give up and return her to the run.

Sparkle moved at a snail’s pace through the run and started to preen a little.

I offered her some dandelion leaves through the wire and suddenly she seemed interested but couldn’t compete against the speed of the other girls. I got my husband to offer her dandelion leaves while I distracted the girls further up the run with leaves and she ate a few.

It seems that maybe she was having a strop at being put in the cat box. So tomorrow I will try plan B. I am going to separate part of the run like we do for integrating new girls. I will put her in there with water, mash, spinach and sunflower hearts. This way she can eat without competition and I will be able to see what she has eaten.

I can only hope that this may work as I am running out of ideas. We will see what tomorrow brings.

This morning as planned I put Sparkle in the cat box again with a dish of mash with the flubinvet and a bowl of water. Again I sprinkled a few sunflower hearts on top to try and get her interested.

She behaved exactly the same as yesterday. She took the sunflowers from the top of the mash but didn’t eat any mash. Two hours later she suddenly started tucking into the mash.

Sparkle is eating the mash, hurrah!

I only took this one photo as I didn’t want to disturb her but it’s so good to see her eating the mash.

I kept her in the cat box until half past two then I gave her a treat of a piece of melon before rejoining her flock mates.

Sparkle has a bit of melon before going back to the run

Once I returned Sparkle to the run she actually jumped from the patio to the log. She made her way to the bottom of the run and had a token scratch then preened a little. She then returned to the table surrounded by her flock mates.

Sparkle is back on the table

Toffee is on the perch on the other side of the wire, Topaz was wandering in the run and Honey was in the nest box. I think Sparkle is slightly improved for having a bit of food and in the cat box were three normal poops so that’s encouraging.

I have a bit of a theory about what may be going on with Sparkle. I am not sure if the worms came first and lowered her resistance causing whatever was making the crackle in her breathing or if that came first but I think once she had the antibiotics and the crackle cleared up she started to feel better.

I know she was feeling better because she took her first dust bath in ages but then the worms knocked her back again. A few days into the flock being wormed she seemed to improve once more but I think because she had both things to deal with in quick succession it took away her appetite.

Sparkle stopped eating the pellets and was only eating treats but at this stage she would eat the corn in the morning and the sunflower hearts at bedtime. As she improved she started laying again but because of her poor diet she couldn’t make egg shells.

Amber always used to look ill when laying a soft shelled egg but she only laid every couple of weeks so had time in between to recover. Sparkle has always laid most days so she laid (I think) four shell less eggs in quick succession which made her feel really poorly. As she became more poorly she stopped laying (thank goodness) and she also stopped eating at bedtime.

I think what she is doing is pretty much what a broody hen does. She has been feeding once a day (in the morning) then sitting all day and conserving her energy. I think this may be her way of taking time to recover. Because she isn’t expending any energy she is surviving on little food and her condition isn’t getting any worse.

I am hopeful that if I continue the current regime for a week it will do two things for her. It will get her wormed again and get her eating pellet mash which will help her recovery. I know from past problems that all these things can take their time to be properly resolved and I hope that if she doesn’t lay again this season she will gradually get back to normal.

I am once again feeling a bit more hopeful that she will come through this.