Carol's Chickens

I always think a weed is just a plant that is somewhere you don’t want it to be. I think of weeds as the invasive sort that are difficult to get rid of. Sometimes a weed can be pretty and if it’s not doing any harm then perhaps it should be allowed to stay. This is the sort of weed that has arrived, all by itself, on our front drive. It is delicate and pretty.

Is this really a weed!

It brightens up the gravel on the drive and as it’s against the wall it isn’t in the way. I think it’s rather sweet and it can stay.

Since Sparkle hasn’t been a hundred percent she hasn’t been joining in flock activities such as dust bathing. I think that when I see her dust bath again I will know she is really feeling better. At the moment she does follow the sun and will sit in a patch of sun while the other girls are dust bathing.

For the last two mornings I have put her in the cat box with her medicine on some fish and she has taken it like this which is much better than putting it her beak and there are only two more days of medicine to go, hurrah! It has become harder to pick her up which is sign of her returning to normal and I am looking forward to the end of her medicine so that I don’t have to annoy her by picking her up.

Today we had another near dead plant to remove from the garden. It was a hebe, which although usually hardy, had been completely knocked back by the winter frosts and as we had another plant that was being crowded we decided to take the hebe out and replace it with the other plant.

As usual the dead plant went into the run for the girls. Sparkle was straight to it and was soon on top of it pecking away at the soil. She also pecked away the lower ranking girls if they got in her way.

Sparkle went straight to the dead plant

All the girls join in

They all joined in except Toffee who was laying her egg. It was good to see Sparkle taking part and looking more like her usual self. I really do think she is almost back to normal. I am feeling much more positive about her now.

The thing that had been worrying me most about Sparkle was that she didn’t appear to be eating during the day but this morning she joined in with the mid morning spinach then she went to the dish of mash. I have been putting in two dishes of mash each day just to try to tempt her and this was the first day that we saw her eat from it. She even pecked Emerald out of her way.

She is much more difficult to pick up for her medicine in the morning and this morning she struggled when we put it in her beak (this also shows she is gaining strength). We don’t want to put her through the stress of this but she wouldn’t take it from food before. Now that she is eating again we have decided that tomorrow morning we will put her in the cat box with her medicine on some fish as this is what she seems to like to eat the most.

She needs to take her medicine for four more days to the complete the ten day course so I measured out her medicine to see if there was enough to waste another day’s dose if this doesn’t work. There are two extra days dose so we will give this a go tomorrow.

I listened to her breathing and could no longer hear the bubbling noise. We decided that as she was eating again we wouldn’t need to put her in the cat box in the evening.

She was preening and moving around more during the day and also joined in with the bedtime sunflower hearts. She perched up next to Topaz at bedtime. I hadn’t really noticed that much of a friendship between these two before now but since Sparkle has been unwell they have spent a lot of time sitting together which is quite heart warming.

Sparkle and Topaz at bedtime

I am now feeling much more positive about Sparkle. I really do think she is now on the mend at last.

I picked up Sparkle this morning and my husband administered her medicine to the side of her beak. This has now become the morning routine until her medicine is finished. She seemed brighter in the morning and did attempt to join in with the mid morning spinach.

During the morning the egg laying routine commenced. As I have said before Toffee seems to like company when laying and soon she and Emerald were side by side in the left coop.

Toffee and Emerald in the nest box

Barley and Peaches are always so nosey when there are girls in the nest box and soon came over to investigate.

Barley watches Toffee and Emerald in the nest box

Barley came over to have a look and Peaches wasn’t far behind. You can just see her feet bottom left of this photo.

Peaches joins the audience

Barley and Peaches suddenly decided they would go into the right coop together.

Barley and Peaches go into the other nest box

A little while later I found Barley’s, Toffee’s and Emerald’s egg in the left coop and Peaches egg in the right coop.

A littler later again I found Honey’s little egg in the main coop nest box which is where she prefers to lay. Not a bad day, five out of seven but Topaz and Sparkle aren’t laying at the moment, so you could say a full house.

The thing that worries me most about Sparkle is that I don’t see her eating during the day. She spent most of the day sitting in patches of sun.

Sparkle sits in the sun

At six o’clock I put Sparkle back in the cat box with an array of food items. She didn’t seem interested at first but I got her take some spinach through the bars. She then pecked at a bit of melon then some sunflower seeds and eventually some fish. I am just putting everything in, in the hope that she will eat something. I was pleased to see her eat but I worry that it’s not enough.

We are three quarters through her medicine and I am worried that she is still so slow and eating so little. I don’t know what else I can do for her. I am encouraging her to eat but can’t force her.

I am still not sure how this is going to go. I just wish I could see her eat more. Her comb is still red though and to look at her you wouldn’t know anything was wrong but I know. She should be eating more. I suppose only time will tell.

This morning we tried to give Sparkle her medicine on a bit of bread. I held her while my husband offered her the bread but she was having none of it. He touched it against her beak and she clamped it shut and turned away. This wasn’t going to work. I felt annoyed with myself for wasting a dose of her medicine.

We resorted to giving her another dose by syringing it into her beak which actually isn’t too difficult so I think we will have to do this each morning as I can’t risk wasting more of her medicine.

She looked a little brighter, moving around although very slowly, but I was concerned that she wasn’t eating. She was drinking water but although I had put out two large dishes of mash in the hope that she would eat, I didn’t see her make any attempt at eating from them.

Sparkle by the water

I tried dropping bits of grape, sunflower seeds and bits of spinach in front of her but she was so slow that the other girls took them from under her beak before her beak could get to the ground. She had a couple of bits but nothing like enough.

I decided to put her back in the cat box at six o’clock which was when she started eating yesterday. I put in a dish of water and a mix of foods to tempt her. I put in a dish of mash topped with fish (sardines in olive oil), sunflower seeds, chopped grapes, chopped tomato, a wedge of tomato and spinach.

Sparkle’s restaurant

Sparkle tucked into the fish with gusto so I kept topping up the fish. At this stage I don’t care what she eats as long as she eats something and the fish provides protein. I held spinach leaves through the bars of the cat box and she pecked at it enthusiastically. She also pecked all the seeds and then the centre from the wedge of tomato. Like yesterday I felt so uplifted to see her eat. I think that at the end of the day she is hungry but she can’t compete with the flock and this allows her to fill up in her own time.

I will continue with this regime until she can eat properly in the run. Once she had stopped eating and had been just sitting for a while I returned her to the run. She immediately took up her position on the bedtime perch and started preening. Again I think this is a good sign. When I lifted her down to put her in the coop at dusk I thought she felt more robust.

I think this may be a slow process but I will continue in this way until she builds up her strength and is able to feed properly. I am hopeful that she will continue to improve but I think it will take a bit of time yet.

This morning when I went out to the girls Sparkle was stood under the bush. This is never a good sign. By the time I had done my morning chores Topaz had gone to stand next to her.

I soaked a bit of bread with her liquid baytril and offered it to her but she refused it. I put her in the cat box with one ramekin dish of water and one of mash, some sunflower seeds and some chopped grapes. Sparkle refused to eat anything.

There was nothing for it but to put her medicine directly in her beak. I held her while my husband administered it a drop at a time in the side of her beak waiting for her to swallow each drop before giving the next. We managed this without any being wasted.

I left her in the cat box because she has everything she needs and doesn’t have to compete with the other girls which she is unable to do at the moment. I can watch to see if she eats or drinks and I can see if she poops. She is comfortable in there and hasn’t complained.

Sparkle in the cat box

Sparkle settled in

I saw her drink from the water dish but was disappointed that she wouldn’t be tempted to eat anything. I know from past experience that if you can get them to eat and gain strength you may get them better (Amber and Emerald) but if you can’t get them to eat then it’s probably a losing battle (Treacle). The problem is you can’t force them to eat you can only keep trying to tempt them.

I am hoping that once the medicine kicks in she will get her appetite back and start to eat and gain strength. I am willing her to eat something. I am hoping that she may eat in the late afternoon like yesterday and then I can return her to the run.

Tomorrow we will put her medicine in her beak again in the morning. I then have to go out and do my deliveries but on my return at lunch time I will put her back in the cat box with food and water. I will repeat this until she starts to eat in the run.

At six o’clock Sparkle suddenly got her appetite back. She started eating the chopped grapes then moved on to the sunflower hearts. She suddenly started pecking at the slice of melon which I put it in with her at lunch time and  she wouldn’t even look at, at that time.

Sparkle suddenly starts pecking at the melon

Look at her go!

Hurrah! Melon in Sparkle’s beak

This makes my heart sing

I can’t describe how this simple act made my heart soar. Sparkle then moved on to her mash and then my husband gave her a big worm and after a bit of a struggle she got it down. My heart felt fit to burst.

I then offered her some spinach leaves which she ate with gusto. Hurrah, I think we may be back on track. I decided it was time to return her to the flock and she joined them eagerly. She was moving around after having sat for a whole day. I think (hope) we have reached a turning point. After a day of worry I am feeling so happy at the moment. Lets hope tomorrow continues as well as this.

Anyone who has chickens will have experienced the trance stare. Two girls will be staring at each other and will be as still as statues. I think it is probably a pecking order thing and they are waiting to see who will break away first. My husband jokes that they are communicating telepathically. He imagines a stream of messages passing between them.

Yesterday Topaz and Barley were doing this stare. I tried to get a photo but it’s not quite perfect because the camera distracted Barley and she slightly shifted her gaze towards me. It’s the best I have though and it gives a good idea of what the trance stare looks like. We call it that because the two girls appear to go into a trance like state and they stand motionless beak to beak.

Topaz and Barley do the trance stare

I like the way Peaches is in the background watching with interest. You can still see the trance in Topaz eyes but Barley has just broken away slightly. They are funny girls.

This morning we were surprised that Sparkle was sitting in the nest box. After her soft shelled egg the day before it seemed unlikely that she would lay again so soon.

Once again when Toffee wanted to lay her egg she chose company rather than one of the two empty nest boxes. Toffee really does seem to like company when laying her eggs which is quite unusual.

Sparkle and Toffee in the left coop

Toffee soon laid her egg but Sparkle was still in the coop. I started to think something was wrong. I lifted Sparkle out of the coop and she was slow and a bit wobbly. I tried to tempt her to eat and dropped chopped grapes in front of her but she ignored them. This wasn’t a good sign.

I offered her scrambled egg, mash and sunflower seeds along with chopped grapes and all she managed was two little bits of grape and about two sunflower seeds. She did a very liquid watery poop and then went to the water.

Poor Sparkle by the water

She drank quite a bit and then returned to the nest box. By now I was worried. A little later I lifted her out again and tried to temp her with food but again she showed no interest. She did another watery poop and went back to drinking the water.

I was by now beginning to feel alarmed. I picked her up and inspected her. I could hear a slight bubbly sound from her beak. Her eyes were clear and no liquid from her beak but there was a faint rattle as she was breathing. I thought this may be a respiratory problem and decided that I would need a visit to the vet.

I googled respiratory problems and it mentioned that it could effect egg shell quality, lethargy and lack of appetite were also symptoms. I phoned the vet and managed to get an appointment an hour later. Luckily the chicken expert who I have seen before was available.

I put Sparkle in a cat box with pine shavings and threw in a hand full of sunflower seeds just in case she decided to eat. She was very well behaved in the cat box and just sat quietly.

When I took her out and handed her to the vet she pecked him which was a surprise as she has never pecked anyone before. He listened to her chest and said that it was all clear but he could hear the slight rasping from her throat. He said it was rather like us getting a cold or flue and  that it was in her throat but hadn’t reached her chest.

He gave me liquid baytril to give her for ten days. When I put her back in the cat box she pecked at the sunflower seeds and he said she seemed hungry.

Back home I measured out the baytril and put it on a piece of bread (I wouldn’t usually give bread but needs must). She slowly ate it and I then put in the cat box some chopped grapes, sunflower seeds, corn, mash and water. At times like this if I can get them to eat anything I don’t care what it is as long as they eat something. I needed to build her strength back up.

I left her in the cat box for about half an hour until she had eaten all the grape, sunflower seeds, corn and some of the mash plus water. I then returned her to the flock.

When I gave them a handful of sunflower seeds before bedtime she joined in even though she was a bit slower than usual. She was looking more her usual self and better than she had all day. I felt relieved and felt glad that I had acted quickly and made the right decision to take her to the vet. The cost was twenty eight pounds which I thought was quite reasonable.

Before bedtime she was perched up next to Topaz as usual. I will put her in the cat box each morning with some bread soaked with the baytril to make sure she gets her dose and then return her to the run.

I am hopeful that having caught it early she will be okay. Just when everything seems to be running smoothly there is always something else to throw a spanner in the works. I really hope she will be okay now.

Yesterday was a dramatic day in the nest boxes although I could say every day has it’s dramas. Yesterday was quite typical but I don’t always take photos or report about it.

One of the less usual things yesterday was that Sparkle didn’t look her usual self and had the look that I recognise as a girl about to lay a soft shelled egg. She looked a bit less enthusiastic about the morning greens and just a bit off is all I can describe it as, because it wasn’t the full poorly look that Amber used to have, but I knew she just didn’t look her usual self.

I have mentioned before that Toffee seems to like sharing a nest box which is quite unusual in itself because most of the girls like a bit of privacy when laying their eggs. Peaches and Barley in particular will growl when another girl looks in on them.

Topaz is our resident broody so she often occupies a nest box even though she doesn’t actually lay any eggs.

The process of going in the nest boxes and getting ready to lay eggs involves a lot of shouting so I am well aware of events taking place and yesterday I decided to record some of this. I also find the girls that are not ready to lay (and I have to say Barley and Peaches in particular) do like to be nosey and watch the proceedings. Honey and Emerald are close behind this pair for doing this but these two girls are the ones always on watch and often shouting about it to let me know what is going on.

So to begin, Topaz as usual took up residence in a nest box and Toffee decided that she should share.

Toffee shares the right nest box with topaz

Toffee looks in on Sparkle in the left nest box

Barley is taking a look at Toffee and Sparkle in the nest box

Just a little note for my mum, she found this really comical so I thought that I would  capture a little bit more of this. Sparkle is sitting in the nest box and you can just see Toffee’s leg as she is watching her.

Peaches joins Barley watching Toffee who is in turn watching Sparkle in the nest box

Honey also wants to see what is going on, these girls are really nosey about who is in the nest box

Emerald wants to know what is going on too

Soon after this photo I just missed Emerald on the nest box craning her neck down to look in like Barley and Peaches earlier. I will have to catch that photo another time. At this point she was as usual more interested in me.

Meanwhile Toffee went back in the right nest box with topaz

Toffee changes her mind and goes back in the left nest box with Sparkle and a few minutes later lays her egg

Sparkle then remained in the nest box for a very long time. She then came out and I checked the nest box and found this.

Sparkle’s soft shelled egg

It looked like it was just an egg yolk in a membrane but once I opened it I found it was yolk and white in a soft shell. The shell was like paper.

Sparkle’s egg

The yolk came out first then the white beside it and above is the paper like soft shell now folded. I hope this is just a blip as Sparkle’s first egg of the year had a thin shell (not as thin as this) but they have been fine since then, until now. She didn’t look too poorly and afterwards bounced right back and was soon at the food bowl. Note the lovely colour of the yolk. All my girl’s eggs are this lovely rich colour due to their varied diet and daily greens.

I wonder if  too many treats have caused the thin shell. I will give the girls a big bowl of mash today to make sure they eat what they should be eating. I will also scramble the egg and feed it back to them. I give them a small amount of sunflower seeds first thing and corn last thing or visa versa and greens mid morning, apple at lunch time and either fish, egg or yogurt once every one or two weeks. I think this is a good regime but occasionally maybe they get a bit extra when we have visitors and I have to be careful to keep the balance healthy for them.

After the musical nest box manoeuvres, Toffee laid first followed by Emerald and Honey,  once again together in the main coop nest box, then Sparkle’s soft egg followed by Barley’s egg in the left coop.

Five eggs is a good day as only six girls are laying because seventh girl, broody Topaz, doesn’t lay. It was the usual drama with a bit extra from Sparkle which of course we would rather not have, but the drama of musical nest boxes is really all part of a day in the life of this little flock.

I had to get all of that into the title as I didn’t want to set off alarm bells. Stress is definitely one of the factors in feather pulling. This year, Mid March, Honey struggled at the start of laying. She laid one egg with no shell then another with a thin shell. She looked quite poorly while this was happening and then we noticed she was pulling a few feathers from bottoms.

My heart sank as I wondered if this habit was going to be a problem among the flock once more when I had made so many changes to stop this happening. Honey’s eggs were fine after that and we didn’t see any more feather pulling so I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Amber died and during the days after she went we noticed Honey pulling feathers from bottoms again. Again my heart sank and I thought how unfair it seemed that once again a death amongst my flock seemed to spark this behaviour.

We saw her try to pluck feathers from Topaz and Topaz would round on her and give her the warning peck to stay away. We saw her pull feathers from Peaches and Barley and their bottoms began to show small bare patches. I thought it odd that she was targeting the top and bottom girls.

When Steve asked me how Honey was since Amber had gone I told him about this and said that I hoped it would pass. He said I should post about it because if it passed it would reassure others and if it didn’t I would have to post about it anyway.

Happily this only continued for about four days and we haven’t seen it happening since so I believe it has passed. I believe it was the loss Honey felt at Amber going that sparked this, as they had been together since they were chicks.

Today I took photos of bottoms to demonstrate this and the fact that it was difficult to see it in a photo shows that it isn’t actually that bad and I was grateful that it was only bottoms and not heads and necks like before. I also think that as Pepper and Dotty were so closely bonded this allowed Pepper to pull feathers from Dotty’s neck but Honey isn’t close enough to any of the other flock members for them to allow this behaviour.

Sparkle and Toffee have lovely fluffy bottoms

Emerald also has a fluffy bottom

Topaz has a bare patch on the left side of her bottom

See the little pink patch showing on the left.

Peaches also has a a bare patch on the left side of her bottom

Again you can just see a pink patch.

Barley has missing feathers behind her wing

Again it is the left side of her bottom under her wing. It’s odd that all three girls have missing feathers from the left side, I wonder if this has some relevance, such as being an easier side to sneak up on perhaps.

I have to apologise to the girls for trying to sneak up behind them and photograph their bottoms but I feel I must tell every story.

I will be keeping a close eye on them but thankfully I do believe this phase has passed for now.