Carol's Chickens

Cinnamon was the last girl to start her moult and she is now looking really tatty. Her tail feathers are ragged and are falling out one by one. She has a few patches with very few feathers and a mass of white pins on her head.

Cinnamon has very ragged tail feathers

And lots of white pins on her head

Cinnamon eating some mash and showing the white pins on her head

She still has a red comb though and she remains very active and eats well. She continues to push her way under Speckles on the bedtime perch so is able to keep warm at night.

I look forward to seeing the girls all fully feathered and pristine again soon.

I know that I have done a few posts on mycoplasma since it has been in my flock but I am constantly researching it as it’s been such a big issue to me recently. I thought that I had read everything there was about it but sometimes putting a slightly different question into the google search engine can throw up some slightly different information.

For instance when I asked the question of whether chickens could get colds I found the information saying that they don’t have colds like we do but have a respiratory disease such as mycoplasma and that it must be treated as it won’t get better on it’s own.

When I got Caramel and Pebbles and this disease first showed itself in them I was put off the scent by the breeder telling me that seramas are prone to colds. Even this time round I could have treated a few days earlier if I hadn’t had this thought in my head when I first heard Freckles sneezing. After asking this question in my research I now know to treat at the first sign of sneezing. It makes me think that if the breeder believed that seramas were prone to colds then she unknowingly had it in her flock and wasn’t as knowledgeable as I would have imagined a breeder to be.

Goodness knows how many other chicken owners have landed up in my position through buying chickens from her. She used to show her chickens too so it could have been passed around this way and was perhaps how it came to her flock in the first place.

Anyway what I am leading up to is that I have just put a new question into my search. Because I have been treating my flock for so long now I asked how long chickens could live with mycoplasma. I didn’t really get an answer to this exactly but it did throw up an interesting essay on mycoplasma that I hadn’t seen before. It has actually made me feel a bit more positive about my situation.

This is the gist of what I found. Mycoplasma is a very challenging disease. Chickens become reservoirs of the pathogenic organisms. A hundred percent elimination involves culling the entire flock.

Mycoplasma has four pathogens in chickens but they all have similar symptoms and the same treatment so it’s not important to identify the particular one. Mycoplasma causes chronic respiratory disease, coughing, sneezing, sinus infection and ocular and nasal discharge.

Mycoplasma are very unique bacteria. They are the smallest living organisms on the planet. They are five times smaller than e-coli. Unlike most bacteria they often infect the inside of cells as opposed to the outside of cells.

They lack a bacterial cell wall which would protect them from the environment. Therefore they are extremely sensitive to the outside environment and do not survive outside of the host for very long.

That bit of information is good news because it means that there is no need to worry too much about disinfecting the chickens surroundings.

Many antibiotics work by inhibiting cell wall growth. Therefore mycoplasma is naturally resistant to antibiotics that inhibit cell wall synthesis. Tylan is one of the recommended treatments.

Mycoplasma is contracted vertically or horizontally. Horizontally is from one bird to another via respiratory droplets. Vertically is from a hen to embryo before the egg is laid. Therefore if one bird has it they all do even if they don’t show symptoms. Older birds rarely ever die from it.

Breeders must therefore cull their entire flock but as I will never be breeding this bit will never apply to me. Farmers who are not breeding cull the birds showing symptoms.

Back yard chicken keepers may need to do nothing except keep a closed flock as in not pass any birds on or will need to treat as symptoms occur.

This has given me some hope. It seems that Emerald and Speckles are not effected because they are older birds rather than bigger birds as I had imagined. It means that seramas are not more likely to suffer from symptoms because of their size but only because of their young age. Even with my four seramas only two have really been effected and as Cinnamon is the tiniest and the least effected that seems to back that up.

Sadly it means I will never be free of it because there is no way that I would ever cull my entire flock meaning that Emerald, who is my oldest and a great favourite of mine, and a well bird, would have to be sacrificed and that is never going to happen.

I couldn’t contemplate adding no more birds either as the flock could live many years and I could end up with one sad and lonely girl at the end of that journey. But it means that when I do add new girls I have to be super vigilant and treat at the first sign of any symptoms. I could maybe add older girls to lessen the chances of it effecting them.

It has given me hope that although I have had a bad run recently there could be times where it doesn’t rear it’s ugly head for long periods of time. If I can get my girls into spring and eventually a bit older they may not relapse.

I will now always keep a stock of tylan and having a vet that knows my history makes this easier to do. I will always treat at the very first sign of any symptoms. I can’t turn the clock back to a time before this was in my flock but I have learned an awful lot about this and I am now armed to do my very best to keep the problem as low as I possibly can.

I know this has been a long and heavy post but every new snippet of information helps me with this and if there is any chance that it could help anyone else then it is worth documenting.

This morning when I let the girls out Dandelion didn’t have any crust on her right eye. I haven’t seen any eye bubbles today. This is a good sign.

This morning Dandelion’s right eye was completely clear

She went straight to the tylan water then the tylan mash. I think that perhaps getting them back on the tylan straight away has nipped this in the bud.

I am aware that this means it’s probably lingering just under the surface and isn’t clearing up completely. Dandelion is the most vulnerable of the girls and I think any cold spells will probably bring on a relapse.

What I hope to do is to treat at any time there is a relapse and try to get the girls safely through to spring in the hope that that will bring about a complete recovery. There is no way of knowing if they will completely recover as only time will tell but I hope that once we get to warmer weather there will be a good chance of recovery.

All the girls including Emerald and Speckles still sneeze from time to time but they don’t seem to be showing any other sign of this. I can only continue as we are and keep hoping that we will come through this.

When I let the girls out this morning Dandelion had more of a crust on her right eye than yesterday. We assume she must have had eye bubbles during the night and like conjunctivitis they form a crust by morning.

Dandelion has a crusty right eye

At this moment she scratched at it with her claws and managed to dislodge it.

Dandelion managed to scratch the crust away

Dandelion had a good drink of the tylan water and some of the mash also made with the tylan water. I didn’t see any more eye bubbles during the day.

I am hoping that putting the girls back on the tylan may have nipped this in the bud quickly. I will continue with the tylan for at least seven days and reassess then.

I have been keeping a very close eye on the girls in case there is any sign of a relapse with the respiratory disease. The sneezing has become less frequent and quieter but not gone completely.

However there had been no dosing in the afternoons, no wheezing and no eye bubbles. The girls have been active and eating well.

Then yesterday I noticed that Dandelion had a tiny white speck on the top of her right eyelid. I picked her up for a close inspection and while I held her as still as possible my husband touched it with a cotton bud to see if he could remove it. He said that it felt crusty and it didn’t move. We decided to leave it alone as we don’t want to risk harming her.

I tried to photograph it but it is difficult to see as it is tiny.

Dandelion’s eye lid

It is the tiniest white speck on her eye lid in the top corner nearest her beak. I wonder if she has had an eye bubble that has formed into a crust. I decided to keep a very close eye on her.

Dandelion a bit later in the big shelter

A bit later I checked her again and she had bubbles in her right eye.

Later in the small shelter her eye had cleared

I went back a little later and she had moved to the other shelter and her eyes were clear. I wondered if my husband had loosened the crusty bit and with blinking away the bubbles she had removed it as it was gone completely.

Later back in the big shelter

She now had bubbles in both her eyes

When I next checked on her she now had bubbles in both eyes. This is not good. It looks as if the problem has come back again. Both Freckles and Dandelion were dosing and not looking so good. They have had one week off the tylan and have remained well for one week.

I feel heart sick about this. I had really begun to think that we had beaten this. I plan to put them back on the tylan. I am aware that I can’t keep medicating them forever.

I will see how another course goes and make a decision later about what to do long term. I don’t see what else I can do at the moment but return to the regime and keep hoping for the best.

Recently the bedtime line up has been exactly the same every night. Cinnamon is always tucked very closely under Speckles wing. She always looks completely squashed in. As she is the smallest girl and moulting at the moment as well it is a good way for her to keep warm at night.

The current bedtime line up

Cinnamon is tucked under Speckles wing

I think Cinnamon must push her way under Speckles wing and Speckles being the good surrogate mum that she is, allows her to. This picture is the exact picture I see every night. I am pleased that the girls are staying cosy together.

Today the girls lined up together on the big, branch perch, above the ladder in a spot of sun. If there is any sun to be had at this time of the year it is in this spot and the girls will always find it.

In fact sometimes Emerald will wait in this spot for the sun to come round. The little girls join Emerald and Speckles once the sun is on the branch.

All the girls together in the sun

It’s difficult to get all the girls in shot because of the dividing wire and Freckles gets bleached out with the sun behind her but it shows their togetherness.

Perching in the sun

I don’t like taking photos from behind the weld mesh but I thought I would make an exception to show all the girls together. I love seeing them perching together like this.

Today I have only heard a few, very quiet, sneezes. The sneezes are becoming less each day which I am really pleased about.

Freckles looks a bit scrawny with her lack of feathers and Cinnamon looks a bit tattered. All four little girls have pins on their heads. I look forward to seeing them fully feathered again soon and I am pleased with their progress of getting back to normal.

In the summer we realised that our twisted willow tree had got huge. It was only about four or five feet high when we planted it eleven years ago. We wanted to add some height to the borders and at about twenty pounds it seemed a bargain. It fitted easily in the car that we had at that time.

This summer it was shading my sunny spot on the patio and as much of it was hanging in our neighbours garden as in ours. We had always told them to feel free to prune it but they said that they liked it. It was now over fifteen feet high.

We decided to wait until the end of the year and then give it a hard chop back. The end of the year came and went and yesterday my husband decided it was time to tackle it.

Our twisted willow tree in August

Our twisted willow tree after we have lopped it

Twisted willow tree from the same angle as the summer photo

I should have taken a winter photo of it before we lopped it but realised too late. I will take another comparison photo in the summer when it is green again. I am really pleased with it as I think it will be a much better shape and more manageable.

It is a good job done that we have been meaning to do for ages.

I am a bit late this year with my end of year egg count. It has thrown up some interesting figures.

Firstly I will start with the three girls who are no longer with me as they didn’t complete the full year.

Peaches and Barley were re homed with my friend Moira in May. Barley laid for longer as she started a month earlier than Peaches but Peaches laid more eggs.

Peaches laid 28 eggs in 3 months and Barley laid 25 eggs in 4 months. This gave Peaches an average of 9 eggs a month and Barley an average of 6 eggs a month.

Sadly we lost Rusty in September. Rusty laid 39 eggs in 6 months so she averaged 6 eggs a month.

Now for the current flock.

One thing that really surprised me was how poor a layer Speckles is. Speckles laid 27 eggs in 5 months giving her an average of 5 eggs a month. Emerald on the other hand, with her short season, laid 49 eggs in 4 months giving her an average of 12 eggs a month.

Now for the little girls. Freckles is by far the best layer and Apricot is right at the bottom.

Freckles laid 111 eggs in 10 months giving her an average of 11 eggs a month.

Dandelion laid 59 eggs in 9 months giving her an average of 6 eggs a month.

Cinnamon laid 71 eggs in 8 months giving her an average of 8 eggs a month.

Apricot laid 30 eggs in 7 months giving her an average of 4 eggs a month.

It’s difficult to get a true picture of the little girl’s egg laying ability because of the microplasma which caused them to stop laying when they may have otherwise continued to lay for longer. Also Freckles is six months older than the three amigos and so was laying sooner than they were. Next year will give them a full year of egg laying providing there are no problems.

Freckles started laying in March, Dandelion in April, Cinnamon in May and Apricot in June.  This is because Freckles was more mature than the other girls and silky feathered girls mature the slowest meaning Apricot was the last to start laying.

Freckles was also the most broody so she could have laid even more eggs without time off to be broody. Cinnamon was the only girl that laid right through to December with just 4 eggs in December before she started moulting.

I conclude that whilst my research showed that seramas lay in winter it is influenced slightly by moulting as well as this winter by being unwell. On the other hand even though they laid less in winter they still laid some eggs whilst the bigger two girls lay only for a short summer season.

Speckles laid for 5 months and Emerald for 4 months but the seramas have the potential to lay all year round depending on how early in the year they start laying. Freckles didn’t mature and start egg laying until March and Rusty matured and started egg laying in April.

This means that I won’t know until later this year when they will start laying. As they are still moulting and occasionally sneezing that could be a factor in them starting later.

It is quite clear though that Freckles is way out in front as the best layer and Apricot is by far the layer of least eggs.

We had a total of 439 eggs this year. 92 eggs were from flock members no longer with us and 347 eggs from the current six girls.

It will be interesting to see what this year brings.

I gave the girls some more yogurt as their New Year treat.

New year yogurt treat

Yogurt beaks

The girls love yogurt. They splash it around and then scrape their beaks clean on the patio. By the end of the day the yogurt dishes are empty.

This is the second day of no tylan and the girls seem to be staying well. The only thing that stops them appearing completely over this is the occasional sneeze. It is only occasional now though and only fairly quiet sneezes. I am feeling quite positive that we are through this but will be really glad when there are no sneezes at all.

Even the moulting seems to be slowing. The weather has remained milder which is good for the girls but I am so fed up with it being so wet. I look forward to brighter days soon. Roll on spring.