Carol's Chickens

This morning I did some research on the internet and identified the worm I found yesterday as a round worm. It was described as looking like a bit of spaghetti which was exactly what it looked like and a much better description than the one I used.

I talked to the vet and asked if I could give the chicks flubenvet. He said there is no age restriction and it is very safe so as long as they are eating pellets it’s fine to worm them too. I asked if worms could be the reason Honey laid a soft shelled egg for the first time and he said yes this could well be the reason. If she has worms she may not be getting the nutrition and calcium that she needs.

I ordered more fluninvet as although it should be used every six month as a preventative it needs to be repeated after three weeks if a worm is found as more eggs will be hatching and the cycle needs to be broken.

I mixed the powder into mash and dished it out into four little dishes for the main flock spaced apart to make sure they all get some. I mixed it with the chicks growers mash in one little dish for them as they share okay.

Honey still looked the same so I knew she hadn’t got her next egg laid yet. When I got back from my deliveries at lunch time Honey was in the nest box which I thought was a good sign. After she had been in there for an hour I decided to lift her to see if she had laid and sure enough she had. I lifted her out of the nest box and she instantly bounced back to her usual self again.

Her egg was very fragile but not as soft as the last one.

Honey’s latest egg

The weather has been dry and sunny for the past week but rain is forecast for the weekend. The flower pots where the chicks like to roost before bedtime are in the corner where rain leaks in a bit and also runs down the fence despite the plastic sheet I put up.

I decided I needed to put something in place before the rain. I bought an umbrella for a pound and have squeezed into the corner over the flower pots. The umbrella itself will fill with water but it should run off and the flower pots should be protected. It’s not pretty but it’s only to protect the chicks until I lift to them to the coop each night and once integrated it can come down.

Chicks umbrella

I will see tonight if they are happy to perch underneath it.

In the afternoon I once again gave the chicks the bigger space and they discovered the bigger perches.

Peaches and Barley find the bigger perch

They settle down to sit in the sun

The chicks are getting used to me now and don’t panic so much when I poop pick around them and also let me get closer with the camera. Any chicken of mine must learn to get used to the camera.

All the dishes of mash were emptied so I am happy that they are getting their doses of flubenvet. Honey had been getting a bigger share of worms since the big girls were re- homed and I wonder if that has some bearing on this. I am not going to dig for worms for a good while.

The chicks have also had little spats between themselves. They run at each other but it’s all over in a few seconds. They are obviously sorting out their pecking order and Peaches seems to be top at the moment.

Honey has had bottom girl syndrome and runs at Toffee and Emerald to show them she is now above them. Toffee also runs at Emerald to make sure she knows she is bottom girl.

This afternoon we gave the girls some chard and Honey was throwing her weight about when Topaz ran at her and showed her that Topaz is still top girl. They raised their ruffs and ran at each other until Honey backed down. We felt it wasn’t a bad thing that she is shown her place. Topaz makes a good top hen because she doesn’t throw her weight about but doesn’t take any nonsense.

It all seems calm and happy again at the moment and I just hope the umbrella doesn’t bother the chicks. I will report back tomorrow.

Where to begin, there are so many updates, I will go through them in order.

Firstly Peaches and Barley have discovered the new perch my husband put in a few days ago. They now like this spot for catching a bit of early morning sun.

Peaches and Barley on their new perch

Today I saw them go to this perch and they jump to the bistro table/rain shelter then jump to the perch. Clever girls!

I have also given them mash for the last two days and they love it and empty the small dish through the course of the day.

Barley finds the mash

Peaches joins Barley at the mash

The next move today was to let the chicks have a bigger area to explore. After lunch today I opened up the extension half of the run by removing the hatch but shutting the gate to keep the rest of the flock out.

Peaches in the new area

The chicks soon explored the new area. I didn’t get many good photos as they look so small in the big area and still won’t let me get too close to them.

At one point when I checked on them they were sitting in the sun in the new area against the wire with the main flock sat next to them on the other side of the wire. This was lovely to see.

Before bedtime I shut the chicks back into their usual area and opened the gate again. I did my last poop pick of the day and was horrified to find what I thought was a worm in a poop. In two and a half years of chicken keeping this is the first time I have found anything like this. It was like a very thin rubber band. long, thin as cotton and the colour of a rubber band.

I only wormed the girls in spring but since then have added four new girls plus the two chicks. My husband wondered if this could be why Honey laid a soft shelled egg for the first time.

Tomorrow I will start a course of Flubenvet in mash for a week. I will also ask the vet if I should treat the chicks too or if they are too young at seven weeks. Now that I know they like mash it would be easy to do but I need advise first.

The next development was Honey taking up the penguin stance again and looking unwell. Despite two days of mash with limestone flour and cod liver oil it looks as if she is about to lay another soft shelled egg. I am wondering if my husband is right and a dose of worms has effected her laying. I will ask the vet about that tomorrow too.

Then finally the good news is that Amber is looking better. She is now able to peck at apple which was the only thing she couldn’t eat after her face swelled. She is looking much brighter in herself and the swelling on the right side of her face has gone down.

I took a series of photos of Amber and Honey together to show Honey’s tail down stance and Amber’s improved right cheek.

Amber’s left cheek is still quite swollen

Honey in the background has the tail down stance and the sad eyes that I am so familiar with in Amber.

Amber’s right cheek has gone down

Amber is looking much better

Amber’s improved cheek and Honey looking sad

Amber only has a small lump on her right cheek now rather than the whole cheek being swollen and Honey behind her is not happy at all.

I checked at intervals and again as they were taking up their bedtime positions. Honey still hadn’t got her egg out and this was a very sad thing to see.

Poor Honey still trying to get her egg out

The other thing that I had forgotten to mention was that Emerald only ever laid one egg on her second day with us. I then found a dozen black feathers in the coop where she was sleeping and since have found a few black feathers in the coop and run from time to time. I think this means she is moulting although she doesn’t actually look any different. She is a little fluffy under her wings and the lack of eggs and looking a bit sad makes me think this is an early moult. I know that the game birds may moult earlier after being broody so suspect this is the case.

I will report back tomorrow on Honey’s egg situation and any information I get from the vet. It seems just when everything was going smoothly something else comes along to rock the boat. I hope I can get this sorted out quickly and get things back to normal.

Late afternoon I checked in on the girls and found Honey in the penguin position. I recognised this from Amber’s egg laying problems but Honey has never had a problem with her eggs. She had laid yesterday and generally lays every other day and sometimes two or three days in a row and all with good hard shells.

Honey had her wings down and a concentrated look on her face. The next thing I saw was egg white dripping out from her vent. I was alarmed as I thought this meant an egg had broken inside her and that would be a very bad thing.

I called my husband and we both watched her and we could see that she was straining. Then her egg dropped out and I picked it up quickly before the other girls descended on it.

I was relieved to see that it was complete but with a small tear in it which was where the white was leaking out and it was soft shelled. This is the first time Honey has ever laid a soft shelled egg. I don’t know why this should be as nothing has changed with their diet.

Tomorrow the girls will be back on mash with limestone flour and cod liver oil and I will be keeping their egg shells to dry and crush and add to future mash.

I hope this is just a one off.

Amber meanwhile still has a very swollen face and isn’t laying (which is a good thing) but other than that she is completely her normal self. She seems brighter than she was at first and is eager and fast to the treats, is eating, drinking and pooping normally, is scratching, dust bathing and pecking at the lower ranking girls. I think this means she is feeling better but I think her face will take time to get back to normal and I am not even sure if it will get back to normal.

It feels very solid and the farmer said it is possible that it could burst. Amber is impossible to pick up other than at bedtime or in the nest box (which she is not going to at the moment). She hates being handled and I don’t think it would therefore be possible to take her to a vet. I have shown her photo to the vet and the farmers and they agreed that I was doing the right thing for her.

I have researched and some with a similar swelling had it lanced by a vet but it just filled up again. The general opinion seems to be if the hen is fine in herself to leave her be so we are going to wait and see how she goes. At the moment she seems happy but it just looks awful. She wouldn’t win any beauty prizes.

Meanwhile all the other girls are fine and the chicks seem settled in their new home. They are scratching, dust bathing and sitting in the sun in their favourite spot on top of the hatch. They are eating and drinking and chirping and are just so cute.

There always seems to be something else around the next corner to challenge us.

My husband fitted a perch for Peaches and Barley to roost on at bedtime. When I spent time with them before bedtime it soon became obvious that this wasn’t going to work. They hadn’t discovered the new perch but more to the point that wasn’t where they wanted to roost.

As soon as the main flock settled on their high perch the chicks started to franticly try to join them. They would fly at the wire and cling on really high up. They were also putting their head through the wire which worried me. At ground level I had doubled the wire to stop this happening but didn’t think I would need to do this up here.

We wondered if they were missing their mum or if they thought she was on the other side.

I quickly improvised and made a perch from bamboo canes which I attached with wire at the height they were getting too. I would never have thought that such little chicks could get so high.

The chicks soon got the hang of jumping on the coop roof and then up to their new perch.

Before bedtime Peaches and Barley on my makeshift perch

I then attached three bin bags to the outside of the wire to form a curtain. This meant they couldn’t see the other girls and they couldn’t put their head through the wire.

I left them to settle and returned after dark. At first I couldn’t see them but then realised that they were above the perch in the plant pots. They had settled on the two highest plant pots. They were easy to lift from the pots to the coop and then I took the “curtain” down.

I am happy for them to roost in the plant pots and thought that now they had discovered a bedtime spot they would return here the next night.

Last night I tied the bin bag curtain to the wire before bedtime. I returned at the time that the girls usually settle into their bedtime positions. The main flock were all in their usual spots.

Peaches and Barley were settled on their plant pots and were chirping happily and preening. I felt pleased that they were happily settled without any stress this time. I easily lifted them down to put them in the coop.

I am happy with their chosen bedtime position as long as they are happy. Sometimes the girls dictate what they want rather doing what we expect them to but that’s okay as long as they are happy and safe.

I let the chicks out at quarter to five this morning

The one of the left is the biggest of the two and is also the top girl of these two as she lightly pecks the other one if she gets in her way. I have decided the bigger girl is Peaches and the little one is Barley. I don’t know how I will tell them apart if Barley catches up but maybe their personalities will show by then.

Honey and Amber were identical when little but as they grew up they became more and more different.

Topaz had a brief look at them through the wire

They soon found the food

Peaches and Barley explore

Last night at the same time as the main flock settled into their usual positions Peaches and Barley also realised it was time to settle for bedtime. Instead of going into the coop though they got very agitated and started flying at the top of the dog crate.

I realised that they must be used to perching at bedtime and were looking for the highest spot. For their safety I put my arm into the dog crate causing them to run into the little coop and then I shut them in.

I removed the dog crate and set up the feeding station for the morning.

Peaches and Barley find somewhere to perch

Quite often through out the day Peaches and Barley would be perching on the top of the hatch between the two runs. I had to take this through the wire because as soon as I open the gate they jump down.

I realise that after last night they may not go into the little coop to bed so I needed another plan.

My husband has now put up another perch just above where they are sitting in the photo above. I hope that if they choose to roost on top of the hatch or on the perch above the hatch I can wait until after dark then lift them down and put them in the little coop.

The other thing that may be causing this is that although there are four perches in the main coop there are no perches in the little coops (they are only used for integrations and extra nest boxes) so I have now put a temporary perch in their little coop. It’s only a narrow cling film box but it may do the job for now. Of course they would have to go into the little coop first to see it but if they perch outside they may find it when I put them in.

We will have to wait until tonight to see what happens but I am sure we can work round it. I am used to lifting sleepy girls down into the coop.

They seem very settled in their new home and have been scratching around, feeding, drinking, sitting in the sun or sitting on top of the hatch.

The main flock haven’t taken any notice of them at all and I am very pleased with how it is going so far. They are very cute and very beautiful.

Yesterday I made my weekly phone call to the farm in Amersham (where I got Honey and Amber two years ago) to see how the baby bantam brown leghorns were coming along.

It was good news. Their mum was now fed up with them and they were fully feathered. They were ready to leave home at any time.

I arranged to collect them at five o’clock today. The reason for collecting them late in the day is because I intend to do what I have done before and keep them in the dog crate up against their little coop so that they know where to go to bed at dusk and I didn’t want them to be confined to such a small temporary run all day.

Once they are in bed I will remove the dog crate and at five o’clock the next morning I will let them out into their separated area.

Yesterday I dug over the run and cleaned and swept everything ready for the arrival of the new girls. I put fresh pine shavings in their little coop and I separated their area in readiness. I also have chick crumbs ready for them.

Today it has been raining and it reminded me how little dry area there is in the separated area when raining because the coop and feeding station take up most of the dry part and water drips onto the area between the bush and the gate.

I said to my husband that I was going to try to find something to put in this area for the new girls to shelter under when it’s raining. He then remembered that we had a little round, metal, bistro table in the shed that we once used on our patio but have since replaced it with a square wooden table. It’s a good job my husband never throws anything away.

I installed it next to the bush at an angle so that the water runs off into the bush. This will make a perfect shelter as it is positioned just where the water drips in. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.

New rain shelter

We arrived back home with our new girls at six o’clock. They are so tiny that we transported them in a pet carrier. I persuaded them out of the pet carrier and into the dog crate and they ran straight into the coop.

I am staying with my theme of descriptive names and because of the colour of their breasts I have decided to call them Peaches and Barley. Which one is which will take a bit of time to sort out.

Peaches and Barley

Peaches and Barley are six weeks old and so beautiful. I returned a little later.

They have found the food

I think they are going to settle in fine. I will try to get better photos tomorrow.

As this has progressed we have had a re-think. It seems more likely that perhaps Amber has scratched her face, maybe flown into the wire or maybe been stung and the infection has perhaps stopped her laying her egg.

We are thinking this because it seems unlikely that a broken egg would effect her face so quickly and looking on the internet it seems other hens with a swollen face were thought to have an infection.

The good news is that after the first day of bright yellow poops there have been no more. Amber seems almost back to normal, eating, drinking, pooping, preening, just with a terribly swollen face. She is also very quiet.

I called into the vets today with a photograph of her and Honey together for comparison. The vet was in theatre but the nurse took the photo to him. They agreed it looked like an infection. I asked if I could use a human antiseptic such as savlon or something similar. The nurse said yes as there isn’t a chicken version but use with caution as it’s not tested and don’t get it in her eyes (obviously).

We decided to apply it at bedtime when she would be docile. I am feeling much more positive now. Amber is a fighter, a tough little cookie.

This was her with her poor little face while soaking up the sun this afternoon.

Amber in the sun

We checked in on the girls at eight o’clock and they were already settled in their bedtime positions so we decided it would be better to treat Amber sooner rather than later.

I lifted her from the perch and held her securely while my husband held her head and applied the cream carefully, stroking it downwards away from her eyes.

I put her down and gave her a few sunflower hearts as a reward. My husband said the swelling felt as hard as bone.

I stayed with the girls for a while as they milled around and re-settled again on the high perch. Before Amber went back to the perch she was chatting which was the first time I had heard her do that all day. I think this is a good sign that she is beginning to feel better.

Emerald tried to join the girls on the high perch but it was Amber that chased her away and she then settled as usual on the shoe box. Perhaps this why she is never on the high perch, as bottom girl she isn’t allowed and Amber must be feeling better to be able to see her off.

We will keep applying the antiseptic cream before bedtime for the next few days and see if it has any effect. I don’t hold out too much hope that it will do much good but do hope that given time her face will return to normal. She does seem better in herself so we can only hope she recovers from this.

It always seems that which ever next box is chosen by the first girl that wants to lay then that nest box is the one most desirable to all the girls. There are three nest boxes yet when three girls want to lay at about the same time then all three of them want THAT nest box.

Sparkle goes into her chosen nest box and Toffee wants to get in there too.

Toffee watches Sparkle in the nest box

Toffee decides to join Sparkle in the nest box

Honey comes over and watches them in the nest box

We all want this nest box

Toffee and Sparkle share the nest box

The odd thing was that after Sparkle laid her egg in here Toffee lost interest in this nest box and went and laid her egg in the nest box in the main coop. Shortly after that Honey also laid her egg in the nest box in the main coop.

It appears that a nest box is most desirable when another girl is using it. Who knows what goes on their little chicken brains!

Poor little Amber has had an egg laying problem right from the start of her egg laying and she has gradually got worse. She laid for three months, June, July and August then had five months of not laying while she moulted. During that time she was healthy.

She started laying again in February and was still struggling to lay and laying soft shelled eggs no matter how much limestone flour, cod liver oil and crushed egg shells I gave her.

Recently she has been laying every four days and looking unwell the day before. We had noticed that she was now snoozing a lot during the day with her head under her wing and I felt after five months of laying she was getting worse.

Seven days ago she had looked unwell all afternoon and while we were watching her she kept closing one eye. My husband said he thought she was straining. Then right in front of me she laid her egg. I picked it up and it was like rubber and could be squeezed. We were always relieved at each egg she managed to pass and always fearful of an egg breaking inside her.

Amber returned to her normal self until four days later when her next egg was due. She looked unwell as usual and I expected to find an egg in the nest box the next morning. There was no egg and she still looked unwell and I saw her pass a bright yellow poop which is not a good sign.

As the day went on she was snoozing a lot with her head under her wing. Throughout the day I found three bright yellow poops. I did wonder if it was egg at first but it was definitely poop.

By the afternoon my husband said he thought her face was changing. A few hours later when I next checked on her I was shocked to see that her face had really swollen. We began to think that her egg must have broken inside and wondered if this was some sort of poisoning.

Amber’s swollen face

Amber’s face is puffy between her eye and her beak

Honey’s face is flat

I took this one of them together for comparison

Amber spends a lot of time like this

We really feel her time is coming to an end. We have always known this would happen at some stage. We have had her for fourteen months and she is about two years old now and has always been smaller than Honey.

We talked at length about what to do next and I cried for her. We decided that we would let nature take its course if we could. I would rather she went in the coop with her flock mates than at a vets. We decided we would only have her put to sleep if she was suffering. We didn’t feel she could take the stress of going to a vet and felt that she was too far gone for medication.

She still made it to the high perch last night and I went out at half past five this morning half expecting her to have passed away in the night.

She was still there and ran eagerly to the morning corn. She is eating, drinking and pooping. She is eager for treats and then spends time snoozing with her head under her wing.

Amber still runs to the morning corn

It’s been difficult to know what to for the best but from my research we think we think this is right for her. I read on a blog of something similar and the hen was treated and made a short recovery but died a month later. I know that whatever we tried to do would stress her and the problem would return with her next egg.

I have also read on the same blog that as long as a hen is eating, drinking and pooping then they can be left alone as they still have quality of life. When they stop doing these things it’s kindest to end their suffering.

Before Treacle died she had given up and spent her time standing behind a bush or by the water. She wouldn’t eat anything at all even her favourite treats. I knew it was her time.

Amber still runs to the treats eagerly, she is still eating pellets. She is snoozing and isn’t showing any sign of distress. She used to make a sad sound when trying to lay her eggs but isn’t making this sound.

We feel that as long as she seems happy we will let nature take its course but if she becomes distressed we will have her put to sleep. I really hope she goes in the coop with her flock mates. No one is bothering her and the girls especially Honey come to sit with her.

I suspect that when her next egg comes that may see her off. In the meantime I am going to give all the treats she loves so that her time is as happy as it can be.

I gave the girls mash this morning with finely chopped tomato which Amber tucked into. This afternoon the girls had yogurt.

Amber enjoying some yogurt

We will take it one day at a time and see how she goes on.

The bedtime line up is exactly the same each night since Topaz  joined the girls on the high perch four nights ago. last night I went in to the girls an hour before dusk and was surprised that they were already in their bedtime positions.

The bedtime line up on the high perch

From left to right is Amber, Honey, Topaz then Toffee.

Sparkle and Emerald in their bedtime positions

Sparkle is always on the top of the store cabinet and Emerald is always on top of my shoe box.

When I went back just after dusk to lift the girls down into the coop they were all in exactly the same positions. They are such creatures of habit.