ILT Update

We took our three girls to the bird specialist Vet over Easter for a check up and a long acting vitamin injection to prepare them for the Winter ahead.  Two out of three of the girls are in the middle of moulting and we have been really concerned that the extra stress of dropping and re-growing their feathers would spark another round of the ILT virus.  Having lost 6 out of 9 hens since the beginning of 2013 from this scourge, I am taking preventative measures for our remaining trio as best as I know how.  

Preventative Measures against the ILT Virus

So far we have begun with reinstating the heat lamp back into the sleeping hutch at the end of each day.  As soon as the night time temperature dropped to under 16/ 17 degrees Centigrade (60 degrees Fahrenheit), the lamp went on.  Initially the girls stayed at the end furthest from the lamp but as the nights cooled further to now be around 6 degrees Centigrade (43 degrees Fahrenheit) the two moulting girls have swapped ends and now spend every night basking directly under the lamp.  The third hen, our black Silkie Farrah, is nothing short of enormous (1.6 kilos/ 3.5 pounds) and doesn't need the extra heat so she stays well away.  Having said that, she has moved into her Winter sleeping position which is sitting down on a fluffy mat rather than roosting on the perch.  

Jewel & Alice (left to right)

The Vet examined all of the girls individually, especially down their throats to check for the dreaded plaques that line the throat and bring on chronic laryngitis type symptoms.  We were so pleased to know that all the girls are free and clear.  It has been our experience that these plaques take hold and just never leave.  Our hens Rosie and Amelia had a couple of plaques each and they were the symptoms that brought them both to the end of their lives.  The plaques became more unstable, bigger and more painful, until they prevented the girls from swallowing their food, caused them to lose horrible amounts of weight, brought down their immune systems and led to the awful decision to have them put to sleep.  

Farrah & Jewel

The girls have been weighed to set a bench mark as we enter the cold weather time.  We can continue to weigh them every couple of weeks and ensure that they don't start to decline.  Alice and Jewel should get a bit bigger as they are probably at their slimmest given that they are half way through their moulting.  To keep the girls at the higher end of their weight, we are feeding them something rich just before bed time so that when they do expend their reserves on keeping warm during the night, it should be that they burn these rich food treats first rather than the fat layer that will hopefully keep them protected over the next, several colder months.  Maize or human grade crushed peanuts (just a tablespoon between the three of them) or some nutrient rich mash (we have some parrots who have a special pellet as their staple food and we mash this with boiled water for the hens and allow it to thoroughly cool before serving it).  The crushed peanuts must be suitable for human consumption otherwise they can contain fungal spores which can be dangerous for the hen if the fungus takes hold.  
The girls had a long acting vitamin injection which should give them a boost for the next 6 weeks or so.  Their day time food is also quite strict in that it is all fresh vegetables and a mixture of hen appropriate layer crumble, wheat and crushed maize.  They do get left over meats from our recent meals (nothing off), a little left over pasta or rice (nothing substantial as these can overwhelm their digestive system and get stuck in their crop) and fruit here and there that are fresh and soft enough to be pecked apart.  
The girls water supply has a vitamin supplement in it also.  I am a big farm of the Australian based Vetafarm range. 

We are so hopeful to see the girls through this Winter in good health.  They are so happy at the moment and we are really confident that this will be their year and not the year that the virus gets the better of us again. 

ILT in Chickens - Bye Bye Birdie

ILT in Chickens - Farewell Rosa

So since returning from holidays in mid September I have noticed that Rosa has been suffering from a sore throat more than usual - courtesy of the ILT virus.  Initially I took Rosie to the Vet who once again removed a large plaque (tissue growth, common in the mouth of chickens with ILT) from the entrance to her wind pipe.  However this time the growth had advanced like a long, flat worm type shape down her windpipe and was around 6 /7cm (2 - 3 inches) in length.  Previously when the plaque was growing it would bother her and she would cough in a loud, squeaking fashion.  I would then take her to the Vet who would remove it with some mini, round ended type tongs.  Rosie would then advance in leaps and bounds.  It would then be another 2 - 4 months until she needed the procedure redone.  It's been nearly 6 months since she I have heard her coughing and I really thought this indicated she was plaque free.  I was shocked to find that she was harbouring such a large plaque and showing no signs of it bothering her.  It was really odd as she had started to lay again for the start of Spring and this usually indicates excellent health.  However as soon as the large plaque was removed, she immediately stopped laying altogether. 

Since the removal of this large plaque about 3 weeks ago, Rosa has never recovered.  Her throat has been inflamed and painful.  I took her back to the Vet (over and over again) and to start with we could see a little of the plaque remaining in place but she would have had to be sedated to have it removed and the actual problem was the large amount of swelling in her throat in general.  So she went on mild anti inflammatories to start with, no effect.  The Vet then injected her with Cortisone which produced a fantastic effect within hours.  She was eating like a little piggy and so happy.  

Rosie - waiting for the Vet - Saturday 12 October 2013

Soft, Nutritious Food for Hens with Sore Throats

I have to add here that I discovered a fantastic food for hens with sore throats.  I was boiling and mashing eggs for her and noted that she was enjoying and easily able to swallow the soft, mouse like texture of the egg white and avoided the harder, heavier textured yolks.  So I went to the supermarket and bought a milk type carton of pure egg whites.  I cooked a few teaspoons of the whites in the microwave, then cooled and mashed them for Rosa.  She absolutely loved this and ate huge quantities of them. 

Unfortunately 10 days after the first Cortisone injection, I needed to take her back to the Vet as she pretty much back where she started.  So we gave her a second Cortisone injection and started her on very strong antibiotics.  That was 6 days ago.  By day three the antibiotics were playing havoc with the healthy bacteria in her gut, she was obviously feeling ill in her stomach (not eating, hunched over, sore to pick up) and her droppings were all wrong.  So the Vet advised me to end the antibiotics and that in 24 hours she should feel much better.  Although there was definite improvement in her droppings, she was not able to eat her food but clearly desperate to do so.  Her throat was obviously really sore and the Cortisone had, had only a minor effect.  It was so dreadful to see her trying to eat and only getting there 20% of the time.  

Yesterday she stood so still, gulping every now and again and unable to fill her crop with food.  She was crouched under a chair in the pen with her eyes closed.  At this stage it had been nearly four weeks since her first Vet visit for the plaque removal.  She was doing nothing but getting worse and needing more and more medication.  It was clear that Rosie's sore throat was now a chronic, seemingly permanent and worsening condition.  This was exactly what had happened with her sister Amelia, who had a more advanced form of the ILT virus from the day I brought them both home.  I had crop fed Amelia with a tube and syringe to keep her alive and I realised that for her own welfare and happiness, I should have put her to sleep well before I accepted the situation as impassable.  I was really clear that in the event that Rosie's ILT damaged throat became chronic, I would not crop feed her to keep her alive.  So yesterday I kept to my word and had Rosie, my beautiful, sweet, nervous, gorgeous girl, put to sleep.  She fought her way through two large doses of anaesthetic (enough to down a 25 kilo dog the Vet informed us) and finally succumbed to sleep after a 45 minute wait on my lap.  She was such a fighter, she held on and fought so hard to stay awake. 

My baby girl is now resting peacefully and without pain under the white roses in the rear garden.  She was with our family for a little under 2 years and my greatest hope for her is that we gave her the very best life possible, albeit much shorter than she deserved (and possibly with much more cuddling than she may have wanted).  

Rosa - Beautiful to the very end. 

Green Poop in Chickens - Part 3

Green Poop in Chickens - the turn around

And then again sometimes there's nothing you can do - despite doing everything you can.  The green poop reappeared in Holly early last week and was quickly accompanied by lethargy, then extreme thirst and finally by death.  I had Holly booked in with the Vet on Friday morning and on Thursday I gave her a cuddle on the couch and placed her back in the pen for her final sleep with her best friend Alice.  The turn around was swift - good on Sunday, a little less so on Monday and by Tuesday evening I was getting concerned.  It seemed her liver wasn't able to bounce back after all.  I had continued her night medication and she was doing so well.  Eating mountains of food, preening, talking, harassing Alice each night.  However it seems that her mid Winter moult had placed far too much pressure on her immune system, consequently her liver function and the end came quickly.  

I found baby Holly in the sleeping hutch on Friday morning.  Alice was out and about eating and completely at ease with the situation.  It's worse when the other hens are left lonely and pining and this is not the case here.  It is all the same a total blow, leaving only 5 hens when last year we had 10.  Again due to the ILT virus that the bantam Wyandottes introduced we are unable to restock the flock.  I did find that when having lost a pet, the introduction of a new girl to care for made a real difference and also reminded me of why I continue to keep my girls.  As we can't buy anymore hens at this point, I can't help but be resentful about the hens out there that would have come to live with us, that we could have given such a happy, healthy and high quality life.  Seems grandly unfair. 

I miss Holly.  She was such a single minded, determined, brave and diligent little hen.  Always ahead of everyone else, the first to have a go and the least afraid.  My brother is on standby to take in Alice should she start moulting whilst we leave the girls behind for a holiday soon.  The first sign of wheaten coloured feathers exploding all over the chicken pen and Alice will be scooped up and taken into my brother's home for warmth and great food.  It really can be a fight to hang onto the girls and I never regret one moment, one dollar spent, the loss of sleep, the extra washing - I only wish I could do more for them.  

I only had Holly for a little over 14 months and I think she was barely 18 months in age when she passed away.  So short a time and yet I miss her enormously.  

Holly (AKA Hollilicious as I liked to call her)

ILT in Chickens - Update

Vet Visit - ILT Check Up

Rosie went off to the Vet this week to have the ILT plaques (soft growths) in her throat checked and cleaned.  She has one constant plaque that flaps over her trachea and makes her cough several times an hour.  It grows slowly over several weeks and I have now had it removed three times this year.  She has one small plaque on the roof of her mouth but that seems not to be such an issue. 
As usual Rosie was great during her visit.  She finds it very uncomfortable to be picked up by placing your hands around her body so I now take a thin towel (thick towels actually make it more difficult for handling hens) and wrap her up so she can still be in a standing position but just has her sweet, little head popping out the front.  I then hold her with her head facing away from me and the Vet props open her mouth and plucks the plaques piece by piece from her mouth.  The size of the largest plaque is only about a quarter of the size of a pinky fingernail.  It looks so petite and insignificant but the difference its removal creates for Rosie is anything but.  She also had a combined vitamin A, D, E and C injection.  It's terribly cute to watch as the needle goes in and the syringe is half way through the plunge when she makes a small, protesting call of discomfort. 
The Vet commented that Rosie is in excellent condition, that the two plaques do not appear to be advancing and that the remainder of her throat is in excellent condition.  He feels that she may be one of the lucky hens to make it through ILT.  Of course I am really happy to hear that but I still have my reservations.  ILT has been vicious to our baby girls and I don't hold stupid fantasies of happily ever after.  This time last year we had 10 hens, we now have 6.  

Rosie - Sunday May 19th 2013. 

ILT in Chickens

ILT Update

Little Rosie was a super star at the Vet last week.  She has a few plaques on her throat as a result of the ILT virus.  A couple of insignificant ones on the roof of her mouth and one more substantial flapping about behind her tongue.  This one is getting in the way of her breathing and her eating.  I opted to have this plaque removed with forceps.  if was about half the size of a little finger, fingernail.  Rosie was wrapped up in a towel (so gorgeous) and had her mouth held open whilst the forceps went down, trimmed off the piece of plaque and lifted it back up for examination.  It's not nice that this leaves Rosie with a bleeding throat afterwards.  Rosie also got a vitamin injection to help keep her radiant.  The Vet is impressed by Rosie's vitality and energy and feels that her weight of 1.2kilos is very healthy, even a bit porky.  This is great news as she must be in prime (preferably prime+) condition to face the Winter ahead which treated her so miserably last year.  The Vet was unable to take Rosie away to be weighed.  Rosie is so particular about how she gets picked up that she won't tolerate anything other than to stand on my open palm and have my other arm circled around her - with neck extended as long as she can get it, pushing forward into the crook of my elbow.  So she had to be escorted through the surgery with the Vet leading the way.  

Wrapped and ready for her throat cleaning.

We were less than 2 minutes away from the Vet when Rosie started chopping down mouthfuls of seed.  The small area of bleeding in her throat seems to bother her very little.  She is such a trooper.

Cosmetic Testing

I have to admit to a chicken kissing incident.  The Vet was out of the room and Rosie was so cute wrapped in her towel.  I was giving her the usual two dozen kisses on top of her head, when I noticed that I had left a big smear of pink, glittery lip balm behind.  This was at the same time as I felt something stuck to my mouth and realised that as Rosie is moulting and my lips were so sticky, I had accidentally removed 4 or 5 feathers and they were stuck to my lip balm.  So I'm madly trying to quickly and gently rub off lip gloss from the top of Rosie's head and at the same time pick off the feathers from my mouth - all with one thought in mind (to the Vet), "Don't come back in.  Please don't come back in".  When she finally did, Rosie and I were all ease and serenity, both with our best, "What?  Nothing strange going on in here" look on our faces. 

 Rosie - Tuesday 9th April.  Relaxing on the Vet's table. 

 She's been great ever since.  Such a lovely little hen. 

ILT in Chickens

Preventative Care of ILT in Chickens

Off to the Vet today to get a symptom of ILT treated in our beautiful, white, Wyandotte bantam hen Rosa.  Don't think we've been to the Vet in nearly two months now which is a long time for our little flock over the past year.  Rosie has a plaque (infectious deposit) on her throat and I need the Vet to scoop it out.  
Rosie keeps coughing (sounds like a loud squeak in chickens) so the blockage is obviously getting in the way of breathing and eating.  Rosie is also moulting at the moment so there are feathers everywhere and she very sensitive when being picked up.  This is a delicate time for her as all her nutrients are going in to growing new feathers, she's underweight as she has been broody and stuck to her nest for around the last 8 weeks, she has the plaque swelling in her throat and the cooler weather is just around the corner to give her a further challenge.  I'm also going to get her a vitamin injection today to try and boost her a bit for the coming weeks.  
We are trying to keep her as fat and well fed as possible so she's been inside for extra night feeds 2 or 3 times each week.  She calls, squawks and carries on during the night feeds, so I know she's feeling very perky and is full of energy.  This is why I am so determined to treat Rosie in a preventative way this Winter, rather than waiting for her to become sick and then going in to crisis mode.  If she was miserable, lethargic and suffering now, we wouldn't pursue a recovery for her but as she is so glowing, a rosy glow in fact (a pinkish hue - Seinfeld reference) and deserves the best chance to stay healthy for as long as she is happy and well. 
Last time I took Rosie to the Vet she also got her throat scraped to remove a plaque.  Her behaviour was unbelievable, I would say movie quality impeccable.  She actually sat down on the examination table (unheard of), stretched her neck outwards and upwards and sat perfectly still whilst her beak was held wide open and the plaque was scraped off with a very long cotton bud.  It was surreal for me.  She is the flightiest and noisiest little bird under these conditions and yet when out in public, she behaved like a little lady on her best behaviour.  The Vet left the room to prepare anaesthetic for Rosie in another room, as the last bit of the plaque was not budging and needed to be snipped away.  On the Vet's return Rosie got a huge scare as the door opened and took off in full flight from the table, flew the entire length of the room and hid in the corner.  We all burst out laughing which upset her further and the perfect lady act was shattered.  It was such a classic Rosie moment. 
I am interested to see what she has in store for myself and the Vet today. 

Rosie - Mud bathing at the chicken spa. 

ILT in Chickens

We have Infectious Laryngial Trachaeolitus

We have the results from our girl Angie's autopsy from the WA Department of Agriculture.  It is really upsetting for us to have it confirmed that our flock definitely has  ILT.  This means that we can not introduce any new hens.  If we do so they too will contract ILT.  Basically what our girls are in for are rounds of respiratory illness - decreased lung capacity, plaques in their throat (deposits of infectious material that block the throat and impede feeding and breathing) and a bloody hard time generally.  We've agreed that we're not going to go to the ends of earth to keep the girls alive who do present with severe symptoms.  Which is really awful because there are times when going to extremes has resulted in some great success in bringing our girls back to health.  But it's not fair when we know that they are likely not to recover well, to push the girls back to us, just for our own gratification.  It must be about the girls and not about ourselves.    
We are fairly certain (as there are only two possible sources) that the ILT came from the bantam Wyandottes we bought from the Perth Royal Show in October of 2011.  It's quite upsetting as the person who sold them has no doubt passed on other hens in the past 18 months and this includes passing on ILT.  It's kind of strange that the Department of Agriculture don't seem to have an interest in the source of the virus.  I also feel badly as we should tell the breeder, which is going to be difficult.  

Rosa - gorgeous bantam Wyandotte and likely source of ILT contamination

In the mean time

But whilst difficult times may be in store for the girls, it also may come by gently, miss them altogether and they may have years of happy life ahead of them.  ILT tends to strike during times of stress - broodiness, molting, changes in seasons (particularly when Winter arrives), getting sick by other means.  We need to keep the girls in excellent condition - lots of healthy but also bolstering food, we are getting a heat lamp installed in the sleeping hutch by installing power in the pen (the hen's Uncle is an electrician), the girls are being wormed regularly (Holly is hopeless [as well as beautiful] and seems to keep getting worms on board no matter how much I treat her for them), they have vitamin solution in their water, daily fresh vegetables and greens, the sand in the pen is getting sieved frequently to keep droppings to a minimum, I'm washing the fluffy bottoms of the laying hens as needed to keep everything dry and fresh, ice bottles in the water on the +35 (95 Fahrenheit) degree days, nights in the house for extra feeds of high nutrient, high protein mash - just the usual minimalist approach to poultry care (with 200+ layers of love to dress it up).  

(left) Selene, Farrah the Silkie and two Pekin bums in the background

I have fat children - and I LOVE it!

The Vet we took the girls to in Wattle Grove commented that my girls weren't exactly petite.  Most parents would be offended to hear their children were fat - I was thrilled.  I know that if my girls were not in prime condition that I would not have the six ladies left that I do now.  We have six beautiful girls and as we are unable to get any more, so it's massive lashings of love until the end.  

4 out of 6, clockwise from left: Jewel, Holly, Farrah and Alice

A solo hen is a sad hen

We're already concerned what will happen when we only have one girl left and although this may be years to come, it's really sad to think about.  We've agreed that we'll be one of those obnoxious pet owners who takes their hen EVERYWHERE.  I think I feel most upset about this prospect at the moment.  Hens are overwhelmingly social and flock craving creatures.  A hen by herself is going to be really miserable unless we take over and make ourselves her new social circle.  Unfortunately my workplace has recently banned all animals (do not get me started on that) and I've joked (sort of) that I'll have to find a new job, as I can't stand the thought of having a girl all alone at home for 10 hour stretches.  

Anyone know of a chicken day care please?