Elderly Hens - letting go

 Elderly Hen - saying goodbye

Our beautiful brown red Pekin hen Selene has not recovered from her winter moult this spring. Usually her comb shrinks and loses its red, waxy sheen and she drops weight and energy from around May – September.  Just when we begin to worry about her, suddenly a spark ignites into a massive production of weight gain and good health.  Her comb doubles in size, it reddens and glows shiny and new and her dominating behaviours triple as she brings the flocks into line for the laying season.  However this year there was no new life, there was only the beginning of some seriously concerning signs of ill health.  From early October we noticed that Selene seemed to be unsteady on her feet.  She needed to be lifted out of the sleeping hutch or else she would be the last to leave and would struggle painfully down the ramp to the ground.  I initially removed the roosts from the sleeping hutch as I found that making her way over these was the biggest problem in getting up and out in the morning.  However when I found her unable to step down less than 2 inches off a slightly puffy pillow, I knew she was in real trouble.  She also had begun to need regular cleaning (washing in the laundry trough) of her rear as her droppings were accumulating there within two days.  She could not preen herself or scratch her face as she was so unsteady on her feet.  The Vet found no sign of cancer in her belly and so we started by treating her sore legs with anti-inflammatories.  By the end of that weekend I knew that she was making no improvement and considering she had not been sick even one day in the seven years we had her, I knew the signs that our girl was finally succumbing to her long life.  So we arranged an afternoon appointment for her. 

She was so good, so trusting and gentle as the Vet slipped a gas mask over her little face and we held her close whilst she succumbed to the anaesthetic.  It was a quiet and graceful end to our beautiful lady.  The other girls cooed over her little body at home and she took her place next to Rosie, our recently departed Wyandotte under the rose bush in our back garden. 

This leaves us with three hens.  Alice our wheaten Pekin, Farrah the black Silkie and Jewel our oversized, black Pekin bantam.  I was always worried that Jewel would go totally feral if Selene passed away and she was left in charge.  The truth is with such a small flock in such a large pen, that competition is virtually nil, so Jewel has in fact not bothered to exert herself over either of her hen sisters.  So we’ve smoothly moved to a three hen flock without a hitch.  The only problem being that we hate to see so few girls in our garden, especially as we can not restock the flock under the current cloud of the ILT virus.  It’s been a heck of a year with so much loss and so much sickness.  We thank our lucky stars for the ladies we have left but I worry every day as to who will be next and  what we will do when we have only one girl left with no one to give her the company that hens absolutely must have to ensure their happiness.  

Selene - October 2013.  Seven wonderful years as our top girl.

Escape to the Country - not suitable for chickens

Do NOT allow your chicken to watch 'Escape to the Country'

Enjoying a night in with Wyandotte Bantam hen Rosie, we were watching an English program, allegedly rated PG - 'Escape to the Country'.   It featured a couple who were looking at buying a country property to escape their hectic city life and noted that as owners of two cats, they needed to make sure that their new home was not located near a busy road. 
All going along well until the camera panned over to the two cats and showed them generally frisking about and acting in a cat-like way.  Rosa sprung to attention and began to call at the top of her voice to alert...well, I guess me to the danger in the room.  Try as I might I could not soothe her.  I turned off the program and she stared at the blank screen, seeing the movement of our reflections and continued to fret and yell loudly.  It got so bad that I had to 'evacuate' her back to the sleeping hutch with the other hens.  
I would strongly suggest that the producers of that program preface each episode with the warning that, "This program may contain feline images and may not be suitable for chickens".  
If I were in America we'd be lawyering up for a class action right now.  

Rosa - blue is so her colour.  April 22 2013. 

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. 

Respiratory Infection in Chickens

Farewell Amelia

So it's been 3 weeks.  Respiratory infection in chickens is a nasty business.  I don't know if I would do the same if confronted with another beautiful girl in Amelia's condition again.  
My Amelia is gone.  My baby Rosa is without her sister.  I miss my girl.  

My Vet suggested a really strong course of antibiotics.  The kind used on people who can not overcome chronic mycoplasma.  "It's what women take when they have Pelvic Inflammatory Infection" (look it up!).   I got to pick it up from the chemist and was relieved to see 'For Animal Use Only' on the script.  Amelia hung out in her carrier in the chemist, amongst all the variously sick people - she got some worthy attention.  She was gorgeous. Unfortunately this was not the answer.

I received a new opinion from a Vet who had actually written her Thesis on birds with respiratory conditions and plaques on their throats.  She works with my regular Vet and he felt it was worth a pair of fresh eyes.  She explained that Amelia has a form of the Herpes virus in her throat and that I needed to let it 'Run its course'.  There is no cure, there is just harm management until it reaches a conclusion - if at all.  I can't quite get my head around what it must feel like to have chronic oesophageal herpes.  Poor Amelia has been swallowing all the time, coughing, struggling, food is getting stuck in her throat - it must have been debilitating.  So we were advised to keep an eye on her and to stop the anti-biotic medication.

Rosa (left) and Amelia.  Roosting to avoid the rain. 

After 1 week Amelia was really miserable.  I could see the fried egg type mass in her throat just past her tongue and took her to the Vet - a third opinion as it turned out.  But the next day when I had a good look down her throat I was really concerned.  Unable to get an appointment I dropped her off and took a quick glance in the carrier and said goodbye.  I was not aware that I would not see her alive again.

A couple of hours later I got a call from the Vet - this was the female Vet who had done the Thesis and told me about the Herpes virus.  So Amelia had her terrible ulcer type mass back in her throat - in fact a Herpes related lump of infected material that was obstructing her breathing, preventing her from enjoying and many times from eating her food and making her miserable every day.  I had the option to get a special bag inserted in to her respiratory system, protruding out of her side, under the wing, allowing her to breathe away from her throat and giving her throat a small break.  I was actually pleased to hear the Vet being straight up with me and telling me that in her opinion it was best to let Amelia go or have the bag put in to place as a short term stall.  

This is the point in pet ownership that separates the notion of keeping pets alive for your own comfort (and denial I might add) and saving them from inevitable and relentless pain and most importantly, putting them ahead of yourself.  I was out in the work car park waiting to meet someone as I talked to the Vet.  I was returning the Vet's call as I waited and I thought the call was going to be about the next step, some other intervention.   I asked the Vet to please put my girl to sleep with the greatest care possible.  

Knowing it's the right thing to do and feeling okay about the decision are not connected.  The visitor turned up and I dealt with them and at the same time felt that other part of myself reaching out to my girl, wanting to tell her how sorry I was, how much I loved her, how sorry I was for her sister Rosie who would never see her alive again and wishing I knew the answer to have avoided this moment altogether. 

It has only been 15 months, a little less in fact.  But I love my baby girl and I miss her so much.  

Goodbye Amelia.  With so much love,

Mum, Dad & Rosa xx

Amelia - January 2013.  Beautiful. 

                 

Respiratory Infection in Chickens

Amelia Update

Picked up Amelia yesterday afternoon.  The Vet described a lump of infectious material, over an ulcer on her larynx about 1cm x 1.5 cm 1 cm.  He was unable to insert a breathing tube during the operation as her throat is no impacted and swollen, so in fact her air supply was cut off during the procedure.  She has antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for the next week to 10 days. 
I noticed immediately that she is not wheezing and coughing constantly and that her face is bright red, rather than a sluggish, dark pink - which was probably due to a reduction in her oxygen levels.  Once back in her hutch, she was able to sit down and tuck her neck in - again, something she could not do the other day as it limited her breathing capacity.  I found her sleeping deeply after an hour or so.

Amelia - Sleeping finally.  She must have been exhausted.

Reunited Amelia with her sister Rosa last night and the two of them had a chat - Amelia is not able to speak properly as yet but it was a genuinely pleasing sign that she is trying to do so.  Amelia had a drink for what must have been the first time by herself in a couple of days.  She looked so happy and relieved.  She drank more deeply than I've ever seen by a hen before.  They both slept inside and this morning I found the two of them eating together - seed, wet bread, boiled egg.  I did crop feed Amelia about 40mls of feeding solution via a tube down her esophagus this morning and this should keep her happy until I get home to her tonight.  I'm not too worried as she is eating small amounts constantly by herself since she has arrived home. 
We have an appointment next week at the Vet.  The Vet suspects there may be an abscess further down her throat but he was not able to tell due to the swelling at the moment.  I'm feeling really hopeful of a good recovery for her.  

Amelia - one day after her operation.  Got her colour back.

Respiratory Infection in Chickens

Amelia Update

Spoken to Veterinary staff who have Amelia and she is feeling much more comfortable today.  She is not 'out of the woods' but is able to return home - no doubt with a few kilos of medication in tow.  We'll see how she goes over the next several days on her new medication. 
Here's Rosa this morning - eagerly awaiting Amelia's return. 

Respiratory Infection in Chickens

Amelia Update

Amelia's respiratory infection has gone downhill very quickly in the last week.  Amelia went broody and took to her next for most of the day and consequently ate and drank very little.  This made her quite susceptible to the mycoplasma getting a leg up again.  

Amelia - broody and beautiful. 

On Saturday Amelia was taken to the Vet and a sample was taken from inside her throat.  Amelia was swallowing constantly, wheezing and coughing regularly.   Today I took her back to the Vet for her results.  Amelia has four different types of bacteria on the go in her throat.  Streptococcal and E. Coli and two others that I should have written down.  Anyway, the Vet says that he really feels that these are all secondary behind the bigger problem - mycoplasma that won't lie down and surrender to the last 5 weeks of antibiotics.  Amelia was with me all day and she gasped and coughed and struggled all through it.  I have had to crop feed her by running a tube down her throat.  It is so painful for her.  Today she went blue and struggled to keep standing as she tried to get her breath back after a failed attempt (one of about 20) to insert the tube.  It was mortifying. I also noticed a disgusting build up just past her tongue that looked like a deposit of scrambled eggs.  
At the Vet this afternoon the Vet was extremely concerned about this build up on her throat and immediately admitted her for surgery this evening.  He likened it to the build up that can result from Diphtheria - an ulcer that gets smothered by bacteria and thickens rapidly.   So basically this mass has grown significantly in just a few days and now it is obstructing her breathing, preventing her from eating and if it keeps growing at this rate, it will asphyxiate her.  
I have just received a call from the Vet to report that the mass has been removed - leaving an ulcer behind.  Her larynx is in terrible shape and he is very concerned for her.  He has given her steroidal anti-inflammatories and injected her with anti-biotics. He sounds very worried and I keep having thoughts of Amelia's sister Rosie being by herself.  They love each other so much.  When they are apart and then see each other again they run to each other, talking away and welcoming each other back.  They are so beautiful and it would break my heart and Rosie's too if Amelia were to pass away.
I am calling the Vet tomorrow morning for an update.  Less than a week ago this wasn't even on the cards.  Evil, vindictive mycoplasma.  I miss my Amelia.  It's her first night without Rosie in over a year, that makes me so sad for both of them.
Sweet dreams my baby Amelia.  We love you. xx  

Rosie and Amelia - Sunday 9th December

Alice in Wedding Wonderland

December 1st is a big day for a little hen.  Today Alice officially enters the world of the Commemorative Wedding Chicken.  

We bought Alice in April this year.  Such a sweet hen.  She is very friendly and gentle but also curious and quite a chatterbox.  Alice's colour is known as wheaten (dark brown/ orange neck and much paler feathers for the rest) and she is again a Pekin bantam by breed. 

Alice had a bumpy start with us.  Alice and her sister Holly came with a grotty bug on board - Coccidiosis.  This resulted in blood in their droppings and dragged down their immunity generally.  It seems to attack the gut and results in lethargic and sickly looking birds.  It is also contagious.  We had our flock tested but they were thankfully uneffected, as Holly and Alice had been living in the lounge room- in a proper chicken hutch!  Not on the carpet or couches, I do draw the line somewhere...eventually.  Though I admit to allowing them out on to the carpet to play each day and that we may have taken a lot of video footage of their play time.  

Alice - August 2012

Alice and Holly had to have liquid medication, 3mls twice a day, for 7 days to deal with the Coccidiosis bug.  The first time Alice was given her medication she inhaled most of it.  I got a phone call and could hear her gasping for breath, coughing, struggling and on the edge of life.  Our regular Vet is nearly an hour away from home and they advised by phone that she be taken to our nearest Vet immediately.  Unfortunately they were in surgery so could not see Alice.  Off again only this time Alice had to go to a Vet that I really don't trust.  I took a hen there once and this Vet gave her the wrong medication, did not given her water or feed for more than 12 hours (surgery was not on the agenda, so there was no excuse for this) and charged me more than $400 for one night of errors, pain and ill treatment.  To say I was trepidacious was an understatement.  But there was no choice, Alice was suffocating.  


I don't think the Vet was terribly impressed with our attitude.  I insisted that they take instruction from our regular Vet over the phone and would not take their word for it that they knew what they were doing.  Basically the treatment when a bird has aspirated liquid in to their respiratory system is to place them on oxygen until the symptoms are firmly under control.  Little Alice was only a few months old and I can only imagine how helpless she would have looked receiving the treatment.  After a couple of hours she was okay to either stay overnight (no thank you) or go home to us for constant supervision and a supply of antibiotics to prevent any potential infection.  She coughed and spluttered here and there but she did improve over the next several days.  The dreaded part being that we still had to keep administering the liquid medication for the Coccidiosis treatment twice a day.  I got put in charge of this and it felt like I was trying to juggle blown glass with concrete gloves on, such was my level of anxiety that I was going to destroy poor Alice with one ill timed liquid dosage.  But we got there in the end.  She did not get a secondary infection and the Coccidiosis was cleared from her system - confirmed with a test of her leavings.  

In September Alice started to lay.  The sweetness of her diligently taking to the nest to lay her small and beautiful 40gram eggs, warms my heart.  Me going crazy because some of the eggs were initially streaked with blood.  It must be a confusing and uncomfortable time.  She would have been about 7 months old at the time.  

In October I decided that she may be the perfect candidate for 2 friends of mine who are having their wedding today.  Alice was nominated to be their Commemorative Wedding Chicken.  She is the loveliest little hen and I don't think I've known such a sweet nature in quite some time.  We love to pick her up as she chats away.  I'll say something to her and she'll chat back everytime.  Such a sweetheart.  

So I welcome Alice to the exclusive Commemorative Wedding Chicken group and wish the couple she represents a life of happiness, love, strength, unity and health for all their lives.

Congratulations L and B on your special day.  xx

Alice - 30 November 2012

When a Dog Loves a Chicken

I don't actually understand completely how anyone could not love my chickens.  I intellectually 'get it' but I'm still blindly convinced that anyone who got to know my girls, would be unable to not love and cherish them. 

However I don't understand why our Jack Russell Madi, became madly infatuated with one particular hen.  It was most definitely puppy love - but with a big sprinkle o' crazy. 

The objection of her affection was our beautiful, brown red Pekin, Commemorative Wedding Chicken and pen champion (dictator), Selene.  It was full on, thunderbolt obsession.  Madi saw Selene and just went gaga. 

Oh we thought it was so wonderful and funny and cute and awesome.  Madi followed Selene everywhere.  Staring at her and staying close.  Selene learnt to ignore Madi and it just became standard behaviour.  

Madi had no interest in the 10 other hens we had at that time.  We'd never had a problem with Madi and the chickens in more than 5 years, so although a bit cautious, we weren't concerned about Selene's safety.  

The Paw that Rocks the Cradle  

(and other tacky, stalker movies from the 90's) 

Madi went true Hollywood, stalker movie character, bananas crazy in the end.  Why is it so easy to see this coming in a bad movie, but so much more difficult to accept in real life?

This obsession had gone on for 8 or 9 months and by that time we had moved to a different house.  I was outside, steering the hens from the garden back in to their pen.  Madi was around as per usual.  Selene was very close to the gate of the chicken house but then got spooked from Madi's closeness and me encroaching in on her to get through the gate opening.  Selene went to run and this sparked Madi off immediately.  Madi lunged at Selene.  She grabbed Selene by the wing and began dragging her around.  Selene was screaming and thrashing about, which only inflamed Madi even more so.  

I was screaming at Madi to let go.  I grabbed Selene and pulled her away from Madi.  Selene was still flapping about, scratching my arms with her claws and smacking me in the face with her wings.  I put her straight in to the pen and slammed the door.  I was really concerned that Madi would turn on the other hens, who were all coming towards the pen by then.  But the obsession with Selene held.  Madi had no interest in the other hens. 

I took Madi, led her out of the garden and took her inside the house.  I then returned all other hens to their house and finally cooled off.  I inspected Selene and found no damage.  Madi seemed to have grabbed a mouth full of wing feathers, rather than anything further down.  

A Lesson in Obsession

Like any obsession, it either wears out or blows out.  In this instance we were just plain lucky to have been there to save Selene.  These days Madi has forgotten about her crazy love.  She is no longer allowed to be with the hens in the garden or within reach of them otherwise. 

I guess sometimes we love our pets so much, we kid ourselves in to thinking that they've overcome some of their basic instincts.  It seems really stupid now that we let Madi live out her obsession.  But maybe it actually proves me right in the end.  Maybe anyone or anything who spends lots of time around my hens does inevitably grow to love them.  Even a dog.  

Selene, November 2012.  What's not to love?

Nice Day for a White Wedding

It's in fact a beautiful day to celebrate a wedding with a pair of gorgeous, white, Wyandotte bantam hens. 

Rosa and Amelia take front and centre stage today to fulfil their duties as Commemorative Wedding Chickens.  The civil ceremony for two of my great friends took place this morning at the British Embassy in Perth, Western Australia. 

Although unable to attend, the girls were suitably apprised of todays events when I picked them up this morning and took them from the lounge, back to the pen to be 'real' hens once more. 

Here they are last night, ready for their debut.

Congratulations S & E. xxx

No wedding jitters here, Rosa and Amelia - 19 November 2012. 

Respiratory Infection - Amelia Update

It has been two weeks since Amelia started taking her long course of general antibacterial medication.  It was a slow start and I wasn't very confident that it was doing any good.  Tonight I saw behaviour in Amelia that I have not seen in the year I have had her.  
The girls have a new 'Grandpa's Feeder' which is driving them all a bit crazy as it is still in the training phase.  They were all really hungry by the end of the day and were very concerned about going to the feeder, which was making a noise when they moved off the foot stand.  I went in to help them out and I had three of them finally eating off the feeder when I noticed a Wyandotte hen to my right.  I immediately thought it was Rosa, she's not a chubby, little bantam due to a lack of appetite but amazingly it was Amelia.  Amelia is very skittish and never sidles up to me for fear of being cuddled er rather caught.  I kept an eye on her and she was within less than an arms length of me and showing no signs of backing off.  

I brought Rosa and Amelia in for a feed.  Amelia has had a small to medium appetite so far.  Tonight she ate so much her crop (where the index finger tips are in the photo) was completely bulging.  She had eaten until she was completely full.  This is a great sign.  I can still hear her slightly laboured breathing from across the room tonight, but she seems so much livelier and more confident.  I also had a fair look down her throat two days ago and saw no signs of the white infectious build up of a fortnight ago.  And now I think about it, I haven't seen her swallowing in response to her chronic sore throat even once tonight.  Maybe this is the start of her real recovery??

Brown Red Pekin

The brown red Pekin bantam is not a colour I have come across often in Perth.  It is characterised by a stunning golden and black pattern on the neck feathers, leaving the remaining feathers jet black from the neck downwards.  I first saw a brown red Pekin at the Royal Agricultural Show in Perth about 6 years ago.  I was feeling particularly keen to buy a hen, as I had been saying for a while that we needed a chicken to commemorate our wedding.  There was no commemorative wedding chicken precedent to back up the buy but all the same she was a very necessary $25 purchase to ensure marital success (and it's working out very well indeed so far).

How to Give a Chicken a Pedicure

We brought home our beautiful new girl and named her Selene.  One thing that stood out was that Selene had some foot problems.  There is a really common bug that is known by the name 'Scaly Leg Mite'.  They are microscopic but leave a very visible trail of destruction.  They burrow under the scales of the feet, lifting the scales upwards from the skin at about a 20 degree angle and produce pieces of some kind of debris in their travels which then results in the feet looking swollen, knobbly, dry, dare I say it crusty and altogether a bit scary.  It must be very itchy, painful and chronically uncomfortable for the hen.  In Selene's case she was hatched without scales on her feet.  She is also missing a couple of claws.  So the mites had no scales to work with, but went about their hideous business right on cue all the same.  She's also got quite stubby little toes so this made her feet look even more swollen and painful.  
My Vet had set us up with a good supply of liquid medication which gets applied directly to the feet several times over a few weeks.  After several weeks the lumps and bumps from the mites fell away to reveal smooth, yellow (the right colour for her breed), chubby little toes and hopefully left Selene feeling comfortable and content again. I also trimmed back some of her nails which were so long that they had begun twisting at the ends.  They may not be the prettiest little feet, but they are in the best shape possible.  Six years later Selene hasn't shown even a moment of ill health since. 

 

Rant for the Week

It really irks me how some owners can clearly see there is something wrong with their hens (the signs of Scaly Leg Mite are blazingly obvious) and yet do nothing about it.  It is really easy and also cheap to fix Scaly Leg Mite and if treated as soon as the hen arrives home, the hen quarantined for a couple of weeks to ensure that she does not pass it onwards, I have never seen it come back so far.  

Selene - November 2012

I've also seen apparently well meaning people apply natural remedies to treat Scaly Leg Mite.  This doesn't work for me either.  Natural remedies in this case appear to temporarily moderate the problem but don't actually kill it off permanently. 
If you or one of your children had mites crawling around your feet, burrowing away, leading to swelling, growths, ongoing discomfort, chronic itching - would you moderate it and allow the pain to go long term or fix it permanently with a simple, short term and safe treatment?  Our pets can not offer an opinion on their preferred treatment, they rely on their owners to do what is best for them.  I guarantee if a hen was offered the choice between chronic up and down painful symptoms versus some oily liquid on their feet to cure the problem - they'd go modern medicine.  

Queen Selene - one hen to rule them all

Anyway, it's more than six years since our beautiful, brown red girl has come to live with us.  She took over the position of top hen about 4 years ago and rules the roost with a firm, feisty and committed wing.  During spring each year her hormones go large and she explodes in to this huge, brilliant and stormy bird.  Her comb (red part on top of her head - see photo above) doubles in size, she has the energy of 10 chickens and she gets herself so stressed out that she approaches us daily for hugging and respite.  It's the sweetest and oddest thing.  She pecks me urgently but quite gently on the leg somewhere to get my attention and isn't settled until I scoop her up, sit her on my thigh and wrap her up in my arms for several minutes.  She's so focused and concerned about keeping an eye on and keeping in line the other hens, that she needs time out to get herself back in order.  That's the best explanation I have for it.  

Selene - Christmas morning, December 2011

Respiratory Infection in Chickens

Chronic respiratory infection in chickens seems to be the result of a less than optimal start in life.  Minimal shelter from cold conditions, lack of veterinary intervention at signs of infection, poor cleaning standards, inadequate feeding and of course exposure to already infected birds.  It can lead to permanent and significant loss of breathing capacity, chronic cold type symptoms - sore throat, wheezing, coughing.  It's unacceptable to allow any animal to live with these symptoms and this winter we have waged quite the battle against a range of problems.

Bantam Wyandottes

Rosa (left) and Amelia, Royal Agricultural Show, Perth 2011

In October 2011 we bought 2 white, Wyandotte bantam hens.  The first time we had strayed from the Silkie or the Pekins breeds in more than 15 years.  These two beautiful girls commemorate the wedded union of two other beautiful girls I know.  Yes, more commemorative wedding chickens!  When I went to collect them, they were very flighty and went bizerk when removed from their enclosure.  They flew hard in to every side of their cage, it was difficult to witness.  One of the hens (Amelia) squeaked and wheezed for nearly two days afterwards.  I was concerned that the rough handling by the person that retrieved her, may have damaged her in some way.  But then the noise completely stopped.

Rosa, enjoying the benefits of an indoor life

The girls clearly had been handled very minimally and even going within 2 to 3 metres of them resulted in them flying up in to the air, loudly protesting and at times hurting themselves as they flew in to the wire of their pen.  I took to avoiding them during the day but at night I would pick them up from the hutch and bring them inside for a feed.  They would sit on my lap, completely terrified but also very interested in getting the special treats I had ready for them.  I figured that if they associated us with feeding, that they would eventually stop fearing us so much.  It has been a year since we brought them home  - Rosa and Amelia and I can now gently approach them both, Rosa especially and pick them up without drama.  Rosa actually allows me to wash her whilst she sits on my palm and they both eat out of my hand every morning. 

The Wheezing Wyandotte

When Winter kicked in, Amelia and Rosa took a downward turn.  When I picked them up they both struggled to breath.  I had to hold Rosa with her feet on the palm of my left hand in order to ease the pressure from her body and allow her to have the maximum space for her respiratory system to inflate.  They wheezed a lot and their breathing sounded wet and stuttered.  It turned out that they both had a chronic respiratory condition.  This was caused by the presence of mycoplasma.  A microscopic organism similar to bacteria which is readily present but when a creature is kept in a less than optimal environment eg. too cold, unhygienic living conditions, poor food supply etc.  These conditions can compromise the immunity and allow mycoplasma the opportunity to thrive and take hold.  They particularly seem to thrive in the cold weather, when a hen is most vulnerable.  

Enjoying a night in the lounge during stormy weather

This winter has seen the girls off and on courses of antibiotics to keep on top of their symptoms.  Amelia has been particularly unwell.  Rosa seems to have gotten on top of it but Amelia, we can hear her erratic breathing piercing the night air and she swallows repeatedly due to a chronic sore throat.  When we look down her throat we can see white plaque deposits dotting the lining, indicating that bacteria are making a moist home for themselves.  

Back to the Vet again

This weekend we went back to the Vet again and this time Amelia has special long term medication that goes in to her water for the next three weeks. The additional issue here is that these girls have brought this condition in to the pen and passed it on to at least two of my other girls.  So I may be fighting this one for a long time to come.

Sun baking - the heat is a blessing for chronic respiratory issues

Buying new girls is a risky business, they don't come with a certificate of health and it can take months (as was the case with these girls) for undesirable symptoms to appear.  But when I look back, that rattly noise that Amelia made the first two days that we had her, was actually a warning of her condition.  I just didn't know what I was hearing at the time.  In the future it will be immediate quarantine and an ASAP Vet visit for any new girls who come with maracas in their chests.  

More updates on Amelia's progress are to follow over the next few weeks.  

Rosa (left) and Amelia

There's no throat lozenges for chickens, no Vix on the chest, no cough syrup, no chicken soup (!).  She is a real battler my Amelia.  I just want her to get better, breath normally, sleep comfortably and be happy.  This winter has heavily prevented her from enjoying any of this and if I'm frustrated, I can only imagine how she is feeling about this messy business. 

Ruby Tuesday

Celebrating Ruby

 

Today would have been the 4th birthday of Ruby, our gorgeous, black, Pekin bantam hen.  Ruby passed away 11 days ago - lots of tears.  But today I would like to celebrate her and remember her as one tough little lady.

I bought Ruby back in October of 2008.  My brother was getting married and we had joked about getting a chicken to commemorate the wedding.  Needing little encouragement, logic, sound reasoning or any reason at all really to buy another hen, off I went to purchase a commemorative wedding chicken!  
I called her Ruby owing to the feathers on her throat, which were red in the sunlight.  She was a black beauty and settled in quickly, about 3/4 of the way up the pecking order.  Ruby was immediately friendly, curious and deeply interested in any visits that we took to the pen.  She was easily handled and although we bought her at around a year old, it was as though we had known her since she was a chick - such was her easy nature and relaxed poise from my constant cuddling.

Tricky Liver

In her first winter with us in 2009, Ruby became very unwell.  Her comb (the pointy, red bit on top of her head if you're unsure) drooped and went a sullen, beige colour, she dropped a lot of weight, lost her appetite and was ostracised from the flock.
A Vet visit determined that her liver was in very poor shape - shrunken and knobbly like a walnut, when it should have been smooth and somewhat like a ripe plumb in presentation.  We thought it was all over for our girl.
But some hope was offered in the form of a liver medication actually made for people.  An eighth of a tablet, administered twice a day.  By the third day there seemed to be signs of improvement.  Before a week she was clearly on the mend.  She stayed in a hutch in the lounge for several weeks - fattening up and getting back to top form.  It was also vital to keep her warm and insulated from the cold weather, as much of the weight loss was attributed to her burning off fat stores to keep herself warm.  We kept her on the medication during this time but slowly cut it down to one dose a day, then one dose every other day.  When she kept improving despite the absence of the medication, we stopped it altogether.  She was returned to the pen with her friends and went on to be in top form for a further three years.

Hot Mama

In the summer of 09/10, Ruby went broody or clucky as it's often known.  Her hormones went in to overdrive and despite having no eggs to sit on, Ruby sat diligently on her empty nest for several weeks.  Wonderful stuff considering most days were well in to the mid to late 30's (late 90's if you're from a Fahrenheit education).  Even the nights were dreadfully warm. One night I went out to clean up and tuck in the girls and heard this persistent and concerning noise echoing in the night.  It was Ruby - dehydrated, steaming hot and panting so hard that she was making a mini honking noise every 2 to 3 seconds.  What to do?  Straight in to a carrier (same kind as you'd get for a cat) and into the air conditioning.  Here is our girl enjoying herself in her Chicken 4 Seasons penthouse suite.

The Ear Infection to Beat All Ear Infections

Then in the winter of 2012 I noticed she was looking down again.  Was it the liver problem back for a second go?  I picked her up to give her some love and encouragement, when I noticed something sticking out of her left ear.  Just awful!  Ruby had an absolutely staggering ear infection.  I pushed the feathers away from her ear canal - but there was no canal.  It was blocked so much that the infectious material was pushing out of the ear.  The Vet ended up needing to operate on her - apparently the first time he has ever drained an ear canal of a bird.  He reported that the infection went the entire length of her ear and part of the way down her throat.  Having had the odd inner ear infection myself, I can not imagine how painful this would have been for her.  Then to top it all off she got a throat infection that stopped me cold.  Looking down her throat was really upsetting.  Her throat was coated in white deposits and a fairly pricey laboratory analysis returned the result that Ruby in fact had three different bacteria in full bloom.  Two types of anti biotics stopped the infections and cleared up the last of the ear problem. 

And throughout everything, she was magnificent.  She put up with my meddling ways.  The hugging, the indoor sleepovers and all the medication I had to force down - she never lost any of her beautiful nature.

We miss her dreadfully and love her endlessly.  Here is my darling girl on her last day.  Staring up at me and no doubt wondering why she never led the normal life of a chicken.  Why there was chocolate cake, cushions to sleep on, cuddles, Vet visits, air conditioning and a lot of posing for photos such as these - and hopefully, she knew that we gave her the very best life we possibly could.  Certainly that is our aim for all of our girls, every day. 

Ruby - Friday 12th October, 2012.