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

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. 

Bubbly Eyes in Chickens

Bubbly Eyes in Chickens

Don't ignore frothy, bubbly eyes in chickens.  Bubbly eyes are something I had only seen in one of my hens and it was for 48 hours in my biggest, porkiest and most sturdy hen, Jewel.  She woke up last Winter with a bubbly, swollen eye.  Panic, drama, Vet visit, medication.  Next morning - back to normal.  

In January I had three hens in five days with bubbly, swollen eyes.  This was due to Fowl Pox and ILT virus.  Angie had swollen, gooey eyes for days and I firmly believe that gentle cleaning really helped to get her eyesight back in order.  

Cleaning Bubbly Eyes

You'll need three things;  
1. Make up remover pads - the snazzy, more expensive type that don't fall apart and leave fibres and fluff behind. 80 pads cost about $3.50.  
2. Bottle of saline solution for eyes.  I got this at the chemist for $5 for a big bottle.  
3. Bottle of fake tears.  The kind you can get from the chemist for people with really dry, irritated eyes.  I got a bottle for $7 that should last for days and days.  

You'll need to keep the hen still.  I find it easiest to wrap the girls in an old, clean towel so that just her head is poking out, whilst at the same time allowing her to maintain a standing position.  

Take a fresh, clean make up pad and squirt on enough saline solution so that it is quite damp, almost dripping and therefore soft, gentle and squishy on the hen's eyeball.  Gently, calming and slowly, wipe any dirt or infected build up away from the hen's eyes and off and away from her face altogether.  Do not press firmly on the eye at any point. 

Throw out the make up pad once used.  Only wipe the eye with the clean and fresh area of the make up pad - do not continue to wipe over the eye once the pad is soiled or dirtied.  Be prepared to use 3 or 4 pads for each clean.  Once the eye is clean, place 1 or 2 drops of the fake tears solution in the eye.  I did this 2 to 3 times a days for each hen.  Each clean should take about 5 minutes to complete - gets easier and quicker as you practice more.  

You'll know that the eyes need another clean when the eye is either stuck closed from a build up of infectious material or wet, matted and clearly preventing the hen from being able to see from that particular eye.

Most of all - take your hen to your bird knowledgeable Vet for a professional diagnosis.  She may need anti biotics, anti inflammatories or other medications.  Your hen's health and comfort is completely in the hands of her owner - do unto your hen as any normal and responsible person would do to their dog or cat please. 

Hen's have hissy fits too

I had a funny moment cleaning Alice's eyes in this bout of illness.  I had the bottle of fake tears, ready to add a couple of drops to Alice's eyes after yet another cleaning and she lashed out and grabbed the bottle by the nozzle, pulled it away from me and hissed like a snake.  She clearly hated the process however her eyes went from wonky, shedding, frothing and blinded to clear and bright and beautiful after about 5 days of 2 to 3 times daily of careful cleaning.  

Baby Alice - at the end of her fowl pox and eyes in tact

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?    

 

3 in 4

Today we had our 3 year old white Silkie hen Angie put to sleep.  In less than 4 weeks we have lost Bantam Wyandotte Amelia, black Silkie hen Jetta and now Angie.  We had a flock of 9 to begin the year and it's so sad to see 6 beautiful girls remaining with no certainty or relief of this nasty run of ill health.

Angie - gone but never forgotten and always loved

ILT Testing

Angie has been sent to the WA Department of Agriculture to be tested for ILT.  There is no way to test for ILT other than post mortem.  It's really sad that Angie will not come back home for a proper burial.  We've only ever had 1 other hen in more than 15 years not come home and that was by nothing more than a poor decision on my behalf.  

I do hope that ILT is not detected.  This would then lead the way to other potentially less serious possibilities eg. fowl diptheria/ wet fowl pox or mycoplasma/ chronic respiratory infection   ILT means no new chickens.  Not unless we want to infect previously healthy birds with a vicious viral condition.  It would mean keeping those hens we do have until they have all passed away  After which we would basically raze the existing pen, wait several weeks and then considered starting from scratch.

Jetta - 9 years of loveliness.  Fowl Pox proved too much.

 

Fowl Pox

In the mean time we have had Wheaten Pekin hen Alice, black Silkie Farrah and Buff Pekin Holly all with Fowl Pox.  Alice went back in to the pen on Monday 18th February.  We kept her in the house for 17 days to try and stop the spread of the Pox virus.  Such a beauty.  Alice is so tame and gorgeous.  She would bounce out of her hutch once the door was unlocked and come in to the kitchen to preen on the floor, await feeding and have a chat.  If we went outside or out of view she would call and call.  I could hear her screaming from the kitchen, no doubt the neighbours could also hear her at 7:00am as I was feeding the other girls in the garden and I'd come running in the house to tell her everything was okay.  Our dog Madi developed a bit of a fancy for Alice, typical Jack Russell stalker.  Otherwise it was all smooth sailing.  I was really happy to see Alice lay her first egg in more than 3 weeks on Monday.  She's also massively fat (in a healthy hen way) and eating well.  I have great hopes for her and her sister Holly who is equally ravenous and portly.

A Crowing Hen

Our remaining girls Selene, Rosie and Jewel have shown no signs of Fowl Pox infection.  Though both Jewel and Selene are moulting and are ripe for all sorts of nasties.  The only odd behaviour is Selene crowing occasionally.  But that's pretty standard for her.  Being the dominant hen and having her hormones twisted up at the end of the laying season she's inclined to go rogue and lose the plot a bit.  It does her no harm and due to the hit and miss nature of the occasional crowing it does not bother the neighbours in any way. I've seen Selene faux mate with the hens on occasion.  She takes her role as head chicken very seriously indeed! 

Selene - a hen in disguise

Once Again, in Writing

It's really deflating caring for the girls when they're so sick and then thinking about writing it all down on top of the medicating, Vet visits, hutch cleaning, daily hen linen laundering, crop feeding.  It just goes on and on and as much as I love them and would do it all again it does feel pretty awful to then relive it all in writing.  So the Blog suffers as they suffer.  But I do hope to get Angie's ILT results within 1 week and either move forward or deal with a rather bleak future as best we can.          

Choking Chicken

Choking Chicken - Plaque on Throat

Wow, okay.  Been a bit difficult to maintain enthusiasm for writing about the girls for a few weeks now.  With Amelia so sick for weeks on end and finally ending in her being put to sleep, I thought I could get back on the wagon and get on to the business of glorifying my baby girls in a public forum.  Unfortunately Amelia's passing has been the launching pad for a whole new run of Vet visits.

Sunday 20th January I thought Holly was a bit odd.  Bit down, bit withdrawn.  I love my Holly but she is a simple hen with simple needs and when she's not stuffing herself full of food or flying on top of the sleeping hutch to check out the literally birds eye view from the open rooftop, she's probably not doing anything good.  I found her on the nest in the morning and then still there hours later.  I picked her up and she immediately started to struggle.  Her breathing croaked out wet, stuttered, hard and strained.  I brought her inside and made her some mashed food to get her interest.  Holly was ravenous but at the same time she was coughing and struggling to eat.  
Finally I decided to crop feed her instead.  She was clearly begging to eat and her crop was empty.  I loaded up the crop feeding syringe but could not get the tube down her throat.  When I tried to insert the tube Holly became very distressed and her breathing was inhibited.  Eventually I thought I would shine a light down her throat to see if I could locate an obstruction.  Sitting like a snake, wrapped around the lowest, visible point of her throat, I could see a rancid, yellow ring of infected material.  My Vet would call it a plaque.  This is the same type of structure which sat behind Amelia's tongue and ruined and eventually ended her life. 
I was fearful for Holly at this point.  She could not eat and her breathing was severely hampered.  I decided to do what I had never done before.  I had a Vet attend to Holly at emergency rates in the middle of the night.  Yep, I'd stepped even further into crazy chicken mother wonderland.  Seemed a bit dramatic I admit.  Cruising down the highway for 45 minutes, singing encouraging radio tunes to Holly and calling my boss to say I may be too tired to come in to work the next day.  
But crazy love led to the saving of a life that night.  Holly may have died had I not taken her.  
After three stints under anaesthesia the emergency Vet located the infected mass and cleared it, scoped beyond it to confirm it was an isolated build up and after about 2 hours I was able to take my droopy, intoxicated little hen home once again.  There was suggestion of leaving her overnight and I think the Vet thought me a bit odd as I pushed and pushed not to wait until the morning to do the various procedures to test Holly's condition and viability.  By the time we were home again, Holly was back on her feet and at midnight I sat with her whilst she loaded her belly with mouthfuls of mashed food.  Bless her piggish appetite.  I then stubbornly slept by her hutch on the carpet to make sure I didn't miss it if she starting having trouble breathing again.  
That was 28 days ago and she is fat, happy, cramming in food all day and cute as a button.  So, so cute.  
I think this is the best outcome I could have hoped for.  I was able to save my girl which was a great lift to my spirits after the difficult run with Amelia.  But there was more to come, three more sick girls so far, in only 5 days.  
 
Here is Holly this afternoon. She is laying again and massive, gorgeously plump.