I posted sometime back about my poorly hen, Poppy, who had been living in my office as she recovered from illness. Well she did make a full recovery, was rejected by her flock and we purchased three youngsters for her to start her own gang. They had a blissful summer together (incuding discovering our girl called Sue was actually a boy!!) and prior to the restrictions because of bird flu all the hens were out together (including her previous flock mates and the big hens we had housed separately). Sadly Poppy got an egg stuck a month or so ago and was not able to recover from it. But we have merged the flock (they all still sleep in their own nest boxes but share a covered, restriction compliant space together happily during the day).
Whilst I wanted to update the community who were very helpful I also wanted to share some things I have done as a result of nursing a sickly bird back to health when the vets thought all was lost. First thing is I have purchased an electric scale to weigh the girls regularly and pick up any changes in their weight early on. They dont tend to show you they are ill until it's too late so I vowed to try and spot it earlier - weight loss is a good indicator. I realised that you can only tell big shifts by looking and it's hard to tell weight loss that's over period even if you are handling regularly as I was. So by charting their weight and examining them. noting anything about condition in a journal, I can pick up things quicker. I also learnt that pain relief/anti inflammatory seemed to have more of an effect on Poppy, addressing disturbances and inflammation in her gut very quickly (more so than the antibiotics to be honest). So I now, with the blessing of the vet have the equivalent of metacam in the fridge - recently being advised to use on one of my girls who developed a rattily chest. I have also kept a few bags of Omnivore Emeraid in stock in case one needs a lift. Last thing I wanted to share was how I have found an easy way to weigh my girls accurately with less stress. I have cut the corner off a fabric shopping bag (soft one) and I pop it over them with their heads poking out and legs gently together out the back. with bit of non-slip mat on the scales I can lie them on the scale and they lie still. You might think 'what's the point' but I realised how inaccurate the readings were when they moved around versus when they are still. Eg one of my girls appeared to be 2kg standing on the scale. When I had her bagged that reading went up to nearly 7kg!! so that would make a massive difference with dose of meds.
Happy new year - hope all your chickens re doing well. Hope this is useful to someone. Thanks for this community and the support it gives.
Caron x
Whilst I wanted to update the community who were very helpful I also wanted to share some things I have done as a result of nursing a sickly bird back to health when the vets thought all was lost. First thing is I have purchased an electric scale to weigh the girls regularly and pick up any changes in their weight early on. They dont tend to show you they are ill until it's too late so I vowed to try and spot it earlier - weight loss is a good indicator. I realised that you can only tell big shifts by looking and it's hard to tell weight loss that's over period even if you are handling regularly as I was. So by charting their weight and examining them. noting anything about condition in a journal, I can pick up things quicker. I also learnt that pain relief/anti inflammatory seemed to have more of an effect on Poppy, addressing disturbances and inflammation in her gut very quickly (more so than the antibiotics to be honest). So I now, with the blessing of the vet have the equivalent of metacam in the fridge - recently being advised to use on one of my girls who developed a rattily chest. I have also kept a few bags of Omnivore Emeraid in stock in case one needs a lift. Last thing I wanted to share was how I have found an easy way to weigh my girls accurately with less stress. I have cut the corner off a fabric shopping bag (soft one) and I pop it over them with their heads poking out and legs gently together out the back. with bit of non-slip mat on the scales I can lie them on the scale and they lie still. You might think 'what's the point' but I realised how inaccurate the readings were when they moved around versus when they are still. Eg one of my girls appeared to be 2kg standing on the scale. When I had her bagged that reading went up to nearly 7kg!! so that would make a massive difference with dose of meds.
Happy new year - hope all your chickens re doing well. Hope this is useful to someone. Thanks for this community and the support it gives.
Caron x
