Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

On the first day she showed lack of coordination she managed to get up to that shelf that Diana jumped up on and went into her usual upper level nest box for the night. I didn't witness that and have no idea how she managed it because she really was tipping over and was very wobbly.
Since then she hasn't tried to leave the ground and creeps into the lower level nest box for the night.
Tonight I was hoping she would go back to the main roost but instead she went back to the upper level nest box for the night.
She is safe from falling off the roost in the nest box - so that is good - but if she continues to improve her balance I will try and encourage her return to roosting.
And yes, inner ear infection was one possible diagnosis. I spent a lot of time watching her very closely and came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't an inner ear issue - she clearly was not dizzy. For example she had perfect aim even when she was toppling over.
My current theory is that she got some kind of vitamin or mineral deficiency when she stopped eating commercial feed which coincided with there being less rich forage because of the season. Another possibility is zinc toxicity and the vet said some tumors can have this effect (which would also perhaps explain the crop issue).
Definitely not out of the woods - but good to see her jumping up like that again.

Wow, hope it isn't a tumor!

If it was zinc toxicity, would it dissipate that quickly (1 week?) Maybe it was just a vitamin or mineral deficiency? No results on blood work to rule out some things or to point the finger at deficiencies?

Nice to see her acting more like her old self. Honestly, it was really hard to watch the videos of her 'drunken sailor' act.

 

[rural mouse]

I know that I am still not feeling well, but I have all the prescriptions and support I need now, here at home.

recovery at home is much better when you don't need to be hooked to mavhines

 

[BY Bob]

You need to bribe one of the Nurses

Not his style. He'd rather aggravate them.

 

[featherhead007]

Not his style. He'd rather aggravate them.

He’s right you know!

 

[Shadrach]

I don’t want to get my hopes up quite yet but there are some positive signs that Maggie may be turning the corner.
First off I caught her eating a little bit of commercial feed (starter/grower). Not a lot - just a few mouthfuls - but it is several weeks since she has eaten any commercial feed so even a little bit feels good.
Secondly on the morning coop cam video I saw her confidently jump up to the perch they like to use for preening parties. She made it in one jump and didn’t bother with the step in between that Diana used following her up. I don’t see any wobble! She hasn’t been above ground level for over a week.
Now set against that, her crop did not empty last night and I had to massage it to empty it this morning. We have found a way that works for both of us. She eats the coconut oil herself - she seems to think it is a treat. As long as I let her snack on coconut oil and some scratch and mealy worms between pummeling her she seems OK with the whole thing. It is throwing stuff down her throat she really doesn’t like.
Still, her crop not emptying is very worrying.
I am just hoping her general cussedness helps her pull through again.

I would give the mealy worms a miss and try to get some plain boiled white fish or haddock down her.
While I don't agree with the dogmatic 10% treat rule I've seen how many mealy worms peoplle give their chickens and it's far far too many.
Good job with the coconut oil, the tribes used to like it in lumps, and the massage. Hopefully once she eating some commercial feed her crop will start working normally.
Do not forget that if she has been eating special foodstuffs she may not have grit in her crop and this will cause further problems.

 

[BY Bob]

I would give the mealy worms a miss and try to get some plain boiled white fish or haddock down her.
While I don't agree with the dogmatic 10% treat rule I've seen how many mealy worms peoplle give their chickens and it's far far too many.
Good job with the coconut oil, the tribes used to like it in lumps, and the massage. Hopefully once she eating some commercial feed her crop will start working normally.
Do not forget that if she has been eating special foodstuffs she may not have grit in her crop and this will cause further problems.

Grit is excellent reminder. I just put more out for my ladies.

 

[Shadrach]

I have given these people enough from me, I’m not sharing my ladies precious eggs with them!! NO WAY!

These people, the doctors and nurses are trying to help you, maybe even saving your life. The nursing staff in particular work long stressful hours for not nearly enough pay. They put up with all sorts of verbal abuse and physical abuse day in day out when all they are trying to do is make people well again.
If I were you seeing as you are apparently a wealthy man I would buy them a vary large bunch of flowers and give them as many eggs as you've got by way of apprecaition for the thankless work they undertake.

Lecture over.

 

[Shadrach]

Not his style. He'd rather aggravate them.

Isn't that the truth.

 

[featherhead007]

Arizona abandon her eggs and is no longer interested in trying to hatch them. She’s got nowhere to go now. Others are not allowing her to find a spot in the coop.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Who has to use pasteurized eggs? I didn’t even know that was a thing!

Yup, a lot of healthcare -oriented places (hospitals, nursing homes) use them to eliminate the possibility that illness would be coming from the food. In New York State institutional and other food servers must wear those vinyl gloves, because most E coli et al is coming from the hands and fingers of people, not the foods. Last I was in New Hampshire they did not wear them (live free and die is their motto).

But I digress. So this is a further step, as it is possible for there to be E coli inside eggs. Pasteurized eggs allow one to cook with eggs, like make scrambled eggs properly ,without cooking them to death, which is what you would otherwise have to do to be sure to kill any E coli in there. You can buy eggs, in the shell, that have been pasteurized.
How they do it while keeping it like an uncooked egg in there I have no idea. Maybe special light? I didn't read the whole article -
Again Wikipedia -
Pasteurized eggs are eggs that have been pasteurized in order to reduce the risk of food-borne illness in dishes that are not cooked or are only lightly cooked. They may be sold as liquid egg products or pasteurized in the shell.

I looked into it years ago because there is a wonderful French Silk Chocolate pie that is traditional in my family every Thanksgiving, and it uses raw eggs. It is basically a dense chocolate mousse. Ingredients are tons of butter, then sugar, then several eggs, then melted bitter chocolate, and vanilla. Maybe a dash of salt, I don't remember. All whipped in stages in an electric mixer for ages to totally dissolve and incorporate the sugar, then poured into a baked pie shell and chilled, then served with plain real whipped cream. It is heavenly. No one ever got sick from it. My mother always got her eggs for that pie from a certain small family store, and when that couple retired my mother was anxious about sourcing the eggs for the pie. She eventually switched to another egg source and began swearing by them. No one ever got sick.

Anyone who has had real homemade eggnog, even custards and real mayonnaise, or real Ceasar salad dressing encounters the same issue, and if the eggs come from a healthy flock the risk is small, in my opinion. I imagine it is the litigious nature of the USA that caused the institutional switch to pasteurized eggs. I never found any in my area for sale retail, only online wholesale.