Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Concerns About Phyllis

Something is up with Phyllis. She had not laid an egg in well over a week so I was looking for a secret nest in the yard. I could tell something was off with her on Saturday as I watched her hoping she would reveal her nest. I was very concerned when I saw her walking like this on Sunday.

Obviously the first thought was ascites. I checked for a stuck egg and there was nothing I could feel. So I made a vet appointment, the first available slot being on Tuesday, today.

So today we took Phyllis to the vet and the news is mixed.

• Phyllis' temp was slightly raised but the vet is associating that with the stress of the visit.
• She is not retaining fluid.
• She does not have an egg stuck anywhere.
• She was bright eyed and alert.
• Most importantly, she is not in visible pain.

So if there is no fluid and no stuck egg, why the body tilt? The vet believes that the most likely cause of her posture change is that something internally is injured, herniated, pulled, somehow injured, likely from egg laying. I explained that there have been no eggs for more than a week. The vet is thinking that Phyllis has been adjusting her stance over time to avoid pain from whatever is damaged. The vet does not believe that she can repair whatever is not right. (I believe we have reached the limit of her skills)

The suggested course of action is to give Phyllis time to work through it herself. She is not in pain and as long as she is eating normally and does not start losing weight, we are going to let her try and work through it.

I am to watch for other changes in behavior, poop, swelling, or anything that might indicate she is in pain and contact the vet if I do.

While Phyllis is surprisingly active despite her body posture, she has taken up Hattie's occasional resting position.

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I would almost say she looks like I do when my sacrum is aching, walks like me too (nope not being funny trust me very stiff and painful)

Do you think maybe arthritis? Animals are just like we are, they get arthritis, strains sprains and aches and pains.

Did the vet suggest maybe some Meloxicam or aspirin incase of inflammatory response?



Gosh these animals are going to give us grey hair

 

[Ponypoor]

Marty isn’t herself, she spent last night in the nestbox in the summer house, I left her in with Curly and Henny - those Roos are hard on those two girls. Fluffy pretty much takes care of herself.

I noted Marty was standing with her head down and butt up earlier when I checked the cameras. And when I got home noted her vent feathers were soiled - I trimmed them up.

She hasn’t passed an egg since the weekend so maybe having an egg issue?? I gave her half a tablet of calcium and half an aspirin to aid with any discomfort and inflammation. She only pecked at some food and her crop is just fluid. I’ll check it in the morning.

Poor Marty she is not a happy girl.

These animals are giving me grey hair!

 

[Ponypoor]

And my two OEGB (old English game bird) chicklets - oh my gosh they are just so darn tootin cute! And friendly and chirpy

Little Chicken 1

Little Chicken 2

Obvious different colouring.

And boy can that one fly! She flew from the wall of their pen 4’ across and up onto my shoulder! And proceeded to peck my earring

Gosh I sure hope they are both pullets - I have fallen for those two, they are so darn wonderful!

 

[bgmathteach]

Hi everyone. I know I rarely post any more, life has just gotten so incredibly busy. But I do try to read the weekly synopsis and check out some of the threads, and I miss you all.

This is going to be a long post.

I have some really sad news, I lost one of my girls today. Goldy, one of my two-year-old ISAs had been laying large eggs with weird wrinkles on one end for quite some time, and then started acting a little off several weeks ago. I tried to keep an eye on her, checked her crop, etc. She seemed to snap out of it, but came up and talked to me a few times when she had never been one of my friendly ones. A little over a week ago I picked her up and noticed her abdomen was a little swollen. Checked her several more times over the next few days and decided it definitely felt like what I have seen people describe when their chicken has Ascites. Unfortunately, right about that same time Sassy, another two-year-old ISA started acting like something was wrong. And then I noticed she wasn’t getting down off the roost at all. Her cropped seemed to have a small knot in it, but not anywhere near as bad as I have had them get before and been able to get them over it. I took her some water in a small bowl because to has started getting hotter and she sucked down the entire thing, plus most of another one. That gave her a very full squishy crop, that had not gone down all the way the next morning. Sassy really didn’t seem to fit the pattern of an impacted crop, it seemed more just slow, with small bits left in the morning. I got it in my mind that they both were probably having reproductive issues, especially being hatchery quality production birds who had rarely gone a day without laying up until the past month or so, and made the decision to just monitor them and give them supportive care, and let them go on their own terms. Especially since money is so tight after all my husband’s health issues last year and him still being on disability. I know Ascites can rarely if ever be treated successfully long term so didn’t have much hope for Goldy, and Sassy had gone downhill pretty quickly over a few days and I didn’t expect her to make it.

I decided to put Sassy in a crate in the coop since I didn’t want her to fall of the roost, and so I could give her soft food and water with nutridrench in it. Goldy was still getting around fine, eating and drinking so I left her alone. Sassy seemed to rally a little with the extra supportive care. So I decided to try to really flush her crop out well and try to give her a chance, in case it really was just a crop issue. After a few days of really working with it I was pretty sure I was feeling the same thing left in her crop each time, and on Wednesday decided to take her to the vet who did crop surgery on Crystal a little over a year ago. He did an exam and also a fecal test since she was nice enough to poop a little while we were there. Her heart rate was fast but not too weak, lungs seemed fine with no sign of respiratory issues, and no worms or coccidiosis. But she is down to 2.5 lbs, and he didn’t think she is strong enough for surgery. So he sent me home with an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic (to make sure there isn’t a secondary infection starting in her crop) and had me get some parrot hand feeding formula to try to get a lot of calories in her.

I have been treating her, and also keeping an eye on Goldy, watching for any sign she was starting to be in distress or have reduced quality of life. I also was feeding her any of Sassy’s food that was left over when so couldn’t get her to take any more. I was also talking to my husband today about how she seemed to be starting to struggle just a little, and when the vet’s office called to check on Sassy I told them about her symptoms and my suspicions, to see if they thought it was time to let her go, or if they thought I might be wrong and it was something else that was treatable. They said they couldn’t say for sure without seeing her, but that there was a chance it was just egg yolk peritonitis which they have sometimes managed to treat. We were out to eat at the time, and I had pretty much decided to take her in on Monday morning and see what they thought.

When we got home, I made Sassy’s food and went out to feed her and then put them all back in the coop for the night. When I walked in, I found Goldy lying right inside the door, muddy and with her head swollen and covered in blood. The other hens had pecked her almost to death, she was just barely alive. I was devastated. I put her out of her misery, I never wanted her to suffer like that.

I went back through the footage on my coop cam, and still can’t figure out what triggered the attack. I hadn’t really seen anyone picking on her the past week, no more than the usual pecks on occasion and no worse than anyone else. She had just been calmly standing by Sassy’s cage, like she had done many times, and one of them suddenly ran up and pecked her. She tried to run behind the cage, and they chased her down. Eight of them brutally attacked her for several minutes, until she just laid there when they stopped. Over the course of the next five hours one would occasionally go grab her head and if she tried to get away at all there were suddenly several attacking her again. Even when she stopped moving at all they would occasionally go peck at her again for several minutes.

I am so upset. I know chickens can get aggressive on occasion, but never expected such a brutal attack that was seemingly unprovoked. Not when I have had sick ones before that they never bothered.

My beautiful little golden chicken. My very first one to lay an egg. Rest in peace little one, I’m sorry your passing was anything but peaceful. Tomorrow we will find a good place to lay you to rest. (Although I am debating whether or not to use the opportunity to try a practice crop surgery on her, and to do a simple necropsy to determine what had caused her symptoms. In order to maybe be able to help another one in the future.)

Goldy as a chick, definitely the brightest yellow of my ISAs.
View attachment 3850076

View attachment 3850077

Her “ruffles”. She always had some curly frizzled feathers at the base of her tail.
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Headed for a bite of pumpkin last October.
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I wish I had a better recent photo of her. She was a little darker last year, but a definite light golden brown this year, almost dark yellow.

 

[BY Bob]

I would almost say she looks like I do when my sacrum is aching, walks like me too (nope not being funny trust me very stiff and painful)

Do you think maybe arthritis? Animals are just like we are, they get arthritis, strains sprains and aches and pains.

Did the vet suggest maybe some Meloxicam or aspirin incase of inflammatory response?



Gosh these animals are going to give us grey hair

The vet was very specific that there was no need for pain medication. She specifically does not think it is arthritis like Hattie.

 

[Ponypoor]

The vet was very specific that there was no need for pain medication. She specifically does not think it is arthritis like Hattie.

It’s really odd isn’t it? Maybe she jumped down from the roost and wrenched something. Ruth has been hobbling around here the past couple weeks (broken middle toe?).

I think they have been flying up onto the stall wall then flying down and hurting themselves. I will closed it off this weekend to stop them from getting up so high.

Though Phyllis is hardly one of those chunky production breeds, I doubt she weighs that much. I can’t see her hurting herself jumping down, but who knows. Like us they can get injured.

Well all any of us can do is keep an eye on them and hope for the best



Hugs for both you and Phyllis.

 

[notabitail]

It’s really odd isn’t it? Maybe she jumped down from the roost and wrenched something. Ruth has been hobbling around here the past couple weeks (broken middle toe?).

I think they have been flying up onto the stall wall then flying down and hurting themselves. I will closed it off this weekend to stop them from getting up so high.

Though Phyllis is hardly one of those chunky production breeds, I doubt she weighs that much. I can’t see her hurting herself jumping down, but who knows. Like us they can get injured.

Well all any of us can do is keep an eye on them and hope for the best



Hugs for both you and Phyllis.

Oh, Phyllis is a production breed. A movie production breed! Just ask her. I've heard rumors over Beakbook she was in a movie that she made herself. Not sure how true it is. That hairdo has a lot of gossip following it.

Maybe she partied like she did on New Year's and something happened then.

 

[Ponypoor]

Oh, Phyllis is a production breed. A movie production breed! Just ask her. I've heard rumors over Beakbook she was in a movie that she made herself. Not sure how true it is. That hairdo has a lot of gossip following it.

Maybe she partied like she did on New Year's and something happened then.

Well now, could be she was up to some high jinx. Bet she never tells !

 

[notabitail]

Well now, could be she was up to some high jinx. Bet she never tells !

I asked Agathae and Phyllis recently (last week) posted a photo of her with a bottle of Batty Ol' Hens Premium Booze drinking it with the other including Queen Aurora.

Batty Ol' Hens needs to be stopped. I think it has stuff in it to make hens get addicted to it.

 

[BY Bob]

It’s really odd isn’t it? Maybe she jumped down from the roost and wrenched something. Ruth has been hobbling around here the past couple weeks (broken middle toe?).

I think they have been flying up onto the stall wall then flying down and hurting themselves. I will closed it off this weekend to stop them from getting up so high.

Though Phyllis is hardly one of those chunky production breeds, I doubt she weighs that much. I can’t see her hurting herself jumping down, but who knows. Like us they can get injured.

Well all any of us can do is keep an eye on them and hope for the best



Hugs for both you and Phyllis.

Phyllis is like a leghorn. She only weighs 3 lbs. She can fly like a helicopter. Straight up.