Hen laid 4 eggs in one day *UPDATE*: she's back from the vet!

[caralouise1974]

Another update:

Our vet has taken Bella home with him for a few days, free of charge, to try and gently force her into a moult and thereby reduce egg production - by putting her somewhere with low light levels and giving her only bear minimum amounts of feed and water. It's very kind of him to do this for no charge, of course, but I'm uneasy about his true level of knowledge and skill with hens. I'm very worried in fact.

He is absolutely against performing a hysterectomy, as he believes it is a 'mutilation' (akin to docking dog's tails apparently!) and contrary to the Royal Society's ethics! I suggested that I believed this surgery could save her life and he still said there's absolutely no way he could justify removing the reproductive organs of a chicken. (He also admitted he doesn't have the expertise or equipment to perform it confidently, in any case, and we would need to consult a specialist.)

He also hasn't mentioned lupron (despite us hinting at the possibility of hormone treatment), which I would have thought sounds like it would be the next logical step.

So, we have an unknown quantity here... he's going to slow down her egg production, but what then? When we get her back, she'll be back out in the coop, getting 15 hours a day of natural Springtime light, and so surely her laying habits will go back to square one?

I'm totally beside myself with worry, still! Especially as our other girl has had to go into chicken kennels (in a single pen but within sight of other birds) so she's not lonely while Bella is gone, so I'm really worried about how she's settling in too (she's a hugely sensitive buff orp, who has been known to almost starve herself to death after a sudden change in environment on a previous occasion.)

I'm terrified for both of them and crying constantly.

My hubbie is terrified I'm going to go into premature labour at this rate (I'm only 31 weeks). I suppose I'm desperate for reassurance. Can any of you lovely BYCers offer me any? Please?

 

[jjthink]

Hmmmm...Cara...if Bella starts to have problems again after the vet's little experiment (and I'm not really liking the bare minimum of food and water thing combined with the stress of a new environment), I think you will need to try to find an avian vet who does not hold to his philosophies. Particularly since he doesn't have experience with this. Perhaps while she's with him, you can look up organizations in your area for parrots and other "exotic" birds and find out who they use for vets. For vets that do this sort of thing, it's more or less routine...
Thinking of you, Bella, and lonely buff...
JJ

 

[caralouise1974]

Thanks JJ, I agree with you, absolutely. The thought of Bella in a small dark cage with hardly anything to eat and drink and no company is tearing me apart. But what other option do I have? We had to do something, and my hubbie was glad to have the girls in someone else's hands for a few days to give me some respite from the constant daily fussing with Bella's health (egg binding incidents, baths, bringing her indoors, watching her constantly, the tearful calls to the vet, the constant stress). He's worried about me and the baby, which I suppose is really the most important thing here.

And Henrietta is is likely to be beside herself too - I just wish we'd kept her here alone, where at least she felt safe. She was in a really terrible state when we left her yesterday - panting, rigid, flapping and generally stressed. The lady who is looking after her has texted me this morning to say she's fine today, but I'm still desperate to dash over there are snatch her back. I'm terribly worried I've done the wrong thing by not wanting to leave her on her own.

I have sent an e-mail to a local avian specialist vet who I desperately hope might be able to help us - he was away on annual leave last week but I hope he'll be able to get back to me on Tuesday. He's our last hope, quite honestly.

It's awful to have to say, but if they can't give Bella a long term solution, and I'm told I simply have to go on with all this daily worry and turmoil until she comes to the end of her short life naturally, I'm considering putting her to sleep. It's putting an awful strain on all of us, and I can't see how Bella can continue to have a decent quality of life for much longer unless some radical intervention is made. And we won't have the time to spend on making her comfortable every time an egg breaks inside her or one gets stuck if we have a new baby to look after too. It's just all too much and I'm getting to the end of my reserves.

 

[jjthink]

Cara - Quick followup re: Henrietta, I didn't realize she is somewhere with birds she hasn't been exposed to before? I hate to add to your turmoil, but if this is the case, she could be exposed to germs/illness that could create a whole other world of grief for her, Bella and you. I'd have her home with lots of relaxed TLC in a place she knows, or I'd keep her with Bella. I know - more angst, but needed to let you know this about exposure to disease. Usually quarantine is recommended before allowing birds to essentially even breathe the same air. I do hope all will be well. Have to run now to a volunteer thing but will be sending good thoughts. JJ

Edited because I had written "food thoughts" instead of "good thoughts"! Must have been hungry!

 

[lovemychix]

So sorry for your girl.

Take care of yourself. You are lucky you have a vet that cares enough to take a chicken. I called the vets in my area about my sick silkie and they pretty much just laughed at me.

 

[caralouise1974]

Quote:
She's back with the breeder she was raised by. There are other birds within sight of her, but not close enough to come into contact with. She lived there until she was 20 weeks old, so has been in contact with the other birds, in so far as she's lived at that place before. I don't think she'll even get a sniff of other birds while she's there, but at least she can hear them and see them from her boarding pen.

But yes, strictly speaking, I can see you're right JJ: the breeder could have had new birds in since Hen lived there as a baby, and they could conceiveably have diseases her body isn't familiar with, and the breeder could carry them to Henrietta's pen on her clothes, but hey, it's a little late for me to do anything about that now isn't it? She's been there for 24 hours already.

I refuse to worry about this any more today - I have spent the whole morning in tears, when I'm supposed to be packing my hospital bag for the impending birth and buying something to wear over my enormous bump for my nephew's christening tomorrow, where I'm due to be godmother.

What will be will have to be. If they both come back alive and healthy they do, and if they don't they don't. I'm completely worn out with all this turmoil.

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts and wishes though xxx

 

[farrier!]

I am so sorry about the worry this is causing you!

On thing over the years I have learned is that you know your animal best! You get to make all the decisions not the vet, if it does not feel correct to you do not do it!

I hope she comes home soon and you find a better vet to deal with.

Vets can often lack experience and sometimes even common sense. Trust how you feel and do what will make you happier. Stress it not good for you, your baby or your sweet bird.

 

[jjthink]

Cara, you are doing the best you can and you have a good heart. Try to relax a wee bit

Hopefully all will be well. Sending more good thoughts!
JJ

 

[caralouise1974]

farrier! :

I am so sorry about the worry this is causing you!

On thing over the years I have learned is that you know your animal best! You get to make all the decisions not the vet, if it does not feel correct to you do not do it!

I hope she comes home soon and you find a better vet to deal with.

Vets can often lack experience and sometimes even common sense. Trust how you feel and do what will make you happier. Stress it not good for you, your baby or your sweet bird.

Thankyou farrier. I'm absolutely torn, as you can tell, I expect.

On the one hand, I'm hearing (from many people, including the notorious Chicken Doctor' over on Feather Fanciers.com) that putting Bella into a forced moult is what she needs, followed by some radical hormonal or surgical intervention to keep her from re-starting the laying cycle. So, my vet is absolutely right in his chosen technique thus far.

But on the other hand, I cannot begin to conceive how unhappy she must be right now, away from home, separated from her pal, with hardly any daylight, and not much to eat or drink. It just seems so barbaric.

I feel even worse about our other girl, who, for no real reason, is also away from home, stressed and lonely, and probably feeling completely distraught.

This whole situation has been so difficult to cope with in terms of knowing what's the right thing to do.

Perhaps I am overly sentimental and should be trying to focus on what's best for the girls, however painful it may be in the short term.

My one remaining hope is that we get a positive response from the avian vet on Tuesday, we bring both girls home, and we get Bella sorted out once and for all with a radical veterinary treatment.​

 

[caralouise1974]

Quote:
Thanks so much JJ. xx

I'm just absolutely strung out, and cannot decide which way to do the best thing by both the girls and myself. If I rush off and bring them both home, simply because I'm upset, then perhaps Bella will end up worse off in the long run. Henrietta may also find that in a weeks' time she really IS alone, because we could lose Bella, so then I will be wishing that I'd considered leaving her where she is.

I have to try and tell myself that they are not humans, and will not be suffering in quite the way that, say, a small child might be. They probably won't even remember me (or, and this is another fear I have) each other in a few days' time. I may be giving them credit for a level of sensitivity that they are just not capable of!

Now I have to try and eat some dinner and get myself a decent night's sleep and calm down a little - you're right, of course.

So long until tomorrow...