Is there no coming back from this besides going to the vet? Is my other option to put her down?

[coach723]

I have birds with no names, and some just kinda name themselves. I have two who are just "the velcro sisters", as they are always, always together. One of my EE's has a pretty obnoxious hairdo as well, she's been dubbed "Bedhead Betty". I have 13 fayoumi hens that I cannot for the life of me tell the difference between. Some are banded, blue for slightly less spazzy, yellow for extra spazzy, and the youngest are purple bands, that's as much I can tell. I just count 13 everyday to make sure they are all there. I lot of my hens are just called "mama". Sometimes my grandkids name them. I had a black hen they named "Tire". They named one of my roo's "Herbert" cause it rhymes with pervert. Kids!

 

[citychicks99]

I have birds with no names, and some just kinda name themselves. I have two who are just "the velcro sisters", as they are always, always together. One of my EE's has a pretty obnoxious hairdo as well, she's been dubbed "Bedhead Betty". I have 13 fayoumi hens that I cannot for the life of me tell the difference between. Some are banded, blue for slightly less spazzy, yellow for extra spazzy, and the youngest are purple bands, that's as much I can tell. I just count 13 everyday to make sure they are all there. I lot of my hens are just called "mama". Sometimes my grandkids name them. I had a black hen they named "Tire". They named one of my roo's "Herbert" cause it rhymes with pervert. Kids!

Their Mama's name is also "mama" haha. I used the do the counting thing too when we had more chickens. I agree with them naming themselves. I have one that I call Wild Thing because she would rather sleep in the trees alone and do her own thing, but she's so smart and always able to figure out a way to get herself into situations she wants and out of situations she don't want.

 

[alinas2010]

How is she doing? I know you talked about re-homing your flock (I think?). Will her new home keep you updated?

 

[citychicks99]

How is she doing? I know you talked about re-homing your flock (I think?). Will her new home keep you updated?

I changed her bandage on Wednesday before I re-homed them and her foot still looked swollen but it looked like it had less fluid. Her other foot started looking crusty too. The other birds are all healing nicely though. Most of them only need one bandage now.

I gave all their supplies to their new home: vet wrap, chlorhexidine, Silvex, antibiotics, their feed, grit, calcium, birdseed, I even gave them dewormers, Ivermectin that was barely used, Permethrin dust, Poultry Cell that I just bought, an unopened jar of chicken vitamins... basically everything I could think of that would keep them healthy. I even wrote a note with info about each of them, their names, age, breed, and bumblefoot condition and how I've been treating them. I can't control what people do after I give something away but I was hoping that their new home receiving all this stuff from me would feel at least a little inclined to treat them well and keep treating her. After I gave the guy everything, he said he could send me progress photos if I wanted and I said of course.

I do miss them a lot and I would've kept treating her if I couldn't find them a home. I just struggle the most with watching a bird pass. In the short four years I've raised chickens, I feel like I've seen so many deaths already. Does it ever get easier? Maybe I was unlucky or maybe that's common, but I just couldn't bear to witness another passing and I struggled to have faith. I was also feeling burned out and that everything was working against me.. dealing with mites, lice and scaly leg mites all summer, an inefficient coop and the death of my rooster.

I hope they do well in their new home. Even if her time is very limited at least she'll have people who can give her a lot more attention and a bigger space to free range.

Sorry for the rant and thanks for asking.

 

[coach723]

Don't feel bad, I think many of us have, at least at times, felt overwhelmed and thought about throwing in the towel. Sometimes it just feels like everything happens at once. There have been times when I've had multiple birds with various issues, and it can be exhausting since that is only one part of our lives and one part of what we have to get done in a day. I'm glad you were able to find them a home, and hopefully they will do the best for them that they can. Love and caring hurts sometimes, not much we can do about that. The other choice is to feel nothing, which I think would be worse. It's also important to recognize when you've had enough, or if it's too much, and that is not a bad thing to acknowledge. Even if it's just for a period of time. Best wishes.

 

[alinas2010]

Well now take it easy on yourself. The same people who feel nothing for animals are the people who feel nothing for other people and that’s just…wrong to say the least. I agree with coach.

You did the kindest thing for them you could right now. You can’t care for something else if you can’t care for yourself, that’s just how it is. I’m sure the new owners will do well with them and you’ve set them up nicely. The fact that they were willing to take on chickens with injured feet says they are willing to put in effort

I’ve also been overwhelmed at times. It’s not your fault and you aren’t a bad owner. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Chickens aren’t bred to be very healthy now days, either, unfortunately.

A little misery loves company for you: We had a bad mouse problem this summer and then the girls got mites from wild birds. Got the mice under control, I’ve started closing their run off to fix the mite problem, keep the wild birds out, you know? But apparently not fast enough because now there are sick wild birds showing up . Just goes to show you it rains when it pours, right? One thing after another.

I’m sorry things have been tough on you. I hope you are able to find peace in not having the stress of those issues any longer. Perhaps you can find joy in volunteering at an animal shelter or somewhere else there are chickens?

 

[citychicks99]

Don't feel bad, I think many of us have, at least at times, felt overwhelmed and thought about throwing in the towel. Sometimes it just feels like everything happens at once. There have been times when I've had multiple birds with various issues, and it can be exhausting since that is only one part of our lives and one part of what we have to get done in a day. I'm glad you were able to find them a home, and hopefully they will do the best for them that they can. Love and caring hurts sometimes, not much we can do about that. The other choice is to feel nothing, which I think would be worse. It's also important to recognize when you've had enough, or if it's too much, and that is not a bad thing to acknowledge. Even if it's just for a period of time. Best wishes.

It actually wasn't my idea originally to have chickens but they taught me so much and showed me the true colors of my family and how they treat those on the lowest totem pole. I'm also glad to have learned about sugardine. I told their new family about it and hope they continue to use it for her.

I felt like a lot of this was out of my control, from the timing of getting them to the breed and their setup, I just had to work with whatever was thrown on my lap. I'm going to take a break from this for a while and maybe offer chicken-sitting services or volunteer at an animal sanctuary and find that one book on veterinary medicine you mentioned. But when I'm ready again, I'll make sure to have a say for the coop setup, breed and when to get chickens again.

 

[citychicks99]

Well now take it easy on yourself. The same people who feel nothing for animals are the people who feel nothing for other people and that’s just…wrong to say the least. I agree with coach.

You did the kindest thing for them you could right now. You can’t care for something else if you can’t care for yourself, that’s just how it is. I’m sure the new owners will do well with them and you’ve set them up nicely. The fact that they were willing to take on chickens with injured feet says they are willing to put in effort

I’ve also been overwhelmed at times. It’s not your fault and you aren’t a bad owner. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Chickens aren’t bred to be very healthy now days, either, unfortunately.

A little misery loves company for you: We had a bad mouse problem this summer and then the girls got mites from wild birds. Got the mice under control, I’ve started closing their run off to fix the mite problem, keep the wild birds out, you know? But apparently not fast enough because now there are sick wild birds showing up . Just goes to show you it rains when it pours, right? One thing after another.

I’m sorry things have been tough on you. I hope you are able to find peace in not having the stress of those issues any longer. Perhaps you can find joy in volunteering at an animal shelter or somewhere else there are chickens?

That seems to be very common, when it rains it pours! We had something similar. Rats got in again in June, and I think they brought pests. One of my hens got broody and got lice. I treated everything but found lice eggs on her vent so I gave her a bath and retreated everything. Then I noticed my rooster wasn't roosting and realized they were getting scaly leg mites. After I treated them for that, they got the dreaded Bumblefoot and I learned SLM weakens their skin and tend to cause BF. Just one thing after another!

Yes, I think I will offer chicken-sitting services or volunteer at an animal sanctuary. I'm also looking at fostering a dog or adopting a rescue for some companion. Animals are so precious.

I think you'd appreciate this btw!

 

[coach723]

If it's Plumbs Veterinary Drug Handbook you are looking for, I will attach a PDF of the version I use. They are available online to download, older editions, if you don't want/need the latest version. I haven't worried about it too much, not that many changes in meds that are good for chickens. If you want for other animals, then a newer version might have advantages. I do have a newer pdf version than this one, but it's clunky and hard to use, so I still use this one. I believe the 10th edition is the most recent, and if you want the physical book it's in the $85 range.

 

[citychicks99]

If it's Plumbs Veterinary Drug Handbook you are looking for, I will attach a PDF of the version I use. They are available online to download, older editions, if you don't want/need the latest version. I haven't worried about it too much, not that many changes in meds that are good for chickens. If you want for other animals, then a newer version might have advantages. I do have a newer pdf version than this one, but it's clunky and hard to use, so I still use this one. I believe the 10th edition is the most recent, and if you want the physical book it's in the $85 range.

Yes, this the one. Thank you!!