Ribh's D'Coopage

[featherhead007]

When they shall say, “There is peace and quiet”, then suddenly destruction shall arise upon them...
I am starting to think there is no such thing as a settled flock.
Just as I think everything is pottering along nicely something happens & my insides plummet like a hooked fish & my mind immediately starts calculating when's the earliest I can get to a vet.

Suyin has not been right for a long time ~ more than a year. The vet says otherwise but I'm pretty sure the vet is wrong in this case. It's just neither of us knows exactly what's wrong.
She is super light. Her keelbone feels like a knife. She's a great forager but hardly touches the commercial feed. She's always @ the water station. She's mean & ornery but she's my hen & I do the best I can by her. So when she suddenly keeled over & flapped wildly on the ground, unable to regain her balance I freaked out. She finally scrambled to her feet & it was as if the tumble had never happened. She looked & acted fine but fine she is not. There is some funny neck twisting & she is losing her balance still.

I had her in the carrier inside last night but this morning she is in the little pen, feisty as ever. She is a fighter, this one. Another hen would've been dead ages ago but not Suyin. She just doesn't give in.

So she's not a young hen. She's over 2 so although my frantic reading suggested even an immunised older bird can get Mereks if their immune system is low I really don't think it is that. I suspect some sort of infection that is affecting her middle ear but there's nothing I can do until I can get her to the vet & that's a week away ~ by which time she's likely to be fine again.

She's getting extra nutrients in her water, extra protein in her feed & will stay isolated to prevent her being trampled by my big busty ladies. She doesn't appear to be in pain. Her head & tail are up. Her eyes are bright & alert so I am hopeful.
View attachment 2357472​

Oh, do I know how you feel! Jaffar, is getting stronger, but my Ameraucana is now weak, and not eating much. She's 3yrs old.

 

[BY Bob]

Grey, but still reasonably warm. Some of Tribe 2 scratching around in the veg garden.
View attachment 2357442

I don't remember that shot of your property before. They look great out there

 

[Ribh]

Oh, do I know how you feel! Jaffar, is getting stronger, but my Ameraucana is now weak, and not eating much. She's 3yrs old.

I'm so glad Jaffar is doing better. And I'm sorry about your Ameraucana.
I do everything I know how to give my girls a good life & it's so dispiriting when this stuff happens despite my best efforts. Unfortunately I have a *fixer* personality. I see something wrong & my 1st instinct is to fix it. That's not always possible & when it comes to chickens I'm so ignorant it's scary.

 

[featherhead007]

I'm so glad Jaffar is doing better. And I'm sorry about your Ameraucana.
I do everything I know how to give my girls a good life & it's so dispiriting when this stuff happens despite my best efforts. Unfortunately I have a *fixer* personality. I see something wrong & my 1st instinct is to fix it. That's not always possible & when it comes to chickens I'm so ignorant it's scary.

I would really like to help peeps on the emergencies/sickness/ and cures forum. (But my track record ain't that great either)

 

[BY Bob]

When they shall say, “There is peace and quiet”, then suddenly destruction shall arise upon them...
I am starting to think there is no such thing as a settled flock.
Just as I think everything is pottering along nicely something happens & my insides plummet like a hooked fish & my mind immediately starts calculating when's the earliest I can get to a vet.

Suyin has not been right for a long time ~ more than a year. The vet says otherwise but I'm pretty sure the vet is wrong in this case. It's just neither of us knows exactly what's wrong.
She is super light. Her keelbone feels like a knife. She's a great forager but hardly touches the commercial feed. She's always @ the water station. She's mean & ornery but she's my hen & I do the best I can by her. So when she suddenly keeled over & flapped wildly on the ground, unable to regain her balance I freaked out. She finally scrambled to her feet & it was as if the tumble had never happened. She looked & acted fine but fine she is not. There is some funny neck twisting & she is losing her balance still.

I had her in the carrier inside last night but this morning she is in the little pen, feisty as ever. She is a fighter, this one. Another hen would've been dead ages ago but not Suyin. She just doesn't give in.

So she's not a young hen. She's over 2 so although my frantic reading suggested even an immunised older bird can get Mereks if their immune system is low I really don't think it is that. I suspect some sort of infection that is affecting her middle ear but there's nothing I can do until I can get her to the vet & that's a week away ~ by which time she's likely to be fine again.

She's getting extra nutrients in her water, extra protein in her feed & will stay isolated to prevent her being trampled by my big busty ladies. She doesn't appear to be in pain. Her head & tail are up. Her eyes are bright & alert so I am hopeful.
View attachment 2357472​

Is she eating food in her new facility? I would check her craw tonight to see. We will add her to our prayers.

 

[RoyalChick]

Loved this.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/senegalese-man-has-planted-152-million-mangrove-trees/

I love this too - and I love that there is something called goodnewsnetwork - which I assume specializes in good news which I feel we all need!

 

[featherhead007]

Ps. I think your hen is beautiful!

 

[Ribh]

We had a full house when I checked on the girls this morning.

The end box held Wrold, fluffed up like a pom pom & spitting chips.

Nope, she's not feeling friendly @ all!

 

[Ribh]

Is she eating food in her new facility? I would check her craw tonight to see. We will add her to our prayers.

Thanks, Bob. Yes, she's eating ~ & drinking. As I said, she seems fine, her usual nasty self apart from tipping over occasionally.

 

[drstratton]

When they shall say, “There is peace and quiet”, then suddenly destruction shall arise upon them...
I am starting to think there is no such thing as a settled flock.
Just as I think everything is pottering along nicely something happens & my insides plummet like a hooked fish & my mind immediately starts calculating when's the earliest I can get to a vet.

Suyin has not been right for a long time ~ more than a year. The vet says otherwise but I'm pretty sure the vet is wrong in this case. It's just neither of us knows exactly what's wrong.
She is super light. Her keelbone feels like a knife. She's a great forager but hardly touches the commercial feed. She's always @ the water station. She's mean & ornery but she's my hen & I do the best I can by her. So when she suddenly keeled over & flapped wildly on the ground, unable to regain her balance I freaked out. She finally scrambled to her feet & it was as if the tumble had never happened. She looked & acted fine but fine she is not. There is some funny neck twisting & she is losing her balance still.

I had her in the carrier inside last night but this morning she is in the little pen, feisty as ever. She is a fighter, this one. Another hen would've been dead ages ago but not Suyin. She just doesn't give in.

So she's not a young hen. She's over 2 so although my frantic reading suggested even an immunised older bird can get Mereks if their immune system is low I really don't think it is that. I suspect some sort of infection that is affecting her middle ear but there's nothing I can do until I can get her to the vet & that's a week away ~ by which time she's likely to be fine again.

She's getting extra nutrients in her water, extra protein in her feed & will stay isolated to prevent her being trampled by my big busty ladies. She doesn't appear to be in pain. Her head & tail are up. Her eyes are bright & alert so I am hopeful.
View attachment 2357472​

Your poor girl and you! I hope that they can figure out what is wrong with her...I hate it when my animals are sick and I don't know what's going on!