Ribh's D'Coopage

[LozzyR]

Only the easy stuff like cloaks, tabards and sideless surcoats. Hubby's Mum was a seamstress and she made a few more complicated things for me.
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She made me a gown of the same design as the green one above. I loved it!

My friend who introduced me to the SCA taught me how to sew. I then started taking my little sister and dressing her up too.

 

[LozzyR]

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.
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Poor Suyin! I hope she gets better soon.

 

[Ribh]

Poor Suyin! I hope she gets better soon.

Thanks, Lozzy. I hope so too. She's a fighter so I know she won't give in.

 

[Shadrach]

Supposedly they "dance" the Hornets to death. At least that's what I've heard.

That would be like the rooster dance then.
The hornets hover outside the opening to the hive and when the bees come out the attack the bees. Eventually the bees stop coming out and the hive dies.
The French bees apparently make a ball around thhe hornet and I'm not sure if they sting it to death or incappacitate it.
The advantage the bees have is they are cooperative while the hornets aren't.
I'm not very well clued up on this I might add.
I don't think the bees sting the hornet for some reason.

 

[Shadrach]

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​

You can get antibiotic ear drops Ribh. It may be worth mentioning to the vet that you think the ear is the problem.

 

[Shadrach]

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.

You're putting yourself down for no good reason Ribh. There are very few vets that have the necessary expertise to treat chickens. You probably already know more than many. One of the things about a decent vet is they have stuff to hand. Just having a proper table to examine the bird makes a difference, never mind having all the rest of the equipment.

 

[Shadrach]

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!

They publish some good stuff.

 

[Shadrach]

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

Bracket got through full on wry neck in time. Looking at pictures when she was at her worst you would not believe if you saw her now it was the same hen.

 

[Ribh]

You're putting yourself down for no good reason Ribh. There are very few vets that have the necessary expertise to treat chickens. You probably already know more than many. One of the things about a decent vet is they have stuff to hand. Just having a proper table to examine the bird makes a difference, never mind having all the rest of the equipment.

Thanks, Shad. I just feel so helpless & I do want to fix. I'll mention the middle ear to the vet if we get that far. It will be next Thursday...quite a wait but I don't drag a sick bird off island. The stress alone is enough to kill them. There are always big dogs on the boats & very few are that well trained to leave a chicken alone.

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks, Shad. I just feel so helpless & I do want to fix. I'll mention the middle ear to the vet if we get that far. It will be next Thursday...quite a wait but I don't drag a sick bird off island. The stress alone is enough to kill them. There are always big dogs on the boats & very few are that well trained to leave a chicken alone.

I have a pet carrier Ribh. In fact I have two now. I leave one out and open. The chickens now know they are safe in it. Most have been in it at some point in time.
They survive a very bumpy car ride down the track and a carry through a town. You can't park aywhere near the vets. I talk to them constantly while they are in the car. Usually they settle down. If I'm in the same tin can as they are I suppose they reckon I'm not suicidal and go with the flow so to speak.
Most of the time they can't wait to get back in the carrier after the vet has had them on the table. Cillin jumped right off the table and made a dash for the carrier the first vet visit he had.