Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[MaryJanet]

I will be interested in hearing what the vet thinks of the wound. I know you and others have been a bit doom-and-gloom over it.
Smell is not a good sign - but smell of rotten infection is quite unmistakably awful and you have not described that really.
It is possible she has a collection of nasty smelly pus inside which would not be good. Don't laugh - but does she actually smell worse than the other chickens?

And I am hoping for the best for the cat. I cannot imagine how to give a liquid to an unwilling cat. How big a volume? Could you soak it up in bread and give the bread like a pill? Not an easy thing to do anyway!

I give powders by mixing them with butter and smearing it on their feet so they clean it all off - but I don't see that working for a liquid.

What did the vet suggest?

Is it a liquid that can be injected? Injecting a cat under the skin is surprisingly easy compared to giving them medicine by mouth.

Hoping for the best for all of you!

I'm also thinking of treats with medicine added. Does Grochatila like to lick up gravy?

 

[lightm]

A quick update. Piou-piou has a vet appointment on wednesday morning, earliest I could get. The scab is beginning to come off. I smelled carefully and it's not the wound that smells bad, it's the whole hen, I suppose that is not good. Still eating, laying, screaming and most of all wanting to join her rooster. It was the first time my partner carried her out of the crate to clean her, and she managed to escape to Gaston! I thought we would never catch her, but she came to me for sunflower seeds. She's becoming more trusting.
*****
The clinic told us to take Grochatila home this afternoon as he ate a bit this morning and he was too stressed to stay there. The echography showed nothing, the vet said the most likely diagnosis was inflammation of the bile duct, cholangitis. His attitude is much more normal but he looks weak and terrible, and he ate a little.
Two of the meds are liquid, so if anyone has great tips for syringing liquid into an unwilling cat, I'm all ears.
*****
And an interesting new about the healthy chickens : Théo ran away from Gaston this morning, leaving him in the coop with both Léa and Cannelle. Of course Chipie is showing a sudden new interest in Gaston .

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Léa and Cannelle in the same nest, another first.
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If the whole chicken smells bad, maybe it means the wound is not infected?

I am glad you got a vet appointment.

 

[ManueB]

I will be interested in hearing what the vet thinks of the wound. I know you and others have been a bit doom-and-gloom over it.
Smell is not a good sign - but smell of rotten infection is quite unmistakably awful and you have not described that really.
It is possible she has a collection of nasty smelly pus inside which would not be good. Don't laugh - but does she actually smell worse than the other chickens?

Yes. I smelled two other chickens to compare, one smelled of damp earth and one had only the usual faint rather nice animal smell. Piou-piou whole body smells bad, even the too of her head smells.
The skin really feels dry, almost like leather. It doesn't feel like there is pus under but I could be wrong.

Edited to add : I called again the clinic to ask how to tend her wound until Wednesday. They said to switch to betadine (povidone-iodine) four times a day.

And I am hoping for the best for the cat. I cannot imagine how to give a liquid to an unwilling cat. How big a volume? Could you soak it up in bread and give the bread like a pill? Not an easy thing to do anyway!

One of the med is twice 5 ml a day and that makes a syringe longer than my hand. It's been a struggle already giving it twice. I don't think there is an injectable form, it's just aluminum phosphate.

I give powders by mixing them with butter and smearing it on their feet so they clean it all off - but I don't see that working for a liquid.

The other two are tiny pills and he swallows them quite easily in a piece of chicken ham, luckily.

I'm also thinking of treats with medicine added. Does Grochatila like to lick up gravy?

Grochatila, like his human servants, doesn't know what gravy is .
But although the product is not water soluble, the notice says it can be given in a small amount of food. I will ask my partner to buy some wet catfood, he goes to Nice for work today.

If the whole chicken smells bad, maybe it means the wound is not infected?

I am glad you got a vet appointment.

Thank you @lightm ! I do remember the first pictures you posted of Light and her story very well. You said then your husband thought the rooster had chosen the prettiest hen, I also thought she was very pretty. I had the idea of ordering a chicken saddle thanks to her.

We didn't keep Piou-piou in the house, which could have been the easier solution, because she would be alone for too long. We're outside from 7 to 7.

I'm also very much hoping Wendy gets better. Reproductive disorders are so sad for hens.

 

[Shadrach]

Yes, me too.
We realized that the cats having totally free access to their feed in a separate storage room means it took us two days before we realized he wasn't eating.
Then again, if they had still been complete outdoor cats, it would probably have taken us two or three more days to notice there was a problem.

Unfortunately this means we won't be taking Piou-piou to the vet. My partner will have almost 7 hours of vet driving this week and next week he has again to drive his mum twice for health reasons to town. It's not often that I wish I could drive / blame myself for failing to learn but it would be really helpful in this case.

Chickens before people and cats.

 

[ManueB]

Chickens before people and cats.

I honestly also prefer the chickens, but I do like the cats, and I kind of like my partner's mother.
**************
I didn't go into details yesterday but the rooster's hierarchy has finally switched. Théo is now running (at least, walking away with dignity) from Gaston. This morning again Léa decided to lay just after I opened the coop, but Nougat, Blanche and Cannelle also wanted to lay. Gaston stayed with Léa, and Théo ran far away with Chipie. So unfortunately this scared the three ex-batts away from their nests, Blanche especially was terrified of Gaston, and she didn't come back to lay afterwards. I think I may need to put again laying nests in the run for a while to allow the ex-batts to lay while Gaston escorts his hens inside the coop.

During the last two days Gaston spent a lot of time doing the wing flapping thing around the ex-batts while Théo stayed away with Chipie. None however seemed actually willing to let him mate them. I only saw him trying once with Brune who ran away.

Merle is following the usual going broody scheme- I had to take her off the nest, and she spent the day screaming and doing broody puff ups.
Chipie spent at least two hours trying to lay, calling Théo very loudly (he actually answered and stayed with her now that he sees she may turn to be his only remaining hen), made the egg song, but I didn't find an egg. I'm not sure if she's pretending, hiding an egg, or retaining from laying because she doesn't find a place sufficiently safe to lay.

Brune was not well in the morning and unfortunately she definitely has a swollen belly. She hasn't been laying for six months now, but she still spends an hour almost every day in the nest. I think this doesn't sound good. She was better in the afternoon.

In the evening the chickens also seem to have a new routine : Théo goes with the ex-batts outside in the field next to their yard from 4.30 and he lets Gaston do whatever he wants inside. Theo's team only comes back once Gaston's team is roosted. There are a few mishaps from Chipie or the ex-batts trying to come back individually, but they get the full rooster charge by Gaston and they go running back to Théo.

Piou-piou had again difficulties to lay today. I saw her nesting this morning and thought it was done without checking, but in the afternoon she began nesting again and made laying noises, and I realized my mistake.

I took her three times to the house to put betadine on her wound. I think it would be better if I did not move her around so much, as I'm also taking her from the coop to the woodshed and then on the grass. I'm not sure how to have sufficient hygiene to put the betadine on her outside, maybe with sanitizing hand gel.
The wound is changing and I really can't tell if it's better or worse. It doesn't smell as much but it's softer and warmer.
She was again active, calling desperately for Gaston and wanting to get out and dustbathe today, however when I took her back for the last time from the house she looked uncomfortable. I'm not sure if I hurt her by rubbing around the wound, or if it was from being moved around all the time.

Misty morning

Broody in black.

Digging under the compost.

I'm very relieved that Grochatila is back to himself ...chasing lizards for fun! Tonight after I spilled half the syringe all over my pants trying to get it into him, we tried mixing it in humid cat food and it did the trick. I'm pretty sure it would not work on every cat, but for this time it will help me a lot.

 

[ManueB]

If I wasn't wishing so much for rain, I would say that when it rains, it pours. I thought Brune would not make it through the day, but she did and even climbed on the ladder and roost tonight. However I hope this won't last or we'll have to put an end to it. It could be internal laying and salpingitis as her symptoms are very similar to Caramel. She's even picking at the same seeds on top of weeds that Caramel was. I'll have to see if I can find what it is.

And for Piou-piou, I don't know what to think. I find the betadine gel is making the wounded skin all yellow and shiny and it's harder to see how it looks. I do know that she stepped in caecal poop and then got some all over my clothes . I looked (just in case she suddenly got worse) at the cat's amoxicillin and discovered that the standard cat dose per kg is ten times less than the dose for a chicken. So even if I wanted to do something stupid and give her an antibiotic without a prescription made for her it would not be possible.
I didn't take a lot of pictures.

Brune before she went to hide and lie down under the laurel tree. No egg to be felt, hasn't laid for six months, and swollen squishy belly . It's been a few months since I saw a chicken in such pain.

 

[lightm]

Thank you @lightm ! I do remember the first pictures you posted of Light and her story very well. You said then your husband thought the rooster had chosen the prettiest hen, I also thought she was very pretty. I had the idea of ordering a chicken saddle thanks to her.

We didn't keep Piou-piou in the house, which could have been the easier solution, because she would be alone for too long. We're outside from 7 to 7.

I'm also very much hoping Wendy gets better. Reproductive disorders are so sad for hens.

I'm very relieved that Grochatila is back to himself

It could be internal laying and salpingitis as her symptoms are very similar to Caramel.

I am happy to hear about Grochatila! I am very hopeful for Piou-piou! Sending her good thoughts.

I am afraid that Wendy has the same thing as Brune or Caramel. I will try to feel her belly today to confirm. Antibiotics can help, but not in long term if Wendy is internal laying. Her behavior is semi-normal.

 

[ManueB]

Random ramblings !

I'm feeling sad now talking about chickens so I thought I could babble about something very different ! Here are two anecdotes relative to off-grid, or atypical lifestyles.

I think I mentioned before that I grew up with my three elder cousins. My parents shared a house with my mum's sister for twelve years.
The middle cousin is what one could call a mountain photographer, journalist and author. He began working for a mountain magazine, then they laid him off and he continued as free range, doing articles, photos, and also writing and editing climbing and mountaineering topoguides. He lives in a small village in the south Alps where we have always owned a family cabin, just across the street.
At the age of 52, he is now attempting his second climb of Mount Everest working for an expedition with a professional navigator who is giving a sponsored try at mountaineering. My cousin acts as photographer, blogger and helper. His first climb to Everest was in 2002, also working for an expedition.
It's already unusual, but it gets more interesting. My cousin has always had an hectic love life. He only told us after his mum died in 2010, but the first time he was in Everest, at base camp he met and had a very short relationship with an Italian alpinist. They unwillingly conceived two twins, which she decided to keep and raise on her own (she only told him three years after their birth). He tried to get to see them and this did happen several times, but for whatever reason, the mother did not want him to be a part of his kid's lives, and she locked him out.
Fast forward several years and after a lot of loonies he finally settles with a nice normal girl, and during lockdown and COVID...they make a baby. He is 49 and she is much younger. And now, two months before he left for Kathmandu, she gave birth to their second son, Sensei (I don't even understand how that can be a baby's name!). They also told us after it was done that they got married. The mum has friends over to help her during the two months he will be away, and the first person to go help was in fact my wonderful aunt, Marie-Mad, who I mentioned talking about my uncle Bernard.
I don't know what the lesson of the story is, but to me, having kids in this world at the age of 50 is a lot more crazy than climbing Everest again at that age...I would almost say irresponsible, but who am I to judge, I took the easy way out! Now, having two kids at this age AND leaving them to go climb some summit for the 2d time ?
This is the link to follow their trip (in french).

My second story is about my best friend in junior and high school, Ben. Our friendship was the kind that you can only have as teens : we were always together and discovered everything with one another about life, literature, art, politics, got into all kind of troubles, did all kind of stupid things often involving various substances. He was also much more creative, curious and probably intelligent than I was so he made my high school years very interesting. Even if we quickly lost sight of one another I can say with certainty that the impact we had on each other was for life.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from him in Bali. The last I had heard of him and seen him was in 2009 in Paris. He was getting fed up of his career as both professional double bassist, and bass teacher. He had married a Japanese classical piano player who was also killing her passion at work. His email picked up from there. He explained that he went back to school to learn Japanese (which he already spoke with his wife) and he created a trilingual Japanese- English -French translation business. This made him live for a few years. Then, due to a birthday present, his wife and him discovered scuba diving and it completely changed their lives. They did all the dives and certifications required to become instructors. For the last five years, they had been working as such in places all over the world : Indonesia, Mexico, Micronesia, Maldives, Japan...But although they loved it he said they now needed a break. They were physically and also mentally exhausted from diving three times a day non stop and living always with people around them. So they decided to stay for a few months in Bali to take a rest and try to figure a way out where they could live their passion with a calmer lifestyle.
He was also realizing that climate change and environmental damage made such a practice no longer sustainable in the longer term.

I thought this was wonderful news and also an incredible life path. I would never have guessed that 30 years ago, and it certainly shows that it's possible to completely change your life more than once. The only thing that I could have guessed, is that he also grew a passion for underwater filming - we made a lot of idiot films back in the years . Here is the link to their videos on YouTube.

Now I will stop rambling and go apply some betadine on Piou-piou !

 

[lightm]

I loved your random rambling.

I grew up with elder (more than 12 years older) cousins too. My parents lived with my mom's older brother until I was 11 years old. The two cousins are like siblings to me. None of them have a life anywhere interesting as your cousin.

To be honest, I found French people very interesting when I stayed there for 3 months (2009) as an intern in Inria Sophia Antipolis. I did lots of fun things with the colleagues there, mostly partying and camping. In the US, the most fun people I met also happen to be French, basically my mentor and his other mentees. You, your family and friends stories are so interesting too.

 

[ManueB]

I loved your random rambling.

I grew up with elder (more than 12 years older) cousins too. My parents lived with my mom's older brother until I was 11 years old. The two cousins are like siblings to me. None of them have a life anywhere interesting as your cousin.

To be honest, I found French people very interesting when I stayed there for 3 months (2009) as an intern in Inria Sophia Antipolis. I did lots of fun things with the colleagues there, mostly partying and camping. In the US, the most fun people I met also happen to be French, basically my mentor and his other mentees. You, your family and friends stories are so interesting too.

Thank you for such a kind comment ! A few years apart and we could almost have seen each other. I went about twice a month to Sophia for my job in the five last years, most often to supervise my librarian colleagues at Polytech, but we had two projects with INRIA as well. It's funny you thought Sophia was so pleasant, because it was totally built to copy american campuses and also become the new silicon valley! Were you already living in the US then, or did you move afterwards ?
I didn't stay as close as you did to my cousins but even if we don't see each other often, we have a strong bond in that side of the family, coming down from our wonderful grandmother.
*******
Some quick chicken news today, with a mixed lot of good and not so. Brune made it through the day, but I'm not sure it's good news. As usual it's very hard with my ex-batts to know for sure if it's the end, because just when I look at her thinking she is really agonizing she comes out to nibble some grass and peck my pants. I'm almost certain she won't pull through, but my partner wasn't here today, and it's a decision we must make together. She's still follows her team around ; I tried to isolate her but she was very unhappy about it so I put her back with the other chickens.

Piou-piou had a much better day than yesterday mainly because she laid first thing in the day, and her sweetheart Gaston spent a lot of time with her whereas he had completely ignored her yesterday. It's heartbreaking to hear her calling him when he leaves her, and she can't follow. Most of the black scabs has come off her wound now but it looks very strange ; I'm switching to liquid betadine because she is eating the gel off her feathers.
Blanche is also having issues. Her eye is getting worse, and she now has it closed most of the time. This morning she laid a wrinkled egg for the first time ever, although she has laid a lot of strange eggs.
On the better side Gaston and Théo's team managed a much better coexistence today. The ex-batts stayed away from the coop until Gaston's hens had laid and were gone. During the day, Gaston only came in the netting to retrieve Merle and Léa and although he flirted a bit with Cannelle he left Brune alone and it was more discreet than the days before. And they all went to roost peacefully, Gaston now lets Chipie roost next to Léa without interfering.
Maybe after a time, they will eventually manage to find ways to share their home ?

All of Gaston's pullets laid and so did the three ex-batts.

Long grass makes better camouflage.

Grochatila back to what he does best !

This is the weed with the seeds Brune nibbles. I didn't manage to identify the species as the picture isn't sufficiently precise.

Who will rule them all ?

Wrinkled egg, wrinkled hand.