Théo and the chickens des Sauches

[ManueB]

Oh no, poor Kara. I hope you get an early appointment with the vet. Are you thinking online or face to face? I would be tempted to try for face to face, but maybe I'm overly cautious.

Face to face. I don't think the vet would be able to diagnose anything without an examination and probably X Rays. Quote from my post on FBA :

I just called the clinic and we can bring her this afternoon to have her hospitalised.
I hate doing this because the last time we did it was for Caramel and she died there after several days hospitalised, alone, without her flock. I promised myself then that I wouldn't let this happen again. But Kara is younger and she doesn't look like she is going to die yet, so maybe it's better to try and get a diagnosis as soon as possible.
It's a two hours ride..and our first day of snow today .
I really wish we had a vet who looked at chickens closer to our place. It's so difficult to make the decision whether to take

 

[MaryJanet]

Face to face. I don't think the vet would be able to diagnose anything without an examination and probably X Rays. Quote from my post on FBA :

Good luck friend. Such a difficult situation, but the vet may well be her best shot.

 

[ManueB]

Changing the plan.

There is already 5 cm of snow and it's steadily falling now. My partner felt it would not be safe to drive down our mountain road. Since driving is his job and I don't have my licence, I have to agree ( for once) that he is the only one qualified to have a valid opinion. On the good side, we have an appointment at 9 tomorrow morning with the clinic’s owner, whom we have never seen before and is a very renowned and experienced vet. The road will have been cleaned and gravelled at dawn. And if they just need to do x-rays and drainage she might even be able to come home at the end of the day.

Kara is now sleeping on a roost in the coop. She stayed for three hours in the nest this morning after laying, ate quite a bit, and looking much like yesterday with her vent pulsating, except today she is either clearing her crop or gasping for air. Her breathing is not laboured and I don't see the small movements on her face going up and down that alerted me to Caramel having a problem to breathe.

Most of the chickens are staying inside and Gaston is doing all he can to keep his hens occupied and happy....hard job.

What is this ?

Nice.

What an offense. Snow when one feather tiny indian is molting.

My partner built them this...

But they prefer to shelter under that.

Meanwhile in the coop.

Kara in the middle. She actually threw Léa off the roost before going back to slumber so she still has some energy.

Just do something. Take the white stuff away. Or take me out of there !

 

[ManueB]

They had forgotten to gravel our small portion of road that leads to the village’s road. We had to do it ourselves, luckily we have a stack of gravel close to where we park the car.

Anyway, my partner got there and Kara had x rays and echography and they don't see any mass or worrying thing. The vet think she has a nutritional deficiency, that she is not assimilating calcium properly. He asked that we put her back on layer feed only, and gave some supplements. I certainly hope he is right, and I think my partner will be upset for all the trouble we went through when I wrongly thought she has ascites !


Yesterday we watched this, "winged migration".

. It is very frustrating because you don't learn anything: it's just beautiful filming of migrating birds. But the images are incredible and so relaxing I fell asleep, which never happens to me when I watch a film.

 

[BDutch]

They had forgotten to gravel our small portion of road that leads to the village’s road. We had to do it ourselves, luckily we have a stack of gravel close to where we park the car.
View attachment 3698334View attachment 3698335View attachment 3698337View attachment 3698338View attachment 3698339
Anyway, my partner got there and Kara had x rays and echography and they don't see any mass or worrying thing. The vet think she has a nutritional deficiency, that she is not assimilating calcium properly. He asked that we put her back on layer feed only, and gave some supplements. I certainly hope he is right, and I think my partner will be upset for all the trouble we went through when I wrongly thought she has ascites !


Yesterday we watched this, "winged migration".

. It is very frustrating because you don't learn anything: it's just beautiful filming of migrating birds. But the images are incredible and so relaxing I fell asleep, which never happens to me when I watch a film.

Imho, it’s better to enjoy the Alps in the snow, than risking your husband’s life on the snowy road for a chicken. It’s just that I would have made another choice.

Of course it’s great if calcium is the problem, as your vet thinks. I hope she gets better soon!

Maybe good to know? I never have been to a vet. Even if there are two within 1.5 km from our house. I find it a no go for two things adding up: they are ridiculously expensive + my chickens get very stressed if I need to put them in a box. Especially if they have to wait in a room with other animals and there are dogs waiting for a consult.

So I just try to help them myself or wait and see what happens. I do spend more money on their organic feed though. And try to give them a happy life of course.

Once I let a chicken suffer in her last day. This felt very uncomfortable at the end. If I had means to euthanise her I would have done so.
So I tried to buy a syringe with ketamine in case a chicken suffers again, and I want to euthanise her. But is not possible or very illegal.

The music is wonderful. It reminds me of Enya.

 

[ManueB]

Imho, it’s better to enjoy the Alps in the snow, than risking your husband’s life on the snowy road for a chicken. It’s just that I would have made another choice.

Of course it’s great if calcium is the problem, as your vet thinks. I hope she gets better soon!

Maybe good to know? I never have been to a vet. Even if there are two within 1.5 km from our house. I find it a no go for two things adding up: they are ridiculously expensive + my chickens get very stressed if I need to put them in a box. Especially if they have to wait in a room with other animals and there are dogs waiting for a consult.

So I just try to help them myself or wait and see what happens. I do spend more money on their organic feed though. And try to give them a happy life of course.

When my partner got home I apologised indeed for having him drive in such conditions when the hen had nothing.
But he wasn't upset at all and he said I hadn't been so wrong : the vet also thought she had ascites when he examined her, but there was nothing on the radio.
Well, almost nothing .

Because he wanted to make sure he then also did an echography free of charge and nothing came up. When he discussed the background with my partner, her laying problem, and the food, the vet said it was one possibility that she had a calcium deficiency; and that we should try vitamins and mineral supplements for a month giving her only layer feed and see if it helped. It wasn't a 100% certainty.
I am hesitant to take them to the vet or not. I think in some cases, it can save a chicken. But it's very hard to know ahead if it will help or not. In this case it was not useful and certainly stressful for Kara, who laid as soon as she was back home.

The music is wonderful. It reminds me of Enya.

The music is interesting, yes. Here are some images from the film.

 

[RoyalChick]

When my partner got home I apologised indeed for having him drive in such conditions when the hen had nothing.
But he wasn't upset at all and he said I hadn't been so wrong : the vet also thought she had ascites when he examined her, but there was nothing on the radio.
Well, almost nothing .
View attachment 3698432
Because he wanted to make sure he then also did an echography free of charge and nothing came up. When he discussed the background with my partner, her laying problem, and the food, the vet said it was one possibility that she had a calcium deficiency; and that we should try vitamins and mineral supplements for a month giving her only layer feed and see if it helped. It wasn't a 100% certainty.
I am hesitant to take them to the vet or not. I think in some cases, it can save a chicken. But it's very hard to know ahead if it will help or not. In this case it was not useful and certainly stressful for Kara, who laid as soon as she was back home.

The music is interesting, yes. Here are some images from the film.

Stunning photography on the migrating birds trailer. I might need to watch the whole movie.

 

[ManueB]

Stunning photography on the migrating birds trailer. I might need to watch the whole movie.

The images are incredible because they had a whole team of ultra light motorised aircrafts flying for four years. It cost a huge amount of money to make and was a box-office hit here. I still prefer a classical documentary format with explanations on what you are seeing.
********
It felt cold this morning, -5/23 and the ground was frozen. The chickens were in no hurry to come out. In fact they spent a good part of the morning in the coop and run. Piou-piou and Théo looked pretty cold in the woodshed ; they are only two so they don't produce heat and it's full of drafts. We are going to make a few adjustments 0so it's more isolated for winter.

There was a beautiful sun and a good part of the snow melted during the day. Only Merle and Alba laid today. It's been a very long time since that has happened! Probably due to being confined for two days, not having access to forage and stress maybe for those that are seeing the snow for the first time ?

Kara didn't seem too bad, but I can't say she looked normal either. She spent a good part of the day resting. When she did come out she seemed active enough, scratching around and eating snow like they all do. It seems like snow is chicken's ice cream.

Gaston chased poor Théo countless number of times today. He was pretty mellow with him while it had been snowing, letting him shelter in the coop, but he took his revenge today . Now Théo runs to me for protection when Gaston chases him !

 

[ManueB]

Cold day again, -6 /21 this morning, and no sun, unlike yesterday.

Worried that neither Lilly or Kara laid today, so that's two days without laying for both, which is very unlikely for them.
Rain and snow forecasted tomorrow..feels like "winter is coming" .
Lilly is beginning to turn into a bully as well! She has decided she needs to be Gaston's favourite. When Gaston mates one of the pullets, she attacks her without even waiting for him to get off . She is beginning to peck eyes seriously, like Cannelle does. But Cannelle has the excuse that she is an old bat. Lilly is so young and she was such a sweet dreamy boneless fluffy thing until a few weeks.
Maybe it's because her feet are hurting her ? Or because of Pied-Beau’s departure she has realised she can climb up the hen’s sociological ladder.

Best hen early morning treat ? Frozen mouse innards. Courtesy of the cats who leave them over.

Mine. Move !

Spoiler

What ? You seemed upset yesterday evening when I left them in the kitchen and angry when the next one were in your bedroom, and now outside is a problem ?

Lots of black chickens around here.

Lilly and Kara. They both have poopy butts even though their poops are better than they used to be.

Mélisse

Piou-piou went on her own at the other end of the garden to catch up on her favourite activity. Dig.

Lilly before she attacked Laure.

Merle.

Léa is quite unhappy about Gaston hanging out with the younger pullets. She is always happy to be with him.

Kara bullies her and she has also began to bully Piou-piou, who has lost after several fights and is now afraid of her.

Cannelle is hopefully over the worse part of the molt.

My partner went to Gaston's place this morning, he visited Pied-Beau. He wasn't sure if the rooster recognised him, but he did come to him... looking for treats. He was surrounded by hens . It's rough at Gaston's place at this time of year, it is below us and more to the west so they get only five hours of sun during the day.

 

[BDutch]

Worried that neither Lilly or Kara laid today, so that's two days without laying for both, which is very unlikely for them.

"winter is not coming”
It arrived. Maybe it’s a simple winter stop.

Best hen early morning treat ? Frozen mouse innards. Courtesy of the cats who leave them over.

What ? You seemed upset yesterday evening when I left them in the kitchen and angry when the next one were in your bedroom, and now outside is a problem ?

The dynamics of the flock are based on chicken logic, not on human logic. Its great to hear Pioupiou gained a harem.