An up and down day

We had a wild storm last night. From three o’clock until about half past five there was constant thunder and lightening and lashing rain. The thunder rolled around our valley sometimes almost overhead and sometimes miles away.

We couldn’t sleep and I fretted about the chickens, especially the little girls and Caramel in particular.  I went out to check on them and got drenched despite my raincoat. My husband thought I was crazy but he knows what I am like.

The little girls had moved away from their corner further into the middle of the chicken shed but the girls were all quiet and the shed was, thank goodness, completely dry.

After a wakeful night I went out at seven o’clock just as the automatic door had opened. There was no sign of Caramel and my heart was in my mouth.

I opened the chicken shed and she was sitting in the same position as the night before. I put her on the patio by the food and water and she just sat there motionless. She really didn’t need a dramatic night like we had just had and I was worried that the stress had been too much for her.

I put her in the cat box and carried her indoors shielding the cat box from the rain with an umbrella. I gave her the antibiotic, the pain killer and some sugar water and then put her dish of pellets, chopped grapes, sunflower hearts and corn and a dish of water in with her. I hoped that, like the day before, once the pain killer kicked in she would eat. She promptly fell asleep and I was really worried.

About forty minutes later she perked up and ate a good amount of the food and had some water and pooped. I was elated.

When I left to do my deliveries I decided to return her to the run. I didn’t want to leave her sat with poop and thought she would be better off with Pebbles. I left them sitting together.

When my husband got back from his deliveries and checked on her she was sitting in a part of the run that was dripping from the rain. He put her in the little coop and closed her in until my return.

This meant she could doze in the dry and keep warm and not be bothered by the other girls.

When I got back in I bought her back inside in the cat box, gave her some more sugar water and left her with her dish of treats. I was pleased to see her eat again and then once more returned her to the run as it had stopped raining.

As the day goes on she goes down hill. By late afternoon, just before bedtime I took her into the chicken shed with the dish of treats and once again she was so disorientated that she couldn’t peck at anything. She was walking in circles, walking over my hands and attempting to aim at the dish and missing. It was heartbreaking. We came to the conclusion that by the end of the day she is in too much pain to function.

As she is so tiny I don’t want to risk over dosing her on her meds but My husband and I both agreed that nor do we want to have her in pain. We agreed that I should give her a little bit more of the pain killer.

Oh goodness, what happened next was that I livened her up right on bedtime. She did go and have some pellets which is good but at bedtime she didn’t really want to go in and was cheeping away and attracting the attention of the other girls. For safety I put her and Pebbles in the little coop until the other girls were all settled and then moved them both back to their corner in the chicken shed when it was dark.

Caramel at bedtime

This was the first time I put her in before moving her. At least her eye is open. She looks a mess because I have dribbled some sugar water on her neck feathers and then before bed I dusted with her D.E. because she isn’t preening or dust bathing at the moment and I don’t want to risk adding red mite to her problems.

Tomorrow I am going to give her a warm bath and a gentle dry with the hair dryer and then settle her in the cat box inside for a while, after her morning meds and hopefully a feed.

I am learning as I go along and think that I need to trust my instincts. I don’t want to overdose her but I believe that pain killer in the morning only, isn’t enough and by the end of the day she is suffering. Today I made the decision to give her a bit more, too late in the day. Tomorrow I will give her a little more pain killer at about three 0’clock in the afternoon. This should mean she will eat again before bedtime instead of just in the morning and she should be more comfortable at the end of the day.

She has bounced me up and down today, but I am hopeful that she should have a better nights sleep tonight, and me too I hope. I hope tomorrow a bath will help her feel a bit better and better management of her pain killer may help her too. As my husband said it will be amazing if I can get her through this but if I can’t, we can’t let her go out in too much pain. I am still keeping everything crossed and will report back again tomorrow.