I am so glad that I took Treacle to the vet yesterday and now wish that I had done so sooner.
This morning I put some scrambled egg and chopped tomato in a dish with her medicine on top but she wasn’t interested in it. I have come to the conclusion that she doesn’t like scrambled egg as she has refused it each time I offered it. The other three love it. I knew I needed to come up with a better plan.
I went shopping and bought some tins of tuna in oil as she loved the fish when I last gave her some. I put some in a dish for the other three girls and just a little in a dish for Treacle with the medicine on top. I put the bigger dish on the ground and picked Treacle up and sat her on my lap with her dish. She ate almost all of it so I am sure she got the medicine. I will do this each morning from now on.
As the day went on she started looking brighter. She was scratching around which she hasn’t done for a while and she had a dust bath. She even gave Pepper and Dotty some swift pecks to show that she is back in her place as top hen.
After lunch I gave them the worming powder on the sunflower hearts as the vet said I should continue with this as I had started. Treacle ate her share.
I then went to the fishing tackle shop for more maggots. I am determined to get Treacle eating as much as possible. They all went crazy for the maggots and Treacle was scratching for them and pecking the others out of her way. This was looking like Treacle back to herself again.
Scratching for maggots
Treacle looking more herself
Apart from her shabby feathers Treacle looks pretty much back to normal. I am so relieved. In future I would know to go the vets sooner. At first I thought it was just the molt, then being pecked at, but I now know if ever they are lethargic and not eating that I will act straight away. I am glad I took her to the vet before it was too late, I hadn’t realised at the outset how hugely attached I would get to these girls and how heartbreaking it would feel when there is a problem.
The icing on the cake for me was this evening when I did my sweep up, Treacle went to the feeder and had a good go at the pellets before going in to bed. This is the first time I have seen her eat pellets since she went down hill. I can’t believe the rapid transformation in her.
The other change taking place at the moment is that Dotty has just started to squat. She is nine months old, so has taken a fairly long time to grow up. Maybe she will start to lay eggs soon. I am so happy tonight!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
So glad you are happy ! I bet Richard is glad you are happy . Happy chickens make a happy wife .
So true, our house is restored to a happy house.
What did the vet say was wrong w/ her?
He said he thought it must be an infection. He felt her all over and said she had nothing stuck, he listened to her heart and lungs and said they were good, so said he could only think infection. I think she may have got infected from being pecked as that’s when she started to go down hill.
I am amazed how quickly the antibiotic has improved her. He said it should get her appetite started and it has. As she started eating again she gained in strength as the day went on. I am so glad I went when I did and feel now that I should have gone sooner. I wouldn’t hesitate to go to the vet in future but am lucky that I seem to have found a good one.
I’m so glad she’s better. And that you have a vet you love. I do love love love my vet and am so happy I found them. I’ve taken some grief for taking a hen to the vet but always had such a positive experience and learned SOOOOOO much.
This was my first experience of going to the vet so I was lucky. I talked to this same vet though in the past and found him helpful. He also orders in any products I need such as the purple spray and Flubinvet and it’s always in by the following day. I now have every confidence in him and am really glad of that as I have read experiences of others going to useless vets.
I’m glad she is back to normal. Make sure you finish the anti biotics and the worm treatment, otherwise the infection could come back and become resistent to the antibiotics!
I am going to finish both meds. I just hope she will keep taking her medicine from the fish dish. Its easier giving the powder to all of them but more difficult to just get medicine to her. I will get into her somehow though.