It was on Monday, three days ago, that there was a lot of blood on Salmon’s perch and the shavings below. Apart from a mucky bottom which I cleaned for her she seemed the same as normal. She was still running to the treats and active.
Today Salmon went down hill very fast. In fact I had just replied to a blog comment saying she seemed fine when I had to add that the next time I checked on her she looked miserable. She no longer came to the treats and I wasn’t sure if she was eating at all. I made dishes of mash and she drank a bit of water off the top. She did the thing chickens do when not well and pecked at the mash without actually eating it.
The next time I checked on her Salmon had her head under her wing. I have never seen her do that before and I knew at this point that something was very wrong.
I took Salmon some chopped tomato which is her favourite thing and she refused to have any. I realised that the blood was probably from trying to push out a soft shelled egg and that although she seemed fine at the time three days later it would have started to poison her. Her comb had gone from pink to very pale, almost yellow.
After two years of not laying it was such a shame she had produced another egg. I knew that there was no way back from this and I couldn’t let her suffer. I rang the vet and got an appointment for three o’clock.
The paper in the cat box had a few spots of blood coming through her vent. The vet agreed with me that she must have a broken egg inside her. She said it was the kindest thing to have her put to sleep. The vets now give a bit of gas to gently send them to sleep before giving the injection as it’s less stressful. I wanted to stay and see her when she had gone. The vet said it was very gentle and peaceful.
Salmon would have been six years old this summer which is the oldest serama we have ever had. By successfully pulling her last, soft shelled egg, from her I had given her two more years. She has had a good life. I am still so sad to see her go and have shed a few tears for her.
I will do a tribute for her over the next few days. I knew Salmon was on borrowed time and that if she produced another egg it would be her down fall but it still doesn’t make it any easier losing her.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I’m sorry to read about Salmon.
I don’t know whether you’ve been unlucky with your Serama’s or if maybe they have been ‘over-bred’ and are prone to issues, but you really do seem to have had a tough time with the girls you’ve had.
I think you are right as I had already come to the conclusion that the seramas are over bred. I decided a couple of years ago that much as I love seramas I would not be having any more because of this. It’s too heartbreaking. I have only had one girl with a problem laying soft shelled before having seramas. That was Amber who was a bantam vorwerk. Even she didn’t pass because of it. She was normal at bedtime one day and I found her gone in the coop next morning. With my seramas I have had the full range of egg laying problems. With my first breeder I lost several girls to prolapse and because of that found another breeder. I have then lost girls to soft shelled eggs, too large an egg stuck and egg peritonitis. Even Sugar, my last remaining serama, was having problems last year. She was taking ages and then laying tiny eggs. She did get better towards the end of the year so it’s a case of wait and see what happens this year.
Very sad, A lovely tribute for a sweet little girl. One nice thought is she had a very special life with you. xxx
I have just started going through my photos to do a proper tribute for her. I am at 2018 at the moment and she was such a sweet little chick. It will be hard not to select too many photos. She was a lovely character. I am missing her in the run today. xxx
So sorry to hear this, Carol. Jenny is right – you have had one arduous journey with your seramas overall, but a lot of pleasure, too. As always, you do what is the right thing by your birds.
I have loved having seramas but it has been heart breaking too. Salmon has long been a favourite of mine.