Amber

Poor little Amber has had an egg laying problem right from the start of her egg laying and she has gradually got worse. She laid for three months, June, July and August then had five months of not laying while she moulted. During that time she was healthy.

She started laying again in February and was still struggling to lay and laying soft shelled eggs no matter how much limestone flour, cod liver oil and crushed egg shells I gave her.

Recently she has been laying every four days and looking unwell the day before. We had noticed that she was now snoozing a lot during the day with her head under her wing and I felt after five months of laying she was getting worse.

Seven days ago she had looked unwell all afternoon and while we were watching her she kept closing one eye. My husband said he thought she was straining. Then right in front of me she laid her egg. I picked it up and it was like rubber and could be squeezed. We were always relieved at each egg she managed to pass and always fearful of an egg breaking inside her.

Amber returned to her normal self until four days later when her next egg was due. She looked unwell as usual and I expected to find an egg in the nest box the next morning. There was no egg and she still looked unwell and I saw her pass a bright yellow poop which is not a good sign.

As the day went on she was snoozing a lot with her head under her wing. Throughout the day I found three bright yellow poops. I did wonder if it was egg at first but it was definitely poop.

By the afternoon my husband said he thought her face was changing. A few hours later when I next checked on her I was shocked to see that her face had really swollen. We began to think that her egg must have broken inside and wondered if this was some sort of poisoning.

Amber’s swollen face

Amber’s face is puffy between her eye and her beak

Honey’s face is flat

I took this one of them together for comparison

Amber spends a lot of time like this

We really feel her time is coming to an end. We have always known this would happen at some stage. We have had her for fourteen months and she is about two years old now and has always been smaller than Honey.

We talked at length about what to do next and I cried for her. We decided that we would let nature take its course if we could. I would rather she went in the coop with her flock mates than at a vets. We decided we would only have her put to sleep if she was suffering. We didn’t feel she could take the stress of going to a vet and felt that she was too far gone for medication.

She still made it to the high perch last night and I went out at half past five this morning half expecting her to have passed away in the night.

She was still there and ran eagerly to the morning corn. She is eating, drinking and pooping. She is eager for treats and then spends time snoozing with her head under her wing.

Amber still runs to the morning corn

It’s been difficult to know what to for the best but from my research we think we think this is right for her. I read on a blog of something similar and the hen was treated and made a short recovery but died a month later. I know that whatever we tried to do would stress her and the problem would return with her next egg.

I have also read on the same blog that as long as a hen is eating, drinking and pooping then they can be left alone as they still have quality of life. When they stop doing these things it’s kindest to end their suffering.

Before Treacle died she had given up and spent her time standing behind a bush or by the water. She wouldn’t eat anything at all even her favourite treats. I knew it was her time.

Amber still runs to the treats eagerly, she is still eating pellets. She is snoozing and isn’t showing any sign of distress. She used to make a sad sound when trying to lay her eggs but isn’t making this sound.

We feel that as long as she seems happy we will let nature take its course but if she becomes distressed we will have her put to sleep. I really hope she goes in the coop with her flock mates. No one is bothering her and the girls especially Honey come to sit with her.

I suspect that when her next egg comes that may see her off. In the meantime I am going to give all the treats she loves so that her time is as happy as it can be.

I gave the girls mash this morning with finely chopped tomato which Amber tucked into. This afternoon the girls had yogurt.

Amber enjoying some yogurt

We will take it one day at a time and see how she goes on.