Carol's Chickens

I rang the vets at four thirty to see if Rusty was ready for collection as they hadn’t contacted me. I was told she was ready for collection so I went to get her.

When I arrived the vet had left. I asked what after care I would need to do and the nurse didn’t know. She said to keep an eye on her and she would ask the vet to call me tomorrow to let me know. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more information for me.

When I got Rusty home she looked a bit better.

She was looking like her usual self

A bit blurred but this was how Rusty’s vent looked when I first got her home

She did an enormous poop which was like a broody poop. There was no poop in the cat box so she must have been holding it all afternoon.

She had a scratch in the soil and then a preen and some pellets so everything seemed normal. Then she went to the nest box. I thought that if she wanted to sit as if broody that would be fine but she was pulsing like she was pushing again. I worried that if she thinks she needs to lay she will push out the prolapse again. I decided to lift her from the nest box and close them.

She was settled back in the nest box

I lifted her out and inspected her and this is how she looked.

This was how she was before bedtime

I was dismayed to find that she has pushed out the prolapse again and is also mucky once more.

I am worried now that she will keep pushing it out. I don’t know what to do next. I think that tomorrow I will try bathing her which I have read helps as well as cleaning her. I read that honey can be used and David said Terry “The Hen Cam” used it but I don’t know what type of honey or what I am supposed do with it. I have looked at Terry’s archives and can’t find it so in desperation I have e-mailed her and asked for her advice.

I will update again tomorrow. I am so worried but I am not ready to give up on her and will do whatever I can to try to fix this.

Yesterday Rusty wanted to spend the day in the nest box. I assumed she was broody again. She had a three week break after her last broody spell and had now been laying for three weeks so it was her normal pattern. She was raising her tail as she does when broody. I lifted her out of the nest box each time I went in which is what I usually do and after three days of this she comes out of it.

There was an egg in the afternoon which I thought could be her egg. Rusty and Freckles both lay round eggs so it would have belonged to one or other of them but Rusty often gets one last egg laid during her first day of being broody so this was typical for her.

At bedtime she was in the nest box once more so I closed the nest box to get her to roost in her usual position. In the morning she was back in the nest box. I lifted her out and saw that she had a really mucky bottom.

I bathed her bottom in warm water with a little washing up liquid and cleaned her as best I could and dried her with a soft cloth. It was then that I could see that something was horribly wrong. She had a red, protruding, swelling. I suspected a prolapse and googled it. Sure enough this is a prolapse and I read that early treatment would give the best chance of recovery. It would need to be pushed back in. I rang the vet straight away.

I am putting these photos here in case they help anyone else to diagnose this. Be warned it is not pretty.

Poor Rusty

She has a prolapse

My local vet was fully booked but she told me to go to their sister practice twenty minutes away and the vet there would see me as soon as possible. I have to say that I am lucky to have a vet with a sister practice which means being seen quickly and also a vet that is experienced with chickens.

I put Rusty in the cat box and took her in. The vet said she would give a local anesthetic and then push the prolapse back in and put in a stitch to hold it in place. She called me back in and said that she couldn’t put in a stitch because Rusty was still having the urge to push. She had given her some anti inflammatory cream and wanted to keep her in for the day so that she could push the prolapse back in each time Rusty pushed it out again.

I left Rusty there but went back with a water dish and a dish of mash, seeds and chopped grape. I didn’t want her to go all day without anything and thought a bit of sugar might help her. I returned home to wait for the vet to call me when she needed collecting. It was lucky that by chance I had no deliveries.

When I got back home I researched again and will share my findings here in case it helps anyone else.

Symptoms are a mucky bottom, a large, fleshy, swelling, protruding from the vent, blood and frequently visiting the nest box. I now wonder if she wasn’t going broody after all.

It is essentially a chicken’s insides coming out.

Early  treatment is key to recovery and preventing it from reocurring. The bottom must be washed, at least I got that right. Wearing gloves lubricated with a water based lubricant the protruding tissue must be gently pushed back into the vent.

The swollen tissue must be treated to help shrink it down so that it stays in place. Antibiotics should be given if there is abrasion to the tissue to prevent infection.

Common causes are laying too young, under weight and under nourished, older and obese or holding droppings for a long period of time. None of these apply to Rusty so I can’t understand why this has happened.

It did say that some believe it can just be in their genes.

They will need monitoring vigilantly for their lifetime.

I really hope Rusty is going to be okay. I am keeping everything crossed. She has always seemed the most robust of my seramas so I am at a loss as to why this has happened. I couldn’t bear to lose her. I will report back later.

I was surprised to find Cinnamon on top of the shelter with Speckles. I hadn’t seen her up there before. I have seen her on top of the other shelter quite often but not on top of this one. It is a good comparison to their difference in their size.

Little and large together

They do the beak to beak stare

Speckles does this to all the little girls and the little girls also do it to each other. My husband says they are passing telepathic rays to each other.

A few minutes later Speckles jumped down from the shelter and I wondered if Cinnamon could get down.

Suddenly she floated down to the ground and went on her way, answering my question. They are funny little girls.

Yesterday when I checked on the girls Rusty and Freckles were in the nest box together. Freckles was almost sitting on top of Rusty and kept trying to flutter her head underneath her.

When I went back a little later they were both out in the run. I checked the nest box and there were their two round eggs side by side.

Freckles is almost on top of Rusty in the nest box

At least this pair of girls are happy to share a nest box but I am sure they don’t need to be quite as close as that. They are rather sweet together though.

When I was shopping yesterday I saw some growing pots of greens reduced to sixty pence. I thought they would make a perfect treat for the girls.

I put the pot on the patio this morning and waited to see what would happen. The two bigger girls pecked at it straight away but the little girls were wary at first. Could this be a dangerous pot? Rusty craned her neck towards it but at first would only take any greens that were dropped onto the patio.

Gradually the little girls plucked up courage and pecked at the greens and decided they liked them.

Emerald is first to try the greens

Apricot and Rusty cautiously investigate

They all pluck up the courage to investigate

Rusty and Apricot realise it is quite safe

Apricot has the greens to herself

Just the stalks are left

A couple of hours later there were just stalks left. I think the girls enjoyed their treat.

My mum sent me two plants via my sister who visited Mum and then me. They are gazinia, one is white flame and the other is yellow flame. I had admired them in some garden photos Mum sent me and had never come across them before.

Mum said that they love the sun and the flowers open when it’s sunny but they do need to be taken indoors in the winter.

Since I have had them we have had hardly any sun and the buds were slow to open. After raining all day for the last couple of days the sun came out today and so did the gazinia flowers.

Gazinia

They are very pretty and I will do my best to keep them. Thank you Mum.

Yesterday I could tell Cinnamon wanted to lay her egg. She hangs around the patio and is more vocal when she wants to lay.

Soon she was settled in her spot on the perch in the chicken shed. I heaped the pine shavings beneath her.

Cinnamon on the perch in the chicken shed

I went back a little later and was surprised to see this.

Cinnamon in the shavings

She seems to have had a “light bulb” moment and decided that this is actually a good spot to lay her egg.

I checked back a little later and her egg was in the nest she had made in the corner. Well done Cinnamon! I wonder if she will now continue to lay in a sensible place. Time will tell.

Yesterday was another wet day. Although the run is covered there are parts where it gets wet. The rain comes in at the edges through the sides and the bottom of the run. The rain also drips in parts and it always gets wet where the metal table is.

All the girls were dry though, apart from Apricot. Apricot was really wet and had really muddy feet. She likes to spend time in the wet parts of the run.

Apricot is wet and has muddy feet

She hangs out on the wet edges of the run

It is always Apricot that is the only one to get wet. The other girls quickly move across any wet parts of the run but Apricot spends time scratching and pecking in the wet parts.

I worry about her getting wet because seramas originate from a hot country (Malaysia) and I have read that they can be susceptible to colds and need some protection from the elements. We have managed to keep ninety percent of our run dry and have put in two shelters but there isn’t much we can do if Apricot stands in the wet parts. She must be standing underneath the drips.

I considered bringing her in and drying her with a hair dryer but I thought that it would be a waste of time if I put her back in the run and she stands under the drips again. I decided as it’s not cold I would leave her.

Luckily by bedtime she was dry. I think I will probably be worrying about her in the winter. Some of these little girls just have no sense at all.

We are having a constant mix of sunshine and showers at the moment. It is more like April than August. It does mean that there is no need to water the garden though and the veg plot and the garden are lush. The tomatoes could do with more sun to ripen them, they are looking better than in previous year but are just not changing colour.

The garden is really full

The veg plot is amazing

The veg plot from the other direction

Lots of tomatoes

The potatoes are good and we have had a constant supply of courgettes. They have been much better than usual. The tomatoes also look better than usual but just need to ripen.

The runner beans are late this year and we have only had a few so far but the dwarf green beans have been good. The broad beans were our most unproductive yet but I put that down to the dry start to the year.

The rain is making up for it now and after wanting it to rain for the garden in June I now want it to stop! We had a hot and dry May and June and a cool and wet July and August so far. I know the grass is always greener on the other side but I want summer back and so do our tomatoes!

I love seeing the harmony of the little girls and the two bigger girls sharing food together, be it pellets or treats.

Speckles and Cinnamon eat pellets together

Emerald and Rusty share a piece of apple

Although Rusty’s head is slightly blurred because of the movement I loved this photo for the expression and body language of Cinnamon besides Speckles and it once again shows her tiny size.

Sharing a bit of apple

Now Freckles eats pellets with Speckles

I love being able to put treats out with no hassle between the girls. They look like a happy family which is so lovely to see.