Carol's Chickens

Yesterday my husband visited the allotment. One of the other people at the allotment gave him some broccoli stalks that had gone to seed for our girls.

My husband had also bought some turf. They were on offer at five for twenty pounds. The plan is to replace the pallet pathways with turf as the wood gets very slippery when wet and also needs lifting to weed underneath. There was one turf over so the girls got that too.

It’s a bit of an overload with greens at the moment but I thought that as free range chickens on a farm have an entire field to graze it should be okay.

Salmon was first to investigate the broccoli

Speckles joins her

Another three girls join in

Speckles is first to try the turf

Ebony, Cinnamon and Jasmine join her

Vanilla tries the grass

This while Flame was in the shed and Vanilla was blocked out. Vanilla will go to the turf or the perches at the end of the run but as soon as I go through the gate she is straight back to the shed pop hole just in case she can get in.

I think it is going to take some time for Vanilla to come out of this.

Before I start today’s post I just want to give an update on Jasmine. Today she has been completely back to normal and she even has more colour in her comb. I now think that yesterday’s dozing in the morning was because the brooding and then collapsing twice had taken it out of her.

I have decided not to give her the antibiotic as I feel that there is no need and trying to put it in her beak is just more stress for her. It has a years date on it so I will keep it.

Jasmine looks so much better

Vanilla has now been broody for two weeks and Flame has been broody for one week. Over the last few days I have found that Flame has been on top of Vanilla and I have worried about Vanilla getting smothered. I have tried to separate them out a bit and Flame will then take Vanilla under her wing.

I realised that Flame was mothering Vanilla and this is perpetuating the broodiness for the pair of them. Flame thinks that she has a chick to brood and Vanilla is being kept warm.

This was proved further when I got them out this morning for a break. Flame called Vanilla to tit bits just like Speckles used to with her girls. Flame was definitely showing a bit of mothering. Vanilla then followed Flame out into the run and they had a dust bath together.

Flame and Vanilla dust bath together

I decided that this brooding situation would probably go on for a long time if I didn’t try to do something about it. I decided that when I got back home at lunch time I would get the two of them out and then when they returned to the shed I would take Vanilla out and block the pop hole to keep them apart.

After lunch I got Vanilla and Flame out of the shed and when they went back in I carried out my plan. I watched and took photos while sweeping the patio and underneath the nest boxes.

Vanilla can’t understand why she can’t back in the shed

Vanilla jumps on the “doorstop”

I suddenly had a light bulb moment. I wondered why I hadn’t just shut both of them out and try to break both of them at once so I got Flame out. This just proved the mother chick relationship and provided the most bizarre chicken behaviour that I have ever seen.

Vanilla kept going to Flame and outstretching her wings. She would also try to get Flame’s attention by tapping her beak on the back of Flame’s neck and Flame was remarkably tolerant with her.

Vanilla displays her wings

Flame and Vanilla are face to face

Vanilla has her wings outstretched

From another angle

The next minute Vanilla was pushing herself underneath Flame and I realised that all the outstretching of her wings was chick behaviour.

Vanilla forces herself underneath Flame

This is mother and chick behaviour

Vanilla appears to have regressed back to being a chick. At this point I decided to let Flame go back in the shed and block Vanilla out again. If I leave them to settle like this on the patio it will only prolong the behaviour.

While Flame was in the shed Vanilla approached Ebony and started the same behaviour with her. Ebony was having none of this nonsense and quickly walked away.

I later got Flame out for another break and Flame went to the food dish and broke up some pellets, dropped them on the floor and called Vanilla to them. Vanilla kept trying to get underneath Flame while Flame was trying to eat pellets and a couple of times Flame simply stepped over her.

I ended up opening the pop hole and letting Flame back in but blocking Vanilla as she tried to follow.

I have no idea how long this will take to break. I have never seen anything like this before. When Speckles was mothering her girls they just took advantage of her calling them to treats and protecting them but they didn’t regress into full on chick behaviour because Speckles wasn’t ever broody.

This is very odd behaviour and it will be interesting to see how long it will take to break them out of it. Normally a mother hen would stop this behaviour when the chicks are old enough to look after themselves but as Vanilla is already an adult girl who has been laying her own eggs it’s difficult to know what will happen next. I would be interested to know if anyone else has come across this behaviour.

Jasmine has given me a fright. Yesterday was her third day of being broody. First thing in the morning I lifted all three broody girls from the shed and gave out the morning sunflower hearts.

Flame and Vanilla ran out into the run and had some seeds then scratched manically as the broodies always do but Jasmine just stood on the patio looking miserable and didn’t join in at all. I was alerted that something wasn’t right.

Jasmine isn’t looking happy

I went inside and had breakfast then checked on her again and she was back in her corner of the chicken shed. I made some dishes of mash to see if she would eat. I got Vanilla and flame out of the shed then I lifted Jasmine out and stood her in front of the dish of mash.

Jasmine started pecking at the mash which I thought was a good sign but then she started rocking backwards and forwards and then slipped over on to her side. She wasn’t able to get up again so I put her in the cat box with a dish of mash. She then stood up and started eating some mash.

I had to leave to do my lunch deliveries so I put Jasmine back in her corner of the shed as I thought it would be less stressful than leaving her in the cat box and decided to make a vets appointment on my return.

Jasmine has collapsed

At lunch time I once again lifted Vanilla and Flame out of the chicken shed. I then got my husband to watch with me as I stood Jasmine in front of the dish of mash. The exact same thing happened. Jasmine pecked at the mash then she started slowly rocking forwards and backwards and slowly started to fall onto her side.

I have never seen this happen before. I rang the vets and got an appointment for an hours time. I put Jasmine in the cat box with a dish of mash and water.

The vet checked Jasmine over and she seemed absolutely fine. The vet said that her crop had food in it, her heart was normal and she took her temperature which was also normal. She checked if Jasmine’s feet would grip her finger which they did. We put her on the floor and her balance was fine and she could turn her head fine. She seemed absolutely fine and wasn’t even stressed.

The vet arranged for me to call the next morning at nine o’clock and talk to an expert on exotic birds and animals who she had tried to talk to before I arrived. The expert was busy but the vet booked a slot with her in the morning. She said to keep an eye on Jasmine and see how she goes.

Back at home I put Jasmine back in the run and she went off for a dust bath. She then had some water and then returned to the shed.

Jasmine has a dust bath when back from the vets

This morning I was pleased to see Jasmine out in the run. She has come out of her broodiness quickly the same as last time.

However as the morning progressed Jasmine was sitting perched on the ladder with her eyes closed. This is not a good sign. Next time I checked on her she was sitting in the run with her head under her wing. I haven’t seen the girls do this since they were chicks.

At nine o’clock I called the vets and they said that they couldn’t talk to the exotic bird specialist but that I would have to go to their vet surgery with Jasmine. It’s in Wokingham which is three quarters of an hour from us.

I explained that with Jasmine being wobbly on her feet and now sitting dozing that I was really scared it could be mycoplasma again and if I don’t treat her it could be passed on to the rest of the flock. The vet said that they can’t give me anything without me first taking Jasmine to the specialist.

The vet made me an appointment for three o’clock in the afternoon with the specialist.

Back from the specialist

I explained everything to the exotic animal specialist and told her how worried I was about the possibility of mycoplasma. She listened to Jasmine’s heart and said that she has a heart murmur. She said that when Jasmine had been sitting in the shed and had then gone to the mash dish, the bending of her head downwards, had caused her to rock and fall sideways.

The vet said that the fact that she then stood up again soon after was good. I told her about Sienna and that they had come in to the flock together and could well be siblings. She said this would make sense and that they had both most likely been hatched with a heart defect but that Sienna’s would have been worse than Jasmine’s.

She gave me some baytril (antibiotic) to give to Jasmine by beak, twice a day, for a week in case she has picked up an infection. She said to try to keep Jasmine as stress free as possible. She may continue for a while, maybe up to a year or she may be short lived.

I said that in future if she goes broody I will leave her so as not to stress her by lifting her out.

I am so relieved that it isn’t myco and the fact that both silky girls have had a heart problem makes sense. I know that I have to be prepared that Jasmine may suddenly go but better that than a drawn out illness. The vet said she looked bright which was good. We again put her on the floor and watched her while she wandered around and then pooped on the floor. The vet said that was fine as it gave her chance to see that that was normal.

I am just glad that after two stressful days Jasmine is still with is and isn’t contagious. We can only hope to have her for as long as possible.

Yesterday morning when I went out to the girls Smoke was out in the run. After just over a week she has come out of being broody. Vanilla who went broody the same day is still going strong.

Hurray! I thought, only one broody now but no it was not to be. That same day Jasmine went broody. We seem destined to have more than one broody at a time. Jasmine has laid twelve eggs in three weeks since her last broody break.

Today it is looking like Flame may be broody too. Flame laid her egg in the afternoon yesterday and has been in the corner of the chicken shed since this morning. She wouldn’t have been ready to lay as early as that.

I think Smoke has come out of it quicker because I close the nest boxes at the end of the day so she gets a couple of hours out in the run before bedtime. As Vanilla settles in the shed there is nothing I can do for her but lift her to the perch at bedtime. Vanilla also snaffles Flame’s eggs to sit on until I remove them.

Jasmine also settles in the shed but in the corner by the pop hole. Flame is settled with Vanilla. I have got used to Vanilla pecking me as it doesn’t hurt and she only pecks a couple of times. Jasmine is different and is full of anger and keeps on pecking me. Flame also pecks me and her pecks do hurt so she is difficult to move.

I am beginning to think that if there are going to be lots of broody girls at the same time I may have to just leave them to it, just making sure that they come out at least once a day.

An angry, broody, Jasmine

Broody Vanilla with a possibly broody Flame

Flame has laid fifty four eggs since starting this year at the end of February. She is a very good layer.

By the afternoon I decided to get all three girls out. I took the little girls out and then used gardening gloves to lift Flame out. She had laid and had been sitting on her egg.

Flame rushed around going from the mash I had put on the patio to the the top of the little shelter and back again at speed. Flame stood tall and shook herself and made a lot of noise. She rushed back to the mash again.

The next time I checked both Flame and Vanilla were settled back in their corner and Jasmine was settled back by the pop hole. Sigh!

Vanilla and Flame settled back in the corner again

In other news the hormones had kicked in with Speckles again and before she had got an egg laid she was back to drinking copious amounts of water again. There was a patch of wet, sloppy, poop under her roost spot again this morning.

It seems that this is definitely hormone related and I am not sure she will even lay an egg this time round as she has given up gong to the nest box. I am not bothered about having any eggs from her and she looks happy and fine in every other way so I am not worried about her.

There is never a dull moment in this chicken run!

I thought that yesterday might have been the day. Speckles has been very vocal to the point of being annoying. She stands at the bottom of the run shouting. It seems that it is for no reason but I think she is trying to announce to the world that she is getting ready to lay.

The hormones are raging and she has angrily had a go at Jasmine whenever she gets too close. She pulled a beak full of silky feathers from Jasmine’s back.

Speckles then settled herself in the nest box and set about piling pine shavings on her back. Peace at last!

Speckles in the nest box with pine shavings on her back

A bit later Speckles was back out in the run. I checked the nest box and …… nothing! No egg after all. More practice needed. Speckles always needs a bit of practice before laying her first egg after a break.

Sienna is another little girl that has only been with us for a year, too short a time. She was such a pretty girl, so like Rusty to look at, but with a more gentle nature towards the other girls. Here are some photos of her year with us.

Sienna and Blue – July 2018

Sienna and Jasmine – July 2018

Jasmine and Sienna – August 2018

Sienna – November 2018

Sienna and Jasmine – January 2019

Sienna and Jasmine February 2019

Sienna was so pretty. She had lovely round eyes compared to Jasmine’s slanted eyes and her colour reminded me so much of Rusty. She was a ball of fluff and had a gentle nature. The silky girls were such a close pair but recently Jasmine hadn’t been sticking quite so close to Sienna. I wonder if she knew there was something wrong.

Cinnamon now hangs out with the bigger girls and Jasmine hangs out with the amigos. I really hope we can have a healthier future with our girls now and that the flock can settle together with out any more drama.

I have been struggling with what to do for the best for Sienna. Over Easter I considered taking her to the vet but then she seemed to bounce back again. My youngest son and daughter in law visited over Easter and went in the run to see the girls.

I explained my dilemma and Sienna made what I had thought was her sneeze sound. My daughter in law said that it didn’t sound like a sneeze but more like a hiccup. I decided to leave Sienna until after Easter. We then noticed that the hiccup, squeak, sound she was making was becoming much more frequent. I started to think that it wasn’t a sneeze after all. The other girls make a sneeze sound which is similar to us sneezing but Sienna was making a squeak sound.

I thought that maybe I should take her to the vet for her to listen to because if it was a sneeze I would have to think about the myco and the other girls but if it wasn’t a sneeze maybe I could just leave her be and maybe it was an egg problem as she wasn’t laying.

I got an appointment today and put Sienna in the cat box and drove the five minutes to the vet. In that short time Sienna went rapidly down hill. Sienna was struggling to breath and making a wheezing sound. The vet said that the stress of putting her in a cat box shouldn’t have caused this much of a reaction. The vet listened to her and said that she was in heart failure.

The vet said that she must have hatched with a heart defect and she was lucky to have had a happy year with us. She said this was why she wasn’t laying and that the squeak was also being caused by this. The vet said she had rapidly become stressed because her heart couldn’t cope with something as simple as being put in the cat box.

The vet said she had a crackle in her breathing and her heart was beating so hard that it could be felt by putting my hand under abdomen. Her heart felt as if it was beating out of her body. The vet said that if I hadn’t bought her in today it would have happened some time soon and there was nothing that I could have done for her.

We agreed that the kindest thing was to put her to sleep right away. I held Sienna while the vet tried to find a vain in her wing but because she was shutting down there were no veins to inject. The vet gave her the injection in her breast and Sienna didn’t even wince or show any sign that she noticed. Sienna went really quickly which the vet said was a sign of how weak her heart was.

We have been so unlucky lately but on the other hand I felt relieved that it was heart failure. It wasn’t the dreaded myco, wasn’t contagious and there wasn’t anything I could have done for her. The vet said that Sienna had been lucky to have had a year with me.

Sienna yesterday

I had a feeling this day was coming soon so I tried to get a good photo of Sienna yesterday. This was the best one.

We have lost two girls in the space of two weeks. I really hope that things will settle down now.

Ebony likes to lay her eggs in the corner of the chicken shed. The back, left, corner is her corner. Vanilla has taken up residence there since she has been broody. This has not pleased Ebony.

Two days ago she decided to settle in the large shelter instead. She spent a while placing pine shavings on her back and then went on to lay her egg there.

Ebony in the shelter placing pine shavings on her back

Back, left, corner again, interesting!

Ebony went on to lay her egg there

Today Ebony settled in the shelter again and went on to lay her egg there for the second time in a row. I don’t mind where she lays as long as she is happy and not shouting like when she first came to us.

Two days later Ebony lays her egg here again

For the last week there haven’t been sloppy poops under Speckles roost spot or in the run.

Speckles has become very vocal over the last few days and yesterday when I went to stroke her she dropped into a squat. I think she is getting ready to lay again.

Speckles comb is looking great

Today Speckles inspected the nest box.

Speckles inspects the nest box

It has been nearly two months since Speckles laid her first egg this year. She then started drinking loads and doing sloppy poops. I looked back at last year because she laid eight eggs then started the drinking and sloppy poops. She then took a break of nearly two months and then laid another four eggs. There seems to be a pattern forming.

While I was at the vets with Dandelion I explained what was going on with Speckles and asked if she had come across this before. She hadn’t but she agreed with my theory that it is probably something hormonal because Speckles is fine over winter when she isn’t laying. As soon as she starts laying she starts drinking lots of water which causes sloppy poops and a break in laying.

After a break from laying she gets back to normal but getting back to normal means she starts laying again. I am not expecting her to lay many eggs if she does start laying again. The vet said she would ask around and call me if she found anyone who could shed any light on this. She hasn’t called me so I assume she hasn’t been able to find any information on this. I have researched this and haven’t been able to find anything so I am not surprised.

I said to the vet that if Speckles started to look poorly then I would bring her in to be put to sleep because she is an elderly girl but that while she looks happy and healthy in every other way I will leave her be and she agreed that that was the right thing to do.

There is never a dull moment with this flock.

I love the way the tulips open up in the sun.

The big tulips opened in the sun before Easter

The next batch of tulips opened in the sun over Easter

We had a lovely sunny Easter and the garden is blooming.

For a while now I have known that there is something wrong with Sienna. Three weeks ago she laid a tiny, grape sized, egg under her roost spot. I knew it had to be hers because all the other girls had been laying for some time and she was the only one yet to start.

Since then she hasn’t laid again and I have never seen her in a nest box at any time. After this I noticed that she would spend time sitting with her eyes closed and her chest going up and down with her breathing but at other times she looked normal again.

About the time that I had to make the decision about Dandelion I noticed that Sienna was sitting with her eyes closed more often. She is also the only girl that still sneezes and yet I don’t think it’s myco because they had all had tylan in the water at this stage and it didn’t make any difference to Sienna.

Sienna doesn’t look good

I have been struggling with what to do next because I am now in the awful position that if I leave a poorly girl too long I could endanger the flock as I can no longer medicate but I don’t want to have a girl put to sleep to early when she may recover.

Then the last four days Sienna has been doing green poops. They look just like pea soup or mushy peas. I know that this is not good. It’s a sign that something internal isn’t right. Sienna is just coming up to a year old and isn’t laying beyond the first, grape sized, egg which in itself is a sign that all is not well. That along with moments of sitting like the above photo and doing green poops all points to something being wrong with her.

I have nearly taken her to the vets a few times recently but then the next minute she looks normal again and she is eating normally. I really don’t know what to do. If I take her to the vets it is unlikely that they will be able to tell what is wrong with her and if she perks up at that moment it will look like there is nothing wrong with her anyway.

I am thinking of asking if the vet could ring me for a chat and advice. This is a real dilemma!