karen's chicken diary

[HenPen]

Ooh how lovely, that sounds like a nice visit from three gossipy little ladies!

Glad Tigger is on the mend. She sounds so fantastic - in fact you have got a lovely, adventurous trio there. I do hope Casper gets better soon, bumblefoot is such a worry

[sandy]

Such good news about the bouncing girl Fingers crossed for Casper's results

[KarenE]

Went to lock the girls up tonight and only 2 girls snuggled up in bed. Tiggly Wiggly nowhere to be seen. so I started a hunt around the garden and for some reason decided to check around the side of the patio. I was calling her, and I got a little chuckly chirrup in return and there she was - somehow had managed to get herself on top of the wall, tucked underneath the ivy and honeysuckle, all snuggled up for the night. Honestly. God knows why, she gets on really well with the others but has decided to have a camp out tonight.

The ladder came out and hubby brought her down, and in she went to the run. Little beggar. I'll have to keep an eye on her - the 3 of them led hubby a merry dance on sat night (I was away) with all of them deciding they were going to sleep in various places around the garden. Luckily he found them all although was hunting round in the dark (which made Remie easy to find - NOT!) Luckily she'd hunkered down in the belfast sink on the patio just outside the kitchen window.

HP I am quite worried about Casper's feet. I'm going to have to give the vets a ring tomorrow, I really don't like her being left untreated for this long and her feet are definitely swelling up even more. I can't help feeling she needs an op to drain them but there's been no mention of that at the vets

[HenPen]

I think I would be feeling that way too. As you know, I had Wiggy who needed the op and Ginger who got better with just antibiotics. (In case it's helpful: They were called Clavaseptin and one vet said egg withdrawal was 14 days, the other said 60.)
Wiggy's was in the centre of the pad, probably about 5mm and roughly circular. She was limping and lying down a lot and the last straw was that she wouldn't perch and I found her sleeping in the nest box.

It seemed that the pain when the vet pressed it was the deciding factor re the operation. Ginger was not limping. Hers was on the side of her toe (so no weight on it, which was probably why it didn't progress as quickly), less than half the size of Wiggy's and she didn't notice when it was pressed by the vet.

You probably know all this but if it gets bad it forms a horrible, hard core and that just won't go away without being cut out, all the diseased tissue removed, stitches and a very fetching bandage with chickens on!

As staph will spread if your other girls get the slightest graze, I was advised to do regular deep cleaning of the perches with Poultry Shield.

I wasn't told about iodine but I was advised to try salt water foot baths by one vet. The other said foot baths would likely soften the pads and make them more prone to infection - as you can tell, I got a lot of fairly conflicting advice (I went with perch cleaning, foot baths every other day for all of them - except Wigs who was bandaged - and 60 days egg withdrawal).

Anyway hope some of this is helpful. Haven't had an egg from Wiggles since the bumblefoot and I think Ginger has been a bit rubbish on the egg laying front too, don't know if it's connected.

Love your girls' late night shenanigans!

[sandy]

Tigger is really living upto her name isn't she
How did you get on with the vets with regard to Casper?

[KarenE]

Tigger really is. Again tonight no sign of her in the coop, she'd settled back down on the patio wall, but tucked into the ivy even more deeply. I have no idea what's going on with her

The vet finally phoned with Casper's test results today (about bloomin time!) She has 3 different types of bacteria in her feet one of which is trace and not a problem, the other 2 can be treated with the abs which she was on - but she needs a 2 week course as the other one wasn't long enough!

I'll pick them up tomorrow as I want to get her back on them asap. She is still running around happily and doesn't seem to be limping strongly or staying off her feet, even though they look badly swollen to me so maybe the course of abs she had at least have stopped them getting much worse.

Looks like HP and I can compare bumblefoot tales in real time

[KarenE]

The girls have turned into an elite home invasion brigade - they are never out of our bloomin kitchen lately! The slightest ajar of the door and in they all tumble. Remie even flew up onto the counter top yesterday to snaffle a grape, little madam!

Casper really is an intelligent little thing. She knows fine well she gets treats in the kitchen so now stays behind when I throw grapes into the garden to get Remie and Tiggly Wiggly out. She followed me around as I was preparing her morning brunch (scrambled eggs with a side helping of antibiotics) and was ever such a patient girl! Messy too as she got egg all over the place. Not as bad as tiggly the other day though who flew up onto the counter just as I was getting the sardines in tomato sauce out for casper's meds - went all down the cupboards and everywhere

Tiggly has been miserable and out of sorts all week and has now started scattering feathers everywhere so looks like she's moulting. I wonder if this has anything to do with her now wanting to sleep on top of the patio wall? And she's very clingy, just like Nugget used to be, although she isn't quite snuggling up on my knee yet but I think that's only cos she's not sure Remie will let her.

Tiggly Wiggly, from when she had her big adventure and explored the living room. She did get up on the sofa next to me but not a good pic of that!



Jasper looks a bit perturbed at the home invasion!



And so he should, seeing what they have in mind for his food bowl!

[sandy]

AW love it when they home invade, Jasper just looks absolutely exasperated love him Tigger is def a bouncy girl isnt she, so glad Casper has had a good diagnos

[KarenE]

Well I hope casper's diagnosis is good but we'll have to wait and see. I'll be amazed if her feet go down - although to be honest she's bouncing around on them and doesn't seem to be in pain

Tiggly is definitely moulting, there's a cascade of brown feathers all over the place now and she seems to have perked up a bit, although still follows me around with her rusty gate voice (so full of decorum!). It's quite sad to see the feathers she's losing - most of them are half nibbled, stripped or broken (those awful awful cages) so she should feather up beautifully. Plus she's still bare on her throat and breast so hopefully she'll get some there too.

No eggs from her of course - she has far more important things to do! Casper still laying (she wobbled off to bed early tonight and judging by her gait, I'm expecting a softie or a double yolker tomorrow as no egg today) but they are being fed back due to the abs. Remie a very good girl indeed and is still giving us an egg a day, not much puts Rems off her stride!

Have I mentioned recently? I love my girls!

[KarenE]

SIGH SIGH SIGH!!!

The litany of horrors continues. I found lice on one of Tiggly Wiggly's moulted feathers, so it's a fair bet they all have them

And in addition she's wheezing and sneezing again so tylan back in the water.

Everywhere's been DEd including nestboxes and dustbathing holes, plus Tiggly herself who was too shocked to run away (unlike casper and remie) when I puffed DE at her. Definitely going to have to clean and disinfect from top to bottom at the weekend including burning all the nesting material.

Luckily I had a frontline pipette left from ages ago for jasper (stopped using it on him as it was completely useless) and we've just ninjad out to the coop and rustled some onto sleeping (ish) girls so hopefully that will help to get rid of them. I'm going to order some invermectin just to be on the safe side.

It has been a heck of a year so far.

I wonder if they are a new infestation or whether they came with her? I have an awful feeling the latter. Poor her and Juno (who probably had them too). Definitely will have to treat new girls in future, I've been very lax as all my previous girls have been clean.

[HenPen]

Oh dear, it certainly has been a heck of a year at Karen's Coop. But it sounds like you are all over it, and those horrible mites don't stand a chance. Urgh

[HenPen]

I meant to ask - you've said Casper's feet are swollen but do they have the classic bumblefoot black scab?

[KarenE]

Hi HP

I meant to ask - you've said Casper's feet are swollen but do they have the classic bumblefoot black scab?

Yes they do, on both feet right in the centre which is one of the reasons why I'm sceptical that an ab-only approach will work

Loads of dead lice on Tiggly today so fingers crossed that the dusting and ninja frontlining worked yesterday. I'm torn whether to get more frontline or to get some invermectin/harpermectin. I assume they'll need more treatment soon to stop the eggs from hatching. is all i have to say on the subject! Went to bed and woke up this morning with visions of wrigglies all over the place

No sign of any on Casper or Remie but they must have them. Casper was dead to the world last night but Remie was awake, squirming and whinging when I tried to frontline her - hope I got some on!

deep clean due at the weekend I think

[HenPen]

Oh poor Casper. But she isn't in pain with it so the ABs must be helping.

Big sympathetic for you on the creepy crawly front, Ninja Karen the Mite Exterminator!

[KarenE]

Honestly HP I am still seeing creepies whenever I close my eyes!

I think frontline and liberal dusting (of Tiggly anyway) seems to have done the trick. Lots of dead lice still on tiggly's feathers today which is better than live ones! She's getting fed up of me examining her feathers (and as she's growing lots of new ones everywhere I'm not surprised she doesn't want me poking and prodding her).

Chicken dried lice - cue very bad taste joke about chinese meals...

Still no sign of any on casper or remie, as if Remie would ALLOW anything like that to touch her! So fingers crossed they're cleared/clearing as well as i can't see how they wouldn't have got them.

Casper is such a clever girl. She trots into the house now or hangs back in the morning because she knows she'll get special food, and is quite happy for the others to chase grapes out of the house with a look of 'fools' on her face. Such a clever good girl, and eating her meds absolutely fine.

Tiggly absolutely no rattling in her chest today. I think she may've caught a cold from being in the rain all day on Monday. Anyway, I'll keep the tylan in thew ater (again!) just in case. Possibly the l***e ( ) have lowered her immune system as well as the moult