karen's chicken diary

[KarenE]

Casper and Remie are never out of a dustbath and I wonder whether that's helped them to keep the lice down/off them? Everyone seems fine, still no live ones on Tiggly so hopefully job done there. I've ordered some harpermectin so that will go on when it arrives just in case of any hatching eggs

Advice of the week - always have a spare frontline capsule around as you never know when you'll need it!

Tiggly Wiggly very cuddly lately, probably because she is sprouting new feathers all over. She is following me round the place mewling and crying just like Nugget did, and is hopping onto my knee and going to sleep. Poor little mite. (wrong choice of word there!) Her face and comb are still pale and I'm hoping that's the moult and the after effects of the l**e. Nothing wrong with her appetite! No more rattling and sneezing - god knows what that was.

Deep clean of the coop today, will replace all materials and bedding and give the place a double dose of poultry shield AND smite, and poultry shield all their food and water containers too. I'm fed up of reoccurring respiratory germs.

Remie used fabulous top hen intimidation tactics on Jasper yesterday - she got right in his face and stared him out just so she didn't have to walk round him! Madam! The poor little fellow ran away and she just walked right through where he'd been, hopped onto the garden bench and went to sleep. Poor jasper is so chicken-whipped!

[HenPen]

Wow, Rem is taking her top hen role very seriously!
Poor old sore Tigger. My coop and run are full of feathers at the moment.
How are Casper's feet? And have they settled into a bedtime routine which involves a little less hide and seek?

[sandy]

My goodness how is poor little Tigger's chest and Casper's feet doing? Rembrandt is becoming one very bold young madam isn't she, facing off Jasper

[KarenE]

Bedtime routine completely back to normal, I have no idea what that was all about. I wonder whether it was to do with the lice and moult ie she was too uncomfortable to be in other with the other 2? Tiggly likes to sleep in everyone's favourite nest box so perhaps the squish was too much. I've noticed casper and remie are sleeping together in one of the bigger ones. Nobody uses the nice perches their daddy built for them

Tiggly is sprouting new feathers all over, I musty see if i can take some pics later.

Casper's coming to the end of her ab course over the next few days. Both feet are looking better but one is still quite swollen and I was doubtful that the abs would clear it completely as everything I read about bumblefoot says they don't reabsorb easily from their feet which is why the hard plug needs to be cut out. The vet also advised daily iodine baths which we did at first but to be honest haven't bothered with (naughty us) as I just couldn't see the difference they'd make (plus she was getting so stressed, it was hard getting the pills into her). We might regret that when we take her back in for a check up next week - he said they were more important than the abs??

She is such a good girl though - she hangs back in the morning so she gets her food (pills crushed up) and has even started coming down to the house all by herself for her afternoon treat (same again).

They have all - apart from Tiggly - started putting on weight though so once casper's pills are done (assuming we don't have to go for a 3rd course) it'll be diet time I think. That will go down well!

I have a few little vids (brilliant one of Tiggly examining the camera) so I'll see if I can get them up later today as I am on holiday now! Yippee! gardening day with the girls today I think

[KarenE]

Back to the vets today for Mrs Casp with mixed news

Feet are definitely better, one has gone down a lot, the other not so much but still down. The infection inside has softened up - last time they were both really hard - which is a good sign as it means it's starting to distribute more and her immune system is fighting it off. So we're back on the pills for another 2 weeks - which pleases casp no end as she has been missing her special treats - and with metacam as well to help with the swelling and tenderness. I asked about an op and the vet didn't seem to think it was a good option, as it is prone to reoccur. Seemed to think an op would be more trouble than it was worth, and he got a 2nd opinion on it.

Casper didn't enjoy the trip at all and got quite stressed this time. I'm tempted to give the iodine baths another go but catching her is very difficult as she's quite wary (not surprising) although she was quite happy to come into the kitchen and wait for her sardines.

Still haven't managed to load up the videos (I have trouble with them on this phone) but got a few pics of the girls to load up from this weekend's gardening:

Remie perching:


Casper helping with important garden clearance duties:


Casper and remie find some very odd flowers:


Remie and Tiggly also on important garden clearance duties:


Casper:


Tigger showing off her new feathers:


Tigger with 'tude:


Not surprising she has 'tude - look at those quills poking through!

Bit of an adventure today! Someone (????) left the back gate open and the girls got into our laneway. I only knew because our doorbell's batteries are going and keeps it ringing by itself. When i got up to answer it there's no-one there and I don't know what made me look up the laneway but when I did, Tiggly saw me and came galloping down to say hello. Remie and Casper were far too busy exploring this new place and digging it up. Tiggly was easily lured back in to the back garden with bread but remie and casper weren't interested (can you believe it??) so in the end I had to grab them both and bring them in. Not easy with Casper as you can imagine, after her trip to the vets today (it was really shepherding her in, as I didn't want to scare her and have her fly off)

Our laneway's used a lot as a shortcut through our village - thank goodness nobody was walking their dogs down it!

[sandy]

I find it very strange your vet isn't in favour of an op when it seems to have sorted the Wiggly girl out? I have to say Casper and Tigger make fantastic models. Casper has that lovely floppy comb, Olive will be mega jealous of their model looks and poses. I love Tigger's regrowing feathers she looks like the love child of a hedgehog and a hen Naughty naughty mummy letting your girls lead you 'down the lane'. Gwen is itching to tell her pals some news but I expect tonight she they will all be watching Downton on their new phone

[KarenE]

My girls won't be watching Downton, they are far too 'keep the red flag flying' types for that! Besides - their ipad's an old one and can't stream very well Thank goodness because I wouldn't want Milady Remie getting any more ideas above her station!

Both vets really felt an op wasn't worth doing. Odd isn't it? They both said it was a chronic condition and likely to reoccur even with an op. Casp has been on pills now for about 6 weeks. She seems perfectly fine to be honest, running and digging and doing all normal things so it can't be giving her too much pain.

We've had another full on weekend in the garden and the girls have helped enormously by eating my tomato plants (and the beggars are sneaking into the greenhouse and nicking all the ripe ones!), and having a go at my green bean plants even though they aren't supposed to like the leaves... we had a good prune of a few bushes yesterday so they had fun exploring all the fallen bits and kicking all the piles I'd swept up. Of course they completely ignore all the fallen apples.

I have noticed over the last week or so that they LOVE rose petals. Should have noticed really that we had very few on the ground, and we have loads of climbing roses. I wonder if their eggs taste of roses?

Today I was clearing out and tidying my little garden shed (casper did NOT like it when i got the carrier boxes out - obviously reminded her of the vets) when I dropped the blooming corn tub again. Luckily I managed to sweep most of it up and put it back in before they noticed (except Tigger who follows me everywhere and near broke her neck to get round me). They had the leftover sweepings on one of my veg patches, which they scoffed and then remie decided to dustbathe right on top of it. I shall probably have all sorts of corn and wheat germinating there next spring!

[sandy]

Karen do not beat yourself over The Ronnie Ron, it was only because I noticed the yellow poo was just like Janet's I cottoned on to Martha-Joan's condition. MJ was given clavaseptin 62.5mg one tablet twice daily. As I was going away she had 2 one night and I think 3 one day and 2 within an hour! Thank goodness it did the trick.
So girlies like rose petals do they? It would be nice to have 'rosie eggs'

[sandy]

Good luck at the vets Casper

[KarenE]

Just got back from the vets with Mrs Casp, who was a good girl as ever and spent ages rattling round in the box making a cosy nest for herself. It's so funny to see the box wobbling around!

So we're back on the abs again, a different type this time but same dosage so i assume same ingredients with a different brand name. metacam again to help with the inflammation, and this time I've got hibiscrub which i have to bathe her foot with.

She's had a pill and metacam already as when we got home, I let her out in the kitchen and cooked up a nice egg for her which she loved and has clearly missed getting her special treats!

Here's a few photos of the girls over the last few weekends:

Tiggly wiggly before (ie when we first got her):


And after! All she needs now is a tail:


Yin & Yang:


Top en an all:


This is what a good girl looks like:


Tiggly proudly showing me their new favourite nest and clutch:

[HenPen]

Lovely photos.

I shouldn't admit to looking but Casper's post got a big "AWWWW!" from me. Such a sweetie . I think I would be tempted to stage a kidnap of my own if I lived close by!

[sandy]

My goodness how quickly Tigger feathered up They all look soooo contented and they are right little posers bless them. I had to give Alice and AJ metacam at various times , good old cat meds. Casper looks like my Mo but with a much dandier comb

[KarenE]

Oh it whiffs doesn't it Sandy? The metacam I mean. Still, she doesn't seem to midn as it's on sardines or eggs. Casp is enjoying getting her special treats again, and Remie and Tigger have gone into disgusted shock at the injustice of it all

[KarenE]

Well, Casper has been given a clean bill of health by the vet today!!!

Bumbles as good as they are going to get, the vet picked the scabs off and they are all healed up underneath. One foot still has swelling in it but the vet says that's the way the foot will be now, as it's a chronic condition and as long as the infection isn't active there's no point in continuing to treat. I have to keep an eye on her in case it reoccurs (which is a danger, with it being a chronic condition i guess she's predisposed for it - more likely it's a weak spot which infections can exploit) so if it starts swelling again, gets hot and pink and she starts limping then off we'll go again.

Casper is already missing her special treats - we ran out of meds on thurs and she's been first down to the house and trying to get in before the others so she can have her lovely dinner. She is such a sweetheart.

Obviously the looooong course of meds has helped, possibly the metacam too and maybe even the hibiscrub footbaths which she has been intermittently getting. We will wait and see about recurrence. Apparently I am to be careful over winter to keep her out of any muddy wet conditions as that can aggravate things - this should be fun!

Everyone is doing just fine, all seem very happy. Tiggly has grown enormously in confidence and has even started knocking Remie off my knee (the little tinker wants to sit on whatever leg Remie is, even if there's a nice other empty one there). The pair of them never shut up though, always chattering and muttering and moaning.

Three lap sitters though! Casp has taken to sitting next to me on the garden bench while R&T hog my knees. This week she tried to fly onto my knee, missed (slipped off, possibly her feet aren't great at gripping with her bumbly feet) and then hopped up onto the bench. When Tiggy got down she hopped up for the first time and settled right down! It was lovely. I'm hoping she'll do it again if I ever get the chance to sit out there with them again.

Shenanigans in the house though - we have mice! Only because Jasper brings them in and then loses them! He's given up trying to find them and now we suspect we may have a nest as suddenly there's been squeaking and rustling in our wardrobe and in the kitchen. Did anyone know that mice LOVE white chocolate coins? I had some stashed away for Christmas- well, used to... But they do make perfect bait in a mousetrap - I bought a humane one yesterday and already we've caught 2. And 2 mice doesn't equal just 2 mice does it? So it's baited with more chocolate coin and I'm dashing upstairs at the slightest noise. Bloomin Jasper.

I hope the weather bucks up a bit -I want to go sloe picking (if there are any left!) and spend a bit of time with the girls in the garden. I haven't seen them too much lately and I want to see if Mrs Casp will sit on my knee again. Remie and Tiggly will at the drop of a hat! It's lovely

[Bridgets Mum]

Hi Karen
I've really enjoyed reading about your exploits. You're such a good chicken owner with all the trouble you take with their vet trips and meds. Mind you, they obviously repay you in spades with the amount of help they give you in the garden.
Love the possibility of rose flavoured eggs too.
Condolences about the mouse population. We used to have a cat that released his remarkably unhurt mice into our bedroom and every now and again they either bred or invited their friends and family round. I wasn't sorry when he gave up hunting and became a sofa cat!