karen's chicken diary

[KarenE]

The girls all are doing fine, Nugget is back to her old self again. Egg production seems to be non existent, the little tinkers and by the looks of Toffee's egg yesterday she's slowing down for winter. Can't begrudge them a rest though can we?

Worming is going well. I tried your bread and oil suggestion Lynn, which wasn't entirely successful as they went into a frenzy at the sight of the tiny scraps of bread - Toffee ended up nicking all 3 bits so she's super wormed now. So for the rest of the week they have had it on sweetcorn or even noodles which seems to have gone down a treat. It's probably the worst way to worm them, but their mucky bums have cleared up (haven't seen any evidence of worms though)

Today they weren't happy though, they've been blown around the garden like fluff balls and then we had a rainstorm. We couldn't even play in the greenhouse as it had been blown off it's base and was rattling all over the place. Hope the weather improves tomorrow.

[sandy]

I love the fact Toffee is super wormed So glad they are back to their usual selfs, I can just picture them being blown around bless em

[KarenE]

Very happy girls at the moment, everyone is doing fine and up to their usual chickeny tricks.

Teflon Toffee was uncharacteristically under the weather a few days ago and - in an unprecedented act - took herself off to bed early. Usually she's last in and practically has to be driven or bribed in. Her egg laying is slowing down and - again, uncharacteristically - she's produced a thin shelled egg and a few lumpy ones. Looks like she's slowing down for winter. She's perfectly fine by the way, going to bed early seemed a temporary aberration for her

Almost as compensation though, one of the Terrible Twins has decided to lay occasionally, only I can't tell which one it is. I suspect Gabby but can't be sure.

I was in late from work on Weds, and hubby said he'd gone to get the girls in at dusk, only to find them all happily settled down in the utility room for the night, one on each step. And most displeased at being chucked out! I think he had to bribe them with corn.

We've been doing a bit of clearing and tidying up in the garden again as we've had a couple of nice sunny days. I swept a huge pile of leaves up which the girls loved grubbing around in (and some have gone into their run for them to burrow about in). Poor Gabby got her little foot stood on (by me) and i only noticed as she was flapping me with her wings, the poor little girl. She didn't half give me a dirty look when I realised! I felt so guilty, I had to give her some corn to get her to forgive me

Bit of a hair raising moment this morning - I went out to let the monsters out (I'm off work for a couple of days) and only saw 2 girls - no Nugget. I know she was in the night before because she and Gabby were squished into their nest box as usual. But not in the run, and not in the coop. Definitely not in the garden! So a last check of the run and there she was - she'd dug herself a lovely hole at the far end of the run and was sitting in it, just her head poking out as she dustbathed. Naughty girl! Never mind, she came and had a nice cuddle later on.

[sandy]

Naughty Nugget frightening mummy like that, mind you if it has been Toffee i suspect she would have stood out like a sore thumb Laying in winter is so unpredictable isn't it? I got 11 from 11 yesterday though one was a softie from Georgina who had a strop this morning when I was poo picking and she was anxious to lay. She worried me on saturday, do you think the girls are playing the sympathy votes for christmas treats?

[KarenE]

Sandy, it's almost as though they were in cahoots, don't you think??

The weather's not been great but we seem to have got off lightly in our little corner compared to the rest of the UK. It's been damp, windy and rainy but the girls are hardy creatures and have been pottering around the garden, helping their dad saw some wood (he obviously needed close supervision, and the sawdust needed tasting to see if it was edible). Dustbathing in my greenhouse wasn't too successful as every time the wind blows, the plastic panes bang and scare the girls off.

Yesterday was Super Treat Day - a whole tin of sardines AND a half a galia melon. At first i didn't think they were interested in the melon (the sardines vanished in about 2 seconds) but they nibbled on the seeds and that seemed it. I left it in their run though and they've now hollowed it out, so someone's obviously enjoyed it. The sardine tin got a second visit today as it's still on the grass but very slim pickings from that, especially after Jasper found it last night. The girls do live in hope

Tomorrow is sweetcorn lollipop day, I must take a cob out of the freezer. It is Christmas day after all!

Merry Christmas everyone from Karen, Nugget, Toffee and Gabby!



(A sketch done by a friend of ours as a Christmas card, isn't it wonderful?)

[sandy]

Merry Christmas Toffee, Nugget and Capt Gabby, ooh and Karen Brilliant drawing

[KarenE]

Well, we have been through the wars lately, or at least one of us has. Miss Gabby has insisted on starting laying again, and the silly little thing has only gone and got an egg stuck. She's such a small girl and yet lays the oddest long eggs which you would think would pop out easily enough due t their shape but not this time!

She had such a mucky bum but was fine otherwise that I thought maybe the recent worming hadn't worked, so back on the flub they went. She got worse (mucky bum wise, otherwise she was dashing round the garden and gobbling up treats as always), and I noticed her vent pumping away so into the bath she went for a belly bath and to clean her off so I could have a proper look at her on new years eve. No better yesterday so today another bath and this time I got really worried as I could see a bit of red coming out as she pooped.

Fearing a prolapse, off we went to the vets and yes, she is almost prolapsing the silly thing. The vet had a good scrape round (poor gabby did not like that!) and out popped an extremely stuck egg (much to everyone's shock, as the vet had thought it might be a tumour or some gummed up bits) so i am really glad we went. She's had an injection and a squirt of anti inflammatory, and now i have to keep an eye on her in case she prolapses fully.

Odd thing is, she showed no other symptoms, didn't seem miserable at all so it just goes to show you really need to be careful of them.

The vet was very impressed by what a good girl she was, she stood nice and still the whole time and barely made a sound. I think she was more worried about her wet feathers (I'd tried blow drying but once the raisins ran out, that was the end of that!) although once that finger went up she did stand up and take notice

Anyway, please keep your fingers crossed that things calm down and she stops straining, and therefore doesn't prolapse.

Nugget and Toffee are perfectly fine!

[HenPen]

Oh dear, poor, stoical Gabby. She is so lucky she has a savvy and vigilant mum. Fingers crossed for a full recovery with no more problems

[KarenE]

Up at the crack of dawn today (8am!) to check on Gabby - girls were most displeased when hubby and i crept out at 11pm to check on her. For some reason, they don't like being woken up by a torch being shone into their eyes/behinds.

Anyway, she seems okay today, a bit quieter than usual I must admit but she did have a very traumatic day yesterday so maybe only to be expected. She's still pulsing away at her vent but no prolapse touch wood. The vet said she's very inflamed so it must be sore, the poor little girl (hence the squirt of anti inflamatory). I have to bathe her with salt water to keep it down, so we'll be having another bath later (she's very mucky again but maybe that's better than trying solid poos at this stage). I'm just hoping she hasn't got another egg on the way, I'd rather she gave herself a chance to recuperate.

[sandy]

Me and the girls are sending Gabby lots and lots of . She is a very special girl and we are looking forward to her making a full recovery . Isn't it funny how our girls will stand good as gold when a stranger is seeing to them but put up a right old fight when their mums are trying to do something they don't like?

[KarenE]

You are so right Sandy. Another bath yesterday to try and clean the poor girl off but she gets so traumatised I'm not sure they help much. The sweetcorn only distracts her so long and doesn't give me a chance to dry her off properly, plus she was so sore she didn't really want anyone at her rear end. She spent most of the day trying to get away from me (that's an awful feeling when they do that, esp when you've spent so much time enticing them onto your knee). Anyway, she was very quiet and withdrawn yesterday, and fluffed up like she had a softie.

Just been up to check on her a couple of times and first time she ran off into the coop and looked very sorry for herself, second time she's out in the pouring rain with the other dafties and looking a bit brighter but still not great. She's still very messy so it'll be a damp cloth in salty water later, and she's still pulsing but the vet reckoned that was because she was so swollen she thought there was something still up there to shift. My main concern now is if she has another egg on the way which might hurt her even more or worse, cause a prolapse.

Thanks for all your good wishes. It would be tough if we lost her

[lancashire lass]

hope things improve

[sandy]

Karen how is young Gabby today?

[KarenE]

Same as this morning Sandy. Not really so interested in food as she normally is but still eating, has done a bit of preening but hunched up from time to time. Her vent is still swollen and pulsing. Sometimes she looks quite bright and other times very tired.
I am hoping it's the soreness and trauma of the last few days and she'll buck up given time but I am worried about other eggs in the pipeline.

I left the bath and gave her a little dab with a salty water cloth. She's getting increasingly wary of me, which is sad to see.

[jemberelli]

Poor little sweetheart, I hope she improves soon