"Water Belly" in Chickens

On Monday I brought my hen, Marlee, into the house because she was looking poorly.  Her comb was flopped over and her crop was full and squishy.  Checking her over a little more, I realized she had a big, soft belly.  I gently checked around, seeing if I could feel an egg that might be stuck.  There was nothing - just a squishy belly - I was more concerned about the belly, I've dealt with crop issues before but never belly issues.

By Tuesday morning she was still the same.  So I gave her an epsom salt soak, hoping that would make her feel better; and if there was a stuck egg, I'd heard that the soak would help.  Nothing.

Today I decided she must have "water belly", ascites.  I read everything I could about it (still reading).  I read about and watched videos of people who had drained the fluid from the water belly.  The fluid build up presses on the internal organs, making eating and breathing difficult.  I could drain the fluid - I could definitely do it - there was no time to get a vet appointment.  Besides, farm people doctor their animals all the time.  This was something I could do.

I still had many 18 gauge needles left over from when I was having to give my cat subcutaneous fluids (I move from giving fluids to a pet, to taking fluid out of a pet).  I had my husband stop at the TSC and bring home a 60cc syringe and some tubing for drainage.

I got Marlee as comfortable as she could be, cleaned the first area, then inserted the needle.  I slowly drew back on the plunger of the syringe and the fluid began flowing out.  With the syringe full, I pulled the needle out and emptied the fluid.  I inserted a clean needle and repeated the steps.  The third prick brought blood - oops!  That's enough.  I don't know what happened there but I quickly stopped the bleeding and put everything away.

For the next few hours, my poor little hen leaked fluid.  I don't know how much there was but she soaked three puppy pads.  At bedtime she was still leaking but not as much.  But her comb was definitely brighter and she was very alert.  I expect she'll be eating well tomorrow.  We'll see.  I hope I did right.

Her belly went from the size of a grapefruit to the size of a golf ball!!!

There's nothing to cure this, and she'll have to be drained periodically.  There are several reasons for water belly but, from everything I've read, I'd have to say her's is from a failing liver.  I'm now reading about how this could happen and on what I can give her to help the liver function better.  One such thing is Milk Thistle.  I'm going to read more about this in the morning.

Marlee is a four year old Blue Copper Marans.   Hoping and praying she's better in the morning.  Love my birdies!

R.I.P. SOFIA

Of all the years keeping chickens, my luck ran out today with a hawk.  Generally I just have little Sharp Shinned Hawks that prey on songbirds.  The one in the trees yesterday was bigger - I thought it was a Red-tail.  Today, when I got home, I saw it closer and took photos.  It's a Cooper's Hawk.  

The chickens were silent when I came home.  Golly was outside the back porch (where he and the girls usually hang out) but EVERYONE was silent.  They usually start fussing when I come home because it's dinner time.  Eerily quiet.  I fed the three chickens that are locked up.  Then I went back to Golly's coop - he followed me.  There were just two girls down there, the others were up under the back porch - no one was coming down for dinner.  I checked their water bowl and there was a good handful of fresh feathers in it.  Something was definitely wrong.  I knew, at that moment, my luck had run out with hawks.  

I started to count chickens, there were the two I saw by the coop and Golly. I looked in the coop and no one was there.  Then I looked under the coop.  Someone was laying dead in the back corner.  It was Sofia, one of my Salmon Faverolles.  Sofia was almost four years old.  A very, very gentle and sweet breed.  The other 10 girls wouldn't come out from under the back porch so I brought their dinner up to them and put it under the porch, no one spoke a word.  

At bed time, I took the lattice off the bottom of the porch and tried to coax them out.  It took about 20 minutes but they finally followed me - literally THREE at a time.  I'd get three down to the coop, then go halfway back and another three would follow, then one more time, then finally the last one.  Tomorrow I'm not letting them out of their coops - maybe for a couple days.  I hate to do that and to put food and water inside, but I want them to take a break and feel safe.  I'm also hoping after a couple days that the hawk will have found better hunting grounds.  

I know that crows keep hawks away and, darn it, WHERE are my crows, they're always out there.  I've been told you can play the sound of crows outside to encourage them to the area.  I might have to look in to that.  

R.I.P my Sofia, mama loves you, and I'm sorry. 

Here is the Hawk - he is beautiful but he is no longer welcome.

All Chickens Outside

Finally – everyone is back outside. 

Lexi has been inside for a long time, likely a whole month before Olivia.  I brought her in to give her a break from Duncan and the twins.  They were entirely too much for her and her back feathers were not growing back in.

Olivia came inside in mid-July because a raccoon had torn her side.  I read that it could take six months to heal.  It’s been less than two months and she’s perfect!  What darling angels these girls are.  They adored life in a people house, caged or not, they loved it!  I miss them inside.

A couple days ago I started taking them back outside into Golly’s yard – that’s actually the flock that Olivia belongs to.  Olivia would run and hide, cowering and get picked on.  Lexi would stay near me, I’d walk a little further away and she’d run to me, wanting me to pick her up.  I didn’t.  She kept one foot on my boot and leaned into my leg.  I pet her and reassured her.  I only let them out for about an hour each day, while I supervised.  Yesterday was the first day I left them out all day, unsupervised.  And last night Olivia went right into the coop and found a spot.  I had to put Lexi in because she had never been in that coop.  Hopefully tonight will go smoother.

Molting chickens all in for the night :)

They are fine.  Lexi even bullies some of the other girls.  Olivia is still skitterish, but she’s found her friends and hangs with them.

God, I love chickens ~ thank you, Creator!  How did I ever live without these entertaining, intelligent, independent, beautiful birds?

IT'S JULY not OCTOBER

While feeding the kids this morning I really noticed how much the leaves have fallen.  It has been sooooo dry in Ohio this year (at least where I live).  Pondering the fallen leaves, I felt I needed to video the chicken kids :D  Have a GREAT day!!

BOYS WILL EVENTUALLY FIGHT - Crazy Roosters

Are you ready for the next installment of "These chickens are driving me crazy!"?

Alright, so, it really isn't funny - I'm just trying to keep smiling.  Crockett, my big Ameraucana rooster is very kind but the "big house" is his and he's a strong boy.  This winter he allowed Duncan, my very feisty Salmon Faverolles/Cream Legbar cross rooster, and his girl, to stay in the big house.  Spring officially has sprung today in my backyard.  The roosters have gone mad!

I came home from work and looked out the back window to find Duncan chasing Crockett, and they were going really slow.  My first thought was "how weird, usually Crockett is the one who chases Duncan off" - then my focus sharpened, I dropped everything and barely got my boots on before running outside.  It was a death match - they were both covered in blood!

I don't know who started it, and even though Duncan was the one doing the chasing, he was the one who was just drenched in his own blood.  I separated them by slamming the rake on the ground near them.  That chased Duncan away and gave Crockett a chance to get away.  They were both whooped.

It took me a while walking around Duncan to wear him out further, to a point where I could grab his tail - that's the easiest way to catch chickens, kinda like grabbing a girl's pony tail.  

DUNCAN

Anyway, that little monster was a mess, he still is.  I took him inside and put him in the medium dog crate (I have a Cochin in the large one right now - that's another story but she's fine).  I got his bleeding to stop, for the most part, wiping him down with a wet wash rag.  Then I sprayed him down with Vetericyn spray gel.  I think he probably looks worse than he is.   

CROCKETT

Crockett seems to be just fine.  All the blood on him appears to be from Duncan.  His face may be a little puffy, maybe.  I'll check them over again in the morning.

I moved all the fencing (the kids in the big yard have about a half acre fenced to explore, I don't trust them to be completely free - but they're not wanting for space, that's for sure).  I split the yard in two.  When Duncan is healed, he'll go back into his old house and I'll just keep adjusting from there.

Never a dull moment.

A CLOSE CALL...

This has happened once before....I should have known better...  

Tubby is blind in one eye and gets spooked occasionally.  This type of fencing is dangerous for "special needs" chickens.  Granted, this is a bad example of the fence - it's not this droopy (this is an old picture before the fence was adjusted).

Today I came home from work and saw my Silkie outside the fence, hanging out in the front yard, I figured she just wiggled under the fence.  I went in the house and put my stuff down.  Then I thought...it's awful quiet out there, something is wrong.  As soon as I stepped onto the back porch I saw my rooster, Tubby, laying on the ground.  One wing was outstretched and his feet were hanging, tangled in the fence. Tubbs is my favorite boy, he his my special boy, my heart.

I rushed over and looked down at him "Tubby??"  He raised his head and made a little noise.  "I got you boy, hold on."  The fence was tangled around his feet, toes, ankles, and spurs.  I have no idea how long he'd been there.  I quickly freed him, scooped him up, hugging him and took him into the house.  He was fine.  Thank God!  

Tubby had been a completely free roaming chicken but, with his partial blindness and a bit of, well I think I want to call it dementia, he needs a fenced in area.  We just put him in this fenced area over the weekend and it only had about 10 feet of the the white fencing, temporarily - the rest is the green, plastic garden fence.  I will now move the green fencing and make the yard a smidge smaller till I can get more of the green.

Tubbs is in the house tonight, all fed and watered and comfy, cozy.  I brought Arabella back in to keep him company - she loves him.  I love my Tubby.

ICED SILKIE

Oh the cute little Silkie chicken!  An eternal ball of fluff.

The feathers of a Silkie stay like downy fluff, soft and fuzzy because they don't have the barbs of regular chicken feathers.  Their feathers are more of a "silk-like" fur; they are not waterproof!  

Contrary to what you'll read of Silkies, my little girl, Daizee, loves being outside in all kinds of weather and she's a feisty little critter.  She'll stand out in a soft rain for hours, pecking at the ground, pulling up worms, getting soaked to the bone.  She'll venture out, and all about in the snow.  But, this year she has experienced a new and unwelcome surprise: a frozen hairdo!

The past couple days have been in the single digits with windchills below zero.  She absolutely doesn't care.  She's one of the first out of the coop and the last to go in.  I think it's because she's not a confined chicken - she's used to being outside and roaming wherever she chooses.  She's smart enough to stay out of the wind though, under the coop.

Today has been sunshiny with zero wind - yay!  However, it's been in the single digits for most of the day.  Daizee must have been a little overzealous while drinking and got her face too far into her water trough.  I went outside this afternoon to see how everyone was enjoying the day, and found Daizee shaking her head.  I finally caught her and found the tips of her head feathers iced over and hanging heavy.  LOL ~ poor little funny girl.

She's doing just fine.  The ice wasn't even all the way to her head - just the first bit of her feathers, enough to make it annoying.  So, I brought her in the house to thaw out and dry off before she goes back outside.  

This should be the last of the super crappy weather.  We're looking ahead to 50°F on Friday!