Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Cathy L]

I thought I'd just share my experience of feather pulling with Enid and Ethel, who I've posted about a couple of times before.

 

They were 2 Amber Stars which we've had for 3 years, the last 2 years of which Enid has been a terrible feather puller. We have managed to get by with a combination of Bumper Bits, Peckablocks, various sprays and a variety of amusements but Ethel has been pretty much bald around the bottom and stomach for virtually all of this time.

 

I'm not sure whether its related but Ethel often did softshelled eggs which I thought may be down to calcium deficiency as her body was permanently in feather replacement mode and despite calcium supplements this problem rarely fully went away and came back last week after we moved house and the chickens were moved to a new garden.

 

On Wednesday morning I found Ethel with a complete bloodied prolapse with Enid bitless pecking away at it. I can only think that it was a combination of Ethel having yolk on her bum and Enid finding herself without a bumperbit and kept jabbing away until she drew blood and eventually caused real damage.

 

I had them both shot by a neighbour straight away as Ethel would never have recovered and I could never have risked Enid with another chicken again.

 

Ethel was her own worst enemy as she always allowed Enid to peck as much as she wanted but my only regret is that I didn't get rid of Enid sooner as the signs had been there for 2 years and we misguidedly thought we could control the problem.

 

This has put me off chickens after being mad on them for 3 years and being on the brink of buying a walk in run and an expanded flock. Looking at the forum, so many people have problems I'm not sure its worth it.

[Guest]

Hi

Have a while off from them but dont give up as thats what animals will do unfortunately. Even if we dont like it thats nature.

 

Sounds like yours were unlucky as were you and you did the right thing by despatching them. Together.

 

It seems a shame to give up go on have some more.

 

good luck indie

[Budgies]

Hi Cathy. I'm so sorry to hear that story, what a horrible thing to happen to you.

 

I know it seems like a lot of people on the forum are having that sort of trouble, but yours does sound like an extreme case in that normally it can be resolved.

 

Sometimes in some of the threads you're reading about it's just dominant hens trying to be top of the pecking order. Sometimes it's a problem with too many chickens in too little space, or them being bored.

 

Your problem was evidently neither, and Enid was that very rare creature - a determined feather pecker, who did it for the "fun" of it.

 

I had two hens in an Omlet run - I couldn't give them toys to play with because they were scared of everything! Neither of them ever pecked the other. They would gently clean each others' beaks and I even observed them laying together when one was ill and had to rest. I always kept a very close eye in case of dominant behaviour when one was ill - I know how horrible they can be in those circumstances - and never saw anything untoward, they were just great little pals.

 

I hope that once the shock and horror has worn off you'll feel happy to try again, and this time you'll manage to avoid getting a committed feather pecker in the group. If you had three hens, and one was feather pulling, you could remove her to drop her down the pack a bit. Hey, I'm just thinking ahead here!!

 

Thinking of you, and thanks for sharing your story.

[Egluntyne]

A very sad story and a lesson in it for us all.

 

I'm sure you won't be so unlucky when you get more hens.

[Barkisland]

Oh you poor thing, that's very sad and traumatic for you. Please don't let it put you off though, I think you have perhaps been very unlucky with those two, and it would be so sad if you didn't have some more lovely girls in your life.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

How sad, I'm so sorry you've been through such a tough time . I agree, give yourself some time to get over this and try again. You surely couldn't be so unlucky twice. My girls are best of friends (we also have mutual beak cleaning ) and if one is separated from the other two, she'll rush to find them. They are a joy and I'm sure you can have the same thing too .

 

(Why don't you spend some time planning your walk in run . It's amazing how it takes your mind off things! Check out the threads in Cubes, Eglus & Runs.)

[Olly]

So sorry to hear that, it must have been an awful experience. I'd echo what others have said - when you feel able to, try again with some more hens. It does sound as if you were particularly unlucky with Enid.

[Cathy L]

Thanks everyone......we'll give it a few weeks and see how we feel I think. The eglue and run are standing looking very empty in the garden.

[hilda-and-evadne]

Ethel was her own worst enemy as she always allowed Enid to peck as much as she wanted but my only regret is that I didn't get rid of Enid sooner as the signs had been there for 2 years and we misguidedly thought we could control the problem.

 

Such bad luck. I hope you will feel able to get some more hens - with your experience you'll be able to avoid THAT situation developing again.

 

At the moment, my Light Sussex is broody and I thought that I would just let her get on with it. But the day before yesterday one of the other hens pecked out most of the feathers on the back of her neck, perhaps to try to make her get out of the nestbox so the other hen could lay her egg there. Like your Ethel, my Light Sussex just let her do that but I couldn't let it go on until blood was drawn so I sprayed her neck with Ukadex and shut them all out of the eglu until late afternoon because I couldn't be at home to keep hoofing the Light Sussex out of the nestbox.