Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[House MD 221B]

Hi all, just spent the last half hour with her,

 

once we opened the box and stroked her a couple of times she perked up considerable, and went to TOWN on the weetabix mixed with probiotic yoghurt, although she had stepped in it at some point bless.

 

What are Chickens Night Vision like by the way? e.g. will she be able to find her food / water in the dark?

 

so yes theres no further signs of bleeding or any signs of infection, she's been drinking more and eating more, and started trying to evade being stroked (thats her usual self, the fact she let us man-handle her at will was the bad sign).

 

we will give her a bathe tomorrow, trim those matted feathers, give her a thorough dry, and put her back in with Poach.

 

How often should the purple spray be applied? we did it once this morning as soon as we got home, and that's it, should we put some more on after she's dried tomorrow?

 

But yes, a much brighter, happy, more mobile chicken this evening, still being watched with hawk eyes though

[Redwing]

Well done you! its not always this bad with chickens honest

 

Yes apply more purple spray after her wash

[House MD 221B]

brilliant thank you we shall do, we will check on her again before we go to bed, but hopefully tomorrow after a bathe, a trim and a spray she will be a bit more lively.

 

Thank you all so much for your your help and advice, we're very very grateful, it was a huge comfort to us as nervous 1st timers.

 

That weetabix and yogurt idea was a huge hit, she loved it, and it was so nice to see her eating, as she hadn't touched her regular food, but she has been drinking, so hopefully some of the extended lethargy was due to not eating, because she's seemed much livlier since taking on some of the yogurtbix

 

If she shows any signs of deterioration or plateaus before making a full recovery we'll take her straight to the vets, but she's looking good.

 

Thank you all once again, I shall of course post when she's made a full recovery.

 

 

oh yes, just the last questions:

 

1) what's their night sight like?

 

2) and how often should we re-apply the purple spray, once a day? and for how long?

 

thanks all.

[Redwing]

I'm not sure about their night vision but I wouldnt say it iis likely to be good but they dont need food and water overnight unless they are dehydrated and need syringe dosing so dont panic

 

The purple spray will last forever on the feathers but reapply after bathing and to any bare skin that is reddened until the hen gets all her knickers back

[House MD 221B]

I'm not sure about their night vision but I wouldnt say it iis likely to be good but they dont need food and water overnight unless they are dehydrated and need syringe dosing so dont panic

 

The purple spray will last forever on the feathers but reapply after bathing and to any bare skin that is reddened until the hen gets all her knickers back

 

awesome that's fantastic, the only reason i asked about night vision is that we've been keeping her in a box in the darkened spare room, so she's been in the dark all day, (to try and keep her resting and not shuffling around unduly) however we also dont want that to suppress her appetite because she thinks its night time. So my concern was that if she was awake she could still get food and water without having to wait for us to come and check on her, (although we were checking her every hour).

[Redwing]

It wont do her any harm to be in the dark but you could cut bigger slits in the box to give her more light or open the top and lay some mesh over it

[House MD 221B]

It wont do her any harm to be in the dark but you could cut bigger slits in the box to give her more light or open the top and lay some mesh over it

 

Wow, feel slightly stupid for not thinking of that tomorrow we shall put some mesh over the top during the morning before we put them back together.

 

thanks, shall bare it in mind if god forbid this happens again or we need to separate them for any other reason.

[xScrunchee]

I was under the impression that birds have terrible night vision which is why they go to roost at dusk and wake up at sunrise.

 

I might be wrong though

 

 

Edited to add-

Just googled it and it seems that some birds have better night vision than others.

Owls of course have excellent night vision but chickens have very poor night vision.

 

It appears to be that birds who go to roost have bad night vision while some other birds like ducks, geese etc can see ok, which explains why chickens put themselves to bed whereas ducks don't.

 

Interesting subject

[House MD 221B]

well we just gave Scramble a soak, in a wash-up tub, half filled with luke warm water, and I was AMAZED to see she just stood there in it, she didnt need to be held, she just stood there, happily wading in water, she needed a little encouragement to sit a little lower, but she soaked well and the cutting was painless as well she didnt struggle or fight, so we towelled her down, and we're leaving her to thoroughly dry, before putting on some more purple spray and this afternoon we shall put them back together. (Poach hasnt stopped moaning in 2 days and nothing will shut her up, not even sweetcorn) But Scramble seems much livelier and she's trying to avoid us again which is good,

 

we really want to thank everyone for all the information and advice, this would have been nightmarish without you all. Hopefully at some point we will be able to return the favour.

[xScrunchee]

Were they happy to be reunited?

[House MD 221B]

Were they happy to be reunited?

 

yes very happy, the difference in Scramble is amazing, she was walking around normally, and Poach showed NO interest in Scrams' tail feathers, so hopefully it's sorted, we shall be up early tomorrow in case she tries to lay and there's complications, but otherwise, she's back to normal, even taking treats from my hand again (before you could put a grape right to her beak and she'd ignore it)

 

so thank you all for your help, advice, support, and concern, it helped all 3 of us through a very scary time.

 

It's funny I do alot of first aid work and im not shy of blood, and I also know that what looks like alot, isn't, but for some reason when its coming out of a chicken, it looks even more

 

so again, thank you, hopefully we shall be able to repay the favour in due course.

[xScrunchee]

Excellent news

 

Really am very happy for you all

 

No favour to repay Nice that everyone on here offers advice and support when we need it most. Trust me, one day you will be handing out advice yourself

[cluckingmad]

Hi folks,

 

just found this thread - how are Scramble and Poached doing? No more nasty massive eggs I hope?

 

Carolyn

[House MD 221B]

Hi folks,

 

just found this thread - how are Scramble and Poached doing? No more nasty massive eggs I hope?

 

Carolyn

 

 

Hey thanks for asking,

 

Scramble is doing well, still not back to her full self, but she is a LOT better, no more bloody eggs, but today she laid her first egg since "the incident" and unfortunately it WAS a double-yoker, but no blood, and it was a good quality egg, we think she's just prone to double-yokers and therefore this is something we're just going to have to watch out for, but twice a day we check the egg port and her to make sure there's no blood.

 

she's lost a bit of appetite, but im guessing her logic is "the less I eat, the less I poop, and the less Egg I produce" because defecation was painful for her.

 

so she's moving around less, and has less energy, but if she's eating less to poop and lay less then she will have less energy.

 

But all in all she's good, yesterday she had her first dust bath since the bloody egg, but her vent is clear and healthy, with no signs of infection or trauma. So we shall just watch and see, she's not overly interested in treats at the minute. But hopefully within a week or two she'll be fully back to normal.