Chickens all want to stay in the doorway!

[Rosey Supposey]

es, it was William Lewis at Wylies !! Did he/you mean Blue rather than Buff as Beryl was a Blue Orp. We were there at 12.10 pm yesterday so if your appointment was later then it would have been us. Whether it was us or not it was nice of the vet to say.

 

Yes! Sorry! That was my brain not firing ! He did say ' a beautiful blue orpington'. We were there same day as you, a few hours later - William kindly saw our chook as as a late appointment just after 16:00. So it was Beryl he was talking about! A man who sees many chickens remembers her as beautiful, that's lovely. Are you able to post up a photo of her? I'd love to see her (although I realise it could be a while before you're ready to look at photos, whilst her passing over to free-range forever is still a little too recent and upsetting).

 

yes please keep us, posted I have heard of good results for some with implants and some that needed replacements after only 3 months?

 

Well it's in! Implant (which is on the receipt as Suprelorin) was £55, anaesthetic was £40, plus £1 for a stitch! She also had about 400mls of yuk removed, and has antibiotics, diuretics and anti-inflammatories, so we're throwing absolutely everything at keeping her with us! I honestly don't know how long the implant lasts, I planned to ask when chook was returned to me after the operation, but the nurse who bought her back seemed rather horrified about the whole thing so I let it go. Must ring up and ask the situation. Chook is rallying well at the moment, but I'm witholding judgement for a while.

 

All this has made me think that the 'hen as a pet' situation must be booming, to make it worthwhile for the industry to put this implant out as an option.

[tara]

I kept my hen in for a night but it was not as warm as it now gd luck with her keep us posted hun.

[sandyhas3chucks]

I think (but CM will put me syraight ) that it is not actually licensed for poultry, perhaps not even birds as it is I understand the same one they use for cats ferrets etc. It has been used for parrots for a while now.quite successfully and with chooks with varying degrees of success 2 rescues have used them on several girls successfully but i have heard of one as I said starting to lay again after only 3 months. You are doing your very best for your girl and I really hope she continues to improve, please keep us posted. I am considering getting one into my disabled girl.

we are all still learning

[Chucky Mama]

You are correct Sandy it is not licensed for chickens. I have a bluebelle with peritonitis. We drained her about 4 weeks ago drawing out straw coloured fluid and in one area, egg yolk (no antibiotics were given). She was instantly better, bright and eating within minutes. I hesitate to say how well she is in case I tempt fate so I touch wood as I type. 4 weeks down the line she has a new set of feathers and is 'apparently' normal. She is not laying (before getting peritonitis she was laying softies) and does have a small amount of fluid palpable in her abdomen. I know that this fluid will reform. I had expected it to come back sooner so I am pleased with her progress. The plan is to drain her once more when she shows signs of being out of sorts and then make a decision based on the length of time between draining and her general health and quality of life. I personally am not inclined to try the implant.

 

Edited to say that Hilda survived happily post draining (without an implant) until Feb 2011)

[Rosey Supposey]

You are correct Sandy it is not licensed for chickens.

Blimey! That's a shock! Vet told me Suprelorin implants were still experimental, but I never considered that to mean unlicenced! We had a good chat about how my chook was generally a bit late in the day to have it, but it was still worth trying (assuming I was happy to pay out on the understanding it might indeed be too late to be effective). I'm sure he said (or maybe I just inferred) that the implants were starting to become, if not quite common, then not entirely unusual.

 

Thinking about it now, I would have said "do it" anyway. Licenced or otherwise. The vet is the leading ex-batt vet in the area and, to be honest, I would have danced round the street naked if he'd said that might help my poorly chook. Perhaps that naive of me, but it's the way it goes.

 

Really glad to hear your little one is holding her own after being drained Chucky Mama, gives me hope for mine!

[tara]

I have another chook going to the vet (ex bat ) she has a build up of fluid so will have her have the inplant as well.Another vet fee l recon l should have shares in that vets the amount of money l give them of mine.

[sandyhas3chucks]

to be honest, I would have danced round the street naked if he'd said that might help my poorly chook.

yep me too!!! x

It is more common now too

[Chucky Mama]

You are correct Sandy it is not licensed for chickens.

Blimey! That's a shock!

 

Don't be too shocked Rosey, an awful lot of the meds used for poultry and for other animals that are not well catered for in veterinary medicine are unlicensed. It essentially hasn't been through the necessary testing on that species to tick all of the boxes required by our very strick medicines body. It is costly to do so for drug companies and of course it is not cost effective to get something licensed for pet chickens and small furries who are not big money spinners in the grand scheme of things.

[Hens@HalfMoonLane]

My oldest hen had one put in earlier this year, she's an ex bat and had started laying oddly, soft eggs, 2 eggs in one day, one broke inside her and she had to have some medication. We decided to give it ago because I'd just lost 2 to peritontis and wasn't ready to lose another.

 

It was really quick, injected in, glued up, no anesthetic. She's back on top form again - it cost me £80 in all.

[chelsea]

Interesting thread and good information to know. My Ella died aged 4, and had lived with sterile peritonitis for 2 years and I am sure something like this would have helped her. I would definitely give it a whirl with the implant should I get another hen with it.

[eggalp]

I took Chalkie on Thursday to have one of these done - injected straight into her chest, no stitches, no anasthetic, she was asolutely fine! Cost was £65. The vet said she has done lots of these on other birds, some have to be sedated - but not chickens as they are quite docile (and i would have said that Chalkie is anything but docile!). The vet has only done it to two other chickens and said the effects had lasted approx 6 months on them, but it can be done again and again. She has asked me to let her know if anything unusual happens wih Chalkie, as she is doing her own trial for her own notes - she said its possible that she may have an extended moult due to the hormones - but nothing more than that. Thanks Tara for posting your info on here - hopefully it will help lots of others, as i had never heard of it until i read your post, and it has given us some hope!

[tara]

I took Chalkie on Thursday to have one of these done - injected straight into her chest, no stitches, no anasthetic, she was asolutely fine! Cost was £65. The vet said she has done lots of these on other birds, some have to be sedated - but not chickens as they are quite docile (and i would have said that Chalkie is anything but docile!). The vet has only done it to two other chickens and said the effects had lasted approx 6 months on them, but it can be done again and again. She has asked me to let her know if anything unusual happens wih Chalkie, as she is doing her own trial for her own notes - she said its possible that she may have an extended moult due to the hormones - but nothing more than that. Thanks Tara for posting your info on here - hopefully it will help lots of others, as i had never heard of it until i read your post, and it has given us some hope!

 

Your welcome keep us posted am interestered to know what happens with these hens its nice to know what to expect an extra moult ect ect

[Hens@HalfMoonLane]

Eggalp - that's interesting about the extended moult, thats exactly what my hen has done and is still on with. Normally she takes about 3 weeks but it's been about 8 weeks now I thought it was a bit unusual for her.

[sandyhas3chucks]

Has anyone got any updates?

[eggalp]

here is an update on Chalkie two weeks after the implant.......... she is now moulting. There hasn't been an 'egg incident' since the day of the implant which is surely much better for her as she was really not very happy for a few hours every day, so i am pleased. She does seem to have changed alot though (maybe the hormones?), like someone else said, she doesn't seem to be so interested in food (she is still eating!) but not so greedy as she was - which is good for her mate Specks who used to get shoved out of the way! She also seems a bit more docile, not scratching about so much - but am putting this down to the moult. Her poos went literally to turquoise water for a couple of days too which was a bit worrying, but all ok now (although i did move onto garvo food recently so don't know if this had anything to do with it, but no change in the others' poo). I miss the 'old' bossy cheeky Chalkie in a way, but so far i am sure i have done the right thing. Another thing Chalkie has started doing is making different noises. She is purring alot, she never did this before (although one of the others does) - don't know what this means really, so don't know if its significant? and she is also making that 'clip-clop' sound of a broody, but she isn't broody one bit

Its all a bit of 'wait and see' at the mo!

[sandyhas3chucks]

thanks for update