Jump to content
heather_hedgehog

Feeling like giving up keeping hens :(

Recommended Posts

I have 2 hens who I have had for just over a year, in this time they have both been ill. These are my first hens and the year has not gone well… I feel like giving up!!

 

Firstly it was Florence who had a high temperature according to the vet but she didn't elaborate further… After a course of medicine she perked up again and (touch wood) has been happy and healthy since.

 

Then poor Marjory started to peck the feathers from her crop at the end of August to reveal that it was bulging. I took her to the vets who prescribed 10 days of medicine as she had an infection in her crop. She seemed happy scratching around as usual, still interested in food and water and laying. To cut a long story short, she still has it and it is now October… She spent 4 days in the vets last week where they drained her crop and tried to help her and it did look smaller than it did but now a few days later it seems to have gotten big again! I now have 2 different medicines to give her twice a day which is not easy, but I am getting better at it!

 

Florence missed her and wouldn't stop clucking when she was away at the vets, now she is back she is pecking her despite the use of anti pecking spray and I keep having to separate them (Margory is top hen). It is all becoming very upsetting and I am beginning to think about giving up keeping hens despite the investment of an elgu and building of a large walk in run! I am also wondering whether it would be kinder to Marjory to have her put down although she seems pretty normal despite the infection and not being happy about being pecked. This would break my heart as she is my favourite (don't tell Florence!) but if she is unhappy…

 

Any advice is much appreciated, has anyone had similar feelings and overcome them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear you've had such a rough year :( . It sounds like you've been quite unlucky but don't give up! Have you used this forum before or just joined now? I only ask as it's such a great source of information and support when you have problems (or even when you don't!).

 

Have you looked at the Chicken Health section? The vet's diagnosis sounds a bit wishy washy - might be easier to treat if you know what the infection is - sour crop/impacted crop etc.

 

You're certainly not alone in considering giving up when going through a rough patch - don't make any hasty decisions though, especially if you've spent a lot on the eglu/WIR. I'm sure you'll soon manage to have healthy hens that won't give you any grief :) .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here, this is my first forum post although I do come on here for advice.

I do think I have had bad luck, I have a friend who has 6 birds for a couple of years now and hasn't had any illnesses.

It's nice to know you are not alone, I won't do anything rash! (also my husband who didn't want hens in the first place and built me the WIR won't be happy if I do - lol)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear about your troubles but you're not alone! In the 5 years I've kept hens we've gone through most of the chicken illnesses in the book :lol: I agree with ANH, the vet probably wasn't an avian expert so did their best but you could do with a more precise diagnosis. Have a look at the recommended vets section, hopefully there will be one near you if you need a second opinion. Also chickens temperatures are normally higher than humans or other animals so this could have been a red herring.

I couldn't be without my girls, the good always outweighs the bad in the end :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it helps any, my girls have been being treated for one thing or another to a varying degree from the first day we got them 4 months ago. I really can understand how you feel. I don't think I'll ever be at the point where I want to get rid of them, but I do long for the day when I don't have to medicate one of them with something :-/

 

Perhaps if you tell us where you are located someone could recommend a good avian vet for you?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, just feeling a bit fed up as the crop infection just doesn't seem to be getting any better and I feel so sorry for her! Good to know others are in a similar boat.

I go to a vet that is a recognised vet for hens Trinity vets in Maidstone (I live in Hildenborough kent). I went to my local vet who couldn't help so sent me there. They do seem to know what they are talking about and are very knowledgable.

I just want her to get better and it's sad and frustrating!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maidstone used to be my old stomping ground when I was younger, I'm from Medway but live in Bedfordshire now :-)

 

I've just been looking in my diary and up until this week we actually had 3 weeks of not having to treat for anything. I suppose I should be grateful really :lol:

 

I am absolutely convinced mine all snuggle up in bed and discuss what ways they can stress out Mum and Dad next, and usually when one decides to take a turn for the worst it is 1:01pm on a Saturday afternoon, exactly the minute after they vets is closed until Monday!

 

I've been through a lot of vets, but do have a great one for if someone is extremely poorly, he's annoyingly 1/2 hours drive from where I live.

 

This page lists chicken friendly vets in Kent, it might be worth having a chat with one near you and see what they say. Good luck xxx

 

http://wiki.omlet.co.uk/index.php?title=Chicken_Friendly_Vets&oldid=12336#Kent

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PS, what antibiotics is she on for the crop infection? I've not had crop issues (yet, give it time I expect!), but my really good vet that cured Lola of e.Coli said he never uses Baytril as he doesn't think it's that effective. Noroclav fixed her up after a 4 week course (vet said it usually takes at least 3 weeks of anti b's to cure infections in chickens).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for link to list of vets the one I have recently changed to for my hens is on there and the poultry expert mentioned is the vet I am seeing :)

She is currently taking metronidazole tablets twice a day (I crush them with water and give it via syringe) and Emeprid twice a day. She had a different white coloured medicine previously but I've thrown the bottle away!

I feel better knowing that others have frequently ill birds too, it's horrible when they're ill!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If she is eating, we have found the easiest trick to get meds into ours is to crush them into a powder and sprinkle them on top of pureed tinned sweetcorn (the stuff in water, with no added salt or sugar).

 

I hate syringing anything in, mostly because it stresses my girls out but also because I worry we'll squirt the liquid into the wind pipe and choke them :-/ Wrapping in a towel seems to help calm them and stop the struggling if you do have to syringe stuff in though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the sweetcorn tip, I currently wrap her in a towel and as I have had to do it for nearly 30 days now I am becoming a bit of a pro but I hate doing it so will try the sweetcorn.

It's just only having 2 hens you'd think it would be easier. I did lots of research and a course before getting them but right now although i love them I am not sure I can keep doing this.

I feel so sorry for her and also seeing her get pecked makes it even worse, I will separate them again tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heather_hedgehog I can't really offer any advice but I do sympathise. When I first got my girls I planned to get 2 or 3 Wyandotte POL bantams, but ended up getting 2 18 month old Wyandottes and 2 10 week old Pekins. The Wyandottes bullied the Pekins terribly and made their lives a misery for months and I felt so awful for them because I felt like it was my fault they were so miserable. But eventually things improved and now they get on well enough most of the time and I love them all so much I'm glad I had all four.

 

I guess what I'm saying is even though it's difficult and you feel bad at the moment, things will almost certainly get better, and no-one else would be likely to look after your girls as well as you anyway. Chin up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

a thought on the sour crop problem does it look smaller in the morning ( a health crop should be more or less flat at this time ) when you first let them out and then bigger towards the end of the day?

if so that's part of the natural feeding process

I keep naked neck chickens and their crops are on show all the time and when non chicken people see then for the first time they think that the birds have lump growing there

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

could it be an impacted crop? have they considered this? sounds gross but my Barbara had a crop that wasn't empty in the morning for a few days so I gave her live white maggots ( has to be the white ones) she and her cohorts ate half a pint before bed....next morning she had a nice empty crop, could be coincidence but might be worth a try

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the pecking will stop, given time. When Lola was really ill the others were ghastly to her, keeping her away from all the food, jumping on her back and shacking her by her comb :roll:

 

They are prey animals, so anyone that shows a weakness in the flock is a threat as she'll attract predators if they were in the wild. My vet also mentions they will be nasty to the sick hen to kill her off because they don't want to risk catching whatever she has.

 

Lola is much better now and as soon as she fully recovered the bullying stopped. You would never know there had ever been a problem now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you give up hens don't loose your equipments, I gave away a lot of things to be sure not to have hens again. now I have 15 hens and a rooster. and end up buying equipments again.

you can change your hens. to avoid pecking look at what breed you buy. avoid red hybrids. buy hens growing up in the same hatch and buy them as young as possible, so they grow together . and the ultimate remedy is free ranging

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The high temperature diagnosis was for my other hen and the vet was not a chicken expert so I now go to one who is.

Regarding the hen that is ill now, the crop does get smaller in the morning but is still the size of a satsuma then is bigger by evening so at least some of it is emptying. She is definitely still ill. Thanks everyone for the support.

I have booked another appointment at the vet tomorrow as not sure what to do for the best. She's had nearly 30 days treatment and it is not getting better, not sure it's fair on her :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may find the crop is simply a ball of something that won't break up Heather. Could be feathers, grass, wood shavings even. Have you tried a little Olive Oil and a massage several times a day? We have one now with exactly the same apparent symptom (although she had an almost total impaction of the digestive system initially). Hers will soften with water but hardens again by morning and we think it is feathers because we've caught her eating them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beantree, I have tried olive oil thanks for the tip though it may have helped. I have just come back from spending an hour sitting with them in the garden and am feeling a lot better. Marjory seems perky and bright and Florence is only pecking at her very occasionally. She is foraging around and eating and drinking so I don't need to worry there, I counted and I have 6 more days of medicine left. We are going away for a few days so I will have to put her in the vets so that her medicine still gets given to her. Her crop doesn't seem too large, it was quite pendulous before so it will be interesting to see how it looks in the morning.

My husband made a ramp for the chickens to walk up to another level in their run as a surprise while I was at work today, so that cheered me up. Not giving up, they do bring me a lot of joy and pleasure and they are such characters! Just going through a rough hen patch, sounds like most people have them… Its nice to know I am not alone :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...