Well her ladyship didn't quite charge out of the henhouse with as much vigour as yesterday morning, but she was still full of the joys :-) Her crop was empty. She ate a good breakfast of their usual wet ex-bat crumbs.
I popped a pot of mixed corn (garvo special) in the run yesterday, and again today (without topping it up) to see whether they pigged on it or not. The result so far is that they are eating it, but definitely not to excess.
No egg today, but to be honest even before the implant I wouldn't have expected today to be a laying day for Lola.
The entry site of the implant has sealed over nicely; no redness, no blood, all looking good.
Lola did have a bit of a tantrum this morning when Ellie went into the eglu cube to lay her egg (yes my two girls have a whole eglu cube between two of them lol), since we lost Ruby a few weeks ago, Lola hates being left on her own, she did this after Tilly died too when it was just her and Ruby. We are looking at getting her a couple of new friends soon.
Lola does seem to have eaten a less today, but she more than made up for it at teatime, and when I went out to give her her metoclopramide she had a lovely full crop. Droppings have been a bit loose, but that is fairly normal for Lola anyway, they are a good colour and do have some texture to them, not watery like they had been on Sunday.
I weighed Lola last night, just so I can monitor her weight a little more closely; apparently it is normal for them to drop a bit of weight after the implant...Lola really doesn't need to lose any weight, and is sitting at just over 1800g at the moment.
Both girls have been their usual cuddly selves today, and Lola has been less snoozy today again, wanting to be up and about busying herself with important tasks in the garden; such as trying to dig her way to Australia! All in all we have spent about 6 hours out in the garden today, and when I went to close the eglu door up at 9.40pm Lola decided to get up and join me in the run, have a little snack, and pop herself back to bed after a n'night kiss *wub*
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Monday, 30th May 2011
I let Lola out of the henhouse, and she was first out- usually Ellie barges past her, but not this morning! No food in her crop, although she really didn't want to wait a whole second while I checked- far more important things to be doing :-) She proceeded to charge about the run like a loony, up and over the perches, through the bath, behind the perches, absolutely full of the joys, and a total bundle of energy!
I took the girls some breakfast (wet ex-battery crumbs) at about 8.30am and let them out of the run, Lola had a good feed. It was tipping down with rain, but Lola did not want to be indoors! This is fairly unlike Lola, but I went with it as it wasn't too cold. By the time I convinced her it was a good idea to come indoors for a bit, she was absolutely sodden! I dried her off a bit with some paper towels, and she settled herself on my shoulder and smooshed herself right up against my face for a wee snooze. The fidgets got the better of her, so she had a good preen, then I upset her by getting the hairdryer out to get a bit more water out of her feathers!
I had planned to go out to a smallholding in the Malverns to look at some chooks, and decided that I was happy enough to leave Lola. Anyone who knows me at all will know that if there is ANY doubt at all about my girl's health, I will not leave them. They can go downhill far too quickly, and it is not a risk I am ever willing to take.
When I got back, all was well as predicted. They came out for a play in the garden, did some digging etc When I took them some tea out at 6.30pm as usual, Lola was nowhere to be seen. I had only been in the kitchen a couple of minutes (the garden is in view), and I called Lola, and she didn't answer me. She knows that the magic green bowl always contains something yummy, and she knows when it is teatime, because if I am late she will stand in the kitchen chattering away in disgust. I soon found her in the nestbox...I showed her the bowl and she got up and tucked into her favourite boiled rice with mealworm garnish.
At 7.15pm I went out to give Lola her metoclopramide (I asked our vet who suggested I continue with this treatment until I am happy she doesn't need it) and she was back in the nestbox. Sure enough she laid a very abnormal egg, it was horrid, poor little mite. The shell wasn't really formed at all; very soft, it peeled away from the membrane, which contained a huge yolk (unusual for Lola) and parts of it looked as if they were partially cooked- that mushy texture you get when cooking a fried egg with a runny yolk. I don't think Lola has ever laid an egg in the evening. It is normal after implanting to lay the occasional egg in the beginning. If they have already ovulated when they have the implant the egg obviously needs to continue it's journey.
As soon as she had laid it, she got up, came out in the garden and had a wander around with Ellie before going back into the run and then off to bed.
The offending egg after I had pulled it all apart to check it
I took the girls some breakfast (wet ex-battery crumbs) at about 8.30am and let them out of the run, Lola had a good feed. It was tipping down with rain, but Lola did not want to be indoors! This is fairly unlike Lola, but I went with it as it wasn't too cold. By the time I convinced her it was a good idea to come indoors for a bit, she was absolutely sodden! I dried her off a bit with some paper towels, and she settled herself on my shoulder and smooshed herself right up against my face for a wee snooze. The fidgets got the better of her, so she had a good preen, then I upset her by getting the hairdryer out to get a bit more water out of her feathers!
I had planned to go out to a smallholding in the Malverns to look at some chooks, and decided that I was happy enough to leave Lola. Anyone who knows me at all will know that if there is ANY doubt at all about my girl's health, I will not leave them. They can go downhill far too quickly, and it is not a risk I am ever willing to take.
When I got back, all was well as predicted. They came out for a play in the garden, did some digging etc When I took them some tea out at 6.30pm as usual, Lola was nowhere to be seen. I had only been in the kitchen a couple of minutes (the garden is in view), and I called Lola, and she didn't answer me. She knows that the magic green bowl always contains something yummy, and she knows when it is teatime, because if I am late she will stand in the kitchen chattering away in disgust. I soon found her in the nestbox...I showed her the bowl and she got up and tucked into her favourite boiled rice with mealworm garnish.
At 7.15pm I went out to give Lola her metoclopramide (I asked our vet who suggested I continue with this treatment until I am happy she doesn't need it) and she was back in the nestbox. Sure enough she laid a very abnormal egg, it was horrid, poor little mite. The shell wasn't really formed at all; very soft, it peeled away from the membrane, which contained a huge yolk (unusual for Lola) and parts of it looked as if they were partially cooked- that mushy texture you get when cooking a fried egg with a runny yolk. I don't think Lola has ever laid an egg in the evening. It is normal after implanting to lay the occasional egg in the beginning. If they have already ovulated when they have the implant the egg obviously needs to continue it's journey.
As soon as she had laid it, she got up, came out in the garden and had a wander around with Ellie before going back into the run and then off to bed.
The offending egg after I had pulled it all apart to check it
The beginning (Sunday 29th May 2011)
I guess the most helpful place to start would be with a little history.
First off, let me just say that this blog is only a diary of MY experiences, it is not intended as advice, I have no veterinary training at all, and you take it as it is- a personal blog, with personal opinions and experiences. I am just incredibly lucky to have the most amazing team of vets who will ALWAYS do their very best by my chooks, and understand 100% that these are pets, and not egg laying machines. I am completely and utterly grateful for the work they do with my ladies, and I couldn't do it without them.
So, back to the topic in hand:
Lola was rescued from the battery farm and came to live with me on 23rd May 2009.
Over the last couple of months we have had ongoing problems with crop/gut stasis. Faecal testing hasn't shown anything particularly unusual; moderate brachyspira, treated with tylan (and then repeated), staph and strep (apparently normal) although two of our vets feel that strep from a faecal sample is unusual. As a sensitivity test had been carried out on the sample, we went ahead and treated for the strep.
None of the above have helped. When I let the girls out of the henhouse in the morning, I always check their crop, and on average for one day only every 6-10 days Lola will have food in there still. She would then be very lethargic, no apetite, no energy at all really, just wants to lay down. She has also had purpling to the back of her comb, this comes and goes.
Our 'main' vet, decided that a more preventative course of oral metoclopramide may be beneficial, which we have been doing for a while now and it has certainly helped. Lola was having this twice a day at roughly 12 hourly intervals. I found that even on the odd days when she got up with stasis, she would still eat and drink; although her appetite was small, and the lethargy was nowhere near how it had been; she would happily pootle about in the garden, but would have frequent 'snooze breaks'.
A couple of weeks ago I dropped the dose to once a day, in the evening about an hour or so before she went to bed.
Last Tuesday she laid quite a strange egg, very odd in colour, rough texture, slightly slab-sided. On Sunday morning she laid an awful soft egg, which is so unlike Lola. We have had lots of wrinkly shells, very thin shells and so on. All very unlike Lola. She was also producing bright green droppings, followed by a slightly more normal looking dropping, but with yellowy fluid. Her undercarriage area had felt slightly puffy the day before (something else I check regularly), was slightly less puffy on Sunday but possibly distended none the less.
I popped her off to the vets, and the vet did feel that she really doesn't need to be laying abnormal eggs on top of everything else. We can't say for sure whether there is a link between the weird eggs and the stasis, but we decided to go ahead and implant her with suprelorin. This is not licensed for chickens as far as I am aware, although it is being more widely used in the avian world in general.
She had the implant between her shoulders; I have mostly heard of it going into the breast, but as it is only popped under the skin I suppose it makes no difference where it goes really. The needle used to pop the implant in is quite hefty, we tried without any anaesthetic, but Lola found it quite painful, so she had a smidge of local, and then didn't feel a thing.
Sunday evening; didn't appear to be sore at all, would let me run my hand down her back with not so much as a flinch. She ate well, seemed in good spirits, I expected her to want an early night but at 8.30pm+ she was still digging and scratching about in the run with her partner in crime, Ellie!
First off, let me just say that this blog is only a diary of MY experiences, it is not intended as advice, I have no veterinary training at all, and you take it as it is- a personal blog, with personal opinions and experiences. I am just incredibly lucky to have the most amazing team of vets who will ALWAYS do their very best by my chooks, and understand 100% that these are pets, and not egg laying machines. I am completely and utterly grateful for the work they do with my ladies, and I couldn't do it without them.
So, back to the topic in hand:
Lola was rescued from the battery farm and came to live with me on 23rd May 2009.
Over the last couple of months we have had ongoing problems with crop/gut stasis. Faecal testing hasn't shown anything particularly unusual; moderate brachyspira, treated with tylan (and then repeated), staph and strep (apparently normal) although two of our vets feel that strep from a faecal sample is unusual. As a sensitivity test had been carried out on the sample, we went ahead and treated for the strep.
None of the above have helped. When I let the girls out of the henhouse in the morning, I always check their crop, and on average for one day only every 6-10 days Lola will have food in there still. She would then be very lethargic, no apetite, no energy at all really, just wants to lay down. She has also had purpling to the back of her comb, this comes and goes.
Our 'main' vet, decided that a more preventative course of oral metoclopramide may be beneficial, which we have been doing for a while now and it has certainly helped. Lola was having this twice a day at roughly 12 hourly intervals. I found that even on the odd days when she got up with stasis, she would still eat and drink; although her appetite was small, and the lethargy was nowhere near how it had been; she would happily pootle about in the garden, but would have frequent 'snooze breaks'.
A couple of weeks ago I dropped the dose to once a day, in the evening about an hour or so before she went to bed.
Last Tuesday she laid quite a strange egg, very odd in colour, rough texture, slightly slab-sided. On Sunday morning she laid an awful soft egg, which is so unlike Lola. We have had lots of wrinkly shells, very thin shells and so on. All very unlike Lola. She was also producing bright green droppings, followed by a slightly more normal looking dropping, but with yellowy fluid. Her undercarriage area had felt slightly puffy the day before (something else I check regularly), was slightly less puffy on Sunday but possibly distended none the less.
I popped her off to the vets, and the vet did feel that she really doesn't need to be laying abnormal eggs on top of everything else. We can't say for sure whether there is a link between the weird eggs and the stasis, but we decided to go ahead and implant her with suprelorin. This is not licensed for chickens as far as I am aware, although it is being more widely used in the avian world in general.
She had the implant between her shoulders; I have mostly heard of it going into the breast, but as it is only popped under the skin I suppose it makes no difference where it goes really. The needle used to pop the implant in is quite hefty, we tried without any anaesthetic, but Lola found it quite painful, so she had a smidge of local, and then didn't feel a thing.
Sunday evening; didn't appear to be sore at all, would let me run my hand down her back with not so much as a flinch. She ate well, seemed in good spirits, I expected her to want an early night but at 8.30pm+ she was still digging and scratching about in the run with her partner in crime, Ellie!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)