With Mayzie, along with the sadness of losing her, came all the questions. Why did she die? What did I miss? Was there something I could have done to help her? Because I'm new to this, I enlisted the help of someone with much more experience than me. I took a chicken keeping class with Terry Golson before we got our own chickens. She has an wonderful blog (with lots of helpful articles and videos) called hencam.com which is an amazing resource for everyone with chickens. It covers just about every chicken topic you can think of and she has a few cameras set up on her farm, so you can watch her chickens and goats from your computer, if you don't have your own to enjoy! Because so few vets care for chickens, we are very lucky to have Terry so close by with all her chicken knowledge.
Terry came to Glen Hill Farm yesterday to help me figure out what went wrong with Mayzie, and to help me figure out what is still going wrong with Minerva Louise. What we determined was that the fact that these two hens got sick within days of each other, it was just coincidental. Their sicknesses, while similar, are not contagious. That was the biggest relief for me. She was also able to determine that there was nothing that I could have done to change Mayzie's outcome. Again, very comforting to hear as a newbie. Terry performed a necropsy (an autopsy for animals) on Mayzie to confirm these facts. I was desperate for answers, because I was afraid that my other hens were at risk, and performing a necropsy was the best way to get them. Because Mayzie died in my arms, I actually felt her spirit leave her body. (This was a first time experience for me and it was quite... 'traumatic' is not the right word, but something similar. Actually maybe 'incredibly sad, yet educational' is more accurate?) What that experience reconfirmed was that these bodies of ours are just things. They are just our vehicles for our spirits while we're here. The difference between alive-Mayzie and Mayzie's body after she died was palpable. And that is why I was okay with the necropsy. And, actually, not just okay with it, I wanted it. I wanted answers.
Terry finding answers for us. |
What we discovered is that Mayzie's reproductive system had shut down, meaning her egg laying tract had malfunctioned. She had stopped producing shells. It also seemed that her digestive tract may have shut down as well. We couldn't determine why they shut down, but it was enough for me to know the reason of death. It was such a relief to know that it wasn't anything contagious, it wasn't worms, and it wasn't anything that would have been healed by medicine or treatment. Birds' have very fragile systems and there is just so much that can go wrong. Although it was sad for me to lose her so quickly, I'm glad that she didn't linger in pain.
Thanks to everyone who sent me a message when we lost Mayzie. It really meant so much to hear from you all! Thank you so much!
Minerva Louise is still hanging in there with us! She is noticeably healthier than last week, no longer hiding or limping. With that being said, Terry has warned us that it is likely that Minerva Louise may not be with us for much longer because of her unhealthy looking poops. Her best guess is that Minerva Louise is having an internal laying issue. But Minerva is still eating and drinking, so we are hoping for the best, and readying ourselves for the worst. Again, I'm relieved that her illness isn't contagious.
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Going over Minerva Louise's recent health issues. |
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I love gaining knowledge. (Can you see Jessie on the floor next to Terry? Clearly, she wanted answers, too.) |
We have started Minerva Louise on Duramycin antibiotics. While it may not be able to save her, it certainly is worth trying. However, I am having quite a challenging time getting her to take it! Normally, you would add it to their drinking water, but I don't want the other hens to be unnecessarily medicated. I could separate her for the 10 days of treatment, but I really don't want to. If she's not going to be here much longer, I want her to be as happy as possible with her friends outside. So, I am trying to get the medicine into her by hand. Let's just say... Next to impossible! :) I tried giving her the medicated water by syringe last night, which was, well....comical. I think more medicine ended up all over me than in her. I tried again this morning. Again, wildly unsuccessful. I started putting mealworm treats into the medicated water, just to get her beak into the water. That was actually working, but she wasn't really drinking the water. That's when I thought of soaking some bread in the medicated water and feeding her the bread. Now that worked! So, I actually added more of the antibiotic powder to the water to make it more concentrated and continued to feed her the medicated bread. I have no idea if she's ingesting enough to do any help, but we shall see. She actually has been putting herself to bed about an hour earlier than the other hens. It's sad to see, because it just confirms that she's not feeling 100%, but I'm hoping that the extra rest will help her heal. Other than her early bedtime--and her still yucky poop--she's acting mostly normal-- eating, free ranging and dust-bathing with her friends. It's nice to see.
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Last week, after Minerva Louise stopped limping, she started hiding. Not a good sign. |
Here she is last week, not hiding anymore, but clearly not feeling well. This is what a sick chicken looks like. Very sad. |
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Minerva Louise soaking in a warm Epsom Salt bath in our barn sink. This definitely helped her feel a bit better! Amazing how something so simple seemed to help so much. |
Toweling off with Ben after the bath. |
Getting a little blow dry from the heater in the tack room. |
My assembled tools to help Minerva Louise feel better. Praying it will work. |
She ate the antibiotic-water soaked bread! |
She put herself to bed early last night. Good girl. |
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Please feel better soon, Minerva Louise! |
Now onto some good new! This week, we had some landscapers come to help us get rid of the many vines (lots of poison ivy and some other vines) growing on our property. They did an amazing job and I am so thankful! Praying that it will make this summer much less itchy for me! There is still a ton of poison ivy around, but this is a significant start! I already have some poison ivy that popped up on my face this week, but I'm hoping that it may be the only spot for a while. Fingers crossed!
The baby/teenager chicks are doing great! They have become a cute foursome. Last night I had them all sleep together in the red barn coop. Everyone seemed to behave. I need to move them all into the big coop soon because they have become good flyers! This is the age where they have all their feathers, and are still light enough to actually take flight very well! They can easily escape the horse stall. So far they are just flying up onto the sides and back down, but it won't be long before they fly out of the stall altogether! And now that I know that I don't have to worry about Minerva Louise's health issues being contagious, I really should start this next transition sooner than later.
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All four teenagers together in one coop. |
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Teenage rebels. Up to no good, hanging out on the horse stall sides. |
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Matilda in flight! Yikes! |
The dogs are just awesome these days. So adorably cute. Just what I need to balance out the worries of the hens right now.
Jessie girl. |
Such a good pup. |
Cooper stopping to smell the flowers. Sweet boy. |
Jessie, the boot stealer. She steals the boots out of the barn. every. single. day. |
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Watering Can? Or water fountain for dogs? |
Jessie wants a sip, too. |
That's quite a dirty nose there, Coop. Which flower pot did you get into this time? Silly boy. |
By the way, here's a link to Terry Golson's website: http://hencam.com/
Turns out she has chicken training experience, too! As well as dogs, horses and fish! Wow!