We have had a bit of a weekend with the girls again but (fingers crossed) it looks like things will be OK.
Over the last week or so someone had been laying very very big eggs with very thin rough shells (very difficult to tell which one of course) and then on Friday evening just as I was about to cook dinner M noticed that one of the hens was pecking at the others' bottom area a lot. We had a look and noticed blood pouring from her vent (where the eggs and poo comes out of, they only have one hole). We quickly picked her up and had a proper look and there was a nasty bloody prolapse (bit like piles for chickens). With very clean hands and dilute iodine we cleaned the area and then very gently pushed the prolapse back in. Over the weekend we have had to keep the hens separated as the healthy one just pecks at the others bum and they can kill doing this as eventually they pull out the others innards (sorry not nice but true). It could be that the prolapse was caused by the other hen pecking or that the prolapse occured and then the pecking started, they are carnivorous and some nice fresh blood might have been too much of a temptation. We have cleaned the affected area and having read up about this put pile cream around the vent 4 times a day (this is nice and cooling, has a mild topical anaesthetic and a mile antiseptic in it).
At night we blocked off one of the nest boxes and kept the sick one in there with a little food and water. Yesterday she really wasn't eating and we feared that we would have to start hand feeding today (with a syringe) and if that had happened I think we would have had to seriously think about culling her; from previous experience once they stop eating it is only a matter of time.
Well this morning M went to let them out and found healthy hen had laid an egg (this had been an issue too as she had been distressed with all the goings on and appeared to be eating her own eggs which can be another big issue). M rescued the egg and lured the healthy hen to another run (to keep them apart). He went to open up the blocked up nest box and sick hen pretty much leaped out. She is eating and drinking and is currently roaming the garden finding nice baby slugs and all sorts to eat. She is making little noises (had been very quiet for the last few days), is preening and scratching, so looks a lot better. We will still clean her and apply the cream for a few days and I am going to get some stuff to put around her bum to stop the other hen pecking her feathers out.
We are not quite out of the woods yet though as when she lays another egg the prolapse could recur so will need to keep and eye on this and for the time being will keep them separated so that if she does do it again she won't get attacked by the other hen.
Prolapse can occur particularly in hens who are the best layers and those who lay large eggs. I am not sure why she was laying eggs with such rough shells and there is a lot of discussion on forums about the use of oyster shell (or other forms of calcium). Chickens need this to form the egg shells and commercially produced layers mash or pellets (this is their feed) should contain all the things they need. Some people seem to feel that this is not enough and you should give them more, but then again other people say that giving them extra calcium if they don't need it can result in rough paper thin shells and can cause other problems including death, so not sure if somehow maybe she was getting too much. As there seems to be so much confusion on the subject I am going to talk to someone at work who has a large egg business so does all this commercially and I am sure she will know the answer.
The problem with keeping stock is that you really have to know what you are doing (of course) and there are courses for keeping most kinds of stock. A lot of people are now keeping hens thanks to TV Chef celebs and there is a lot of concern that people don't have the knowledge and experience to keep them in the right ways. I have seen people ask if hens need perches and nest boxes (which is actually quite fundamental). We learned from our friends who we lived with who had hens and read up on the subject widely before we got them, but even then the advice you can get can be confusing and conflicting. I would strongly recommend that anyone who wants to keep hens (or any stock for that matter) reads up on it and if possible go along to one of the many day workshops there are on the subject. Get the right information first and hopefully you will have fewer problems and if they do occur you will know how to manage them.
Hopefully our girl will make a full recovery but I do worry that it was something we did or didn't do that caused the problems, hopefully we will have learned something from all this and can make sure our girls are happy and healthy.
Over the last week or so someone had been laying very very big eggs with very thin rough shells (very difficult to tell which one of course) and then on Friday evening just as I was about to cook dinner M noticed that one of the hens was pecking at the others' bottom area a lot. We had a look and noticed blood pouring from her vent (where the eggs and poo comes out of, they only have one hole). We quickly picked her up and had a proper look and there was a nasty bloody prolapse (bit like piles for chickens). With very clean hands and dilute iodine we cleaned the area and then very gently pushed the prolapse back in. Over the weekend we have had to keep the hens separated as the healthy one just pecks at the others bum and they can kill doing this as eventually they pull out the others innards (sorry not nice but true). It could be that the prolapse was caused by the other hen pecking or that the prolapse occured and then the pecking started, they are carnivorous and some nice fresh blood might have been too much of a temptation. We have cleaned the affected area and having read up about this put pile cream around the vent 4 times a day (this is nice and cooling, has a mild topical anaesthetic and a mile antiseptic in it).
At night we blocked off one of the nest boxes and kept the sick one in there with a little food and water. Yesterday she really wasn't eating and we feared that we would have to start hand feeding today (with a syringe) and if that had happened I think we would have had to seriously think about culling her; from previous experience once they stop eating it is only a matter of time.
Well this morning M went to let them out and found healthy hen had laid an egg (this had been an issue too as she had been distressed with all the goings on and appeared to be eating her own eggs which can be another big issue). M rescued the egg and lured the healthy hen to another run (to keep them apart). He went to open up the blocked up nest box and sick hen pretty much leaped out. She is eating and drinking and is currently roaming the garden finding nice baby slugs and all sorts to eat. She is making little noises (had been very quiet for the last few days), is preening and scratching, so looks a lot better. We will still clean her and apply the cream for a few days and I am going to get some stuff to put around her bum to stop the other hen pecking her feathers out.
We are not quite out of the woods yet though as when she lays another egg the prolapse could recur so will need to keep and eye on this and for the time being will keep them separated so that if she does do it again she won't get attacked by the other hen.
Prolapse can occur particularly in hens who are the best layers and those who lay large eggs. I am not sure why she was laying eggs with such rough shells and there is a lot of discussion on forums about the use of oyster shell (or other forms of calcium). Chickens need this to form the egg shells and commercially produced layers mash or pellets (this is their feed) should contain all the things they need. Some people seem to feel that this is not enough and you should give them more, but then again other people say that giving them extra calcium if they don't need it can result in rough paper thin shells and can cause other problems including death, so not sure if somehow maybe she was getting too much. As there seems to be so much confusion on the subject I am going to talk to someone at work who has a large egg business so does all this commercially and I am sure she will know the answer.
The problem with keeping stock is that you really have to know what you are doing (of course) and there are courses for keeping most kinds of stock. A lot of people are now keeping hens thanks to TV Chef celebs and there is a lot of concern that people don't have the knowledge and experience to keep them in the right ways. I have seen people ask if hens need perches and nest boxes (which is actually quite fundamental). We learned from our friends who we lived with who had hens and read up on the subject widely before we got them, but even then the advice you can get can be confusing and conflicting. I would strongly recommend that anyone who wants to keep hens (or any stock for that matter) reads up on it and if possible go along to one of the many day workshops there are on the subject. Get the right information first and hopefully you will have fewer problems and if they do occur you will know how to manage them.
Hopefully our girl will make a full recovery but I do worry that it was something we did or didn't do that caused the problems, hopefully we will have learned something from all this and can make sure our girls are happy and healthy.
1 comment:
Hi Lotti
Lucky you having chickens - its on my list. I did't realise that chickens had problems like this and am glad your girl is on the mend. My grandparents always kept chickens and I was taught as a youngster how to remove an egg from a sitting hen and to handle them.
My Nan if she used any eggs always used to put the used egg shells on a baking tray and every time she had a load would dry them on the tray in the oven whilst something else was cooking. Then she used to crush them down and give them back to the chickens to give them grit. She always had special cooking pots for the chickens and for the dogs. (they also used to cook meat lights and whatnot for the dogs they never had canned food) During the winter months she always used to make a hot mash for the chickens by boiling up any veg peelings like potato, carrot, etc then using the hot vegetable juices to mix into the bran together with the boiled veg peelings. The chickens used to go nuts for it. Not only did it warm them up it gave them a bit of variety as well. Then they used to get the remnants of any vegetables harvested like cabbage stalks and leaves, apples(although not too many) and they used to have a very varied diet and the eggs were lovely although they always vary. Hopefully one day not too far in the distant future I will have my own hens. They are such characters.
Enjoy and take care
xx
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