What did you do with your flock today?

[ChicksnMore]

Progress report, Day 11. She has attempted to also preen a little. Good signs, though she can't reach her oil gland just yet.

She's looking good! You did such a great job pulling her through that. Any sign of leg use returning?

 

[ChicksnMore]

Well, I'm not as mad at hubby lately poor guy. He is getting better and is slightly ahead of schedule. He is certainly accident prone. I can count the times I have seen him tossed off a horse on 2 hands (🖐). Also, slide off a roof, scaffolding, ladders etc. Somewhere along the line i just started getting mad at him.

I can certainly understand that! Here it's me thats accident prone and DH that gets grumpy off and on . Your DH has exceeded me in accidents though I think...I'm so glad he pulls through them all so well! Bet he's glad he has you beside him to help him through

 

[ChicksnMore]

I love reading about your kitty rescue.

We moved here in 2006. In 2007 a stray gray tabby had a litter of kittens under our shed. Before I could trap her she had a second litter. I did manage to trap/TNR most of her kittens. For a short time I had 8 cats hanging around, but the attrition here is high. The tabby, Momma Cat, and her eldest daughter, Mittsie, were residents until a couple years ago. Now that they're gone the ferals are moving in.

So I am feeding them canned cat food to get them used to hanging around and eating here, the easier to trap them.

Breakthrough this afternoon:
View attachment 3683881
Little calico came up and started eating while I was still standing there.

The white/flame-point was more hesitant, but definitely less scared.
View attachment 3683883

Our local spay clinic has a weeks-long wait for appointments, so I am going to make a couple feral appointments and work on getting these kitties more comfortable around me before I trap them.

Oh, and the white cat likes to watch my flock. Typical cat fascination for birds.

That's wonderful . Ferals have such a hard time of it. Nothing like seeing disease spread through a feral population to remind us how hard it is to truly be wild. Beautiful kitties!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Hopping onto this thread only 1,524 pages later…

Oh well. I like talking chickens so this seems like the place. I’ve read some posts but it’s quite a bit to catch up on. Ok if I hop on now?

My newest chicks are a week old today and happy to report they hate me just as much as my first flock did at this age. Tried to do my daily butt checks and one managed to get out of the brooder and run behind my fridge garage. So that was fun! Why do they think I’m trying to murder them? My older girls are 24 weeks and 2 out of 5 are laying. Today my barred rock squatted for me so I’m expecting a 3rd layer any day now! My Easter egger is getting nice and red so I’m expecting her to start soon, though I can’t really tell with that breed. And my buff Orphington is taking her sweet time maturing. She’s still barely turning red in her comb.

Welcome to thread! Can't wait to see and hear more about your birds

 

[ChicksnMore]

Thanks! Here are my new babies. It’s truly incredible how quickly they grow and change in just a week!

Cream legbar, partridge olive egger, green queen Easter egger, and my favorite my long awaited golden laced polish.

View attachment 3683952

O my! Aren't polish chicks the most adorable fluff balls? What a face on that little one!

 

[fuzzi]

That's wonderful . Ferals have such a hard time of it. Nothing like seeing disease spread through a feral population to remind us how hard it is to truly be wild. Beautiful kitties!

Front to back: Boots, Mittsie, Momma Cat

Boots showed up on his own about 8 years ago. We lost him last year.

Momma Cat:

 

[ChicksnMore]

Got a few clouds here this morning...and they gave us a spectacular sunrise. I still have never managed to photograph a sunrise as beautiful as my eyes see. I keep trying though!

 

[fuzzi]

Got a few clouds here this morning...and they gave us a spectacular sunrise. I still have never managed to photograph a sunrise as beautiful as my eyes see. I keep trying though! View attachment 3684282View attachment 3684283

Agreed. But use more "saturation" on a photo editor and you can come close.

 

[LTAY1946]

Weather is so bad the layers are not being let out to free range until about 2. After that the rain may be sporadic and not so heavy. From the hatching front over night the flock has grown to 15 with 2 more pipping. I'm moving slow today and paying for the heavy work I did moving feed. I had to do it. Kids got to eat. Now I have company coming in some time to day and tomorrow for feed can be moved to bins and that should keep me out of trouble for awhile anyway. Have a great day everyone.

 

[MaeM]

Is this the previous prolapse surgery or a new surgery?

Have you got her on pre and probiotics?
I also give my chickens bentonite or Montmorillonite green clay (food grade) to help digestive issues. It's brilliant stuff as it binds and expells toxins alongside many other benefits. It is also high in silica and supports fascia and connective tissue development.
I usually just mix the powder with the morning feed. With a really sick chicken, I mix 1tbsp of the clay with 4oz of filtered water, let it stand overnight and then carefully syringe feed a small amount the next morning. I don't give any food or meds for at least 2 hrs after.
You have to be cautious though as clay can dehydrate them so ensure they have adequate water. There's no limit to how long you can use the clay for but obviously if it's not helping, stop.

One note of caution. Use the highest food grade clay you can get, as depending on where it's excavated, it can be contaminated with various heavy metals. If it's food grade clay it won't be.

She prolapsed three times.

First time, she got a relatively simple surgery, where the main idea was to put it all back in and keep it there.

Second time, she prolapsed a few minutes after the stitches from the number one surgery were removed. So they put it all back in again and stitched her again.

Third time, she was doing fine without the stitches and she had the terrible idea of laying an egg.

This time, the surgery was more complicated as there was necrotic tissue and a perforation in her oviduct.

I don't think I'll be able to give her clay as hydration is actually one of her problems right now. She is barely drinking water and I'm syringe hydrating her with Gatorade.

She barely eats but I've noticed that I can make her eat more if I hand feed her. Still, she has trouble with her digestion.

During the night, she expelled an orange fluid. The vets told me it would be orange due to the medication she's taking. But it's all liquid, no poop, and just a few urates.

It takes her ages to "poop". I fed her Nestum (with a syringe) at 7 am, but nothing came out of her vent until 11:30 am.

She opens her eyes and walks around a little, but rests and sleeps a lot.

I must take her to one of her vets tomorrow. They've already told me that euthanasia should be considered if she doesn't improve.

But I don't know if I can euthanize a bird who eats from my hand and reacts to my voice and is... You know, not 100% unresponsive.

Still, I don't know how much time she has left if she doesn't start pooping. I mean, it's not even what you'd imagine if I told you she has diarrhea. It's an orange liquid, no little pieces of turd or anything.