MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

We're home from the vet who agreed Mary's soft shelled egg was due to ageing. However, now Mary's turning that corner in life, she suggested a suprelorin implant to prevent any reproductive health issues like EYP.

Suprelorin upsets some hens. So I asked if we could defer it until she's out of brooding, so she would only be dealing with one hormonal challenge at a time.

Then I got thinking about Mary who's never had chicks and who's on her last broody phase ever (the vet told me suprelorin stops brooding along with eggs).

So the plan is to get eggs under her today or tomorrow, then sort out her suprelorin implant once she and her chicks have separated.

Fingers crossed... Before eggs I'll be refreshing the nest with new straw and pestene because Mary had a load of ants on her, and they'd feast on a newly hatched chick. I may even go so far as to use surface spray on the nest box before I put clean straw in. So I'll make a start on that once I've had my cuppa and finished watching Ship Happens on youtube.

 

[BY Bob]

We're home from the vet who agreed Mary's soft shelled egg was due to ageing. However, now Mary's turning that corner in life, she suggested a suprelorin implant to prevent any reproductive health issues like EYP.

Suprelorin upsets some hens. So I asked if we could defer it until she's out of brooding, so she would only be dealing with one hormonal challenge at a time.

Then I got thinking about Mary who's never had chicks and who's on her last broody phase ever (the vet told me suprelorin stops brooding along with eggs).

So the plan is to get eggs under her today or tomorrow, then sort out her suprelorin implant once she and her chicks have separated.

Fingers crossed... Before eggs I'll be refreshing the nest with new straw and pestene because Mary had a load of ants on her, and they'd feast on a newly hatched chick. I may even go so far as to use surface spray on the nest box before I put clean straw in. So I'll make a start on that once I've had my cuppa and finished watching Ship Happens on youtube.

Wow! That's a lot of sudden change. I'm excited for you and Mary!

 

[MaryJanet]

Wow! That's a lot of sudden change. I'm excited for you and Mary!

I very nearly bought eggs for her last weekend, but held off when I realised she might have vet appointment on the cards. So it doesn't feel sudden to me.

But it was a very eventful day! Immediately after my last post, I went into the run to refresh the ground-based nest boxes and discovered they were full of insects and ants. No wonder Mary had ants on her. The nest boxes would not do for three weeks of sitting and I'd have to give up the plan of hatching on the ground.

I took a look at the old little coop but isn't redeemable. So I went off to Bunnings and got the last cheap flat pack coop. It'll do for this summer at least, maybe longer. The customer service staff and I stuffed it into the hatchback and managed to get it home without being stopped by the police for carrying a load that blocked the rear view mirrors and passenger side windows. Hey ho!

I got it unloaded and into the run. By now Mary was moving about in the travel basket, where she had stayed after coming home from the vet. With the other hens out in the garden, I took the basket into the run and she took an hour or two for drinks, food, dust bathing, and relieving herself.

Did I mention she let out a horrendous torrent of shit all over the vet's thermometer this morning? I mean all broody poops are horrendous, but we were obliged to be in close proximity! I was holding Mary at the time, fortunately not at the receiving end. More importantly, the vet found no internal swelling or signs of EYP or anything else we'd worry about when a hen lays a soft-shelled egg.

Back to assembling the new flat pack coop. I did it! I made a couple of mistakes that were easily reversed, but other than that it went together well, if slowly. I think it took me a couple of hours, but I was single-handed and relying on leverage and angles for manoeuvring the thing. Things I left out of the new coop on purpose: the nest box divider, the sliding door to the nest box, and the roosting bars.

I got fresh straw into the new coop's nest box and sprinkled it with pestene in the hope of deterring insects. I also went around the base of it with surface spray.

At this time, she's in one of the old nests, but I'll go out tonight and switch her over to her new nest.

Right now, I'm going to order eggs. They should arrive Monday. Tuesday at the latest.

 

[MaryJanet]

I got her six eggs and they are 2 Pyle Brahma, 2 Cream Legbar, and 2 Welsummer.

I opted to pick them up instead of having them delivered. It'll be a lovely drive!

 

[MaryJanet]

There was a change to the eggs. The Brahma and Cream Legbar eggs would not be available for several weeks, so I switched to 3 Welsummer and 3 Chocolate bantam Orpington, which are available now. They'll be ready for pick up on Tuesday.

 

[Perris]

I hope it all works out for you and for Mary. Good luck!

 

[ManueB]

That is quite the adventure ! Great job getting all that decided and done in such a short time.
I didn't even know there were bantam Orpington !
I also hope it works out. But even if it doesn't Mary will have had a chance to sit and hatch, so you wont feel she has been missing out on this.


The implant has been initially rough for Laure, like the worse two weeks of a very hard moult. But still not something to be taken lightly especially for a senior hen such as Mary. If things really go wrong it can be taken off. That's what happened to me with Nexplanon .

I have been thinking for Kara that I don't want her to get it while she is still doing good but I also think it's better not to wait until she feels really unwell, because of those side effects.

 

[MaryJanet]

That is quite the adventure ! Great job getting all that decided and done in such a short time.
I didn't even know there were bantam Orpington !
I also hope it works out. But even if it doesn't Mary will have had a chance to sit and hatch, so you wont feel she has been missing out on this.


The implant has been initially rough for Laure, like the worse two weeks of a very hard moult. But still not something to be taken lightly especially for a senior hen such as Mary. If things really go wrong it can be taken off. That's what happened to me with Nexplanon .

I have been thinking for Kara that I don't want her to get it while she is still doing good but I also think it's better not to wait until she feels really unwell, because of those side effects.

Sometimes decisions are easy to make.

I told the vet about Laure and like you, she said if it's too much for Mary, bring her back and have it removed. She also offered an ultrasound which would have told us even more about Mary's reproductive health, but with the cat needing radioiodine treatment (which involves an expensive hospital stay) I decided to skip the ultrasound for now and proceed with the suprelorin.

I hope Mary will be busy mothering for a while, which will give me an opportunity to read up on suprelorin before she's treated with it. One small mercy is that Mary would have the suprelorin moult in our summer. I know feathers are just as insulative in summer as winter, but somehow I still worry more about winter moulting. I can't help empathising.

 

[MaryJanet]

I hope it all works out for you and for Mary. Good luck!

Thank you!

I hope it all works for her too. I've done pretty much all I can for now. When the clutch approaches hatching day, I'll put up the little fence to keep Peggy out.

 

[MaryJanet]

If anyone's interested, these are the people I bought the eggs from.

https://www.pipandgrow.com.au/

The lady's name is Hanna and she's very helpful.