What did you do with your flock today?

[PopoMyers]

I've been a bit distracted here...I have 3 pets aging fast this summer. My two 13 year old dogs and Oliver, my 14 year old cat. They were all doing well and suddenly Olivers losing weight and my gentle butterfly chaser, Iri, has developed lymphoma. We've pulled her through once now but I don't know how much longer she has. For now she's back to happy eyes and wagging tail. She has the most expressive eyes you ever saw . The other is Fox, our old girl with a broken thyroid. She lost her thyroid when only half grown and I always thought we'd lose her first. She's grown old slowly whereas Oliver and Iri started the year doing great, but just like that they're starting to fail.

Losing one old darling at a time is hard...but with 3 making worry and Iri's time limited for certain ...I'm just feeling under the weather. I have a trip to visit my mom coming up and this time I don't want to go. Tami's staying home though and she'll handle any vet runs, injections or medicine as needed. With luck all 3 will still be here when I get home early July.

My babies in younger days.
Iri...View attachment 3866678
Fox...View attachment 3866679and Oliver....View attachment 3866680

Having geriatric fur babies are hard on us as we see them age and have related health issues. You have beautiful kids who have had quality lives with you. May you have the summer with them, and peace as you come to the time to release them.

 

[PopoMyers]

What breed is Onyx? Just curious as it can have some bearing on health issues. Are her eggs very large? My ex-batt, Maude, laid enormous eggs daily and towards the end of her laying career and was slowing down to every other day, she would be quite lethargic on her no egg day. In hybrid hens, with shorter lifespans combined with our push to breed for ever bigger eggs, egg-laying takes quite a toll on their little bodies.

Sounds like she could have the same issue as your Maude. Todsy she seemed a little more chipper. Day by day observations. I keep expecting her to be gone, and she's still hanging in there.

 

[fuzzi]

After we got home from church I brought some cut up grapes and cold slices of watermelon to the flock. While they were initially hesitant last night today they went gaga over the fruit, gobbled it up quickly.

I took a shovel and dug holes in the run as the soil was dry and hard under the loose litter, and about 3" down I hit damp, dark humus. Ooh! The hens got busy digging, eating (?), and a couple started dust bathing. I poured a little water over some of the drier areas, which appealed to the hens as well.

I'll check on them later.

 

[LTAY1946]

I've been prepping for a shipment of 15 Cream Legbars and 10 Saipans that should be here either Wednesday or Thursday next week. I'm so glad to have an added room for gardening and brooding that has its own climate control system for the little ones. Yes they will want it warm the first couple of weeks but not over a 100°. It hit 101° here today.

 

[Shetland lover]

Being an ex-batt, Maude had typical age-related laying issues as she got older. We don't know her exact age when she passed but we estimate she was roughly 3.5 years old (based on the typical age of spent hens at slaughter , 72 weeks, plus the 2 years she was with us) which is slightly above average for an ISA or Warren Brown hybrid.
She started dropping in production as I've already described, then eventually only laid thin-shelled or shell-less eggs. She actually laid an egg the day before she died, despite having laid frequent lash eggs and having salpingitis!
I don't remember her laying wrinkled eggs though. That's usually in response to things like Infectious Bronchitis or stress. It  is common in older hens due to the egg white being more watery but I would've thought Onyx is too young for it to be age related. Does sound like she's suffering from some reproductive issue though, given how "off" she is between eggs.

 

[MaeM]

Today I found Bianca dead in the nest box. She was chronically ill and she died in her sleep.

And Eris is lethargic. Doesn't want to eat, not even treats. She just hides her head in her feathers and sleeps. She responds to her name and kinda walks around but...

I don't know, should I worry that she's sick or is she grieving? My mother saw her sitting next to Bianca's body.

 

[PopoMyers]

Being an ex-batt, Maude had typical age-related laying issues as she got older. We don't know her exact age when she passed but we estimate she was roughly 3.5 years old (based on the typical age of spent hens at slaughter , 72 weeks, plus the 2 years she was with us) which is slightly above average for an ISA or Warren Brown hybrid.
She started dropping in production as I've already described, then eventually only laid thin-shelled or shell-less eggs. She actually laid an egg the day before she died, despite having laid frequent lash eggs and having salpingitis!
I don't remember her laying wrinkled eggs though. That's usually in response to things like Infectious Bronchitis or stress. It  is common in older hens due to the egg white being more watery but I would've thought Onyx is too young for it to be age related. Does sound like she's suffering from some reproductive issue though, given how "off" she is between eggs.

The wrinkle is usually just on the small end, and the shell is hard. She moved about and ate some snacks today.

 

[PopoMyers]

Need your opinion, or experiences. 4 pullets are roosting together in my apple tree ( the tree is inside the protected area). Now that the weather is dry, it seems to be ok, but is it? Do you think I should wrangle them and put them in the coop nightly? Or let weather get them inside, when it starts raining, especially, and the leaves fall off the tree? I only have the rest of this week before I leave on vacay. Maybe wait until I get back? I know ferals roost in trees, right?

 

[Shetland lover]

Today I found Bianca dead in the nest box. She was chronically ill and she died in her sleep.

And Eris is lethargic. Doesn't want to eat, not even treats. She just hides her head in her feathers and sleeps. She responds to her name and kinda walks around but...

I don't know, should I worry that she's sick or is she grieving? My mother saw her sitting next to Bianca's body.

I'm so, so sorry. I know how much you've been through together and how much it hurts to lose a 'special' one. I'm still grieving for Penelope, 3 months on. She also died in her sleep after a long period of ill health.
I'd keep a close eye on Eris. It might be worth getting her a health check in case she is ill. Sometimes it's hard to tell physical illness from 'mental illness', for want of a better word. She could well be grieving if she was close to Bianca. Gladys, my Shetland hen, was depressed for months after losing her sister, Alice, at 18 months old. She went off her food and off lay. She wouldn't come out of the coop for 3 days. She was still eating enough to survive and would still take her favourite treats. She was very disinterested in life for a good month and then started slowly improving. She also became very depressed after we lost Maude. In both cases, Gladys had a very strong bond with the two girls that died. From my observations, I don't think they grieve in the same way for other flockmates they're less close to.
I always let the flock spend time with the one that's passed. I think it helps them understand what's happened and not just that one of the flock has suddenly disappeared. The dynamics may well play differently in larger flocks. I've never had more than 8 chickens at a time so I couldn't say.

 

[Shetland lover]

The wrinkle is usually just on the small end, and the shell is hard. She moved about and ate some snacks today.

That's hopeful, at least. My other ex-batts have had the odd wrinkle at the pointed end of the shell. As it was only a small amount and there were no other issues, I never worried about it unduly. When you said Onyx's eggs were wrinkled, I was picturing fully wrinkled shells!