[lukasmum]

Hi all,

I thought it might be useful to update you on my poorly Speckledy, who was distinctly off
colour at the end of August.
She was eating and drinking well, and seemed to perk up nicely when I fed her my 'Chuck Booster' mix....however she still wasn't herself. There were no other signs of illness, checked to see if she was egg bound, no beathing difficulty, no weepy eyes.

She continued off colour until 2 weeks ago, when she went rapidly downhill in the space of
48 hours and didn't seem steady on her feet.  A trip to the vet revealed that she had an
enormous tumour - either on her ovaries or uterus. The vet helped her on her way.

Two weeks on, I am now seeing the bright side of this story - that her illness was not caused by neglect or any error made in her care. I have learned from this - and when I suspect one of my girls is unwell, I should trust my judgement. I don't think taking Sal to the vet much earlier would have provided a definitive diagnosis, and I hope she didn't suffer too much.  She was still quite capable of seeing of the babies when they were trying to pinch her treat!!

Ah, I mention babies....I snuck in two BEAUTIFUL wyandottes in early September, aged 12 weeks.  Here they are now (just in case I get into terwubble for not posting pics!)
Julie

[jo40]

Hello
I am sorry to hear that you lost your hen in the end. You are right about trusting your judgement. Anyone who says 'she's not herself' knows her hens, which means they care and have given plenty of time to care for them.
We all have to start somewhere, we can't know everything. But I think its wonderful that so many people keep hens now, reducing the need for so many battery farms, I know its only a proportion as battery eggs are used in so many 'ready made' supermarket foods, but its something.
I'm not the best chicken keeper, had more than a few disasters
But doing our best to get to know our hens enough to know when they are 'not right' is something to be proud of.
Your new editions are lovely by the way
Jo

[lukasmum]

Thanks Jo. It's taken a while to appreciate I couldn't have helped her more.
Some learning curves are steeper than others - thank goodness theres a wealth of
knowledge on this forum. It's helped me no end!
We continue to learn....