Well, it’s been a bit quiet here at the Smallest Smallholding. After many vet visits, blood tests and a fecal sample, and exploratory surgery, it turns out that poor old Yoko has sterile egg peritonitis. She’s got a bit of a waddle or a John Wayne gait, but other than that, since the trip to the vets she actually seems to be on top form. Back to being the biggest baddest bossy-boots in the neighbourhood, eating, scratching around and general doing chicken things as per usual. The change in her has been quite remarkable really. We don’t know how long she can live with the peritonitis - days, weeks, months…we’ve even heard of a couple of people who’s hens have lived with it for up to 2 years and are still going strong. But we shan’t jump the gun. All that matters is she’s happy and free ranging at the moment, and we just hope it can last for quite a while to come.

This pic shows Cyn with her new feathers - what a beauty!

Once we had Yoko’s diagnosis and prognosis, it was Cynthia’s turn to go downhill. She became increasingly more puffed up and fed up, spending a couple of days standing with her head under a shrub or hedge looking thoroughly fed up. Her comb had gone very pale and a bit tinged with purple, and she’d gone right off her food. We also felt her crop and it resembled a water-filled balloon. So off we went to the vets. She was prescribed two baytril (antibiotic) injections a day (from our experience with Yoko previously Rich has become somewhat of an expert), and I undertook the task of giving the biggest wiggle bum of them all 6ml of nystatin (antifungal) syringed into her beak twice daily. At first it was a real struggle - I was so tentative because I didn’t want it going down the very important big hole at the back of her throat. But eventually we found a way for her to take the nystatin and got the whole ordeal down to just a couple of mins with minimum fuss. I sort of feel like Cyn and I have bonded more, she’s still a fast ninja hen but she’s more tolerant of me and trusts me more now I think.

She was initially ‘hospitalised’ at home for a couple of days - we cordoned off a VIP area in the conservatory, put down newspaper and straw and the small dog carrier filled with lots of straw for her. We put some heat on and just let her have a nice recouperating rest. So she did. The vet had told us that hens respond really well to some basic TLC, and she was proven right. With the rest period, and the medicine, Cynthia started to perk up. The nasty yellow squits gave way to some really accrid brown runny poos (we thought she must be clearing her system out!), her appetite returned, and eventually her crop went back to normal. After a couple of days she was all go and wanted to be outside, so we put her out. Yoko, having not seen her for a couple of days, made a very fast beeline from the other side of the garden to put her firmly in her place. Maureen was a little less relentless, just one big cursory peck showed her that Maureen was still second in command. Only Pattie, officially below Cyn in the pecking order, carried on as usual, merrily chattering away to herself.

But soon normality was restored. Cyn still hasn’t begun laying yet, but I thought because of her feather growth (see post below), and the winter she might have just stopped for now. We now know why Yoko hasn’t laid in a long time, and probably never will again, but that’s ok - she’s in her retirement and as long as she’s doing normal things, she can do what she likes! Cyn now has a full head of feathers, and has made quite a transformation from the slightly stern looking badly that she was, into a softer and bit more carefree hen. She’s still putting on lots of growth underneath, around her shoulders, and around her tail. I couldn’t quite believe just how much! Pattie too has a few sprouts occurring on her head and around her belly. They’re going to look like a load of puffballs soon!

Vegetable wise I haven’t done an awful lot - the veg plots are now empty save the leeks, so I ought to get my garlic in (whoops) and maybe wing it with the super early onions (again, whoops). I’ve marked out where the big veg plot extensions is going, and rather than dig straight into turf I’m attempting the ‘no dig’ method. Basically, I’ve just whacked down a load of ’stuff’ to smother the grass and encourage the worms up to do the bulk of the hard work for me. Then I’ll just turn the soil later on to dig in some nutrients and matter to add structure. It actually looks like a tip at the moment, with bits and pieces everywhere, so I have to make a concerted effort to get out there. What with all the rain, parts are starting to resemble quagmires. I almost always slip and fall flat on my face everytime I venture through Rich’s gate, thanks to one big muddy patch. But the sun is shining so it can’t be too bad now can it?

And on a final note…please keep feeding the birds! I’ve got sunflower hearts and fat cakes out there and they’re going down a storm at the moment. It’s so great to see all the wildlife still around the Smallest Smallholding at this time of year.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 2:11 pm and is filed under wildlife, plans, hens, veg. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.