FLOCK DIARY 1998:

NB: all pictures and text copyright of Kirsty Tallon

January, February and March

At the beginning of February 1998 we moved house, to another part of town with a larger garden for the chickens to play in.

On Friday 13th February Ernie laid her first ever EGG !! And it was Blue, a delicate pale blue, but definitely blue. I knew it was Ernie, because she has been a faster developer than Bert. Her comb and wattles are larger and softer than Bert's. Ernie is plumper and slightly larger than Bert.

To begin with, Ernie laid an egg every other day. Presently she lays about an egg per day.

Ernie likes to make a nest in the old disused oven in the shed, and lay her eggs there (above).

Above and below: Ernie and her first and fifth eggs

On Wednesday 18th February I noticed that Bert's wattles and comb were looking paler than normal. The following day Bert's wattles were almost caucasian skin-coloured and she seemed reluctant to emerge from the shed. I thought that she might be anaemic, so I telephoned for Veterinary advice.

Compare the colour of the different hens' wattles and comb in the picture of Ernie {above} and of Bert {below}.

Bert seemed to be anaemic, and may have calcium deficiency. This may have been caused by Ernie keeping Bert away from food. Bert may also have a gut infection, so I was advised to give her multi-vitamin and calcium supplements, plus a high dosage of poultry gut bacteria. I also had to seperate Bert and Ernie, so I could monitor their food intake and also ensure that Bert was getting access to food and water. I was convinced that Bert could recover.

BERT'S PROGRESS:

Vet's Faecal test from Bert (5th Mar) found nothing. I stopped recording info, as I thought Bert had egg peritonitis and would die. Also brought Bert out of solitary confinement so she could spend her last days foraging in the garden with Ernie, and hopefully enjoying herself.

It was raining on the way to and from the Vet's on 5th March, and both hens were very wet indeed when I got them home. The water made their feathers stick together, so that their crests stuck up in a punky way. I put Ernie in the shed to dry off, and brought Bert into the warm kitchen so she could dry off without making herself more ill.

On 11th March I bought another hen. This new bird was a Production Red (more specifically, an ISA Brown), and came from a totally enclosed barn environment. Her light was artificially supplied, and the only floor she knew was wooden, and covered with sawdust. She had had her beak trimmed, as had the many other hens in the barn, to stop them pecking each other's feathers out. I decided to call her The Little Red Hen, or Red for short.

I decided to take Ernie to the Vet, to check that whatever Bert was suffering from had not been transmitted to her. Red also visited the Vet for a check-up, and some lice were found. Red was sprayed with treatment that would kill the lice as soon as they came into contact with it. Vet's Faecal test from Ernie (12th Mar) found nothing.

It was decided that Bert should be put to sleep because she was so ill. She would still peck at food, but not actually eat. She would walk around very carefully, but would fall over if touched because she was so weak. So Bert was given a lethal injection in a vein under her wing (the vein was about four times smaller than it would be in a normal hen, indicating that Bert was very dehydrated. She had hardly any blood in her body.), and died peacefully.

A post-mortem revealed that the hen's air sacs had a fungal infection (caused by a common spore, Aspergillus fumigatus, which is found almost everywhere). The air sacs had entangled themselves around the gizzard and intestines, stopping them working and allowing the fungus to spread there. The Vet also investigated the ovary, finding that Bert had never become mature enough to produce any eggs at all, ruling out egg peritonitis.

Poor Bert had died from Aspergillosis. She died at 3.30pm on Thursday 12th March.

Ernie obviously missed Bert, and seemed to take out her frustration on Little Red Hen. Ernie would follow Red about, and peck at her comb and eyes. Red seemed totally resigned to this treatment, and would just cower in front of Ernie and wait for her to stop. She never attacked or made any attempt to escape Ernie's onslaught. Unfortunately she wasn't able to retaliate even if she wanted to, as her beak had been trimmed and Ernie's hadn't.

Living outside was a bit of a shock for Red, too.

On the first three nights of being in her new home Red Hen had to be shown a place to sleep in. On each of those evenings I'd find her just sitting on the earthen floor of the shed, quite cold, with her feathers all fluffed out. She didn't mind me picking her up and putting her in with Ernie, who appreciated the warmth and company. Also, hens don't peck at each other in the dark.

On the second day of Red's arrival she experienced bad weather. The rain poured down, and when it eased off I went to check on the hens. Ernie had been in the shed, sheltering from the rain. Little Red Hen was outside in the open, happily scratching about in the grass. Red Hen was so pleased to be able to look at the sky, scratch around for grubs, dustbathe, and feel the sun, wind and rain on her back that she couldn't care less if she got drenched. She was absolutely soaked, and had to be dried.

The move from place to place did indeed upset Red's orientation. I found her first two eggs broken on the hard floor of the shed. The shells were thin, and I guessed that she hadn't got the sense to look for the grit bowl. She had also laid the eggs in totally inappropriate places, just haphazardly on the floor.

I did not find any more eggs for a week and a half after that. I came to the conclusion that the Little Red Hen was eating her eggs. She wouldn't eat Ernie's because they are blue, not a colour Red is used to.

Egg eating can be a big a problem in laying hens, but I used an adapted old English traditional remedy for it. I bought a box of eggs and blew two which were a similar colour to Red's eggs. I then finely chopped about thirty small very hot red chilli peppers and their seeds. I added the chillis to the contents of the blown eggs, mixed them, then carefully poured the mixture back into the blown eggshells. I took the eggs out to Little Red Hen, and presented them to her. I put them on the ground in front of her, then left. I returned shortly, to see Red Hen happily eating the two eggs.

The next day, and every day after that, I have had an egg from Little Red Hen. The folk remedy had been successful, and I'm sure that Red will never, ever try to eat any of her own eggs again !!

Below: Ernie Hen and Little Red Hen

Since Ernie Hen and Little Red Hen were introduced, it seems that they have become best of friends. I haven't seen Ernie peck at Red for a long while now, and they like to sleep next to each other. Ernie even follows Red about in the garden now !

To Flock Diary 2001 - January, February and March 2001 / April and May 2001

To Flock Diary 2000 - January 2000 / February, March, April 2000 / May 2000 / June 2000 / Stroud Show 1st July 2000 / July 2000 / August 2000 / Painswick Show 13th August 2000 / September 2000 / October, November & December 2000

To Flock Diary 1999 - January 1999 / February 1999 / March , April 1999 / May , June 1999 / Stroud Show 1999 / July 1999 / August 1999 / September 1999 / October 1999 / November 1999 / December 1999

To Flock Diary 1997 & 1998 - August to December 1997 / January, February and March 1998 / April 1998 / May 1998 / June 1998 / July 1998 / August 1998 / September 1998 / October 1998 - Part One / October 1998 - Part Two / November 1998 - Part One / November 1998 - Part Two / December 1998