June 24, 2012 Good-bye, Dolly

Nurse Stella

Fifteen year old Stella kept a vigilant watch over Dolly all month; never once saw her as dinner or tried to be agressive. So curious, in fact, that one day she touched nose to beak while Dolly sat in my lap!








The last couple of days Dolly had gradually lost her will to fight. I could see it in her demeanor - she wasn't trying as hard to stand up; she also was eating less and shook her head when I tried to give her an eyedropper of water.


Steve humanely put her down Sunday and cleaned up the hospital room for me while I was at the grocery store. What a great husband! I don't think I could have participated. 


I had lost my devotion to the other 4 with my foot surgery restrictions and Dolly's illness.  I saw a questioning "look" in Fearless's eyes as though she wondered where her sister is and what's going on. Since she is the low girl in the flock, I am giving her a little more attention for right now. Even though Dolly and Curious would peck Fearless away from tasty morsels, she would still surreptitiously follow Dolly around the yard! 


Saturday I cleaned the coop and changed-out all the hay. The girls have fun jumping up into the wheelbarrow to see if something good is getting thrown out. Gabby clucks and follows me in and out of the coop house, always chattering about what I'm doing. It was just what I needed to make me happy, since I knew what was going to happen Sunday. 


I have to say that the Golden Lace Wyandotte [Dolly and Fearless] is a beautiful breed. The rose comb is crinkle-y, rather than the typical chicken comb, and it gives them the look of a cute little 'hat' positioned on top of their head. The feathers, carmel and dark brown/black, are beautiful and so far my favorite pattern of all the feathers in my coop!

June 19, 2012 Update on Dolly

Well, it has been a tearful month worrying about Dolly and hoping she gets better.


It is almost certainly a nasty chicken disease called Marek's Disease. Most flock owners cull a chicken who contracts it because it is contagious; even though new chicks are vaccinated against the disease, sometimes it doesn't take. And by now they should have a fairly good natural immunity.


So, last week, Steve and I agreed to send Dolly to the Happy Coop in Heaven. Friday, amid more tears, I dug a grave on a nice part of the property in back of the barn and below a group of olive trees.  Darned if Friday afternoon she looked like she was getting stronger and really trying to stand.  So, we had a "stay" and decided to give her more time to recover.


I have been treating her with Astragalus [a good general immune booster even for humans!], echinacea, baby vitamins, and a homeopathic remedy called Causticum. As well as the foods she wants to eat right now which are red grapes, oatmeal, mealworms and some of her chicken pellets softened with water.
This web site has wonderful homeopathic and natural treatments for chickens: it is out of the U.K., but ... hey ... any help from any source is appreciated!       Homeopathic Treatments for Chickens


It is Tuesday and I can say that she is in good spirits, has a very good appetite, and keeps trying to stand up.


I dunno....I might be grasping at straws to think she will pull out of it. Although, it is possible to recover, it takes a long time and she will then always be a carrier....does this mean the others won't get sick - I don't know that either, but it is possible. Normally Marek's attacks early in their lives, like under 2 months old: if it was also what Fearless had in December, then it took 5 months for Dolly to come down with it....hummm.....


SO far the other 4 are hale and hardy, and doing the business of eat, scratch, poop and lay eggs....


As for Dolly, I am not sure how long to keep going because I hate to see her suffer, but I'm being selfish in that if I give her enough time, and she doesn't develop any possible tumors, that she will get back to her old self.
Deep down, I am prepared to let her go.


Oh sure, chickens aren't near the top of the intelligence list, but as she looks at me I can see in her a spirit not ready to give up yet, so neither will I.


Stay tuned....

June 1, 2012 Dolly Can't Walk

I am sitting around trying to be patient with my foot surgery recovery and on Wednesday, May 23rd, Steve comes back from his morning trip to the coop and says one of the chickens is sitting down and not able to get up.

So, he drives me down there in our Kawasaki “Mule”. It’s Dolly, sitting in the corner between the coop and the wood step to the human door. I gently lift her up and she has no ‘legs’ to stand on.

Steve gets the chicken hospital out of the storage area and up we go to the house.

A Healthy Dolly

Dang, dang, dang! She has many of the same symptoms as Fearless had back at Thanksgiving.

Her wattles were really warm, her toes were curled under and she kept trying to flap her wings to stand up. Poor darling! 

And she can't speak....Fearless at least could coo.

It's so discouraging to have an animal get sick: I have new local friends who never have problems with their flock, so I just don't understand with all the good care I give them...why does it happen to my girls?

I immediately make up my standard molasses, cayenne and garlic flush mixed with some food pellets and try to get her to eat. 

As of today June 1st., she’s had a pretty good appetite all along, mostly wanting ‘scratch’ [crushed corn with some mixed seeds/grains], lots of water mixed with Pedialyte and she seems to crave mealworms [at least she gobbles them up, so I am thinking she needs protein]. She is also gobbling up a fresh strawberry or two from our garden.

It’s been ten days and she isn’t worse; maybe a tad better: the fever is gone at least.

And, whatever it is makes the worst, stinky poops - at least she can ‘go’ once a day, but whoa-boy it’s nasty!

As I do more research I found a couple of web sites describe the same symptoms attributed to scorpion bites or stings; with general recovery in about 5-7 days. We do have scorpions, so this is a distinct possibility. Maybe she was trying to eat one and it stung her somehow, somewhere.  It would be hard to see a bite mark under all the feathers. But, I would think I’d see more improvement by now.

Clearly something neurological to affect motor skills of the legs, and one side being worse than the other. Could she have had a stroke?

It’s interesting to note that both Dolly and Fearless are the same breed. Makes me wonder.....

Wednesday, the 30th, I put her in the cat carrier and took her down for a visit to her sisters to see if it would cheer her up. Dolly was clearly interested and tried to stand up and visit her buddies.

After Curious’s initial peck on the comb, they basically looked at her and the “ignored” her in the way of “We know something is different, just not what it is.” We visited for about 40 minutes and came back for the afternoon rest.

And then I got to thinking that, if it was contagious, maybe I just spread it to the others. Now I am watching them for signs, too.

I am still holding out for good signs of recovery in the next few days! [chicken-wise, that is as my foot is doing great: stitches out and I can start range of motion on the big toe and walking ‘normal.]

Dolly's Hospital Suite

Here's Dolly

            in her deluxe Hospital Room