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My Chickens Part 7

Last Updated: 2/26/24

Blood Sisters
Ariel's Prolapsed Oviduct
Billie's Ascites
Lame Iris


Blood Sisters

The boys settled in to their new life. Meanwhile, Ariel became more and more naked! Why? I had to watch. Well, Perky and Billie chased Ariel and Dulcie and mostly kept them from getting food and water. They were ripping their feathers out. Then, Ariel and Dulcie were cowering in the corner, eating each others feathers! So, I ordered some Pinless Peepers and put them on Billie and Perky on 4/26/20. Billie was first and easier. Perky put up a fight, and her nose bled. I was not sure how long to put them on or if I should put them on Ariel and Dulcie as well. Meanwhile, Daffy was brooding nothing so she was not in the picture.

So, on 5/7/20, after 11 days, I took the peepers off Billie and Perky because they both had swollen beaks so I thought they might have infections. Billie had also gone broody. She did not do that last year so I thought she was not a broody type of hen but I guess she is too! So, it was mostly Perky with Dulcie and petrified Ariel. The first day without peepers, things seemed to be OK but, the next day, Ariel was covered in blood on her naked rump and the back of her legs. I put a saddle on her thinking it might protect her a bit and keep her warm but it was soon ripped off. I watched a bit and watched Perky terrorize her, corner her, and bite viciously at her, literally eating her. I caught Perky, and, with a fight, I got the peepers back on her. This stopped her attacking Ariel who was still petrified. For some reason, Dulcie seemed to be spared Perky's wrath. Billie and Daffy pecked at them too but they were both brooding invisible eggs. I think I will leave them there so Ariel can heal first. My poor Ari was naked and torn up. Here I thought life without roosters would prevent such damage! The roosters are mostly doing well. Even with the trap door for bowls, Hopey, the little baby I raised last year, just bit me hard today, 5/11/20, and I have a nasty hand bruise and broken skin. I don't know why these chickens are so vicious to me and each other but, when I've asked opinions on-line, I'm always attacked that I should have "gotten rid of" (i.e. killed) all the roosters and Perky too! My velociraptors are a bit violent.

On 5/30/20, I had to take control of the situation again. I had been able to obtain some straw since I was still working only 30 hours a week (that would change starting on 6/1/20 when I would be back to 40 hours a week). I have so many chores to do that I do not normally have time to go out and buy straw! That is how crazy busy I am. Anyway, I had two bales of straw. So, first I put in fresh straw. I took the two nest boxes out to break Daffy from over two months of brooding and Billie of more than a month of brooding. I plan to put them back in two weeks. I removed Perky's peepers. I put in fresh aspen shavings in the houses. I put up some planks for climbing like a jungle gym. I added two planks, and I had one already in place. The planks let the hens walk up to perches since none of them seem inclined and/or capable of flying any more. Still Perky wanted to go after her adopted daughter Ariel when it hit me: Bitter apple spray! I put it on Ariel's back, Perky tasted it and hated it, and Perky left her alone!


Ariel's Prolapsed Oviduct

I thought all the problems were finally solved. Nope. Ariel laid an egg on 5/30/20, her first in over a month. And, her oviduct prolapsed! Yikes! The part that is hanging out is about the size of a golf ball. I hoped it would fix itself but no go. The next day, I brought Ariel inside to stay in the dog kennel. I needed to try to help her and be sure none of the hens would peck at her prolapse. I gave her a butt bath and tried to stick the prolapse back in using Vaseline and Preparation H. There was an egg in there blocking me from doing so so I fretted for half the day as to what to do until Ariel finally dropped the egg after much straining. I was then able to get the prolapse back in but it kept falling back out. It only stayed in when I held her head down and butt up. Her sphincter has no muscle tone. It is all flappy. I am now going to wait and see what happens and try to find a vet who can tell me what needs to be done to help her. Vets think of chickens as throw-away animals not worth saving but I love my Ariel! There is a vet a half mile from me; they refuse to treat chickens. There is a great vet that does treat chickens, a full hour away! That is at least three hours of time I would need. Ariel would probably need surgery with a poor prognosis (likely recurring prolapse). My boss just put my job back to full time, and I am not allowed to come to work late or leave early! I envy those people who are not working and getting paid during the pandemic! If I were, it literally could save Ariel's life. But, us low-paid lab workers have to go to the lab and risk our lives. I make less money than I did a decade ago at the job I lost when it was sold to a big company that destroyed it.

Ariel kept acting like the victim when Perky would go after her. Even when the other birds were not threatening her, Ariel would run away screaming. Because of this, she was not getting enough to eat even though I was hand feeding her. So, now that she is living in a dog kennel in the basement, she is making up for lost time, eating a lot. I do not know how this will effect her prolapse. It may make her and her oviduct muscles stronger though.

On 6/1/20, I soaked her rear in warm water with Epson salts, lubricated with A&D Ointment and Preparation H, stuck her prolapse back in, held her rump in the air, and held her in my lap for half an hour while I watched TV. While in that position, everything stayed in. As soon as I put her back in the cage, it all plopped out again.

On 6/2/20, I ran her rear under the faucet to avoid getting her all wet (which caused her to shiver from being wet the previous two day; I had tried a space heater but the electric cords got scalding hot which is not a good sign). That seemed to work better. I sprayed her rear with Vetericyn which I have been using to help fight infection. I lubricated my glove and her prolapse. But, when I went to push it in, Ari kept pushing out, stronger than I was pushing in. She was straining and grunting like she needed to poop, and yet, she has been pooping up a storm, and she was doing so the entire time I was trying to tend to her. So, her digestive tract is not blocked but maybe there is some kind of partial blockage that is bothering her. So, that day, I could not even get the prolapse back in. Meanwhile, she is eating and drinking and pooping well but does act uncomfortable and sullen. I will continue with these treatments for now and see if she improves or not. I think she has a 50/50 chance of survival a month from now.

Her anatomy was very confusing to me at first because, with the prolapse, the exits for the eggs and the waste can be seen separately. So, while I was trying to push in to the oviduct opening to put the prolapse back in to her body, there was feces squirting out from a different hole. It is really hard to disinfect while she is pooping non-stop. I thought at first there was a hole in her duct work but I guess the two exit ports meet right inside the cloaca. When I do get the parts back inside, her cloaca is so huge and loose without muscle tone so whenever she pushes either to lay an egg or poop, the insides just prolapse again. I have been told that I should have been a vet but I could never "put to sleep" a healthy or mildly ill animal at the behest of an owner. I am always trying to save their lives. And, yes, she is suffering but nobody knows what level her pain is at or if she will recover for sure. I do not want to be the one that takes her life. I am hoping for a miracle. She is enjoying eating so there is that.

I soaked her for a good 25 minutes on 6/6/20 in the laundry tub in warm water with Epson salts. Then, I was able to use cuticle scissors (washed in isopropanol to disinfect) to cut off a little bit of atrophied tissue at the end of her oviduct. There is a larger piece but it is still stuck to living tissue. Cutting in to that by accident could cause her to bleed out because internal organs do not normally clot and scab like external body parts. But, overall her prolapse has gotten much smaller as it has dried up and atrophied but, at the same time, it looks better. So, there is a chance that after some more of that comes off, the remainder will go back in the cloaca. I will not try to put it back in since it has some atrophy now. The atrophied tissue is dry, black, and dead. I worry what will happen though when she needs to lay an egg which, as of 6/8/20, was last 9 days ago. I can see the healthy red flesh where the egg should come out, and the atrophied tissue is really between that opening and the intestinal exit. She is acting well, fully alert and aware, eating well, and not sulking or looking sickly at all. She poops up a storm which leaks constantly but she seems to be pulsing and pushing her waste hole less.

On 6/9/20, I rinsed her rear over the laundry tub and was able to gently wash and work off the remainder of the atrophied tissue, about the size of a small walnut. There was a tiny bit of blood spotting but not much. I should have been able to put the healthy inner flesh back in but Ariel was doing her pulsing pushing again. The next morning, while her vent is still sticking outwards, none of the inner flesh is visible. So, that means her prolapse is in now! I will continue to monitor her. If she is doing well in a few weeks, I can put her back outside in the kennel to reintegrate her. I do not know what will happen when she lays an egg again so I would like to monitor that before she is loose again in the flock of bullies. She is still pulsing, and I really do not know why. Otherwise, she seems fine. How much damage she has internally, I do not know. Only time will tell how she does but she was not a lost cause as the internet would have had me believe. We are only 10 days in to this.

On 6/13/20, I put the two dog houses (nest boxes) back in the hens' run since Daffy and Billie were no longer broody. I set up a new, large dog kennel within the hens' run. I put aspen shavings on the bottom and moved Ariel out there. There is no external sign of any prolapse, she has gained weight, and her feathers are coming in. She is a different bird! She will stay in there at least two weeks or as many as four if she does not start laying eggs. I want to be sure she is not going to prolapse when she lays eggs. Perky, Daffy, and Billie all tried to bite her through the cage bars. Even Dulcinea came over and bit her but in a more, "Hey, there sis, I miss you but I want to bite you too" kind of way. Ariel seems more confident. I am thinking when I let her out, I should put Perky in there for a few weeks of time out since she is such a bully. Daffy and Billie bully too but mostly in passing, and they do not move as fast as Perky.

Ariel continued to put on weight, and her new feathers came in! She looked totally different. On 6/20/20, she laid an egg for the first time in three weeks. And, she did not reprolapse! She laid another egg the next day, and her rear looks totally normal! If all is well, I will let her out on 6/27/20, and I'll put Perky in there for a time out for her bully behavior. Poor Dulcinea is getting all the bad attention from the three adult hens, especially Perky. What is funny is that Dulcy and Ari are best friends and sisters but they've been beak boxing through the dog kennel where they peck each other. It does not look like friendly behavior so I hope they still get along when Ariel gets out.

On 6/27/20, I put Perky in the house, then I let Ariel out of the cage. Her sister, Dulcinea, who had been her best friend immediately bit her, and Ariel changed back to being petrified and went to her spot where she would have stayed until she died. So, I lifted her up to the roosting boards in the run. She went to the longest one and hung out there. The problem was that she would not come down, and there was not really any place for me to put food and water bowls. Plus, there is only limited protection from the weather. So, the next day, I spent 90 minutes putting together "Chez Ariel" which is a plywood box with floor and roof (slanted with shingles) but it is open on all four sides (a lip on three sides helps keeps bowls inside). Her box is only about 2 feet by 1.5 feet but it does provide a somewhat dry and flat area for food and water bowls. She can also stand under it when it rains. I then mounted a 1"x5" board/ramp from her new box up to the high roost because she could not easily get there. I am currently out of 2x4's and need to get some more on my next day off to build some more roosts for all the chickens. I had to put mealworms along the ramp to train Ariel to use it which she does. This will do for now but I will have to make her something up high in the main house for the winter. I do not know if she falls to the ground if she can get up high again. All of the other four hens bully her. As for Perky, she spent one night in the kennel but then I let her out because Ariel was up high. None of the other hens seem interested in going up. So, now I have 10 chickens in 3 houses/runs but have 5 sets of food and water bowls because Ariel and Georgia are up on roosts all the time and never come down due to bullies. It is a lot of work! Why cannot these birds just get along?

All summer, I built all sorts of ramps and flat areas up high for Dulcie and Ariel but the feather removal by the other three hens became so bad that I put them in the pinless peepers on 9/19/20 so half the hens do not die from being naked during the winter. Perky, Daffy, and Billie actually eat the feathers. They will sit next to Dulcie or Ariel and casually eat them! Why? They have good food and plenty of room. It might just be boredom but how do I fix that?

Billie was sulking and not eating. I took her peepers off on 9/26/20, and she seems to not be ripping feathers out of Dulcie and Ariel. Daffy, on the other hand, with her peepers on, doesn't pass up a chance to rip feathers out of Ariel when she walks by! On 9/26/20, before I took Billie's peepers off, I applied a new "No Pick" salve to the naked parts of Ariel, Dulcie, and Perky. It has some aloe vera for healing but mostly smells like grapes and is purple. Apparently, chickens do not like to eat the stuff. We shall see if it does anything. I also started feeding the chickens a high-protein supplement on top of their regular food called "Calf-Manna." They eat it but it is not a favorite. By 9/30/20, Dulcie and Ariel have new feathers coming in but Perky is still naked. She also started acting sickly, sulking, swollen crop. So, I took her peepers off on 9/30/20 after putting more No Pick on the hens' naked spots. Perky's crop had gone down by then from the day before. I sure hope she behaves. So, I am not very steadfast in keeping the peepers on the hens but I do not want them to suffer. Only Daffy has hers on. She is eating but not as much as she should because she cannot see well. I will probably take hers off soon too. If feathers start to be ripped out again though, I am back where I started! The night of 9/30/20, Ariel, for the first time, used the new (few weeks old) ramp system in the house herself to climb from the ground up to the highest roost in her area. Yay! Dulcie is still clueless. I lift her to a lower roost myself. Daffy and Perky sleep in the two dog houses that are the nesting areas, and Billie sleeps alone on the lowest roost which she gets to by herself. All the chickens except Dulcie have enough feathers to fly up to roosts but only Billie seems to know she can fly! They all used to fly to roosts last year with no issues; however, they had the roosters with them then, and they always wanted to be with the boys. The boys are doing well and are great flyers.

I finally took the glasses off of Daffy on 10/24/20 so none of the hens have them now. Daffy bites at only Ariel and Dulcie that I can see and only if they are nearby. She is too slow and lazy to run after them but Perky does. What is strange is that Perky is the most naked now, and I have never seen any hens bite at her. I am not sure if she is doing it to herself or what. There is no blood just no signs of feathers on her back and rear at all. She is a naked neck so her neck is always naked. She is also missing wing feathers. If I had an hour to sit with them, maybe I could figure it out but I am way too busy. I am still putting No Pick on Dulcie but I do not think it even does anything. She will bite at it herself trying to get the smelly stuff off! At some point, I just have to let the chips fall where they may. Last winter, it never really got cold. If it does this year, I can always bring the naked hens inside, at least for the night but it is so much extra work.


Rooster Georgia never comes off his 2x4 roosts. He can move from inside the house to out in the run through a hole in the house that I made. That way, he can get out of the weather (rain, cold, etc.). I have bowls glued where he hangs out with food, water, grit, etc. If he comes down, Iris and Dusty attack him so he just will not come down unless he falls. On 1/6/21, I decided to trim his nails and beak which were overgrown from never being on the ground and digging in the dirt like all the other chickens. I did his nails on a ladder while he was on roast but he then decided to try to peck me. I had to shove him off the roost, chase him around for a few minutes, throw a towel over him, and then quickly use wire cutters to trim his upper beak to only be a little bit longer than his bottom beak. He really would not let me work on filing it though so I picked him up in the towel and put him back up on roost. Now, at least, he can eat better. I had put Iris and Dusty in the house while I did this with Georgia in their run. One rooster to deal with at a time is enough!


On 3/20/21, I cut some of Billie's feathers off her rear as they were all stuck together with poo. She had been acting lethargic. I did not know if this was because of this issue, or if this was the result of whatever issue she had. I felt around her vent. She had no signs of egg binding or prolapse.

Ariel and Dulcinea are starting to lose feathers again as Daffy and Perky are back to ripping their feathers out when they deem them too close to "their" food, or "just because" for Perky. I put some No Pick on them but Dulcie tried to eat it off her own wings, and then she was trying to get the bad tasting stuff out of her mouth.


Billie's Ascites

On 5/15/21, I brought Billie inside to give her a proper butt bath. That is when I discovered why she had been sulking with a poopy butt. She had a huge swelling like a water balloon under her body. According to my notes above, I did not feel this lump on 3/20/21. She had ascites, also called "water belly." I knew it had to be drained. Instead of begging for a day off of work and paying hundreds of dollars to some strange vet who knew next to nothing about chickens, I did it myself. I had sterile needles left over from having to give cats, rabbits, and a hedgehog subcutaneous fluids in the past. I watched a few videos first. On 5/16/21, my brother held her while I removed about 800 mL of fluid from her abdomen. It was maybe half her weight. While I am sure it made her feel a lot better, her underlying heart failure and anorexia was too far advanced. She did eat a little bit but succumbed to her illness on 5/22/21. She was alive around 3 pm and gone around 5:30 pm. She was such a sweet girl, the only hen that did not routinely attack Dulcinea and Ariel, and also the only hen that nobody messed with. I will miss Bill Bill.


I trimmed Georgia's beak again on 9/11/21 as it was getting long. He sure puts up a fight. By the time I catch him though, he is too tired to prevent me from cutting the beak. I have to knock him off the perch and chase him around with a towel.


Lame Iris

Sometime in early 2022, Iris sustained some damage from his brother Dusty during fighting. He was injured and had a slight limp. When I was not watching (most of the time), they must have had additional fights because before I knew it, Iris was lame. He could thrust himself with his legs and wings and move a foot or two or stumble on his legs but he could not walk properly. Finally, on 5/13/22, he was laying in a hole, feet in the air, head jammed into the ground. It seemed like he was not going to make it, and that he had given up. Even though I had not seen Dusty bother him once since he became lame, I did not know what might be going on when I was not there. I made the tough decision to move Iris to the house and run with the four girls. I figured if he was going to die, he might as well have his dream come true first. He had not been with the girls in 2.5 years. He immediately changed. He flapped his wings and crowed, called to the girls, and seemed interested in eating and drinking again. After a week, he was able to get to the other side of the run during the day. I brought food and water to wherever he was at least twice a day. I would move him and upright him when he was off kilter. I knew he was feeling better because he started hard biting me! And, I saw him bite grab Dulcinea. It was the mating bite, she screamed in pain but he could not get up to actually mate. I do not know what I will do if he recovers and starts attacking the girls and I.

I have a vet coming to look at him on 5/23/22 so I will see what she thinks.

I was surprised late on 5/22/22 when I went to check on the chickens after a bad storm that Georgia was on the ground, and he was fighting in earnest with Dusty! Georgia has been on roost almost non-stop for about 1.5 years! Sometimes, he would fall down but then scream and run to fly back up. I think this time, maybe he fell down and realized there was only one other rooster with him with Iris gone so he thought he could take on Dusty! Georgia should be weak from not being on solid ground for that long but he is a big boy and well fed.

The vet came on 5/23/22. As far as Angel goes, she said that he has a growth where his back claw used to be. The guess is that it was injured at some point, and his own tissue grew around it, making it bigger. It bothers him. Surgery could remove it but then he would need wound treatment and antibiotics, and she said he would still be off kilter because then he would have no back toe. So, nothing was done for him.

When she examined Iris, at first she found that one of his toe nails was aimed up. She think it broke but did not detach. She thought maybe that was his problem but, then after she saw him fall a few times, she decided the problem was neurological, perhaps from a virus.

I actually found a vet that would come to my house to look at my two roosters. The vet is only two years out of college but she was nice and knew enough to help. Daddy rooster, Angel, walks like he is marching. He is my most aggressive rooster. The vet says he has a callous-like growth over his back toe. Surgery could remove it but then he would need foot treatments, antibiotics, and still be missing a toe. So, nothing will be done for him at this time. Iris is partially lame. He started having issues months ago but he almost died 10 days ago. At that time, I put him with the girls, and now he wants to live so he is better. The vet said his legs seem fine (no breaks or injuries). She found one toe nail turned the wrong way. After trying to inject him twice with lidocaine (those feet are thick!), she cut it off all the way and then stopped the bleeding. [Someone would later tell me on a Facebook group that lidocaine is not safe for chickens.] At first the vet thought that was why he was not walking but, after seeing him fall down and rolling to one side, she thinks it is neurological perhaps due to a virus. If it were Newcastle, Marek's, or avian flu, not only would he have other symptoms and have died by now but the other chickens would also be sick, and they are fine. I'm wondering if it is West Nile. She then gave him an oral dose of doxycyline, and he started gaping and making absolutely horrible sounds. I thought he was going to die on the spot! He aspirated some of the liquid which I saw in her truck is made from grenadine of all things. I told her I was not going to do that to him myself so she gave me Baytril to inject in to his grapes. She thought maybe he had a systemic infection so that's why we are doing antibiotics. Like me, she saw no signs of parasites but did not do a thorough exam. The chicken group would tell me that she should have done a fecal test too.

On 5/27/22, when I went to do the morning feeding, I found Georgia laying down, feet up. I thought he was dead but he was just exhausted from fighting with Dusty. I grabbed a towel and thrust him up in the air to go back to life living on roost as he had been doing. He showed no sign of injury, and he has stayed up there as of 5/29/22. Dusty and Georgia had been viciously fighting almost non-stop since Georgia decided to live on the ground but I have to wonder if maybe Georgia could not get himself back up on the roost.

As of 5/29/22, Iris is the same. I have found him standing up numerous times, and he can walk multiple feet but then I will find him on his side, kicking his feet and not being able to get up. I have witnessed him bite/grab Dulcinea violently in an attempted mating ritual but Dulcie just screamed and got away. Iris cannot mate but he can grab any passing hen like a velociraptor. That has me worried if Iris improves but so far, he is not improving or worsening.

On 10/22/22, I treated Ariel's rump with Vetericyn and Pick-no-more as her sister, Dulcinea, had been ripping at her feathers there which were new as she had molted. By the next week, it seemed to be okay with the feathers coming in.

Update 11/3/22: Iris is 90% recovered. He cannot fly up to roost (perhaps still a bit dizzy) but he can walk and run. He has been harming the hens for months now. He grabs their feathers with his beak as they walk past and does his best to rape them. I know, they say it is not rape but the way the hens scream while he does his thing, it is not consentual at all. The girls are now losing feathers from mating. I do not have anyplace else to put Iris as the other roosters will kill him as he is not 100%. Angel is deteriorating from age and his bad foot but his son, Hope, is with him, and Hope is the strongest of them all. Dusty is also in great health. Georgia is so so since he spends all his life up on roost.

Update 11/6/23: Wow, no update for a year! Angel, Dusty, and Georgia all have injured feet and legs from a combination of bumble foot and growths in the case of Angel. Georgia came off his roost a few months ago due to his lame feet, and, amazingly, Dusty has not been attacking him. I noted a month ago that Perky seems to be losing weight; she is getting old. Daffy stays on roost in the main chicken house as she does not like being raped by Iris. Iris has a little wobble in his step but he is doing well. Angel and Hope will attack me so I rarely go in their run. They are fed through a trap door. A few weeks ago, I went into their run to put plexiglass on the small house's window, and I did not think Hope would hurt me (Angel was in the house) but Hope throttled me, and I developed two foot long bruises on both sides of my left leg. I trimmed Daffy's nails on 10/28/23 as they were getting long from being on roost. Daffy and Ariel are gorgeous right now with all new feathers. Dulcinea and Perky are still working on their fall molt. None of the four hens have laid an egg in about two months. Most of the year, I give my brother hundreds of eggs but, when it is time for me to make him a birthday cake, I have to buy the eggs! Since the girls are 4.5 and 5.5 years old now (two hens of each age), I should not expect them to produce eggs often.

I noticed that Dulcinea looked forlorn on the morning of 11/14/23. I also noticed her top beak was overgrown. I trimmed it, and she seems to be doing better. She has developed a minor crossbeak.

I started to treat Dulcinea for vent gleet on 2/17/24. Her rear had been poopy for a while but I noticed there was some white film around her vent so I assumed it was fungus. While I was rubbing Monistat on her, she was pooping out liquid feces so that was fun. I hope it helps her. If it warms up, I can also soak her rump in some warm water with Epsom salts. It is too cold right now, below freezing. So, I did her treatment. Her vent looks fine but every time I put Monistat there, she squirted out liquid feces. Her feathers are a mess. It is going to warm up but I will be stuck at work (by the weekend, it will be cold again) so who knows when she will get a bath.

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