Episode 20 of my podcast is up! You can listen over on Podbean, or on your favourite podcast player.
This week is a relaxed fit episode! I’m taking a break from reviewing Tom Seeley’s ‘The Lives of Bees’ to chat about what’s going on at the homestead, and how I go about setting up a ‘chicken hospital’ for sick hens.
Homestead news:
The pink tongue skink babies have had a high mortality rate again this year, and I am feeling very discouraged. I've gone over their husbandry with a fine tooth comb and spoken to other breeders of live-bearing skinks, and it seems like this is just one of those things that happens and that we have to brace ourselves for. It's very hard. The second litter finally arrived but almost 50% were still born and the remaining babies are so tiny. I'm really hoping they all make it, and I've been pampering the mamas. I'll be taking the next breeding season off. The females need a break and so do I!
We have had some good news, though. . . .
One of my husband's female carpet pythons laid eggs this year, and we now have 17 healthy, chubby baby snakes! This has been a project my husband has worked on for 4 years and our first success. We are both delighted by these sweet little ones, and are looking forward to watching them grow. We'll likely keep one or two for ourselves, and will sell the rest once they're eating and growing well.
We celebrated Luna's 2nd gotcha day on the 24th! ❤ I'll always remember the day she came home; she had never been away from her breeder, knew no other home, but she walked in here, looked around, jumped on the sofa, and had an attitude of "yes, this is it; this is my new home". I've never had a dog adjust so fast!
She's a mischievous little hobgoblin who escaped from our garden twice, still messes in the house during very cold weather, and she needs work building her confidence away from home, but she's also the sweetest, snuggliest, most loyal of companions. She bonded with me immediately and clearly loves me more than anyone. I've always wanted a little snugglebug and that's exactly what Luna is. If I'm away from the house for any period of time, she is delighted by my return! She wants only to lie down on top of me and fall asleep! I love her so much.
Better weather means gardening!
Using fallen branches and downed trees as bed borders
The beauty of a ‘compost/leaf pile’ as a free source of nutrient rich topsoil
Weeds make a great free source of greens for my tortoise and hens!
Finally able to plant seeds! Put down 2 different types of sunflowers (‘mammoth’ and ‘Autumn Beauty’; corn is next (as soon as I get more deer netting)
Evened out the displaced turf along drainage ditch, added topsoil, and then put down borage (white and blue) and a mix of wildflowers. Can’t mow this area so it’s a good place for wildflower growth!
Mowing! It never ends!!
Speaking of mowing, I always worry about beheading dandelions and prefer to wait for them to go to seed first as they’re a great food source for the bees, and one of the first flowers to bloom in Spring. That said, I’ve noticed that the bumblebees swarm the lawn after I’ve mowed as it exposes low lying blossoms from things like ‘creeping Charlie’ (a kind of ground ivy).
This made me remember a podcast episode I’d listened to last year: PolliNation podcast, episode 52 ‘OSU Research Retinue; Mowing or Mowing Less: what helps the bees more?”
From the episode summary:
“The OSU Research Retinue reviews a research study that garnered a fair amount of press this month on the connection between lawn mowing frequency and bee abundance and diversity. The study, led by Susannah Lerman from USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, compared the bees visiting lawns mowed weekly, every two or three weeks. The two year study was published in the May issue of the journal Biological Conservation.”
The paper looked at a mowing frequency of 1, 2, and 3 weeks, and noted both the abundance of bee species (how many) and the diversity (what kinds of bees). The results seem to indicate that mowing every 2 weeks is best in terms of bee abundance, though diversity is lower, possibly because of the few generalist species that tend to dominate urban landscapes. So, if you’re worried about how mowing your lawn might be affecting local pollinators, you now have a guideline!
Another podcast that stood out to me recently was season 2, episode 29 of Beekeeping Today podcast. This episode, entitled ‘Regional Beekeeper Perspectives: East, Midwest, and Mountain States’, spoke to 3 beekeepers from the mentioned regions and what they are currently seeing in their hives, as well as discussing how their management techniques are affected by local weather.
It was a great listen, in particular how each addresses varroa mite management. One of the guests, Mark Smith, is a keeper in North Carolina who has been working on mite resistance lines, allowing him to be completely treatment free. A few things stood out to me from this discussion:
He produces his own queens
He practices yearly brood breaks (mimicking the swarming behaviour of wild bees)
He lives in an isolated area (nearest beekeeper is 14 miles away), allowing him to responsibly work on resistant bees without sending ‘mite bombs’ to neighbour colonies. Conversely, he won’t be on the receiving end of mite bombs.
Difference between ‘treatment free’ and ‘chemical free’
First few years, he had 70% losses; not for the faint of heart!
Continually looks to the lives of wild honey bees for guidance on management practices.
The question about his location to other beekeepers was asked by one of the other guests; Tracy Alarcon, who lives in NE Ohio (like me!). I found it heartening that this consideration of other keepers was one of the first things that came to mind. Tracy shared his own treatment methods, particularly in light of his close proximity to other bee keepers and trucks that pass through with hundreds of hives on the way to pollination contracts. Similarly, the final guest, Ed Colby, lives in Colorado and is surrounded by commercial keepers, which means varroa mite transmission between colonies is a real concern.
The whole discussion of local weather patterns, treatment methods, and varroa management in particular was fascinating, and gave me hope! Attempting to breed for varroa resistance shouldn’t mean disregarding your neighbouring keepers; we need to think responsibly. If you’re going to do something, do it right! I commend Mark for the work he has done and I would love to visit his apiaries to learn more about how he got to where he is now, and how he plans to move forward. He is doing it right!
Speaking of hives. . . . .
Hive update:
Finally had some warm weather! And that means I got to go hang with the girls for a while. Visiting the hives is always a learning experience and I was reminded of that rather sharply on Monday, May 18th when I got a wee bit cocky!
It was a warm day (70F+) and humid due to intermittent rain. I had prepared sugar syrup since it was finally warm enough at night for liquid feed. Just as I was heading out, it was drizzling (light rain). I decided this wasn’t an issue so I put on just my veil and went out bare armed. I decided to start with Macha’s hive and they promptly reminded me why I named her after a goddess of war! They were NOT HAPPY and I got nailed on my left forearm by a very determined girl. Many more were dive bombing me and I made a hasty retreat!
After putting on my suit and lighting the smoker, I went back out to finish setting up the hives. Just Macha’s girls were mad; the other 2 hives were fine with the interruption. I had to laugh because this is just like last Spring when I brought my nucs home; Macha’s girls NAILED ME on the face and were mean as hell early on! Her foragers are tough gals and take no shit. Otherwise, they’re sweet as pie. Made a note in my journal that a/ they don’t like even a small amount of rain, and b/ they’re testy in the Spring!
I also realised the day after adding the feeders that I’d messed up the sugar to water ratio (too much water) so had to make a patch of super thick syrup to correct the ratios in the feeders.
Thursday, May 21st
Warm (70sF) and humid but no rain, although it was cloudy and overcast for half the day.
Hive #1 (Cerridwen):
Eggs and brood
Did not see queen but presence of eggs and no sign of supersedure cells means she’s in there somewhere
Brood pattern much improved since my last check
Brood in bottom and middle box, and 1-2 frames in the top box
Wax is being drawn out in greater quantities (though still slow)
Quite a lot of burr comb in this hive, which I cut away
A few queen cups, which I broke down after confirming plentiful eggs
Gravity syrup feeder on (inside an empty super)
Bees seem to prefer the top rear entrance to the landing board
Waiting to see more drones before I pull frames from this hive to make nucs
Hive #2 (Macha):
Eggs, brood, queen
Not aggressive today, thankfully!
Brood looks good; lovely full frames
Queen in upper box
Wax building has begun!
Added a deep box with 2 drawn frames to encourage them to fill the others
Mason jar feeder on (in empty super)
1-2 queen cups (broke them down)
Hive #3 (Saskatraz queen):
Eggs, brood
Did not see queens but LOTS of eggs
Using a new feeder for this hive, which leaked a little; won’t buy again
Drawing new wax, including one beautiful frame of brood (nothing more stunning than fresh wax!)
Added a honey super for them to draw wax on/build out
Still making queen cells regularly (broke them down)
Good brood pattern and population
To do:
Mite check
Monitor nectar flow and drone numbers for nuc build
Build nuc and deep supers (bought unassembled)
Make more syrup
Setting up a chicken hospital:
If you follow my Instagram, you’ll have seen that my oldest hen, Agatha, has been sick again and I really thought her days were numbered. I found her behaving oddly on the 9th; she was huddled down, leaning to one side and holding her head at a weird angle. When I took her out of the run and put some treats down for her, she ended up circling the food in a staggering gait that was rather alarming. I decided to bring her in to what I call my ‘chicken hospital’.
So what is a chicken hospital?
It’s any safe, secure space inside a temperature controlled area (your house, heated/cooled outbuilding or garage, etc). In my case, it’s my downstairs bathroom.
When choosing an area, consider the following:
Can you control the temperature to avoid overheating or excess cold?
Is there a source of light? A window is best, IMO, but artificial light is fine
Is it away from drafts or chills?
Is it away from other animals to prevent predation/accidents but also to protect healthy animals from potential contagion?
Is it convenient for you? You’re going to likely be in there a lot feeding, watering, medicating, and monitoring your sick chicken so convenience of access cannot be overlooked
Is the area relatively calm and quiet? Loud sounds, including those from other pets and children, can be stressful to a sick chicken, and therefore impede their recovery.
My downstairs bathroom is one of the few rooms in our house that doesn’t contain other pets (specifically, reptiles!). I can also lock my dogs out of it as they have high prey drives and would love some fresh chicken! It also has a raised counter where I can place the crate, keeping Agatha off the floor. I can control the heat in there, and there’s a window plus overhead lighting. We’re a quiet household (no children, dogs rarely bark, we don’t play loud music or movies, etc) and closing off this room makes things especially peaceful in there.
How should you cage your sick chicken?
You could let your chicken loose in a small area, if you feel comfortable with a/ the mess, and b/ the safety of your hen. I like to confine them, and I use a medium wire dog crate with a pull out plastic tray. This or an x-pen on plastic sheeting is what I recommend as both are easy to clean, and will keep your chicken safe and secure.
When looking at types of containment, consider:
Is there enough space for the chicken to move around?
If the chicken has mobility issues, is there enough room for them to flap about and hurt themselves? Too much room can be just as much as an issue as too little.
Can you easily clean up after them?
Is there space for food and water?
Is it easily accessible to you?
Can you easily remove the chicken from the enclosure (for medicating and body checks, etc)?
When setting up the dog crate for a chicken, I like to use a shallow pan (like a kitty litter tray) for their resting place. I can fill it with the shavings I use in their coop and spot clean it daily. Otherwise, I line the plastic tray base with newspaper. There’s space for this nesting area as well as food and water. I’ll also drape a towel over the back of the crate to make it feel safer and more enclosed. I keep plastic bags nearby to speed up clean up, as well as disposable gloves and any topical medication that don’t require refrigeration (dusting powder, vaseline, wound treatment, etc).
Other items I find useful to have on hand:
Pill crusher (many oral meds won’t be eaten outright and need to be crushed and mixed with something tasty)
Needleless syringes (for giving liquid meds, pedialyte, water, etc)
Dedicated jar or bowl for mixing medications
Notebook (to log treatments, how the bird is progressing, changes in behaviour, etc)
Number and location of an avian/exotic vet and your nearest emergency vet.
Additional heat source (space heater, panel heater, hot water bottles, etc)
Somewhere for you to sit (this really helps when trying to syringe feed a wriggling chicken)
towels/cloths for gently wrapping the chicken, clean up, etc.
The ‘chicken health handbook’ as a place to look up symptoms, treatment, what to expect, etc.
Old clothing that you don’t mind getting messy! I have a ‘chicken’ shirt and jacket I use for this.
Hopefully, this gives you an idea of where to start when setting up a space for a sick chicken.
As for Agatha, that old bird is tough as nails! When I found her, I really thought her time was up. Previously, when I’ve found hens in this state, they’ve died within 48hrs or I’ve had to have them euthanized. I was considering the latter option for Agatha but she was determined to make it.
After bringing her in, I checked her over carefully and realised she must have been feeling poorly for a while and had hidden it well because she was absolutely infested with poultry lice. Agatha is usually very clean and fully capable of grooming herself. For her to be so infested, she clearly hadn’t felt up to grooming for a while. There are various treatments for lice but I needed gentle methods due to her weakened state.
The first thing I did was mix up a solution of NutriDench, water, and a little honey (for sugar). I syringe fed her this and then put her in the crate with crumble and some boiled egg. She ate sparingly but seemed to enjoy the egg yolk.
The next day, she seemed a little stronger and ate a whole boiled egg, chopped greens, and the NutriDrench solution. I then mixed up a spray bottle of water and castille soap and thoroughly sprayed her, focusing on her vent and under her wings where the majority of the mites were hiding. I gently rubbed this solution in, clearly away debris from her dust bath as I did so. She didn’t like it but it was less stressful than a bath. I also dug up her old pain pills (which I’d phased out before winter) and started giving her a daily dose.
It became clear that more drastic measures were needed to deal with the lice so I ended up mixing up diatomaceous earth and some Poultry Dust (the main ingredient is permethrin, a potent insecticide that I try to avoid whenever possible). I then set up thoroughly dusting Miss Agatha. The lice started falling off her during this treatment; there were so many!! She got some special treats after this as an apology.
48 hours later, she was much stronger so I decided to bathe her in order to loosen up the egg sacs that were sticking her feathers together at the base. It took about an hour of patiently working to remove as many as possible. I then gently dried her using the low setting on my hairdryer. When she was fully dry, I applied vaseline to any remaining eggs to smother them, and gave her another dusting.
After this, she was free of adult lice! But some eggs could still be viable so I got in the habit of giving her a light dusting after her daily medication.
By May 15th, it was clear that not only was Agatha going to make it but she had a real shot at a full recovery. I decided to take her to my avian vet to discuss her pain management, and whether she needed anything else (antibiotics, etc). I wasn’t able to go in with her due to COVID precautions but the vet tech LOVES her and everyone there has always been so good with my pets so I wasn’t worried. The vet called me to discuss how to move forward, and we decided to do blood work. My options were a full panel, which was expensive, or a simple CBC. I went for the latter. It might sound cold but, due to her advanced age and health history, I wasn’t going to invest hundreds of dollars into her treatment. As it stands, the CBC showed an elevated white blood cell count, indicating an infection, so I was given a 2 week course of antibiotics, and was also advised to increase her pain meds to a twice daily dosage for 7-10 days.
As for the cause of her recent illness, we knew from a similar situation last year that Agatha has arthritis all through her body, a deformed toe from a previous infection, and a mass on her liver/spleen (I can never remember which). Any of these things could be the cause but my vet felt that hormones might play a role. Considering she’d been well enough to come off pain meds in the Fall and Winter when a chickens reproductive system tends to shut down but then sickened in the Spring when things restart, he wondered if it was inflammation in her reproductive tract that led to an infection. This makes a lot of sense considering their biology, and the fact that she had laid an egg for me for the first time in over 8 months right before I noticed her looking so sick.
24 hours after her first dose of antibiotics, and sweet Aggy was SO much brighter! She was much steadier when I put her down to walk around, and no longer had a pronounced lean towards one side. She also started ‘talking’ more to me and my husband when we visited her, and then started fighting me a little during her syringe feedings (for medication)! A few days ago, she even laid an egg!
As an aside: when medicating chickens, remember that their eggs might not be safe to eat. Always check the medication guidelines and/or your vet. We have to dispose of her eggs for this reason.
Well, with the lovely weather on the 24th, I decided to try Agatha outside. She gamely tried to assert herself as boss with the Cleveland hens but they struck back and she went right back to the bottom of the pecking order. She’s just so timid! The good news is that these girls aren’t vicious like my big flock so no one was hurt (and one of them doesn’t have a full beak).
Now that I know that her pain is possibly connected to her hormonal changes, I can manage her pain medication dosage accordingly.
To see how Agatha continues to progress, please check out my Instagram! I post most often on there.
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And that's it for this week! Thank you for joining me, and I hope this gives some hope and/or help to those of you with elderly or ailing chickens.
You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, and can email me at homesteadhensandhoney@gmail.com.
Until next time, hug your hens and then wash your hands!
