Trip to vet?

Was all set for trip to vet today. Having previously said that I would not take chickens to vet again as it is not economically sensible (and it's embarrassing in the waiting room!), I realised that the economics and humiliation are quite rapidly re-assessed when faced with ailing chicken. However, Kiev seemed much improved this morning and I watched her eat and drink, she didn't seem to be gasping or even breathing heavily. As the day progressed she seemed to speed up a bit too (no longer sluggish) and by the end of the day, I threw some strawberry tops into Stalag Chicken Run and she came pounding towards me like a poultry Sumo wrestler (a joy to behold!).

Kiev still poorly!

Consulted chicken gurus and administered everything advised that we could get our hands on in a hurry. I tried to establish whether or not Kiev might have an impacted crop (this meant re-finding out what a crop is, where it is and how I might be able to tell if it was impacted or not). There was a lump in general crop area, but after second opinion and discussion with Alan, we realised we had no idea if this was normal or not, but massaged lump for a while anyway, Kiev didn't seem to mind. Next, dug out left over anti-biotic liquid prescribed for Molly when I thought she was on death's door (it turned out she was about to lay her first egg and it was enormous! - see August 2006 blog entries if you've really got nothing better to do!) and added this to chook's water. Next, administered Flubenvet (wormer) via their food. Kiev had to be lifted into coop tonight, she had settled under the coop, unable/willing to go inside. Fingers crossed.

Kiev sick

There's something wrong with Kiev. She's sort of breathing heavily, seems to be struggling to breath, a bit wheezey. Her whole body is heaving with the effort of breathing and she's got a lot of white poo stuck to her bottom. Have consulted chicken gurus and it sounds like a trip to the vets might be necessary for some anti-biotics. Unfortunately, chickens are particularly prone to respiratory problems and the books/gurus say it could be a cold, gape worm, heart problems etc. Fingers crossed.