Paralysis again!

[chrismahon]

Just three weeks on from my previous 'paralysis' post and I found Poppy was missing when the coop was checked last night. She was in the run, collapsed in a corner unable to stand but was fine a few hours earlier. Bought her in and she started to overheating as before so she had 50mg of Asprin with water again. Expected she had had it this time, but in the middle of the night she woke up and perched on the side of the fruit tray we'd laid her in. This morning she is in perfect health and running about with her sister!

I think Rick is right and she has eaten a Processionary Caterpillar emerging moth or chrysalis? Perhaps she is becoming more immune to the poison or we caught her early enough and she didn't get so cold? She's very skinny but laying- sooner we leave here the better I think.

 

[MrsBiscuit]

:shock:

What bad luck for the poor girl, good luck to you looking after her so well, Chris.

 

[chrismahon]

She's been very lucky indeed so far MrsBiscuit.

Bit chaotic here at the moment. The grass is growing fast and with storms due tomorrow has had to be cut; one of the neighbour's hens has managed to tear out a primary flight feather and nearly bled to death (stopped the bleeding with arrowroot powder); we now have a little dog and she absolutely hates the neighbour's cat and would attack her given the chance; our hens are coming into lay, making a load of noise which starts Merlin the cock sounding the alarm, the neighbours dog then 'sings' and our Tiggy starts barking which then upsets the rest of the chickens. It's been so peaceful over Winter.

The neighbour's hen is bandaged up at the moment to stop her preening the damaged wing and opening the bleeding up again and is in a spare run with her sister. And little Poppy has just laid an egg!

 

[rick]

You would have thought after feeling the effects the first time she would have avoided eating them again! Maybe it's some kind of hen high!

 

[Marigold]

It sounds like a TV comedy serial down there, Chris. What sort of dog is Tiggy! pic please!

 

[chrismahon]

Don't think Poppy is very bright Rick. Chickens are supposed to naturally avoid things that are bad for them, but it may have something to do with artificial rearing, rather than using a broody.

Tiggy is a rescue Marigold- she was left tied to a letter box. She is registered as a Dachshund x Terrier (they are very strict here about microchipping, inoculations and liability insurance) and a friend of ours said she looked like a Manchester Terrier. She has the build and temperament of a Terrier (7Kg) with the colouring of a Dachshund- very sweet,very active and (selectively) very intelligent. We're training her to return to a dog whistle at the moment before letting her off the lead.

We have a feral cat problem at our new home (as do most country people) so that's why we took her. We intended to get a dog after we had moved, but she was too good to miss.

 

[Marigold]

She sounds lovely, lucky girl to have found you. What sort of lowlife leaves a dog tied to a letter box? I agree about the selective intelligence of terriers - all our dogs have been terriers of one sort and another, all have been very intelligent, affectionate and easy to live with, fierce in the defence of us and our territory, and willing to help us arrive at a modus vivendi whereby they obey us in certain things, (usually) in return for us bending the rules in their favour when it comes to their personal comfort indoors, or the freedom to explore hedges and holes outside.

 

[rick]

Don't think Poppy is very bright Rick. Chickens are supposed to naturally avoid things that are bad for them, but it may have something to do with artificial rearing, rather than using a broody.

So this delinquent has nurture to blame.

The smartest dog I ever had was a fox terrier cross found by a skip and called (you guessed it) Skip. (why do they get dumped so often?) He was so savvy! The daftest (and gentlest) was a Hungarian Viszla who was rescued from being probably the worst guard dog in the world.

We currently have a lurcher that runs very fast but was probably dumped for not actually liking to catch anything... Ideal!

 

[chrismahon]

Well Tiggy disgraced herself yesterday Marigold- got into the cats food tub and ate herself to a standstill. She has very short hair so suffers from the cold but her coat arrives today so we'll see how she gets on with it. She is responding well to the whistle so will soon be let off the lead, well away from the neighbour's cat of course.

As for Poppy, she suffered from poor treading technique from her cock yesterday, which is partly her fault as she knows she can outrun him sometimes, rather than submit. The result is he grabs her comb. Bantam Leghorns have very delicate combs which damage easily and the result was blood all over the run. We managed to stop the bleeding and used plastic skin on the wounds, but one point started bleeding again, probably due to contact with the feeder. Fortunately it was getting late so she perched in the coop and it had all healed up this morning, although she does look pale.