hi annie, was so sorry to read about your lost amberlinks, its one of those things that the hen books fail to prepare you for. hannah hen is still alive but getting weaker by the day, but when we decide to do the kindest thing, she surprising us by rallying and perking up. am 99.9% sure she has mareks, as spoke to a lady yeaterday who bought her silkie from the same place as me, and it also developed the same symptoms as hannah. will be sure to only ever buy from recommended dealers who vaccinate in future, am keeping a careful watch on all the others now, but however careful you are annie, things like this happen, and nearly always to the most caring, and responsible owners, have seen hens in appaling conditions and nothing ever ails them!! take care juliexx

Hi Julie, thank you for the message of support!! Yes, I hate to lose any of my girls, I always feel I should have done something different! I think they are just scared of the dark! As when we put the red light back on they were fine, but tonight I had to go in and separate some of them who were again piling on top of each other!!! Silly girls!

I'm sorry to hear about Hannah. People always ask me about vaccinating their chooks, but it isn't easy for the small rearer or breeder, as the doses only come in multiples of 1,000 and you can't save any leftovers to use again. You have to throw it away, which is such a waste of money. As long as your husbandry of the animals is good, you shouldn't have any problems, but some breeders and rearers run the next flock of chickens on the same ground each time, and parasites do build up.

I have a similar problem in that I have only the half acre plot, and only half of that is chicken run, but what we do in between flocks is to rotavate the ground and lime it, then rake it in or rotavate again a week or so afterwards. If we don't have time to do that, then I spray Jeyes fluid all over the run twice and leave it to soak in. Hopefully that kills anything there might be in the soil. But I'd like to do a rethink on how the runs are situated, but haven't told hubby yet!!!! lol

But as so many people are concerned about their chickens, I have been looking into getting some vaccines that I can put in their drinking water. Our vets don't know anything about poultry, and I wouldn't want to try to inject them myself. Also our hatchery vaccinates the chicks against Mareks when they hatch, and Mareks is the worst thing they can catch.

You never know, Hannah may be okay, I have heard that some chickens can recover from it, and it sounds like she wants to live, or she would have given up by now. Once a chicken decides it's had enough, they just give up!!! Fingers crossed for her! Take Care

good morning annie, another night that hannah has survived, shes got her appetite back.and is fighting to stand up, am putting her food a little out of her reach now and shes managing to reach it, i know i musnt get my hopes up but cant help but feel optimistic. these chickens certainly worm their way into your heart very quickly. we had unwelcome visitors to our allotment on tuesday, , two legged ones that bust open all our sheds with a crow bar lookin for things to steal, they have spooked my hens cos yesterday there were no eggs, and our welsummer cockerel,(who we call gentleman jim as he is a smoothie with the girls!!) attacked me for the first time ever, so hope he doesnt start on the others. was interested to see that there are vaccines that can be added to the hens water, as i also wouldnt fancy injecting mine, they act like youre tryin to murder them when we just check for mite so god help em if i went in there with a needle. i intend to contact the lady i got hannah from, and inform her that there is the possibility that two of her hens have mareks, and hopefully she will see her way to actin on it. she loves all her hens and chicks but she has so many that she neds to have a rethink on housing, and up her housekeeping a bit more. many thanks for your help and advice, love jxx

Hi Julie, I'm pleased that Hannah is still fighting, if not fit, but she may be okay. They reckon chickens can get over Mareks, but it seems to still be in their system, and can come back anytime, but I've never experienced this myself, so don't actually know.

You should let that lady know about your problem as she can then get her own flock sorted out! Otherwise, she may lose the lot!

Also I'm sorry to hear about your intruders! We are lucky that we don't have an allotment and have enough room for our chickens and my veggies, although the veggies have suffered this year with me being so caught up in caring for the chicks. but I'll try to do better next year!

There has been a lot of vandalism and thefts this year, why people can't just go out and get a job to keep them busy I don't know!!!!

Fingers crossed for Hannah!! XX Ann

hi anne, we have achieved a HUGE boost with Hannah hen, she actually walked for about five steps today before falling over, for the last few days she hasnt even got onto her feet. she had a bath yesterday, which she seemed to enjoy,( cos she was bit mucky sittin in poop,) then a cool blow dry, which she definately enjoyed!! the chicken guys on the allotment cant believe im goin to such lengths, but she is eatin and cluckin, and i just cant give up on her cos she is such a fighter. I realise she will still be a carrier, but i dont intend to put her back with the others, she will most definately be a "pet" but she seems to enjoy all of the fuss and attention shes gettin,

we have also added to our family, with a couple of blackrocks, most definately the cheekiest hens ever. they have squared up tp all the others, even the cockerel and come off none the worse, today they had the run of the garden to clear the weeds, we decided to clear most of the plot, as lack of sunshine has made for a very disappointing harvest this year, so we let the new kids on , and what a day they've had. unfortunately, getting them back to bed was a major operation, we only just recovered !! you are so lucky to have enough room for both veg and chickens at your property,. even tho our allotment is just a walk away, its a long walk on the dark nights to shut them up for the night, especially in the rain and wind. if i ever get the lottery my first buy would be a house with land, i would be in heaven! will keep you posted on the hannah situation, its nice to know we have people rooting for her, (even the big burly men on the allotment all call over to ask after her) take care anne, lv juliex

Hi Julie, I am so pleased that Hannah is holding her own! Hopefully she will recover, although its a shame whe will have to live on her own in case she infects the others! But at least she will have a lovely life!

I'd like some Black rocks, but its finding them at day old at a reasonable price. Now I can raise my own chicks, huby on't let me buy any more POL's, we've got to raise our own!!! lol

We have an Amberlink chick who was badly pecked about 5 weeks ago. She has been living in a cardboard box in the dining area. It's a big box and I didn'tthink she would live, as her backbone was stripped right back to the bone!!!! And she had sores all over. But she is still with us, and I've been putting vaseline on her scabs to help soften them and yesterday I put some baby oil on to help a bit. I managed to gently pull off one very large scab that was loose on her lower back, and hubby said that once it was off, she was able to move her wing up a bit more. It must have been very uncomfortable for her.

So with the nice weather, I've had her outside for a while on the grass, but as we have 2 chickens wandering around, Mary the Goldline kept going up to her and I was worried she would attack her if I wasn't there, so today we dragged a big, low cold frame that hubby made for me onto the grass, and instead of the glass top, we put some wire over the topand some pallet wood, which gave her a bit of shelter from the sun. But she has been laying out there all afternon getting the fresh air and sunshine to her body, so hopefully she will heal up a bit better now.

It's strange, though as she eats and drinks quite well, but as soon as anything goes down her throat, its like she has little convulsions, and you can hear her tummy gurgling. She's a bit like a little Jack Douglas, do you remember him when he used to have that funny fit in his programmes??

Yes I am lucky to have this nice big garden, but hubby is never satisfied. He wants to buy a place now with 24 acres. the fact that we can't actually afford it, doesn't seem to phase him!!!!!

morning anne, who'd have thought that hens could be such a worry. your little amberlinkk chick sounds like hannah, a proper fighter, but funny you mentioned her when she eats because hannah does the same thing, its like shes shaking her food down. have gotten very pleasant surprise today, got hannah out of her box for her morning physio, (i have been manipulating her legs and wings, much to Daves horror!)
but today she actually pecked my hand and got up herself, and shes still limping around the kitchen as i type this, we have very spirited hens i think.

speakin of spirited hens, my blackrocks have once again made a bid for freedom when i went to put their fresh food and water in this morning. at 7.45 in the morning in the rain and wind i must have looked a proper sight running up and down tryin to catch them, think they enjoyed themselves so much in the big garden that they dont like their little run anymore. my boys named them alice cooper and ziggy stardust, and they certainly livin up to the bad boy names.
if you decide to get some, dont say you werent warned!!haha

Hope you and hubby manage to find a way to get your 24 acres, can understand how he feels, when you want something so much and its only bloody money that gets in your way, its very frustrating.

hope your amberlink chick is feelin as perky as hannah today, take care lv juliex