Eight Vet Visits, One Very Full House
Inside a busy week at the hen haven
You can listen to me read this post using the player above.
Hello Friends,
I have a habit of naming upcoming weeks in my head, almost as a way of getting through them. This one was ‘vet week’. Eight of our animal family members have been through the vet’s doors this week.
Rosie and Diesel the bunnies were probably the easiest appointments yet still 100% essential. They went in for their annual health check, nail trim and their calicivirus vaccine.
It baffles me that humans release such a nasty virus to kill wild rabbits. Imagine purposefully designing something that causes severe liver necrosis and internal haemorrhages. And yet barely putting any resources behind contraceptive alternatives.
Given the choice between violence and a humane alternative, why do so many humans pick violence every time?
Calicivirus is so widespread, you can’t safely care for rabbits without the vaccine, even when they are house bunnies like Rosie and Diesel. Whenever I see a rabbit in the wild I wish with all my might that they will be safe.
As you can see from the photos both Diesel and Rosie were very scared, but they cuddled up together in their carrier immediately after the appointment.
Rosie was rescued from a meat farm back in 2022. It was just as horrible as the worst battery farm you can imagine. Her paws were raw from the wire. It’s hard to believe what she went through as now she is such a big, friendly bunny.
But much like rescued meat chickens she is up against some issues due to her breed. Heart issues are very common in rabbits used in the meat industry. Rosie had a slightly irregular heartbeat and has to go back in for another check in two weeks.
Both bunnies need to go on a bit of a diet. It’s hardly a surprise. Whilst I am very careful with their diets, Rosie is bred to have a huge appetite and to put on weight very easily. It’s hard to keep the floor free of chicken seed here and if it is dropped, Rosie and Diesel are straight onto it!
I can relate. I am the same way with vegan chocolate. Seriously, don’t leave any around me if you want to see it again.
Here’s the quick rundown from the other vet trips this week:
Cookie: post-surgery check (remember all that yucky egg she had removed a couple of weeks ago?) Healing well, but the vet is concerned the implant may not yet have kicked in so there may be some more egg in there! She’s back in two weeks, on meds for now and thankfully very bright in herself.
Ginny and Tess (Cookie’s daughters): respiratory infections, both on meds. When they were surrendered years ago they had E coli and ever since they have had more sensitive respiratory systems.
Pamela: pneumonia which is something she has been susceptible to since she was surrendered, plus a case of mistaken identity. The vet nurse thought she was a rooster due to her spurs, but she’s definitely a hen. Hormone issues similar to PCOS in human women can cause spur growth.
Mara: One of our lovely rescued parent farm girls had canker on the roof of her mouth. We caught it early, procedure done to clean out mouth and meds prescribed.
It is a busy house at night as everyone who needs meds or extra care sleeps inside on blankets.
And then there was Alice.
Alice and her best friend Minnie were young hens who were abandoned like rubbish when their human moved house.
They haven’t been with us that long and have only just reached the age where they begin to lay eggs. Alice recently began separating herself from her friends and seemed quiet.
At the vets it became clear something was very wrong. Upon examination there was swelling and blood in her cloaca. We needed to put a stop to her body’s attempts at egg laying.
She was given a hormonal implant and medication and she was kept inside on blankets and crop fed, but it was not enough.
Alice passed away on Friday night. A harsh reminder that the selective breeding of these girls to lay too many eggs cannot always be remedied and can have horrible effects even at a young age.
I am so glad we got to give Alice a couple of months of love and care. And that her best friend Minnie has bonded with Quinn which may help ease her grief.
Quinn is such a sweet boy to the girls. He does his dances, but he doesn’t chase them or try to mount them. I hope when we are in a position to take in more animals that we can rescue a couple of girls to be friends with Quinn and Minnie.
For now though, we are at our limit in both our care load and in budget.
Which brings me to our most extroverted isa brown, Chloe.
We were meant to be taking her into the vets for a bumble foot procedure but had to make the hard decision to wait, as we simply don’t have the money right now. She has been to the vets for meds and I am bathing her foot in betadine and applying cream daily. We’ll keep her comfy and hopefully make some progress before we can afford her treatment.
If there are any signs of the bumble foot worsening, of course I will get her straight to the vet. For now she is happy, raiding the pig’s fruit bucket before I get a chance to bring it in to them, dust bathing and spending time with Claude the rooster.
It is a weird feeling making the decision to put her procedure on hold, because I’ve always managed to pull together funds for vet treatment. But I guess when there are so many at the vets in a short period, it pushes us to the limits.
Of course, if any life saving treatment is needed it will be given no matter if it goes on credit cards or if I have to busk on a street corner (lord help anyone who has to hear me sing. Maybe they will pay me to stop!)
It’s not all bad financially! Actually I have a lot of hope and a huge amount of gratitude because…
We met our goal of 20 paid subscribers on Substack!!! Woohooo!
We even exceeded our initial goal with 21 people who chose to support the animals. I know it won’t pay off the vet bills, but the sense of building a real support crew for the animals is wonderful.
So if you have helped out, thank you so much. It means far more than the dollar amount you have given. The same goes for our hen heroes and one off donors.
This week one donor enabled us to buy a few pumpkins for the pigs, another a bag of grapes for the chickens and ducks, another donor helped us to buy a whole week of food and bedding. Whether a big or small donation, it is received with gratitude from both me and the animals. It kind of outweighs the financial worry and makes me feel really happy, grateful and hopeful.
Since we don’t have the funds for plants right now I have been continuing my stick, log and rock scavenging around the property. I think it may be one of my favourite pastimes. I guess joys really can be found in the simple things in life!
I love the feeling of finding something free and natural and turning it into something the animals get real happiness from. And hopefully it goes without saying that I always leave logs or rocks if animals like lizards or ants are living in or under them.
The most satisfying individuals to gift sticks to must be Bert and Ernie the roosters. They were found wandering around an apartment complex.
You guessed it… dumped.
They were only babies and trying to follow people as they walked to their apartments. Thankfully someone took pity on them and brought them to safety in their apartment before contacting us.
Now the brothers are all grown up and out of everyone here, Bert and Ernie love to climb, perch and hop the most! They are like the Ninja Warriors of the chicken world.
As soon as I lugged in a couple of rocks and a log, they started pecking them, hopping on them and getting all excited. When I positioned the items to create a perch they were even happier. They seemed very interested in the different view of the hen haven and the hens next door.
One day their whole enclosure will be a rooster jungle gym!
The roosters all have such distinct personalities.
Take Fraser, for example. He was originally rescued when dumped with his seven brothers. You may remember that me and director Isy were going for a rare bush swim when we found them. Not exactly the time out and self care we had planned! The brothers all had their wings clipped so they couldn’t even perch away from predators.
After the rescue, Fraser was being bullied by his brothers. He was one of the smallest roosters of the gang. We separated the group in two but he still didn’t seem happy.
A couple of months ago we rescued the teenagers. Five gangly, fluffy-footed roosters dumped by the river. A few days after they arrived, Fraser escaped his enclosure, hopped over into the front garden and joined the teenage gang. Actually I’d say he became the leader of the gang. From bullied boy to gentle, kind leader.
I love how he chose the family that he wanted. He is now in the front garden permanently. Whenever we are working on a coop in the garage, he has to come and inspect it. He has done a thorough inspection of every coop.
We picked up two dodgy coops off facebook marketplace this week. They may not be great, but with a little love and snake proofing they will be just as effective and loads cheaper than a flat packed coop. Thank goodness for Fraser giving his building tips.
I have quite the treat coming up tomorrow. My good friend, Sarah, is coming to visit all the way from Alice Springs. I met her in 2018 when she started volunteering at the hen rescue when it was a small suburban rescue in Sydney.
But as is often the way with vegans, we had so much to talk about and soon became good friends.
It’s a shame Sarah can’t stay here as the house is more of an animal barn than a comfortable home, but having her here for a couple of days will be amazing.
Our goal is to give one of the enclosures a makeover. I thought it would be fun to do a before and after from a boring space to a super fun one. I will have to share photos with you next Sunday.
I hope you have the most fabulous week ahead and thank you again for being here and for being on the animals’ side.
Love Catherine
P.S. If you would like to donate towards any of the recent vet bills or to contribute enough for a watermelon, pumpkin or a bag of grapes you can donate here: https://henrescue.org/donate or become a paid subscriber.
P.P.S. If you already have, thank you. You are amazing and never taken for granted (even if I may keep falling behind with tax receipts).
I so love receiving your messages letting us all know how the babies are doing. As always I’m sending loving vibes to you all. xx Shelley
You are light abundant in a world of suffering, showing us there is another way. Thank you always. <3