MEAT KING PET....ON HER WAY OUT I THINK...

SillyBird

In the Brooder
Sep 4, 2015
79
12
43
Nova Scotia
I have a 9 month old meat king pet hen, Coconut, who has not been doing well lately, and i believe, sadly, that she may be dieing. In the past week she has been doing the following: laying down most of the day; when laying down she sometimes raises her head, opens her beak, and takes a breath?, then lowers her head, and repeats; her comb is pale. She is rather enthusiastic about eating though but I know that is the most die hard trait they have. When she eats her food, which is in pellet form, she does a high pitched 'tweet'? noise...which she actually has done all her life, but lately alot...so my husband suggested soaking the pellets until soft and this helps. I gave her plain yogurt and banana for 'lunch'. The only thing she (and all the birds) are on right now is Amprol and we are in the last week of Amprol in the water. She is drinking well. (They only went on Amprol because one of our layer hens got 'sick' a few weeks ago and the vet thought maybe it had worms...so they all went on it...what the heck i thought). Anyway, if anyone has any ideas I'd like to hear them. I do think her day is coming and I plan to have her put down by a vet, that's if I don't find her one morning dead. She is not free range...she has a coop (with her other meat king friend, a rooster, named Kiwi), and they have a small outside area. We are building a large coop and a much larger outside area for everyone in the near future, but I don't think she's gonna make that. Thank you for your time in reading and sharing with me any information. This saddens me greatly as I love her very much.
 
Is her coop very hot? I had a cornishx rock hen and she lived to be about 10 months old and I know the heat really bothered her. I always put a fan in the coop and she would lay in front of it. I also froze 2 liter bottles and put them close to her. I hope she pulls through this.
 
Hi,
No, the heat isn't an issue yet, but good point, they don't do well in the heat. I like your frozen bottle idea, and yes, definately fans in the summer. What I have done is taken the Amprol away as it apparently affects their vitamin B level...so maybe that's it? (although her mate, the rooster, is fine). I'm giving her bananas and plain yogurt plus her soaked pellets, and threw in some dried oregano. I hope it's something simple. She seems quite good at the moment. Fingers crossed. Thanks for your reply.
 
Your very welcome and bless your heart for taking care of her. I hope she gets back to her old self again.
 
Fingers crossed Coconut the lucky meat king is doing GREAT...back to normal. I added crushed garlic to their food also. I won't continue with all of the extras forever, as in the plain yogurt, bananas, dried oregano, and garlic. My husband said maybe we should take them to the grocery store with us to see what else they would like in their menu...HA HA!

I'm no expert but I think the Amprol was not doing her any favors.

I hope she and Kiwi will continue to thrive as we are building them a brand new chicken coop with a larger outside area than what they have now and I'd really like them to be able to enjoy it since they are on such borrowed time. : )
 
I also meant to say, Golden Feather, how sorry I am that you lost your cornish x rock hen...I'm sure she appreciated the fan and frozen water bottles in the heat. I know that's more than most get unfortunately. I love my chickens...I cannot imagine my life without them. : )
 

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