Flossiefoofoo
Chirping
- Apr 20, 2020
- 24
- 62
- 96
As the title says, I have an otherwise healthy 10 month old hen who cannot hold herself up.
Background: Pearl is a barred Plymouth Rock hen, well fed and cared for and always in the company of her coop mates, a Dominique, 2 Easter Eggers and one very loud RIR. She lays everyday, even now that it's winter, and has never had any problems or abnormalities there. I have an urban 1/2 acre property and they free range from the moment I open their pen til they put themselves away at sundown. They have the run of the property and never leave the fully fenced yard.
The problem: Yesterday morning when I went to open their pen, I found Pearl on the floor of the run, unable to move herself and her backside was covered in poop.
She had been fine all day the day before and even that evening when I went to lock up the coop, she jumped off the roosting bar to drink a little water and jumped back up again. After finding her 5his way in the morning, I carefully picked her up and took her inside to clean her up. Before I got down to business, I called my vet and thankfully got an appt for about an hour from the time I called.
I then dipped her beak in a bowl of Sav-a-chick solution i had premixed as I have chicks in a brooder right now, too. I had to dip her beak (or do my best) because it was clear she needed water but was not interested in drinking on her own.
Pearl is used to being handled quite a lot (I love to carry and cuddle my chickens a LOT) so she was calm and let me do what I needed to, struggles to get her to drink aside.
In cleaning up the poop, I discovered a large clump of dried poop just under her vent, really almost blocking it and I thought that might have caused the problem somehow? In any case, I kept working on cleaning her up and before I knew it, it was time for her appt.
The vet did a physical examination and determined that she didn't have and breaks or fractures and that she was not eggbound. She' s alert and her legs, wings, neck and head all moved normally but there was a disconnect somewhere because if she tried to hold herself up to walk, she would just pitch forward onto her breast and not get anywhere, of course. He said it appeared to be a neurological problem, that she likely had ingested something toxic and the only thing I could do was wait. Keep her clean and dry and hand water/hand feed her layer crumbles only. Some hens recover, some do not. He said if she does not improve over the next few days to take her back to see him again.
I was devastated to hear this as I had done what I thought was a good job in cleaning up the property before I let them range.
I took her home and put her in an oversized dog crate that was already prepped for isolating a chicken, though I'd never had need of it before. More Sav-a-chick solution for drinking, then I used a little more of the solution to wet the crumbles and went to feed and water her. Again, it was difficult to get her to drink and almost impossible to get her to take any notice of the food. I grabbed a paper towel and tried to drop drips of water into her beak but she wasn't having any of that either. She's been alert and, in a way active this whole time so no lethargy or anything, really almost like shes distracted by not being able to do as she pleases and is normally able to do. I put her back in the crate and close it back up so I could scour the property again for an problem items; I worried whatever Pearl had gotten into, one of the other would get into. But as I said before, they're always together so I wondered why Pearl was the only one to get into whatever it was, though grateful, of course.
Meanwhile the four other hens endlessly circle the crate and Pearl is interested but unable to do much more than stretch her neck to try to see over the cardboard covering the bars.
When I'm able to get back to her, I take her out of the pen and allow the rest of the chickens to come over and eat the mush in the hopes that it would encourage Pearl to do the same. It works a little and she eats a tiny bit. I'm also able to get some water down her beakband she begins pecking at the ground!
Over the course of the rest of the day, she began to stumble around the yard and made some small progress towards holding herself up. She'd stumble a few feet then lay down to rest, then stumble a few feet more and rest again. I noticed she was trying to get to the coop so I picked her up and put her closer to it. She immediately tried to go in but was stymied by the door frame so I picked her up and put her inside the run. Right away she jumped on the block they use to get up into the coop so I put her in there and she stumbled straight into a nesting box. Of course she hadn't laid her egg yet! So I settled her in the box properly and she very quickly laid a perfect egg, though there was a small amount of bloody mucus that came with it, which I've never seen with any of them before. I took her inside to clean her up as she'd pooped herself a bit and discovered a little more bloody mucus, but not much. After laying she was, of course, ravenous and thirsty so I took her to her favorite water dish and she drank more than she had all day. Put the mush in front of her and she ate quite a bit. Sun was going down now so I moved the crate inside and put her in it and she bedded down for the night. I'd check on her every couple of hours and she took food and water around 2am, otherwise she slept as far as I can tell. I covered the crate with a sheet because in thought the light from the brooder would keep her up. But I think all the peeping from the chicks kept her up because this morning (around 9am), she was in the corner closest to the brooder and facing it, though she couldn't see it. She was clucking softly and when I moved her I saw that she had laid a soft shelled egg. She ate a little and drank a little less. I took her outside when I went to let the other hens out and put her on the floor of the run so she could socialize. She ate some cabbage off the floor before I realized it but she was really into it and she's eaten so little, I didn't stop her. She pooped a big, solid, normal poop right where she sat so i moved her and checked to make sure her bum was clean. After a little time stumbling around the run, she stumbled out of it and went a few feet but stopped to rest almost right away. I brought her back inside and laid with her on my chest and she napped for about an hour. I put her back in the crate so i could write this; We'll practice walking again after she's had a bit more rest.
The questions: have any of you had this experience with a hen? Could it be anything else besides a neurotoxin? I did find a bag of ant poison granules under a turned over basket that was itself under a shed in the back of the property. I could kick myself for not finding it before but I cleaned it up and used a shovel to scrape up the dirt under it and kept looking. The other thing I found were a few discarded cigarette butts, tossed on the ground by my tenant's guest. (I rent a guest house type thing to a friend and he doesn't have many guests over, as you can imagine, but he hangs out with them outside if he does have guests, so...
)
The vet said some hens recover and some do not....could she have a good life they way she is, with my help, of course?
I love her so much and I know I shouldn't have favorites but she has been my favorite since she was a week old so my heart is just breaking, even though it soars every time she makes any small progress.
Attached are pics of her in the crate yesterday, strutting around just the day before and resting this morning.
Sorry the post has been so long, thanks for reading and thanks for any support or advice you might have for me and Pearly girly.
Background: Pearl is a barred Plymouth Rock hen, well fed and cared for and always in the company of her coop mates, a Dominique, 2 Easter Eggers and one very loud RIR. She lays everyday, even now that it's winter, and has never had any problems or abnormalities there. I have an urban 1/2 acre property and they free range from the moment I open their pen til they put themselves away at sundown. They have the run of the property and never leave the fully fenced yard.
The problem: Yesterday morning when I went to open their pen, I found Pearl on the floor of the run, unable to move herself and her backside was covered in poop.
She had been fine all day the day before and even that evening when I went to lock up the coop, she jumped off the roosting bar to drink a little water and jumped back up again. After finding her 5his way in the morning, I carefully picked her up and took her inside to clean her up. Before I got down to business, I called my vet and thankfully got an appt for about an hour from the time I called.
I then dipped her beak in a bowl of Sav-a-chick solution i had premixed as I have chicks in a brooder right now, too. I had to dip her beak (or do my best) because it was clear she needed water but was not interested in drinking on her own.
Pearl is used to being handled quite a lot (I love to carry and cuddle my chickens a LOT) so she was calm and let me do what I needed to, struggles to get her to drink aside.
In cleaning up the poop, I discovered a large clump of dried poop just under her vent, really almost blocking it and I thought that might have caused the problem somehow? In any case, I kept working on cleaning her up and before I knew it, it was time for her appt.
The vet did a physical examination and determined that she didn't have and breaks or fractures and that she was not eggbound. She' s alert and her legs, wings, neck and head all moved normally but there was a disconnect somewhere because if she tried to hold herself up to walk, she would just pitch forward onto her breast and not get anywhere, of course. He said it appeared to be a neurological problem, that she likely had ingested something toxic and the only thing I could do was wait. Keep her clean and dry and hand water/hand feed her layer crumbles only. Some hens recover, some do not. He said if she does not improve over the next few days to take her back to see him again.
I was devastated to hear this as I had done what I thought was a good job in cleaning up the property before I let them range.
I took her home and put her in an oversized dog crate that was already prepped for isolating a chicken, though I'd never had need of it before. More Sav-a-chick solution for drinking, then I used a little more of the solution to wet the crumbles and went to feed and water her. Again, it was difficult to get her to drink and almost impossible to get her to take any notice of the food. I grabbed a paper towel and tried to drop drips of water into her beak but she wasn't having any of that either. She's been alert and, in a way active this whole time so no lethargy or anything, really almost like shes distracted by not being able to do as she pleases and is normally able to do. I put her back in the crate and close it back up so I could scour the property again for an problem items; I worried whatever Pearl had gotten into, one of the other would get into. But as I said before, they're always together so I wondered why Pearl was the only one to get into whatever it was, though grateful, of course.
Meanwhile the four other hens endlessly circle the crate and Pearl is interested but unable to do much more than stretch her neck to try to see over the cardboard covering the bars.
When I'm able to get back to her, I take her out of the pen and allow the rest of the chickens to come over and eat the mush in the hopes that it would encourage Pearl to do the same. It works a little and she eats a tiny bit. I'm also able to get some water down her beakband she begins pecking at the ground!
Over the course of the rest of the day, she began to stumble around the yard and made some small progress towards holding herself up. She'd stumble a few feet then lay down to rest, then stumble a few feet more and rest again. I noticed she was trying to get to the coop so I picked her up and put her closer to it. She immediately tried to go in but was stymied by the door frame so I picked her up and put her inside the run. Right away she jumped on the block they use to get up into the coop so I put her in there and she stumbled straight into a nesting box. Of course she hadn't laid her egg yet! So I settled her in the box properly and she very quickly laid a perfect egg, though there was a small amount of bloody mucus that came with it, which I've never seen with any of them before. I took her inside to clean her up as she'd pooped herself a bit and discovered a little more bloody mucus, but not much. After laying she was, of course, ravenous and thirsty so I took her to her favorite water dish and she drank more than she had all day. Put the mush in front of her and she ate quite a bit. Sun was going down now so I moved the crate inside and put her in it and she bedded down for the night. I'd check on her every couple of hours and she took food and water around 2am, otherwise she slept as far as I can tell. I covered the crate with a sheet because in thought the light from the brooder would keep her up. But I think all the peeping from the chicks kept her up because this morning (around 9am), she was in the corner closest to the brooder and facing it, though she couldn't see it. She was clucking softly and when I moved her I saw that she had laid a soft shelled egg. She ate a little and drank a little less. I took her outside when I went to let the other hens out and put her on the floor of the run so she could socialize. She ate some cabbage off the floor before I realized it but she was really into it and she's eaten so little, I didn't stop her. She pooped a big, solid, normal poop right where she sat so i moved her and checked to make sure her bum was clean. After a little time stumbling around the run, she stumbled out of it and went a few feet but stopped to rest almost right away. I brought her back inside and laid with her on my chest and she napped for about an hour. I put her back in the crate so i could write this; We'll practice walking again after she's had a bit more rest.
The questions: have any of you had this experience with a hen? Could it be anything else besides a neurotoxin? I did find a bag of ant poison granules under a turned over basket that was itself under a shed in the back of the property. I could kick myself for not finding it before but I cleaned it up and used a shovel to scrape up the dirt under it and kept looking. The other thing I found were a few discarded cigarette butts, tossed on the ground by my tenant's guest. (I rent a guest house type thing to a friend and he doesn't have many guests over, as you can imagine, but he hangs out with them outside if he does have guests, so...
)The vet said some hens recover and some do not....could she have a good life they way she is, with my help, of course?
I love her so much and I know I shouldn't have favorites but she has been my favorite since she was a week old so my heart is just breaking, even though it soars every time she makes any small progress.
Attached are pics of her in the crate yesterday, strutting around just the day before and resting this morning.
Sorry the post has been so long, thanks for reading and thanks for any support or advice you might have for me and Pearly girly.
