Okay, so the basics: My chickens were on pasture most of the time until the past week or two, when I moved the flock into the mulch garden for the winter. I feed free-choice layer feed and sunflower seeds, and yogurt made from raw milk when I have it (anywhere from 2-3 times a week to every two weeks). I often give them fruit and vegetable scraps, as there is a church that often sets out free food. They have free-choice eggshell/oyster shell and grit as well.
Okay. With that done. My sick hen is a Speckled Sussex, 7 months old. She got sick maybe 5-6 weeks ago... I’m not sure. It might have been less than that.
She was lethargic, standing kind of hunched up with her eyes closed, not eating much, but drinking about the same as usual.
Two other speckled Sussex had similar symptoms within a week or so of each other. It seemed one would get sick, then another, and then the third...a few days to a week or two apart. One lost some weight (though not as much as this one did). I gave them diluted oregano, and washed it down with at least 2ml of raw milk 2-3 times daily. I put garlic cloves in their water, along with zyfend A. And often some apple cider vinegar as well. I made sure to put lots of yogurt out in their feed.
I don’t remember noticing strange poop color, oddly enough... though some may have been slightly green. I didn’t separate them. They just seemed under the weather is all, so I thought it would be fine.
In a few weeks they seemed almost back to normal, though the one who lost weight was back to full strength only this past week or so.
Now my records aren’t that good, so I don’t know if my sick hen was one who got better, and then had a relapse... or if she was the last one to get sick, a week or two after the others. Life was hectic at the time. I remember thinking maybe she’d fight it off like the others had... but I didn’t give her the oregano as early or as often as I did the others...
But when I noticed she was getting worse (less responsive to me and the other chickens, standing with eyes closed even when petted or shoved around by the others), I separated her. This was a couple of weeks ago, I believe. I began giving her diluted oregano 3-4 times daily, with 2.5 ml of milk. I put zyfend A and garlic cloves in her water. Her poop was dark green, but mostly normal otherwise from what I remember. At that point she barely ate a few crumbs of food, and fought any intake of liquid. I had her indoors in a pet carrier bedded with pine shavings. I weighed her (she was 1.5lbs), and wormed her.
Over the next week or so she seemed to get better. She was eating more, by herself (mostly a fresh apple, but crumbles too), and drinking normally. Her poop color varied. Sometimes it was normal, sometimes it turned green/brown green/black with a white cap. She started opening her eyes more, and showing interest in foraging when I let her out. She would have stamina for longer periods before standing and closing her eyes again.
I put her outside in a rabbit cage during the day so she could get fresh air and sunshine. When I was outside I let her walk around and eat grass and such. She didn’t eat much, but did forage some insects and seemed to be happier and perkier so I figured it was good for her. She had even gained some weight. This was maybe a week ago. I did notice some lice/mites but didn’t treat them until a few days later. I can’t remember if she went downhill before or after I treated her... I used diamitacious earth, changed out her bedding completely (dusting it with the stuff as well), and noviced many dead critters in her feathers within a couple of days.
Anyways, a couple of days after she really started getting better, she went downhill again. I hadn’t changed anything... I was still giving her the same treatment as ever. But she started sleeping more... eating less... drinking less... she stopped eating her apple. She started to have trouble balancing. Her head would tremble. Her poop turned more and more dark green. She started laying down more, and would stumble more and more when she tried to get up. For the past few days she’s developed diarrhea, which has gotten worse. As of yesterday she seems to have nearly completely lost the use of one of her legs. Her legs started trembling today too, and she started occasionally gasping for breath. Small gasps, not big ones. Her appetite seems to have improved. She’s eating crumbled up egg yolk, and a bit of yogurt on her own, as long as the dish is within reach. She’s looking around more when I pick her up and carry her as of today and yesterday... though other times she’s less responsive when I pet her or talk to her. Like when she’s laying down, with eyes closed. I haven’t seen her drink, so I’ve been giving her some by syringe with zyfend A in it. I started giving her poultry cell rooster booster (rich in iron, amino acids and minerals) and poultry nutri-drench (also vitamins) 3 times daily (as per the recommended dosage) and wash it down with 10ml of yogurt, and 10ml of water. She started fighting the water more so I cut it back some...
Her eyes are clear, she responds to changes in light just fine. Her crop has never been hard, nor squishy.
I’m really confused... she was getting better, darn it, and the other birds pulled through fine... though it took a long time. I think my record of having birds just pull through had lulled me into a passive mindset of “oh, I’m sure she’ll get better. The others did.”
So I didn’t reach out for help as soon as I should have.
I’ve had year-old birds come down with things for the past few months... always they have green poop, and lethargy. Decrease in appetite. Sometimes it’s just sour crop, from eating too many sunflower seeds because their crumbles ran low. But for the others, who didn’t have sour crop, with the aforementioned treatment, they pulled through. Obviously sour crop I would treat somewhat differently, withholding food until their crop emptied, then re-introducing soft food slowly. What my hen has sounds like some of the incurable poultry diseases, but it doesn’t make sense that the others have pulled through. Out of 42 birds, only 9 or so have come down sick this summer/fall. All have recovered... except for this one. So low death toll. Well, I did have one in the late spring/early summer who had similar symptoms... I just didn’t catch it until she was really far gone. She couldn’t stand, had green diarrhea, slept a lot... though she ate and drank just fine. She was the only one who suffered this, and died within a few days. She was really unresponsive toward the end. Again, sounds like a deadly disease, but no one else caught it... and it happened right after I changed their feed from crumbles to scratch grains. All at once. Bad idea. Others got diarrhea too, and sour crop, but none got as bad as that hen did. Probably because I recognized the “unusual friendliness” to mean “I’m sick and don’t care as much if you pick me up.”
And the Plymouth rocks who are also 7 months old, purchased from the same place at the same time as my sick speckled Sussex, didn’t get so much as a hint of sickness.
Any ideas what this is? I would like to know so I can decide what to do going forward. I’m guessing the poor girl is too far gone... though I can’t help but hope anyway.
Thank you for anyone who takes the time to read my looooong post... I’m quite frustrated from having sick birds so often, heartbroken for the few I’ve lost, and I want solutions so this can stop.
The pictures and videos are from yesterday and today. I did not get video of her head trembling, though that happens, too.
The videos won’t upload... says they’re the wrong format. I might have to comment them, maybe? I don’t know.
Okay. With that done. My sick hen is a Speckled Sussex, 7 months old. She got sick maybe 5-6 weeks ago... I’m not sure. It might have been less than that.
She was lethargic, standing kind of hunched up with her eyes closed, not eating much, but drinking about the same as usual.
Two other speckled Sussex had similar symptoms within a week or so of each other. It seemed one would get sick, then another, and then the third...a few days to a week or two apart. One lost some weight (though not as much as this one did). I gave them diluted oregano, and washed it down with at least 2ml of raw milk 2-3 times daily. I put garlic cloves in their water, along with zyfend A. And often some apple cider vinegar as well. I made sure to put lots of yogurt out in their feed.
I don’t remember noticing strange poop color, oddly enough... though some may have been slightly green. I didn’t separate them. They just seemed under the weather is all, so I thought it would be fine.
In a few weeks they seemed almost back to normal, though the one who lost weight was back to full strength only this past week or so.
Now my records aren’t that good, so I don’t know if my sick hen was one who got better, and then had a relapse... or if she was the last one to get sick, a week or two after the others. Life was hectic at the time. I remember thinking maybe she’d fight it off like the others had... but I didn’t give her the oregano as early or as often as I did the others...
But when I noticed she was getting worse (less responsive to me and the other chickens, standing with eyes closed even when petted or shoved around by the others), I separated her. This was a couple of weeks ago, I believe. I began giving her diluted oregano 3-4 times daily, with 2.5 ml of milk. I put zyfend A and garlic cloves in her water. Her poop was dark green, but mostly normal otherwise from what I remember. At that point she barely ate a few crumbs of food, and fought any intake of liquid. I had her indoors in a pet carrier bedded with pine shavings. I weighed her (she was 1.5lbs), and wormed her.
Over the next week or so she seemed to get better. She was eating more, by herself (mostly a fresh apple, but crumbles too), and drinking normally. Her poop color varied. Sometimes it was normal, sometimes it turned green/brown green/black with a white cap. She started opening her eyes more, and showing interest in foraging when I let her out. She would have stamina for longer periods before standing and closing her eyes again.
I put her outside in a rabbit cage during the day so she could get fresh air and sunshine. When I was outside I let her walk around and eat grass and such. She didn’t eat much, but did forage some insects and seemed to be happier and perkier so I figured it was good for her. She had even gained some weight. This was maybe a week ago. I did notice some lice/mites but didn’t treat them until a few days later. I can’t remember if she went downhill before or after I treated her... I used diamitacious earth, changed out her bedding completely (dusting it with the stuff as well), and noviced many dead critters in her feathers within a couple of days.
Anyways, a couple of days after she really started getting better, she went downhill again. I hadn’t changed anything... I was still giving her the same treatment as ever. But she started sleeping more... eating less... drinking less... she stopped eating her apple. She started to have trouble balancing. Her head would tremble. Her poop turned more and more dark green. She started laying down more, and would stumble more and more when she tried to get up. For the past few days she’s developed diarrhea, which has gotten worse. As of yesterday she seems to have nearly completely lost the use of one of her legs. Her legs started trembling today too, and she started occasionally gasping for breath. Small gasps, not big ones. Her appetite seems to have improved. She’s eating crumbled up egg yolk, and a bit of yogurt on her own, as long as the dish is within reach. She’s looking around more when I pick her up and carry her as of today and yesterday... though other times she’s less responsive when I pet her or talk to her. Like when she’s laying down, with eyes closed. I haven’t seen her drink, so I’ve been giving her some by syringe with zyfend A in it. I started giving her poultry cell rooster booster (rich in iron, amino acids and minerals) and poultry nutri-drench (also vitamins) 3 times daily (as per the recommended dosage) and wash it down with 10ml of yogurt, and 10ml of water. She started fighting the water more so I cut it back some...
Her eyes are clear, she responds to changes in light just fine. Her crop has never been hard, nor squishy.
I’m really confused... she was getting better, darn it, and the other birds pulled through fine... though it took a long time. I think my record of having birds just pull through had lulled me into a passive mindset of “oh, I’m sure she’ll get better. The others did.”
So I didn’t reach out for help as soon as I should have.
I’ve had year-old birds come down with things for the past few months... always they have green poop, and lethargy. Decrease in appetite. Sometimes it’s just sour crop, from eating too many sunflower seeds because their crumbles ran low. But for the others, who didn’t have sour crop, with the aforementioned treatment, they pulled through. Obviously sour crop I would treat somewhat differently, withholding food until their crop emptied, then re-introducing soft food slowly. What my hen has sounds like some of the incurable poultry diseases, but it doesn’t make sense that the others have pulled through. Out of 42 birds, only 9 or so have come down sick this summer/fall. All have recovered... except for this one. So low death toll. Well, I did have one in the late spring/early summer who had similar symptoms... I just didn’t catch it until she was really far gone. She couldn’t stand, had green diarrhea, slept a lot... though she ate and drank just fine. She was the only one who suffered this, and died within a few days. She was really unresponsive toward the end. Again, sounds like a deadly disease, but no one else caught it... and it happened right after I changed their feed from crumbles to scratch grains. All at once. Bad idea. Others got diarrhea too, and sour crop, but none got as bad as that hen did. Probably because I recognized the “unusual friendliness” to mean “I’m sick and don’t care as much if you pick me up.”
And the Plymouth rocks who are also 7 months old, purchased from the same place at the same time as my sick speckled Sussex, didn’t get so much as a hint of sickness.
Any ideas what this is? I would like to know so I can decide what to do going forward. I’m guessing the poor girl is too far gone... though I can’t help but hope anyway.
Thank you for anyone who takes the time to read my looooong post... I’m quite frustrated from having sick birds so often, heartbroken for the few I’ve lost, and I want solutions so this can stop.
The pictures and videos are from yesterday and today. I did not get video of her head trembling, though that happens, too.
The videos won’t upload... says they’re the wrong format. I might have to comment them, maybe? I don’t know.
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