Hello!
I've had chickens for many years on and off but I've been (fortunate?) enough to never have a sick bird, just a suddenly dead bird. Here's what I'm dealing with:
About the bird:
Speckled Sussex, 1.5 years old. Purchased from MyPetChicken as a 6 week old to replace a racoon loss. The whole flock (just 5 total) is molting and it's shorter days so we weren't getting any eggs at all for the past 3-4 weeks. I don't think she was/is laying at the moment.
How it started:
We found her at death's door lying on the ground of the run on Saturday morning (10/24.) I literally thought she was hours away from death so we placed her on a towel, in reach of water in a sunny spot (nice day, mid 60s) and figured she could at least pass in peace surrounded by her flock mates. Well she continued to lay there alive but not moving, eating or drinking. Just before sunset we placed her in the coop for the night fully expecting to find her gone in the morning. Sunday morning came and she shocked us by being still alive. At that point we decided if she was that determined to live, we were determined to help her.
Set up a "hospital" in the basement: a short rubber water trough with some bedding and a heat lamp (hung fairly high just to keep it comfortably warm as our basement can get chilly.) She has water, chick crumbles (which I thought might be slightly easier for her to eat) and I've been offering her scrambled eggs.
Symptoms on Saturday:
Treatment on Sunday/Monday:
Symptoms now (Friday):
Treatment now:
Copper sulfate solution ongoing in her drinking water
2 days of trying Dulcolax for her impaction. I break open 2 capsules and pour it on her food but she's not eating much.
Yesterday I gave her an injection (a little less than 1ml) of Bio-Mycin 200 because I had it on hand and honestly, she's doing so poorly that I figured it was worth a try.
Things you should know:
I guess what I'm really wondering is if my hen has a chance at survival or if I'm just prolonging the inevitable and we should euthanize her humanely instead of letting her suffer. She's much improved from when we found her on the ground but she's kind of stalled and hasn't improved at all in the last few days.
I've had chickens for many years on and off but I've been (fortunate?) enough to never have a sick bird, just a suddenly dead bird. Here's what I'm dealing with:
About the bird:
Speckled Sussex, 1.5 years old. Purchased from MyPetChicken as a 6 week old to replace a racoon loss. The whole flock (just 5 total) is molting and it's shorter days so we weren't getting any eggs at all for the past 3-4 weeks. I don't think she was/is laying at the moment.
How it started:
We found her at death's door lying on the ground of the run on Saturday morning (10/24.) I literally thought she was hours away from death so we placed her on a towel, in reach of water in a sunny spot (nice day, mid 60s) and figured she could at least pass in peace surrounded by her flock mates. Well she continued to lay there alive but not moving, eating or drinking. Just before sunset we placed her in the coop for the night fully expecting to find her gone in the morning. Sunday morning came and she shocked us by being still alive. At that point we decided if she was that determined to live, we were determined to help her.
Set up a "hospital" in the basement: a short rubber water trough with some bedding and a heat lamp (hung fairly high just to keep it comfortably warm as our basement can get chilly.) She has water, chick crumbles (which I thought might be slightly easier for her to eat) and I've been offering her scrambled eggs.
Symptoms on Saturday:
- Listless
- Unable to stand on her own
- Swollen, squishy crop
- Mucousy poop, very watery, some yellow in it
Treatment on Sunday/Monday:
- Copper sulfate solution mixed into water
- Encouraging her to drink often and offering food. She will eat a tiny bit of cheese (her favorite) and drink whenever we bring the water to her so we do it literally as often as we can to give her the chance to get hydrated.
- Nutridrench squirted directly in her mouth (maybe 1ml) just to get some vitamins into her
Symptoms now (Friday):
- Able to stand and waddle the length of trough but just barely. She uses her wingtips like canes to support some of her weight so it's obviously not comfortable to walk around.
- Her crop went WAY down but never goes away completely. It feels gritty, not completely solid. I believe we got the yeast infection/sour crop under control but it never completely empties so I think it must be slightly impacted.
- I didn't know prior to Thursday to check for swelling between her legs but she's swollen and squishy between her legs.
- Poop is minimal but she is pooping so some food is getting through her system. Not sure how to describe her poop but it looks like small tubes of brown.
- She's drinking but hasn't eaten since yesterday morning.
Treatment now:
Copper sulfate solution ongoing in her drinking water
2 days of trying Dulcolax for her impaction. I break open 2 capsules and pour it on her food but she's not eating much.
Yesterday I gave her an injection (a little less than 1ml) of Bio-Mycin 200 because I had it on hand and honestly, she's doing so poorly that I figured it was worth a try.
Things you should know:
- We don't have a chicken vet anywhere close. The only vet who will treat birds within 100 miles is an exotic bird vet who treats $900 pet birds. I went to him once and it's prohibitively expensive for him to treat my $6 backyard hen.
- I don't feel capable of doing crop surgery on my own. I watched some videos and I just don't have the constitution to do it on a conscious bird. If I had a way to sedate her, I might try but I also don't have any of the necessary equipment.
- She's a pet, and I want her to get better but I'm not attached to her the way I am to my dogs/cat. If euthanization is my best route, that's OK.
I guess what I'm really wondering is if my hen has a chance at survival or if I'm just prolonging the inevitable and we should euthanize her humanely instead of letting her suffer. She's much improved from when we found her on the ground but she's kind of stalled and hasn't improved at all in the last few days.