- May 21, 2015
- 12
- 3
- 79
Hi there,
I have been trying to get to the bottom of what's wrong with my chicken and I have come up with several possibilities but am not confident. My free time is spent nursing sick people and mothering 2 young children, fortunately I haven't had much experience with sick chickens. So I literally feel as if I am winging this whole thing. The research and reading I've done points me into several directions. If you have a few minutes to spare here is a brief summary of the recent events leading up to where we are now:
3 weeks ago my babysitter was home with my daughters and noticed our 1.5 year old Auracona Georgia was gasping for breath and quite lethargic. Our babysitter is also a full time farmer (she has chickens as well) and decided to bring our hen home to isolate her and convalesce her in her barn. She gave her a 3 day treatment of Dura-Pen injections. After the 1st day of injection Georgia perked up, energy wise and breathing settled down after 3-4 days. She kept her for about 5 days and returned her to me. Georgia had a hard time resettling in the flock - Piglet, the matriarch of the flock and despite her name the more aggressive hen, kept running her off whenever she would get too near. Poor Georgia kept her distance for 2-3 days. I was really worried because she was definitely having watery diarrhea and her tail feathers were droopy - she was not holding them in an upright position at all. At first she would not even come to me to take treats of cracked corn or other treats but mostly this was to avoid Piglet and Princess (who can also be mean). She would walk over, not run, but stay back away from where all the action was happening. I started sneaking her treats (cracked corn and small amounts of table scraps) when the other hens were busy eating treats elsewhere. After 3 days she started reintegrating into the flock, I noticed her tail feathers perk back up and her stools seemed to firm up to a soft mushy brown. I attributed the diarrhea to a side effect of the antibiotic and her droopy tail to the stress of reintegrating to the flock which was not super welcoming.
She started really regaining her normal behavior - running when called, eating greedily like all the other girls and even pecking a few of her sisters when they would crowd her to get to the treats.
Then two days ago, I called all the girls for their evening treat of table scraps (usually veggies) before closing them in for the night and Georgia appeared out of breath after running over to me. It was not a hot day (we live in Maine) but she had her mouth opening and closing as I've seen them do in the middle of the summer on a hot hot day. We had a soccer game to go to and it was dark when I returned so I waited until yesterday morning to reassess. The girls all came out in the morning - I noticed I could visibly see Georgia breathing. I could see each indraw of breath. I honestly can't say that I have ever watched a chicken's breathing to notice what normal looks like but I could not observe my other chickens breathing to be able to tell when they were taking a breath in like I could with Georgia. Still I thought maybe I just notice it more with her because she's smaller than my other varieties (4 Buff Orp; 2 Plymouth Rock; 1 Speckled Suxxex -actually about Georgia's size and 1 Golden Wyandotte).
I fed them all cracked corn and that's when I noticed Georgia stopped in the middle of eating to sneeze? which sounded like a honking, her head shook simultaneously hence why I think it was a sneeze. She also started doing the "guppy breathing" with her mouth open and that's when I decided something isn't right and brought her into the basement to be quarantined. She is in a dog crate, with a mixture of oats/cracked corn/feed and water treated with apple cider vinegar, whole garlic clove and a little save a chic probiotic.
I gave her a thorough exam last night and tonight and here are my assessment findings:
No signs of mites/lice. However I have been super suspicious in her and my whole flock as they are constantly shaking their heads - is this normal behavior?? I inspected them thoroughly within the last few weeks and found not a single sign of lice/mites. I had a flock 4 years ago that were infested, so I know what to look for and was able to successfully treat them, so I'm sure that my current flock doesn't have them but the head shaking thing bothers me. It's like a tic more than a shake. But near constant, I notice it especially when they are roosting. Anyone ever see this?
Comb and wattles nice and red, not swollen, no nasal or eye drainage. Eyes look bright. Abdomen feels normal, I watched her poo tonight and it looks normal - brown with a white cap. Respirations seem slightly labored however. I actually counted - 47/minute. I listened with a stethoscope - no adventitious sounds (rattling/noisy breathing). I think normal respirations are 12-37/minute so she is definitely breathing fast. Occasional head twitch with a small noise that may be a sneeze. Her crop last night felt large (crab apple sized) and firmly soft like one of those stress balls that is moldable. I checked her crop around 6:30 last night and rechecked at 5 this am and while it was slightly smaller, it was definitely not empty. I'd say it was plum sized. So after reading/researching crop info I am suspect that she has either slow crop or even sour crop. I have been adding apple cider vinegar and fresh oregano to their water for the past month though. I took her food away tonight after offering her a little baked fish (she didn't eat but she did eat quite a bit of her pellet/oat/cracked corn mixture today) and my plan is to recheck it in the morning to see if it is empty. If it is not should I assume it is sluggish to empty or possibly sour? Having been on antibiotics recently this would make sense. Could this explain her breathing problem though? Originally when I isolated her I was thinking it was a chronic respiratory illness (CRI) and went out and bought Tylan 200 (50 not available, I haven't given it yet anyway). Now I am not convinced it's a CRI.
Also of note, which may or may not be related (this is where I need House!) she and 2 of her other flock mates have not laid a single egg in 6 months. I feel like an irresponsible chicken owner because initially I wrote it off to the spring molt they were going through. But they never went back to laying eggs. I then wrote it off as having bought a "bad" batch of chicks that matured too quickly (they are only 1.5 years though?!). I know for a fact she has not laid as she is my only Auracona. I miss those blue eggs! I have 9 chickens and I get 5 eggs a day. Piglet, our oldest hen (5 years old) hasn't laid in at least a year. We were getting 6-8 eggs a day until Easter and then it dropped to 5 and has never returned to even 6.
So after some research I am wondering about parasites (I wormed them in late spring/early summer??) or internal egg laying (which I don't really understand well but sounds like it would lead to imminent death...although one post said they can survive 8 months...?). Thoughts??
Should I treat her (and the rest of the flock) with wormer? Antibiotics? Release her crop??
Thank you for reading my crazy long and rambling post...my life is busy and I honestly feel like I am learning how to care for them as I go - not always the best at it but I try!
I have been trying to get to the bottom of what's wrong with my chicken and I have come up with several possibilities but am not confident. My free time is spent nursing sick people and mothering 2 young children, fortunately I haven't had much experience with sick chickens. So I literally feel as if I am winging this whole thing. The research and reading I've done points me into several directions. If you have a few minutes to spare here is a brief summary of the recent events leading up to where we are now:
3 weeks ago my babysitter was home with my daughters and noticed our 1.5 year old Auracona Georgia was gasping for breath and quite lethargic. Our babysitter is also a full time farmer (she has chickens as well) and decided to bring our hen home to isolate her and convalesce her in her barn. She gave her a 3 day treatment of Dura-Pen injections. After the 1st day of injection Georgia perked up, energy wise and breathing settled down after 3-4 days. She kept her for about 5 days and returned her to me. Georgia had a hard time resettling in the flock - Piglet, the matriarch of the flock and despite her name the more aggressive hen, kept running her off whenever she would get too near. Poor Georgia kept her distance for 2-3 days. I was really worried because she was definitely having watery diarrhea and her tail feathers were droopy - she was not holding them in an upright position at all. At first she would not even come to me to take treats of cracked corn or other treats but mostly this was to avoid Piglet and Princess (who can also be mean). She would walk over, not run, but stay back away from where all the action was happening. I started sneaking her treats (cracked corn and small amounts of table scraps) when the other hens were busy eating treats elsewhere. After 3 days she started reintegrating into the flock, I noticed her tail feathers perk back up and her stools seemed to firm up to a soft mushy brown. I attributed the diarrhea to a side effect of the antibiotic and her droopy tail to the stress of reintegrating to the flock which was not super welcoming.
She started really regaining her normal behavior - running when called, eating greedily like all the other girls and even pecking a few of her sisters when they would crowd her to get to the treats.
Then two days ago, I called all the girls for their evening treat of table scraps (usually veggies) before closing them in for the night and Georgia appeared out of breath after running over to me. It was not a hot day (we live in Maine) but she had her mouth opening and closing as I've seen them do in the middle of the summer on a hot hot day. We had a soccer game to go to and it was dark when I returned so I waited until yesterday morning to reassess. The girls all came out in the morning - I noticed I could visibly see Georgia breathing. I could see each indraw of breath. I honestly can't say that I have ever watched a chicken's breathing to notice what normal looks like but I could not observe my other chickens breathing to be able to tell when they were taking a breath in like I could with Georgia. Still I thought maybe I just notice it more with her because she's smaller than my other varieties (4 Buff Orp; 2 Plymouth Rock; 1 Speckled Suxxex -actually about Georgia's size and 1 Golden Wyandotte).
I fed them all cracked corn and that's when I noticed Georgia stopped in the middle of eating to sneeze? which sounded like a honking, her head shook simultaneously hence why I think it was a sneeze. She also started doing the "guppy breathing" with her mouth open and that's when I decided something isn't right and brought her into the basement to be quarantined. She is in a dog crate, with a mixture of oats/cracked corn/feed and water treated with apple cider vinegar, whole garlic clove and a little save a chic probiotic.
I gave her a thorough exam last night and tonight and here are my assessment findings:
No signs of mites/lice. However I have been super suspicious in her and my whole flock as they are constantly shaking their heads - is this normal behavior?? I inspected them thoroughly within the last few weeks and found not a single sign of lice/mites. I had a flock 4 years ago that were infested, so I know what to look for and was able to successfully treat them, so I'm sure that my current flock doesn't have them but the head shaking thing bothers me. It's like a tic more than a shake. But near constant, I notice it especially when they are roosting. Anyone ever see this?
Comb and wattles nice and red, not swollen, no nasal or eye drainage. Eyes look bright. Abdomen feels normal, I watched her poo tonight and it looks normal - brown with a white cap. Respirations seem slightly labored however. I actually counted - 47/minute. I listened with a stethoscope - no adventitious sounds (rattling/noisy breathing). I think normal respirations are 12-37/minute so she is definitely breathing fast. Occasional head twitch with a small noise that may be a sneeze. Her crop last night felt large (crab apple sized) and firmly soft like one of those stress balls that is moldable. I checked her crop around 6:30 last night and rechecked at 5 this am and while it was slightly smaller, it was definitely not empty. I'd say it was plum sized. So after reading/researching crop info I am suspect that she has either slow crop or even sour crop. I have been adding apple cider vinegar and fresh oregano to their water for the past month though. I took her food away tonight after offering her a little baked fish (she didn't eat but she did eat quite a bit of her pellet/oat/cracked corn mixture today) and my plan is to recheck it in the morning to see if it is empty. If it is not should I assume it is sluggish to empty or possibly sour? Having been on antibiotics recently this would make sense. Could this explain her breathing problem though? Originally when I isolated her I was thinking it was a chronic respiratory illness (CRI) and went out and bought Tylan 200 (50 not available, I haven't given it yet anyway). Now I am not convinced it's a CRI.
Also of note, which may or may not be related (this is where I need House!) she and 2 of her other flock mates have not laid a single egg in 6 months. I feel like an irresponsible chicken owner because initially I wrote it off to the spring molt they were going through. But they never went back to laying eggs. I then wrote it off as having bought a "bad" batch of chicks that matured too quickly (they are only 1.5 years though?!). I know for a fact she has not laid as she is my only Auracona. I miss those blue eggs! I have 9 chickens and I get 5 eggs a day. Piglet, our oldest hen (5 years old) hasn't laid in at least a year. We were getting 6-8 eggs a day until Easter and then it dropped to 5 and has never returned to even 6.
So after some research I am wondering about parasites (I wormed them in late spring/early summer??) or internal egg laying (which I don't really understand well but sounds like it would lead to imminent death...although one post said they can survive 8 months...?). Thoughts??
Should I treat her (and the rest of the flock) with wormer? Antibiotics? Release her crop??
Thank you for reading my crazy long and rambling post...my life is busy and I honestly feel like I am learning how to care for them as I go - not always the best at it but I try!
