Hello everyone -
1) Light Sussex hen, two years old. Very skinny - weighed at 2kgs five days ago and has lost a further 100g since
2) Chronic weight loss, I noticed she was a bit light a few months ago but she was stable and very bright/eating. She became slightly subdued around 2 weeks ago and when I examined her her keel was prominent and she felt very skinny. She also produced a tiny amount of rubbery yellow material once from her vent but nothing since (I thought possibly lash egg material but nothing since). She is very bright and running with her sisters at times but she has a slight upright stance and appears stiff. When I examined her 2 weeks ago she had a firm, hard irregular mass around 3/4 egg size in her right lower abdomen which has stayed the same. Nothing seen at her vent, no eggs laid or egg binding evident. The major issue is that she refuses to eat aside from occasionally pecking at mealworms or blueberries and continues to drop weight rapidly
3) See above
4) No other birds affected
5) No history or signs of trauma
6) No previous history of illness aside from a respiratory infection about a year ago which resolved quickly
7) She has been drinking excessively
8) Very scant, green faeces which are accompanied by a lot of water. She had an episode following antibiotics where she had brown liquid faeces (explosive diarrhoea!) but this resolved with probiotics
9) She was seen by a vet who did not seem to have much knowledge on chickens, no exotics vets here unfortunately. The vet gave her synulox drops and loxicom. She has had a five day course of the synulox and subsequently a five day course of tylosin orally. She has been on loxicom for pain relief the whole time. I have also given probiotics and natural yogurt, and initially when I felt the hard mass I gave olive oil and ground papaya in case of a GI blockage. I am crop tubing with emerald omnivore and she has had metaclopramide when she had a brief period of what appeared to be crop stasis.
10 ) At this point I am conflicted about further treatment as it has had no effect. I am looking for opinions on whether to continue, what may be going on and if fixable. I appreciate that I would need further imaging etc to diagnose but I fear that her condition is too far gone to justify stressing her out at the vets. I am worried about an impacted oviduct or internally broken/abscessed egg. Essentially I am looking for an opinion on whether to cull her. I don't want to as she is a very sweet hen but I will do if needed. It is difficult as she is bright and engaged with her sisters when she is outside and it has been going on for a while.
1) Light Sussex hen, two years old. Very skinny - weighed at 2kgs five days ago and has lost a further 100g since
2) Chronic weight loss, I noticed she was a bit light a few months ago but she was stable and very bright/eating. She became slightly subdued around 2 weeks ago and when I examined her her keel was prominent and she felt very skinny. She also produced a tiny amount of rubbery yellow material once from her vent but nothing since (I thought possibly lash egg material but nothing since). She is very bright and running with her sisters at times but she has a slight upright stance and appears stiff. When I examined her 2 weeks ago she had a firm, hard irregular mass around 3/4 egg size in her right lower abdomen which has stayed the same. Nothing seen at her vent, no eggs laid or egg binding evident. The major issue is that she refuses to eat aside from occasionally pecking at mealworms or blueberries and continues to drop weight rapidly
3) See above
4) No other birds affected
5) No history or signs of trauma
6) No previous history of illness aside from a respiratory infection about a year ago which resolved quickly
7) She has been drinking excessively
8) Very scant, green faeces which are accompanied by a lot of water. She had an episode following antibiotics where she had brown liquid faeces (explosive diarrhoea!) but this resolved with probiotics
9) She was seen by a vet who did not seem to have much knowledge on chickens, no exotics vets here unfortunately. The vet gave her synulox drops and loxicom. She has had a five day course of the synulox and subsequently a five day course of tylosin orally. She has been on loxicom for pain relief the whole time. I have also given probiotics and natural yogurt, and initially when I felt the hard mass I gave olive oil and ground papaya in case of a GI blockage. I am crop tubing with emerald omnivore and she has had metaclopramide when she had a brief period of what appeared to be crop stasis.
10 ) At this point I am conflicted about further treatment as it has had no effect. I am looking for opinions on whether to continue, what may be going on and if fixable. I appreciate that I would need further imaging etc to diagnose but I fear that her condition is too far gone to justify stressing her out at the vets. I am worried about an impacted oviduct or internally broken/abscessed egg. Essentially I am looking for an opinion on whether to cull her. I don't want to as she is a very sweet hen but I will do if needed. It is difficult as she is bright and engaged with her sisters when she is outside and it has been going on for a while.
