- Nov 20, 2007
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I've posted about this particular hen a few times already, the last time I posted worms were suggested and it made sense to me, so I wormed my whole flock and still the poor girl is not well. I'll answer all these questions and I'd love to hear some suggestions by some of our very knowledgeable members. Thanks!
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
barred rock hen, 4 years old, not sure of weight but has always been a big healthy gal and now she's quite thin, can feel her keel bone
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
she's incredibly weak - she pretty much always lays down, has not been up on the perch since last summer, when she does get up to eat, drink her wings will drop to the ground after standing for 45 seconds or so, she'll pull them back up but shortly afterward will just lay back down, her appetite is good still, usually eats laying down too, but gets herself to the feed and water without assistance, when she does stand her tail is pretty much always drooping very severely, this is probably the first symptom I ever noticed before the weakness became apparent the weakness got worse and worse and worse and now it seems to have leveled out, she's not showing any signs of further degrading and in fact, with the nicer weather she's maybe a tiny bit perkier, but that's not saying much considering how bad she seems, before she stopped laying in the late summer her egg shells were very thin, but they've always been thinner than the rest of the flocks
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
since mid-late last summer
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? - no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - nothing I can think of, but if I were a chicken psychiatrist I'd suspect the death of her best friend last spring could have led to a sort of chicken depression!
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. - she gets the same organic pellets as the rest of the flock, occasional treats (lately that means leftover homemade baby food), and fresh water (I've been adding electrolytes lately, which might be giving her a little bit of lift.)
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - normal usually, once in a while it looks a little slimy, but then it goes back to looking normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - I tried worming her and the others (Wazine and then Ivermectin) , didn't help
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? - I'd prefer to treat her myself, I suppose a vet would be considered if this seemed like something that could out the rest of the flock at risk, but that seems unlikely since she's been sick so long and the others seem fine.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - no picture, sorry, just imagine a barred rock standing with her wings hanging down to the ground, looking sad! No paleness of comb but it is a little shriveled.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use - pine shavings, she's been pretty much inside the coop all winter, but now we're starting to set her outside in the sun (with shade nearby) on nice days, which she enjoys
1) What type of bird , age and weight.
barred rock hen, 4 years old, not sure of weight but has always been a big healthy gal and now she's quite thin, can feel her keel bone
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
she's incredibly weak - she pretty much always lays down, has not been up on the perch since last summer, when she does get up to eat, drink her wings will drop to the ground after standing for 45 seconds or so, she'll pull them back up but shortly afterward will just lay back down, her appetite is good still, usually eats laying down too, but gets herself to the feed and water without assistance, when she does stand her tail is pretty much always drooping very severely, this is probably the first symptom I ever noticed before the weakness became apparent the weakness got worse and worse and worse and now it seems to have leveled out, she's not showing any signs of further degrading and in fact, with the nicer weather she's maybe a tiny bit perkier, but that's not saying much considering how bad she seems, before she stopped laying in the late summer her egg shells were very thin, but they've always been thinner than the rest of the flocks
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
since mid-late last summer
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? - no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - nothing I can think of, but if I were a chicken psychiatrist I'd suspect the death of her best friend last spring could have led to a sort of chicken depression!
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. - she gets the same organic pellets as the rest of the flock, occasional treats (lately that means leftover homemade baby food), and fresh water (I've been adding electrolytes lately, which might be giving her a little bit of lift.)
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - normal usually, once in a while it looks a little slimy, but then it goes back to looking normal
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - I tried worming her and the others (Wazine and then Ivermectin) , didn't help
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? - I'd prefer to treat her myself, I suppose a vet would be considered if this seemed like something that could out the rest of the flock at risk, but that seems unlikely since she's been sick so long and the others seem fine.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - no picture, sorry, just imagine a barred rock standing with her wings hanging down to the ground, looking sad! No paleness of comb but it is a little shriveled.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use - pine shavings, she's been pretty much inside the coop all winter, but now we're starting to set her outside in the sun (with shade nearby) on nice days, which she enjoys
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