Hi all, I've been lurking and reading through existing posts all day for some type of guidance but think it might just be better to make my own post that addressed our girl's specific symptoms. Apologies in advance for a lengthy post.
She is a Golden Comet - age and health history unknown. She was presumably dumped (no one ever responded to 'found chicken' posts) and has only been with us for 12 days (and those 12 days have been a rollercoaster).
Initially, she was very curious and happy to free-range, dust bathe, and scratch around the yard, and had a decent appetite. She wasn't terribly interested in her pellets at first but we got a mash for her and added water which seemed to increase her interest. She did, however, enjoy cucumber, lettuce, musk melon, tomatoes, some grapes, apple, blackberries, and bits of kale - everything from our garden except the grapes and apple which were organic. She drinks quite a bit of water throughout the day as well.
She laid four eggs the week we rescued her and they were all normal, well-formed, etc. and pretty evenly spaced out. Then, last Friday, three days before her first scheduled vet visit, we noticed she was acting the exact opposite of her normal, lively, curious self. Instead of exploring and scratching and dustbathing, she would sit in one spot with her butt lifted in the air and was clearly in pain - not interested in any food and only drinking small amounts. We gave her a warm epsom salt bath and got her to pass an egg that had not fully formed and still had a little 'tail' full attached to it. She slept on the floor that night rather than her perch. The next morning we took her in on an emergency visit to the vet. She had been feeling much better and was eating and drinking more. At the vet, she passed a little pink glob of what looked like it could've been the beginnings of a lash egg. She was otherwise pooping fine - some more watery than others, and still eating.
The vet ran a fecal and saw no evidence of worms or parasites but did find Campylobacter. Her crop was a bit doughy as well and she is a little underweight. She has some minor balance/steadiness issues due to weak leg muscles. Her feathers are not too healthy-looking and she has existing patches of missing feathers from a particularly aggressive rooster (wings and back of the head). The vet (an amazing board-certified avian vet) was not too concerned with her overall state, assuring us improvements could be made, and sent us home with some meds and instructions on high protein food and added calcium from oyster shells to help get her back on track. She is getting 1.4 mL of Rimadyl (0.7 mL 2x daily), 0.7 mL Cisapride (0.35 mL 2x daily) and one tablet of Clavamox (1/2 tab 2x daily) each day. After day 1 she learned that I was hiding Clavamox in her favorite treats so I've taken to crushing them, adding water, and syringe administering them with the other meds. The afternoon following the vet visit she was fine.
The next day, though - same thing with the lethargy, lack of interest in food, acting painful, butt in the air. Gave her another epsom salt bath and let her be. Eventually she passed another 'egg' just like the last one. It was later in the day so in the hour or so before sunset she ate some mash and some oyster shell and drank some water. Again, she opted to sleep on the floor instead of her roost. In the morning we found another little pink blob and some runnier poops in the coop and she was doing great again. She had a really great day and spent the whole day outside with us while we worked on building her outside run. She was back to sleeping on her roost. Yesterday it rained all morning so she stayed indoors and I kept an eye on her on the camera (yes, we got a camera for our chicken). She didn't wander around too much but ate and drank a bit - mostly hung out on the floor in the corner. When the rain cleared I let her out with me and she wandered a bit but mostly she napped under our patio table. She would get up and scratch around a bit every once in a while and was alert. Ate a little, drank a little. Her poops were a bit waterier than normal, but they weren't only liquid and she had been drinking a lot (plus the water in her food, which is new and I figured would account for softer poops). Last night she slept on her roost and, in the morning, I watched her get down, stretch her wings, and get something to eat and drink.
After her morning meds, she only picked a bit at a tomato and apple slice, but did eat a bit and drink some water. I let her out, and same thing as yesterday - she will wander a bit and peck around but then either finds a dustbathing hole she'd made and sleep in it, or she'd come sleep near my feet under the patio table. I wouldn't call her lethargic, just sleepy - she is alert and doesn't seem 'out of it' or sickly, just sleepy. She will occasionally opt to sit in the sun and stretch out a leg or wing for a bit, then return to the shade of the table. She isn't really interested in food, even her favorite treats, but she will intermittently peck at her food dish, which I moved outside near her, and will get up and drink water every once in awhile. However, I am growing a bit more concerned about her poops and how runny they are. No blood or sign of anything significantly abnormal, but they're mostly white and green liquid, even the green fecal content isn't fully formed (sorry I should've taken a photo) and she just released some that is mostly white liquid. Her vent has been clean/clear and healthy looking and there is no matting of poops around the vent/rear feathers. Her crop hasn't felt particularly full the past couple of days, but it isn't empty, it isn't hard, and it isn't doughy like it had been. She has not laid an egg since passing the second soft-shelled one on Sunday. It is rather hot today - low to mid 90s - but it was not as hot yesterday, so I am not sure I should attribute anything to the heat alone.
I just added some nutritional yeast to her food and ordered some Corid to add to her water just in case. I'm going to pick up some electrolytes today as well (likely Pedialyte as all the TSC's around us are out of the electrolyte packages) and I am considering making an electrolyte, nutritional yeast, egg yolk type slurry to give her later today (via syringe if need be).
Any thoughts? Suggestions? Is there something else I should be looking for/at that I might have missed? I've been around and helped to care for chickens previously but haven't ever personally cared for one with any significant health issues and I am just feeling lost and frustrated and, honestly, a little overwhelmed.
She is a Golden Comet - age and health history unknown. She was presumably dumped (no one ever responded to 'found chicken' posts) and has only been with us for 12 days (and those 12 days have been a rollercoaster).
Initially, she was very curious and happy to free-range, dust bathe, and scratch around the yard, and had a decent appetite. She wasn't terribly interested in her pellets at first but we got a mash for her and added water which seemed to increase her interest. She did, however, enjoy cucumber, lettuce, musk melon, tomatoes, some grapes, apple, blackberries, and bits of kale - everything from our garden except the grapes and apple which were organic. She drinks quite a bit of water throughout the day as well.
She laid four eggs the week we rescued her and they were all normal, well-formed, etc. and pretty evenly spaced out. Then, last Friday, three days before her first scheduled vet visit, we noticed she was acting the exact opposite of her normal, lively, curious self. Instead of exploring and scratching and dustbathing, she would sit in one spot with her butt lifted in the air and was clearly in pain - not interested in any food and only drinking small amounts. We gave her a warm epsom salt bath and got her to pass an egg that had not fully formed and still had a little 'tail' full attached to it. She slept on the floor that night rather than her perch. The next morning we took her in on an emergency visit to the vet. She had been feeling much better and was eating and drinking more. At the vet, she passed a little pink glob of what looked like it could've been the beginnings of a lash egg. She was otherwise pooping fine - some more watery than others, and still eating.
The vet ran a fecal and saw no evidence of worms or parasites but did find Campylobacter. Her crop was a bit doughy as well and she is a little underweight. She has some minor balance/steadiness issues due to weak leg muscles. Her feathers are not too healthy-looking and she has existing patches of missing feathers from a particularly aggressive rooster (wings and back of the head). The vet (an amazing board-certified avian vet) was not too concerned with her overall state, assuring us improvements could be made, and sent us home with some meds and instructions on high protein food and added calcium from oyster shells to help get her back on track. She is getting 1.4 mL of Rimadyl (0.7 mL 2x daily), 0.7 mL Cisapride (0.35 mL 2x daily) and one tablet of Clavamox (1/2 tab 2x daily) each day. After day 1 she learned that I was hiding Clavamox in her favorite treats so I've taken to crushing them, adding water, and syringe administering them with the other meds. The afternoon following the vet visit she was fine.
The next day, though - same thing with the lethargy, lack of interest in food, acting painful, butt in the air. Gave her another epsom salt bath and let her be. Eventually she passed another 'egg' just like the last one. It was later in the day so in the hour or so before sunset she ate some mash and some oyster shell and drank some water. Again, she opted to sleep on the floor instead of her roost. In the morning we found another little pink blob and some runnier poops in the coop and she was doing great again. She had a really great day and spent the whole day outside with us while we worked on building her outside run. She was back to sleeping on her roost. Yesterday it rained all morning so she stayed indoors and I kept an eye on her on the camera (yes, we got a camera for our chicken). She didn't wander around too much but ate and drank a bit - mostly hung out on the floor in the corner. When the rain cleared I let her out with me and she wandered a bit but mostly she napped under our patio table. She would get up and scratch around a bit every once in a while and was alert. Ate a little, drank a little. Her poops were a bit waterier than normal, but they weren't only liquid and she had been drinking a lot (plus the water in her food, which is new and I figured would account for softer poops). Last night she slept on her roost and, in the morning, I watched her get down, stretch her wings, and get something to eat and drink.
After her morning meds, she only picked a bit at a tomato and apple slice, but did eat a bit and drink some water. I let her out, and same thing as yesterday - she will wander a bit and peck around but then either finds a dustbathing hole she'd made and sleep in it, or she'd come sleep near my feet under the patio table. I wouldn't call her lethargic, just sleepy - she is alert and doesn't seem 'out of it' or sickly, just sleepy. She will occasionally opt to sit in the sun and stretch out a leg or wing for a bit, then return to the shade of the table. She isn't really interested in food, even her favorite treats, but she will intermittently peck at her food dish, which I moved outside near her, and will get up and drink water every once in awhile. However, I am growing a bit more concerned about her poops and how runny they are. No blood or sign of anything significantly abnormal, but they're mostly white and green liquid, even the green fecal content isn't fully formed (sorry I should've taken a photo) and she just released some that is mostly white liquid. Her vent has been clean/clear and healthy looking and there is no matting of poops around the vent/rear feathers. Her crop hasn't felt particularly full the past couple of days, but it isn't empty, it isn't hard, and it isn't doughy like it had been. She has not laid an egg since passing the second soft-shelled one on Sunday. It is rather hot today - low to mid 90s - but it was not as hot yesterday, so I am not sure I should attribute anything to the heat alone.
I just added some nutritional yeast to her food and ordered some Corid to add to her water just in case. I'm going to pick up some electrolytes today as well (likely Pedialyte as all the TSC's around us are out of the electrolyte packages) and I am considering making an electrolyte, nutritional yeast, egg yolk type slurry to give her later today (via syringe if need be).
Any thoughts? Suggestions? Is there something else I should be looking for/at that I might have missed? I've been around and helped to care for chickens previously but haven't ever personally cared for one with any significant health issues and I am just feeling lost and frustrated and, honestly, a little overwhelmed.
She’s adjusting a lot of things right now, so I think she may be overloaded with meds and new sights/smells/etc. Is there also a possibly that when she is out free ranging, that she could be eating something she isn’t supposed to? My chickens love to go into our garage and eat the paint flecks off of the bottom of the walls
