Unbalanced and Lethargic Hen

[DaisyBird]

My chicken, Daisy, is a five year old Old English game hen. She recently was having issues going to the bathroom and was suffering from seizures. The seizures were only occurring for a couple of days and stopped after I gave her some extra vitamin supplements and electrolytes. For about a week now, she has been very lethargic, only walking around a little bit, and very unbalanced and unstable when she does walk. She stumbles and trips very easily. She has even gotten stuck on her back a couple times. She sometimes strains to go to the bathroom, but she is definitely going enough and it all looks normal. She is eating fine, actually she's quite a pig! and she is drinking plenty of water. I have her inside the house because of the cold and her small size, and also so I can keep an eye on her.

Everything seemed to start after my new dog came after her and scared her pretty bad. I'm wondering if the stress might have just been too much for her. I read that chickens can suffer from a lot of health issues as a result of stress. I try to keep things very quiet and relaxed for her and I give her a lot of attention and cuddles, which she really loves.

I am still giving her the vitamins, but only every couple of days just to make sure she isn't being overdosed on them, but still getting enough. She is alert, eating, drinking, going to the bathroom fairly well, and otherwise pretty normal, she just doesn't want to move around, and when she does, she is very unbalanced.

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated! I love my girl very much and I want her to beat whatever this could be!

 

[DaisyBird]

Daisy unfortunately passed away this morning. I won't ever really know what was wrong, but I'm so happy that I gave her such a good life right until the end. She died in my arms in bed, which is what I know she would have preferred to go.

Daisy's muscles started to get tight and she was unable to eat or drink without a lot of assistance. I would recommend assisting your hen with taking care of her babies so she doesn't get too stressed trying to look after herself and ten chicks. Try gently massaging her throat when you feed her to relax her and help her swallow. Just make sure she doesn't choke! I was feeding daisy with a small syringe, which worked very well. I would make your own thread to get more advice from more people. I hope for the best for you and your birds! And congratulations to you and your ten healthy chicks!

 

[DaisyBird]

So today out of curiosity we contacted a woman who can communicate with animals. She spoke with Daisy and told me Daisy said the issue was with her stomach/intestines, which makes sense. She said it's likely she had the issue since she was born, but she wasn't sure exactly what was wrong. She also said Daisy wants to come back as a white chicken in the near future. Very interesting stuff! She's worked with my dogs as well, and I really think that she does have this ability! I'll have to keep a look out for white chickens at the fair this year!

 

[Chicky Woos123]

I hope that Daisy gets better soon! The bathroom situation might just be from the stress, so be sure to keep the dog away from her.

Im not sure about her being unbalanced when she walks. I hope someone can give you advice on that. I hope that she improves very soon!!

 

[DaisyBird]

Thank you for the reply the dogs are downstairs and Daisy is upstairs, and the two floors are blocked off from each other so he won't be able to come bother her anymore. I'm hoping everything is just stress related and once she starts to settle down more she'll start feeling better too!

 

[Chicky Woos123]

I hope so too. I'd still try to take a visit to the vet or someone who knows about chickens, for example, the people at your local farm store. I'm very attached to my pets too,so, I know how it is to see them so sick. But I really hope that little miss Daisy starts to improve!!

 

[DaisyBird]

I will definitely try asking around at some of the stores in my area. There are not a lot of vets in my area that deal with chickens but hopefully there are still some knowledgeable people around!

 

[Chicky Woos123]

Good idea. Has she been improving at all? I hope so.

I'll try to do some research for Daisy too.

 

[DaisyBird]

Today she is doing pretty well. She has good days and bad days. I started doing a little physical therapy with her- helping her walk and exercise her legs- and that seems to be helping a little. She is still drinking a lot of water and eating a lot. Her crop was stuffed this morning so I know she's eating enough! I'm just keeping the energy positive and making sure she's happy and relaxed. Thank you so much for keeping Daisy and I in your thoughts

 

[Chicky Woos123]

It sounds like Daisy is improving!! That's good!! Just make sure that there is nothing stopping up her crop from doing it's job. Just gently massage it. But that might not be the case. Anyway, it's really good news that she's improving. I really do hope that she gets back to 100%!!!