RachelNorth
Hatching
- May 17, 2020
- 3
- 3
- 9
Hi, I apologize if this isn’t the right place to post.
This is in regards to my almost 1yr old Easter Egger, we raised her and 4 others from chicks last spring. She has always been a bit smaller than our other hens but has always been in good health.
4 days ago my husband mentioned she went to roost before everyone else which is unlike her. The following day I was home and noticed she was laying down a lot and had her tail down when she was up. I started getting concerned and trying to figure out what could be going on. I thought she might be egg bound. She wasn't eating or drinking much, had clear-ish liquid diarrhea, and seemed very tired. Yesterday I gave her 2 epsom salt baths thinking she was egg bound, at times her vent seemed to be pulsing but not constantly and it may have just been when I was messing with it. When my husband got home I stuck a gloved, lubricated finger in her vent approximately 2” and couldn’t feel an egg. I lubricated her vent anyway just in case and kept her in our office overnight. I got her to eat some egg yesterday and tried to give her some calcium which she would barely take. She was taking small sips of water and I have sav-a-chick in her water. This morning she is breathing heavily with her whole body moving and hasn’t moved all night. She also doesn’t seem to have pooped since she had some clear diarrhea when I was checking her vent yesterday evening. She doesn’t want to eat or drink now, I’ve tried holding water right up to her beak and she won’t take any. Yesterday she would eat bits of egg but not today. Her crop feels empty, her abdomen might be a bit firm/swollen, I’m not completely sure. She is alert with her eyes open but I’m worried we’re going to lose her. I don’t know for sure when she last laid, her eggs are identical to our other Easter Egger, normally they both lay daily, it’s possible it’s been 4 days including today since she laid.
Our other 4 hens are acting completely fine, eating and drinking normally, pooping normally, laying everyday, etc.
No signs of trauma or Injury that I can see.
I’m not aware of anything that could have caused her to get sick. It just started with her going to bed earlier, laying down outside, etc. and has progressed to her appearing quite ill today.
Typically they eat Purina Layer Crumbles, I did find out that my husband was adding scratch into their feeder and they figured out how to empty the feeder and pick out the scratch. That was about 2 weeks ago though and they have just had their normal feed plus treats which normally consist of spinach, berries, sometimes cooked beats, raisins, dried worms. I’m unsure of her exact intake prior to bringing her in yesterday, and since then she’s just ate maybe 1/4 of a hard boiled egg and a few sips of water.
Poop is clear and liquidy, sometimes yellow tinged.
Treatment so far is 2 warm epsom salt baths, lubricated her vent, she ate some calcium, electrolyte water though she’s drank very little.
Intent for treatment; I can’t find a vet that takes chickens, am also concerned about the cost of going to a vet. We have an animal feed store down the street and I could administer any medications if that might help. I’m worried she’s dying and want her to be as comfortable as possible if I can’t save her.
They have fir bedding that we buy at the feed store. They live in a large coop/run and free range in our fenced backyard for about 5 hrs or more a day. Sometimes they go in our garage but there isn’t any poison or anything that they could get into. They briefly went into our side yard 3 days ago but there also shouldn’t be anything over there that would be dangerous to them.
This is in regards to my almost 1yr old Easter Egger, we raised her and 4 others from chicks last spring. She has always been a bit smaller than our other hens but has always been in good health.
4 days ago my husband mentioned she went to roost before everyone else which is unlike her. The following day I was home and noticed she was laying down a lot and had her tail down when she was up. I started getting concerned and trying to figure out what could be going on. I thought she might be egg bound. She wasn't eating or drinking much, had clear-ish liquid diarrhea, and seemed very tired. Yesterday I gave her 2 epsom salt baths thinking she was egg bound, at times her vent seemed to be pulsing but not constantly and it may have just been when I was messing with it. When my husband got home I stuck a gloved, lubricated finger in her vent approximately 2” and couldn’t feel an egg. I lubricated her vent anyway just in case and kept her in our office overnight. I got her to eat some egg yesterday and tried to give her some calcium which she would barely take. She was taking small sips of water and I have sav-a-chick in her water. This morning she is breathing heavily with her whole body moving and hasn’t moved all night. She also doesn’t seem to have pooped since she had some clear diarrhea when I was checking her vent yesterday evening. She doesn’t want to eat or drink now, I’ve tried holding water right up to her beak and she won’t take any. Yesterday she would eat bits of egg but not today. Her crop feels empty, her abdomen might be a bit firm/swollen, I’m not completely sure. She is alert with her eyes open but I’m worried we’re going to lose her. I don’t know for sure when she last laid, her eggs are identical to our other Easter Egger, normally they both lay daily, it’s possible it’s been 4 days including today since she laid.
Our other 4 hens are acting completely fine, eating and drinking normally, pooping normally, laying everyday, etc.
No signs of trauma or Injury that I can see.
I’m not aware of anything that could have caused her to get sick. It just started with her going to bed earlier, laying down outside, etc. and has progressed to her appearing quite ill today.
Typically they eat Purina Layer Crumbles, I did find out that my husband was adding scratch into their feeder and they figured out how to empty the feeder and pick out the scratch. That was about 2 weeks ago though and they have just had their normal feed plus treats which normally consist of spinach, berries, sometimes cooked beats, raisins, dried worms. I’m unsure of her exact intake prior to bringing her in yesterday, and since then she’s just ate maybe 1/4 of a hard boiled egg and a few sips of water.
Poop is clear and liquidy, sometimes yellow tinged.
Treatment so far is 2 warm epsom salt baths, lubricated her vent, she ate some calcium, electrolyte water though she’s drank very little.
Intent for treatment; I can’t find a vet that takes chickens, am also concerned about the cost of going to a vet. We have an animal feed store down the street and I could administer any medications if that might help. I’m worried she’s dying and want her to be as comfortable as possible if I can’t save her.
They have fir bedding that we buy at the feed store. They live in a large coop/run and free range in our fenced backyard for about 5 hrs or more a day. Sometimes they go in our garage but there isn’t any poison or anything that they could get into. They briefly went into our side yard 3 days ago but there also shouldn’t be anything over there that would be dangerous to them.
