2yr old bantam hen walking slow, eating very little, sitting a lot

cocoloco

Songster
5 Years
May 31, 2016
108
33
119
My 2 yr old Phoenix bantam, Beanie, has always been my most active hen. She has not been herself for 5 days now. She had yellow runny poop - I treated the whole flock with Corid for 6 days - it usually does the trick. (We also had a heat wave - they were drinking water, eating a lot of fruit, etc.) Her poop has been on and off - normal to runny for the last 2 days. She is lethargic - sitting most of the day - when she walks - she walks slowly - like she has arthritis. One month ago - she had a poopy butt, I checked it closely - she had little bugs around her vent. I washed her and sprayed her - and the rest of the flock, with permethrin - she has been clean and bug free ever since. She is not eating much - but she always liked foraging - preferring bugs and yard stuff to the veggies and grain. Last night she ate the grain after I wet it. She seems to prefer soft, small food. large Mealworms are her favorite - she will not touch them. She quickly ate shredded cheddar cheese though. I have been giving her one dropper of Poultry Nutri-Drench - which they recommended at Tractor Supply, every night before bed. Can I give her more? I tried to see a vet - no avian/exotic Dr.s available until Monday. I want to start her on something strong - I don't want to wait until Monday. I have 1 amoxicillan Clav Potassium tablet 375mg, a full bottle of Baytril 10% oral solution, and 2 large sulfameth trimeth tablets (scrip was 1/4 tablet every 12 hours - so these would last until Monday). What can I do to perk her up until I see a vet? The baytril sounded good but it calls for 2ml per quart of water for 10 days. I want something concentrated. 20 min ago she was outside sitting with her head hanging down a bit, eyes closed - I just looked out she is walking around foraging with the others and eating little bits here and there. Also , one more thing - she has always had a pale comb -now it is red with the tips turning a bit blue.
 
Hello - I had 2 sick hens mentioned in that last thread - this is the bantam hen - the one that was sicker..Gigi was the one I brought to
the vet - they put her on Amoxclav. Within 2 days she was fine. This one appeared to get better - then, a few days ago, she is showing all the symptoms the other one had. As I mentioned in the last thread, Gigi had an infection - they did not know exactly what kind. NONE of them are showing signs of a respiratory illness -no sneezing, wheezing,runny eyes, nose, etc. I keep thinking it is gastric and bacterial. I have a vet appt at 1:30 - I have never seen him before but he is considered a country vet (I.e. makes house calls) and has 45 years experience. I am hoping he can help. I told him I think she has what my other one had. This morning I had to force warm water and nutri-drench down her throat. She barely eats - unless you put mealworms in front of her.
 
Thank you so much for responding. This vet was wonderful. He kept telling me he doesn't do chickens - but he felt bad for me so he let me come in. He examined her - she is dehydrated from not drinking - hasn't been eating much. He prescribed amoxiclav for whatever infection she has (we still don't know) and another med that is for the diarrhea. He also told me to give her watered down pedialyte - I told him I preferred nutri-drench. He gave her a dose of each med right there - to get them in her ASAP. This blew me away - he is the first vet that gave the meds they prescribed to a sick animal that is right there in front of them. In the past 2 years I have asked 3 different vets, "can you please give the first dose now?" and they always say - "no, we prefer to have you do it when you get home" - what is up with that? Anyway - 30 hours later, she is stable - not much improvement - not getting worse. I just wish she would eat. I was forcing her to drink and eat most of the day - putting watermelon, grain, etc right in front of her making her eat. Then, right before sunset, I took her outside to walk around alone - before the flock came back around from the other side of my property. She started scratching and pecking the ground. I dropped some mealworms in front of her - she ate those. Then - to my delight - she walked over to the 3 gal water dispenser ( fresh water with nutri-drench)
and drank and drank - about 8 sips. She still looks very tired and her comb is floppy. When her comb stands up straight again - I will know she is getting better.
 
It's nice to hear the vet was wonderful! Too often people post that their vet visit was frustrating and probably a waste of time/money.

It sounds like she is trying, it's good that she was able to walk to water and drink some on her own and scratch for a little bit.
You are doing everything you can for her and I hope you see a big improvement very soon. Thank you for the update.
 
On several occasions, I ask for help - get great advice - then leave folks hanging as to the outcome. My early New Years' Resolution is to at least get back and let folks know how things turned out with any sick chicken I posted about. I am happy to report that my little bantam Beanie is alive and well! It took 2 weeks of Amoxycillan every day but we brought her back from the edge of death. That wonderful vet said he would bill me - then, NEVER sent me a bill. NOTE: He gave me 10 days worth of Amoxycillan liquid (no charge). It was very hard to get the liquid in her - so much of it was wasted because she would actually spit it out on me! I ordered 250mg fishmox tablets on Ebay - and gave those to her the last week - 1 in the morning, 1 before bed - she was back to her old self in no time. I highly recommend the fishmox tablets for anyone who needs emergency antibiotics for their chickens but cannot access/pay for a vet to get them.
 
On several occasions, I ask for help - get great advice - then leave folks hanging as to the outcome. My early New Years' Resolution is to at least get back and let folks know how things turned out with any sick chicken I posted about. I am happy to report that my little bantam Beanie is alive and well! It took 2 weeks of Amoxycillan every day but we brought her back from the edge of death. That wonderful vet said he would bill me - then, NEVER sent me a bill. NOTE: He gave me 10 days worth of Amoxycillan liquid (no charge). It was very hard to get the liquid in her - so much of it was wasted because she would actually spit it out on me! I ordered 250mg fishmox tablets on Ebay - and gave those to her the last week - 1 in the morning, 1 before bed - she was back to her old self in no time. I highly recommend the fishmox tablets for anyone who needs emergency antibiotics for their chickens but cannot access/pay for a vet to get them.
Thank you so much for the update!
I'm glad that your Beanie is doing well and has recovered:)
 

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