3 Weeks since she laid!

[CJD83]

Hello! I am a new post-er to this website, but have used it as a guide many times before. TIA for your wisdom.
Now, as to my hen. She is a barred rock, that was born this April. The symtoms started over 2 weeks ago, I noticed Phae was hiding out under the nest boxes, head down and tail drooped. I thought she was maybe depressed as winter had hit that week before and they were now coop chickens. I took them out to play in the driveway, which they liked, but no change in Phae. Brought her into the house, and noticed she was straining heavily. Thought she was maybe egg bound and gave her a bath. This continued for the first week or so, and I learned about egg binding. Concluded that she wasn't bound, and a local large flock avian vet gave me a broad spectrum antibiotic (starts with a T but can't remember off hand). She has made maybe a 30% improvement. As to other symptoms:
eats very little
drinks very little
sleeps A Lot
has very loose stools-started out with very yellow urine and ureates(?white stuff). Only liquid. After using the antibiotic, she now has a little bowel in it, but very little and lots of liquid and now has a green tint.
hasn't laid an egg in nearly 3 weeks
She has no other injuries, other than she has lost weight due to her illness. The only vet that treats individual chickens is at the university, and wants $60 just to set her up as a patient. I care for her a lot (she's sitting on my lap as I am typing this), but I'm afraid that's just not possible. Please help with any information as I have scoured the net relentlessly to no avail. Thank you.
CJD

 

[fiberart57]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens!

I'm fairly new myself but I can try to give some answers. It sounds like you are trying your best to care for her and I know how hard it is to have a sick animal and not know what to do. She sounds pretty sick.

First I would consider worms or cocci. While advanced cocci can manifest itself as bloody stools, I believe that runny stools can be a sign of problems. A worm infestation may be present, if you see worms in the stools, it's a bad load the chicken is carrying. While $60 is a significant amount of money, fecal tests usually run around $15 and they'll be able to tell you if you have parasites. There is cocci and worm medicine available at many feed stores.

Treat her to high protein, easy to digest food. Scrambled eggs are the best, do it in the microwave so as to avoid too much fat. You also might make a gruel of her regular food and hand feed her. You can get vitamins in the form of Poly-Vi-Sol(sp?) at the grocery store baby section. Get the stuff without iron. Put some in an eyerdropper and put a few drops along her beak. She'll eventually swallow them. It's slow but sure.

Keep her warm and isolated from the rest of the flock in case what she has is contagious.

Last, but not least, sometimes all the measures we take to save our much-loved furry and feathers friends are to no avail and we have to let them go. Know that you did the best you could and are to be commended for your love and efforts.

Mary