Advice needed-heartbreak-mine and chicken's

[Christina99]

Thank you 10 chicks,

Didnt notice much difference on metacam-but it was when the diarrhoea started so I took him off it (on vet's advice)
No injury-I got him indoors before the storm really struck.wings seem fine.No leg swelling or bumblefoot. Beak normal.
His crop goes from half-full (when I get food down him) to empty-think it's ok
Can't see anything in throat but vet will check it closer.

I managed to tempt him to eat a whole scrambled egg and 2 grapes on his own before he went to bed
So today he's had breakfast (a bowl of wet brown bread flavoured with tuna) which he ate on his own,15 mls of watery layers pellets I syringe-fed him plus the scrambled egg and 8 grapes and a little bit of banana and some water.

In the morning (he goes to vet at 9) I am going to try the aspirin an hour before he gets up.
If he has any more mobility when he comes out of his nest then I will know it is pain more than paralysis which is the problem

Thanks again for all your kind help-I will let you know what happens tomorrow
Love Chris

 

[Suzie]

Thinking of you and Robert....

Hoping the Vet can offer a treatment to improve his condition...

 

[Christina99]

dear seminolewind
yes it definitely resembles Mareks, in some ways,but I am surprised that could affect an older(6 years) bird that has not come into contact with any outside chickens or new introductions into the flock in recent years.
His brother (then aged 3) had very similar symptoms a few years ago,but the bird vet didn't think it was Marek's.
I guess it could be age,or a stroke (or series of strokes),maybe compounded by stress due to having to move his sleeping quarters indoors when the big storm hit.
I was going to mend the chicken house and move him back but by then he was much more lame and couldnt perch anymore.And needed more warmth.

He did an ordinary poo last night (very slightly green but good-sized,solid and with urates)-the first non-diarrhoea one for a week.

It's 8am. Now I'm going to wake him up try him with aspirin (have checked dosage) before he sees the vet in 2 hours.
Thanks very much for being 'on-hand' ! I really appreciate your support xxxxChristina

 

[Suzie]

Hi Christina....

Hoping and praying that both you and Robert are OK....

Can't stop thinking about you....

 

[realsis]

I completly understand what your going through.i love my chickens like family and have a big heart and its so hurtful to loose them. Sadly this year I had a awful respitory virus go through my flock.i tried everything to save them. Different antibotics tube feeding but sadly I lost all but one. I cleaned
everything real well and through away most of what
they had contact with. Time went by and I decided to
get my remaining chicken some friends. well before I
could do that she came down with her second
bought of wry neck. Although I was treating her I lost
her too. I decided the joy they bring far out weighs the pain and I bought some new babies. I'm so glad I did because these little ones bring great joy to my life. Every day I say a little prayer for them. Their is nothing left from the old chickens that they can come in contact with and things were sanatised very thourghly. They are doing great thank God and I'm really glad I decided to rebuild my flock. I wanted to tell you my story in hopes you won't give up. I understand the pain of loosing them but its nothing you have done and I hope even if the worst does happen you continue with chickens. Their joy far out weighs the pain. hope this helps and I do wish the best for you. GOD BLESS!

 

[seminolewind]

dear seminolewind
yes it definitely resembles Mareks, in some ways,but I am surprised that could affect an older(6 years) bird that has not come into contact with any outside chickens or new introductions into the flock in recent years.
His brother (then aged 3) had very similar symptoms a few years ago,but the bird vet didn't think it was Marek's.
I guess it could be age,or a stroke (or series of strokes),maybe compounded by stress due to having to move his sleeping quarters indoors when the big storm hit.
I was going to mend the chicken house and move him back but by then he was much more lame and couldnt perch anymore.And needed more warmth.

He did an ordinary poo last night (very slightly green but good-sized,solid and with urates)-the first non-diarrhoea one for a week.

It's 8am. Now I'm going to wake him up try him with aspirin (have checked dosage) before he sees the vet in 2 hours.
Thanks very much for being 'on-hand' ! I really appreciate your support xxxxChristina

I am glad to hear that you've had no new birds, which makes Marek's seem less likely. Most of the time the older ones waste, not get paralysis, (most). I am eagerly awaiting the results of your vet visit!

 

[schnebbles]

Aww, I'm sorry about Robert. I just got my chickens this spring and lost one from what I think was shipping stress, then 3 to mareks already. I have 5 left. It's awful so I know how you feel. I love them all and got them strictly for pets. I sometimes think the hurt is too much too but I do love having them.

How did the vet visit go?

 

[Christina99]

Oh, I can't address this to individual people any more because there are too many of you who have been so kind
I can't tell all of you how much i appreciate your support and your personal experiences of this

We took Robert(and his hen for company) to the vet yesterday-my favourite,caring specialised bird vet
He could feel the organs were somewhat displaced and some parts of lung not working,most probably because of a tumour pushing against them.He was sure it wasn't Marek's.
He said he could give him antibiotics for a slight infection,but basically if we left it,a fast-growing tumour meant Robert might soon be gasping for breath,rather than just breathing heavily
I asked him what he would do (he loves birds),were there any other possibilities and was euthanasia the only kind thing and he said sadly he thought it was(specially as he was not a young bird)

So he euthanised him,sitting all comfy in his box of straw,with his hen sitting beside him.

It feels it was totally the right moment-late enough that we knew he wasnt getting better,but just before discomfort turned to distress.

We brought him home and my lovely guy,crying,buried him in front of our kitchen window.
He didn't tell me he was doing it till it was done,but he knew this time how hard I would find it.

So now I have just our one chicken living here in the house with us (she got a clean bill of health)
And she's not a lap-chicken,who could be happy with just human company.

So I am going to visit an animal sanctuary in Cornwall-make sure they keep them in big runs or free-range and that they are very careful about who they re-home them to. (couldn't bear her to end up in some tiny chicken ark.)
I will pay her keep and vets bills
They have just got a couple of ex-battery chooks in recently-said she might team up with them.

I absolutely don't want to lose her and she spends a lot of time indoors with us,and sleeps here,but seeing her out pecking in the garden on her own just looks wrong.

I so appreciated your painful experiences of losing hens,and it did make me wonder if.......

But my deaths weren't an unavoidable virus,but separate causes:
In 6 years 2 (including Robert) to cancer,2 to egg yolk peritonitis (though implants and draining gave them an extra year) and one to an accident.

I have taken up an awful lot of people's time on this thread-all I can say is I will make sure now that I also support other people
here with my own modicum of (sadly-gained) experience

Love and thanks to you all from Christina xxxxxx

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Do not get a drake to be company for your hen. There is a very high probability that he will sexually assault her, which can be fatal. Male ducks and male chickens have very different reproductive organs.

 

[Christina99]

hi yakima-too late-afraid we've had ducks for years.
But the hen knows never to get too near the drake (and she can fly higher than he can!!!).
Also,it only seems a problem in Spring and Summer,thankfully