Hi everyone! Sorry for the delayed response, but on top of the sick chicken, I've been dealing with a busted hot water heat, some kind of stomach bug myself, and a few other crazy things. But I do have an update, and thanks for the welcomes and concern and advice!
I took her to the vet yesterday, and he says she was likely egg bound, and the tissue around her vent was ruptured at some point. He couldn't be 100% about exactly what was going on internally because of the inflammation, so we're trying to get that under control first. Anyway, he examined her and said her color is great and she's very healthy, so he thinks her prognosis for the tissue healing is good, but he couldn't promise me she'd be 100%. He also said she could require surgery, but right now he's leaning toward not needing it. He gave her a bath, trimmed her feathers in that area, and gave her an injection of antibiotics + anti-inflammatory meds, plus sent some home to keep her on for a couple of weeks. He also suggested keeping her mostly in the dark for a while, while she healed, and to bring her in out of the cold (we've been having nights in the 20s and freezing rain and snow flurries) because it can suppress her immune system.
So, she's living in a little 3-foot cage in the basement for now. I've got a space heater going down there, and she tends to sleep closest to it. I hated to separate her - she was actually kind of the head hen, and I'm so afraid they will not let her back into the gang. She's always been aggressive, even since they were babies, and yesterday when I had her cornered to put her in the carrier to go to the vet, she puffed herself up like she was going to fight me! Ha! I don't really handle them much either. I'm sure I'll have questions about re-introducing her. I'm definitely going to have to get some of the blue stuff, because she's got a little bald butt now!
Some other things he suggested included giving her a warm sitz bath occasionally while she's healing, using towels instead of straw for bedding until she heals, upping her protein intake (he told me to buy her some starter crumbles to eat while she heals), and giving her some kind of oil in her food. I read today that coconut oil is good for chickens? I told him I give her yogurt and electrolytes, and he said that would help the medication work. Oh, and to keep the area clean with the anti-microbial spray. So, I'm just going to keep an eye on her for now and keep trying to get the medication into her (that's fun!) If she's fine after she finishes her meds, she can go back outside, and if she starts bleeding again, swells up, or acts sickly, I'll take her back to the doctor, and we'll go from there.
She was exhausted when I got her home yesterday, and she didn't eat or move much, so I gave her a little corn, which I knew she would eat. Today, she's a little livelier and has been eating the feed and got up on her little roost. I am going to try to sit with her a few times throughout each day so she can get a little light for eating/drinking, plus she seems to enjoy the company.
I do wonder if there's anything I could do to keep her from being bored. Even when she was in the tiny cage outside I'd catch her eating bugs and weeds growing under it or watching the birds and squirrels or the other chickens. I don't want her to get too depressed. Plus, she's used to dust bathing and having free time and digging for worms and all that good stuff.
Spirit
Greeter
Friend
