Bridgey is Unwell...

[micstrachan]

She looks a bit skeptical and fluffed, or is she a “big girl”?
How does her weight feel?
Is her tail at it’s normal posture, or did your camera just catch her when it was a little down?

It’s hard to tell where a poop comes from unless it gets splattered on your shirt and down your leg! Maybe you’ll get lucky and get shat upon while you’re examining her later.

I agree with @Wyorp Rock ‘s observation suggestion and applaud her as well for the suggestion of the puppy pads!
I bought two packs in prep for hurricane Florence and never opened them and thought yesterday as I passed by them in the garage that I should “donate them or something”.

Keeping them now!

What a great alternative to layers and layers of paper towels! Idk why I never thought of them.
Thanks @Wyorp Rock !
See? This is why I love BYC and everyone here!

I too would give her a good look over. I won’t trouble you with questions about feed and oyster shell and grit, I know you know all those things. And I can clearly see natural grit in your photo between the bricks so I don’t think I’d blame it on a bit of barley unless her crop seems especially slow.

Do check that tonight and in the morning to be sure.

Mine are molting too and one is looking especially peaked.

I brought her in today and put on my reading glasses to have a good look.
No lice or mites evident.
Nothing glaring at all other than molting and a bit thin.
She’s low in the pecking order.
Her stance is good.
No abdominal swelling.
No bumblefoot. Leg scales were a little dirty but not at all raised. They freerange and have been digging deep holes the past few days so that’s not out of the ordinary. I made a note to scrub them tomorrow and apply some oil just in case.
Beak and toenails fine.
Ears fine.
She was not happy about a mouth and throat exam but complied. Breath wasn’t offensive. Nothing in there. Clean as a whistle.
Eyes clear and bright. Pupils round, equal and reactive.
Vent was winky and clean and looked normal for a non laying hen during molting season.
No mess on her fluff.

So I made her a little special lunch of hardboilded egg, shredded cheese and raw unsalted sunflower seeds to enjoy apart from the others which she seemed to appreciate and before I took her back outside I dosed her with nutridrench and a few crumbles of a super b complex human vitamin.

She’s normally a big girl, but feels a bit light. Her posture is terrible, she’s isolating and seems weak. All could probably be explained by molt if her behavior hadn’t changed so drastically at least a week into dropping feathers.

Also, for everyone, I called the dog vet who does not do fecal floats in-house, but can send out a sample for me with 24-hour turn around. The avian vet won’t do it without seeing the bird, and I have trust issues with them since Rusty died just a couple days after a $330 Suprelorin (?) implant. They weren’t honest with me about how ill she was, IMO.

 

[rebrascora]

If she is a hatchery bird she should not be very heavy. I can't tell if she is a Barred Rock or a Cuckoo Marans from the photo but I would not expect either of those birds to be overly heavy if they came from a hatchery as their breeding is more towards egg production that the meat side of dual purpose. Any fullness below her vent, particularly at this time of year ie moulting season would be suspicious in my opinion. I would expect both of those breeds to be slightly flaccid in that area of their bodies.

 

[micstrachan]

If she is a hatchery bird she should not be very heavy. I can't tell if she is a Barred Rock or a Cuckoo Marans from the photo but I would not expect either of those birds to be overly heavy if they came from a hatchery as their breeding is more towards egg production that the meat side of dual purpose. Any fullness below her vent, particularly at this time of year ie moulting season would be suspicious in my opinion. I would expect both of those breeds to be slightly flaccid in that area of their bodies.

Understood. Yes, hatchery stock. She’s a Barred Rock and is usually pretty heavy. I have a weight chart posted somewhere in the forums. Thinking she’s usuallyin the 7-pound range, where everyone else is in the 5-6 pound range (except Brahma, who is usually 8 and a my SLW is tiny, for whatever reason).

Sorry about brief answers... still working.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you! Her crop was soft and mostly empty this morning. Her vent looked dry and a bit dirty, but I’ll take a better look later.

Here’s a question for all of you... you may remember I feel like I killed Rusty by dipping her on a hot day when she was sick. The other birds enjoyed the cool off, but it pushed Rusty over the edge. Sadly, I was not aware at the time of the danger of wetting a sick bird.
So if Bridge needs a little gentle cleaning, is there any danger in spritzing her a little on her back end? Thanks.

I forgot to mention that Bridge han’t laid an egg in months.

If she is messy, give her a warm soak/cleanup - if it's just a bit dirty? remember she is molting so handling her may be painful. Dry vent would be normal, she's not in lay.

I would re-check that crop - you say soft and mostly empty this morning.
Give her plain water and wet feed. If she will eat it, give her 1tsp of coconut oil and massage the crop before bed. Getting a better look at her poop would be good, just remember if she has the coconut oil, the stool may be loose for a little while.
See if the crop is cleared in the morning and she's feeling better.

If you don't feel confident in your vet to do the fecal testing, if she is not perked up by tomorrow and you think she needs worming, then use Valbazen at 1/2 ml orally, then repeat in 10days.

 

[micstrachan]

Looks like I’m overdue to weigh my birds. Bridgey was on a downswing last I checked.

 

[rebrascora]

In my opinion, she probably needed to be on a downward swing. For a hatchery rock I think that she was on the heavy side at 7.4. I can't see the dates clearly but would be interested to know if you changed anything in your feed/management routine that tied in with that reduction, as most of the other birds seem to have had a downward trend at that point too.

 

[rebrascora]

Would also be interested to know what she weighs now....

 

[Shadrach]

Looks like I’m overdue to weigh my birds. Bridgey was on a downswing last I checked.

View attachment 1562511

Love your weight chart.
Give her some Catalan love from me.

 

[micstrachan]

Love your weight chart.
Give her some Catalan love from me.

Thanks! Heading home early after grabbing a couple pharmacy items.

 

[micstrachan]

Would also be interested to know what she weighs now....

Me, too. I think she’s light.