Can anyone advise me on what to do for my poor sick chicken?

[Rhian]

Hi, I am new to this forum, deciding to join after seeing what beneficial advice people seem to be able to offer. I have a problem with my chicken and I feel so helpless, I want to end her suffering but I'm not sure what to do for the best.

We have 4 girls, the one in question is around 18 months old. She's usually feisty and active, great fun but 2 days ago my partner noticed she had totally changed - it seemed so suddenly. She was sat on her own, listing to the side, unco-ordinated and her wings had drooped, her eyes were glazed, her cone was pale. Upon picking her up she is really light and has lost so much weight it is almost inconceivable - her breastbone is really prominent.

She has been eating and seems to be drinking an awful lot. By the second day we had to remove her from the coop in the morning and place her in front of food and water as she struggled to move, was falling over a lot and we returned her in the night and get her as comfortable as possible. She began passing runny yellow stools yesterday, and last night we had to help her pass a large uncomfortable stool that was just hanging out of her.

We have been researching as much as possible, have done external checks and she doesn't appear to be egg bound or having breathing problems, it seems to be a stomach/dehydration issue. We found a recipe for a mix of pro-biotic yogurt, cooked egg yolk, honey, oats and multi-vitamins (not too much) and made this into a manageable crumble and hand fed her this, which she ate with a little more energy than she had shown for a while. When we returned her to the coop last night she immediately closed her eyes and dropped her head and seemed to fall asleep straight away.

This morning we had to remove her again but she has not touched food or water all morning. She has passed a couple of runny yellow stools but now is just lying on the floor with her neck twisted and eyes closed.

We have called a vet, but I really don't think that the poor thing will last the journey in a hot car and I just want to keep her as comfortable as possible.

I don't expect a miracle cure or solve-all suggestion, just some advice from somebody who may have experienced the same thing. I have posted a picture of the stools, maybe somebody may recognize something. We are prepared for maybe having to put her out of her misery, I don't want to give up on her but she is really suffering and I feel we are almost being cruel pro-longing her misery.

Anything anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[terryg]

It is good of you to want to prevent prolonging her misery. A vet won't be able to help. I'm going to be blunt. If your chicken is skinny, then it is likely that she is starving. Chickens don't show illness until they've been sick for some time. They don't show weakness as it upsets the pecking order, and they're prey animals and they know it puts them at risk. I've seen hens fake eating when ill. My best guess is that she has cancer. Ovarian cancer is VERY prevalent in hens. The cancer spreads and prevents the intestinal tract from doing it's job, and will block the passage. I've done several home necropsies, and have yet to see an older hen without cancer. If it's not cancer it could be an infected, impacted reproductive tract, again, the vet can't help. Sorry! Please read my post about the kindness of euthanizing. http://hencam.com/henblog/2012/06/the-kindness-of-euthanizing/

 

[Judy]

Two treatable problems that could be going on are worms and a lice / mite infestation. Have you ever treated for either?

For lice / mites, dust with 5% Sevin garden dust, or dust or spray with a poultry dust from the feed store. You should be able to see them if you look closely. Very tiny moving bugs and / or tiny clusters of eggs on the base of the feather shafts. Look around the vent and under the wings, especially.

For worms, the only wormer approved for chickens is piperazine which is carried at most feed stores. Personally I would use Safeguard, a goat wormer, or Valbazen, a cattle wormer. Again you may find them at a feed store, or order online, I'll give you a link to one thread about worms. If you need more information, do a search for dawg53's posts (or review them from his profile in this thread) and you'll find answers to everything about worms.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...o-still-seeing-live-worms-in-poo#post_9315842

Other real possibilities are internal laying or ovarian cancer, which unfortunately are not treatable. Of course there are no doubt other possibilities.

You can try dripping water or any liquid along the side of the beak to see if she will pull it in and swallow, if you choose to keep trying with her.

I am sorry about your girl; I agree, it does not sound good for her, and I think you are right about a hot car ride (which would probably terrify her) not being a good idea.

I see this is your first post, and I'm sorry it was something like this that brought you here. I hope you'll stay and enjoy our forum!

 

[Rhian]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. We read your post and decided it would be best to put her out of her misery. She is literally a ribcage with wings, she cannot hold her head up or keep her eyes open, not even water remotely interests her. It has not been an easy decision but I cannot see her recovering, she is suffering immensely. She was a wonderful bird and I'm just happy we could enjoy her while we could. I only hope we can uphold her memory through giving the 3 others the best life we can and we will learn from this and be super vigilant from now on.

Thanks again.

RIP Foxy Brown
x x x

 

[Rhian]

Thank you also for the advice on worms and mites. We checked her feaces regularly with no signs and we inspected her and the others regulrly for mites. We dust them and their house, as well as cleaning out regularly, and they are always taking dust baths. We have given their coop a good clean and scrub today anyway to be extra sure, and covered the house and the birds with their dust.

Foxy Brown is now at peace. Very upsetting but we feel we have done the right thing.

Thanks for the reassurance, and I will be sticking around! Hopefully with more positive posts about our others - Snow White, Goldie Hawn and Ginger Rogers. Maybe I can help somebody else one day the way I've been helped today!