Chicken is getting weaker - Help!!!!

[Huehnerei]

Duck hasn't eaten at all yesterday - she is getting weaker and stumbling again. She might peck at a few kernels of bread and she still eats the worms that I dig up for her but she won't touch anything else - not even mealy worms. Her poop is getting very liquid. I dont know what to do. If I don't do anything ( and I ran out ideas of what I could possibly feed her that she might eat - nothing works anymore - no oatmeal, not cat food, eggs she never even looked at, not yogurt)

I am tempted to just try the wormer - I don't know if she will survive that - but if I don't I think she is just fading away.

Please if anybody has any suggestions - please let me know.

 

[buckabucka]

Duck hasn't eaten at all yesterday - she is getting weaker and stumbling again. She might peck at a few kernels of bread and she still eats the worms that I dig up for her but she won't touch anything else - not even mealy worms. Her poop is getting very liquid. I dont know what to do. If I don't do anything ( and I ran out ideas of what I could possibly feed her that she might eat - nothing works anymore - no oatmeal, not cat food, eggs she never even looked at, not yogurt)

I am tempted to just try the wormer - I don't know if she will survive that - but if I don't I think she is just fading away.

Please if anybody has any suggestions  - please let me know.

I had a very sick hen last spring. I separated her from the others (brought her indoors in a cat carrier). She had no appetite at all, so I force fed a mixture of yogurt and egg yolk in a syringe, along with fluids. We discovered she was covered in mites, so I also treated with Ivermectin. She recovered, but it took days of force-feeding, and it was weeks before she was normal.

I had another hen stop eating the same spring, and despite force-feeding, she died quickly. We had a necropsy done, and she died of a reproductive infection.

It is frustrating not knowing what is wrong. Maybe there is a vet in your area that works with poultry?
Good luck! I hope she recovers.

 

[Huehnerei]

thanks for responding,

We just fed Duck some yogurt mixed with egg yolk. We got about three syringes down. How often and how much should I feed her every day?

I had checked her for mites and could not find a thing. However another member on BYC suggested that she might still have mites and we just cant see them. So I bought Diatomaceous Earth and dusted her all over. (I figured this would be easier on her than using poison) - she is still biting herself and scratching and I am not sure if its from dry skin caused by DE or if the DE maybe did not work?

Where did you get the Ivermectin ?

This all started about a week ago - I noticed that she was grooming a lot. When I picked her up to check her, she was really skinny (she has always been on the skinny side and is also behind on growth compared to her 2 sisters - she is 6 mo old and has not been laying yet.
Any way I noticed that she was kind of stumbling, as if she was loosing her balance - so I separated her and took her in the house. She has been there for a week now. I got her to eat some and she seemed a little stronger until yesterday, when she didn't want to eat. ( She took a few bread crumbs and she takes some greens, but this is about it. I don't think that it is some virus ect - because I am sure she would be gone by now. Besides the weakness and the stumbling, she is very alert, talking and tries to walk out of the cage every chance she gets on wobbly legs. But once she is out, all she does is groom.


It is very frustrating to try and coax her to eat something, anything - but she did eat some of the mixture in the syringe, so maybe this is the way to go.

 

[buckabucka]

I don't remember how often we fed her, -probably just when we had time, so at least twice a day. More would be better. I got the Ivermectin at Tractor Supply.

How old is your hen? I've never seen one with Marek's, but the stumbling symptom sounds like something I've heard described. Is she molting? Sometimes that makes them groom a lot, and sometimes causes weight loss.

I have one in the house now too. 2 1/2 years old, suddenly unable to walk or stand without panting and using her wings for support. She might have a disease. She's very thin, but she loves to eat and did attempt to take steps yesterday. It is not like I am overly attached to her, but I'd like to see her get better. Either that, or I hope she goes quickly, as I hate the idea of having to put her out of her misery. We're not there yet. No sign of injury, but she is mid-molt.

Good luck!

 

[casportpony]

thanks for responding,

We just fed Duck some yogurt mixed with egg yolk. We got about three syringes down. How often and how much should I feed her every day?

When mine are really sick, I tube feed them a minimum of twice a day, how much depends on their size, weight and if they're drinking. There is a very good thread about tube feeding here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/722041/how-to-t-feed-a-sick-chicken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?t=7933

I had checked her for mites and could not find a thing. However another member on BYC suggested that she might still have mites and we just cant see them. So I bought Diatomaceous Earth and dusted her all over. (I figured this would be easier on her than using poison) - she is still biting herself and scratching and I am not sure if its from dry skin caused by DE or if the DE maybe did not work?

DE doesn't work. I use poultry dust on my chickens and it kills them within minutes.

Where did you get the Ivermectin ?

You can get Ivermectin at Tractor Supply.

This all started about a week ago - I noticed that she was grooming a lot. When I picked her up to check her, she was really skinny (she has always been on the skinny side and is also behind on growth compared to her 2 sisters - she is 6 mo old and has not been laying yet.

You should weigh her daily to see how much weight she is losing/gaining.

Any way I noticed that she was kind of stumbling, as if she was loosing her balance - so I separated her and took her in the house. She has been there for a week now. I got her to eat some and she seemed a little stronger until yesterday, when she didn't want to eat.

The stumbling could be from her not eating and getting weaker.

( She took a few bread crumbs and she takes some greens, but this is about it. I don't think that it is some virus ect - because I am sure she would be gone by now. Besides the weakness and the stumbling, she is very alert, talking and tries to walk out of the cage every chance she gets on wobbly legs. But once she is out, all she does is groom.

Is she drinking? Can you post any pictures of her poop?

It is very frustrating to try and coax her to eat something, anything - but she did eat some of the mixture in the syringe, so maybe this is the way to go.

The best way to force feed is with a feeding tube.

 

[Huehnerei]

thank you - this is a lot of useful info. She does drink, I put electrolytes/vitamins in her water every other day. Her poop looked like normal chicken poop (per poop picture site) only the other day when she did not eat was it very runny (but normal color and not foamy). I don't have a picture, but I will try and get one.

I truly think that the stumbling is from weakness, because she is really alert otherwise and would like to walk out of her crate.

I will try and get poltry dust - since she is itching so much and if this doesn't work i will try and worm her.

I do have some wazine and I checked with the feed store - they do carry ivermecting. However the women there told me that Ivermectin is for horses, cattle and pigs and would kill chicken!???

 

[buckabucka]

thank you - this is a lot of useful info. She does drink, I put electrolytes/vitamins in her water every other day. Her poop looked like normal chicken poop (per poop picture site) only the other day when she did not eat was it very runny (but normal color and not foamy). I don't have a picture, but I will try and get one.

I truly think that the stumbling is from weakness, because she is really alert otherwise and would like to walk out of her crate.

I will try and get poltry dust - since she  is itching so much and if this doesn't work i will try and worm her.

I do have some wazine and I checked with the feed store - they do carry ivermecting. However the women there told me that Ivermectin is for horses, cattle and pigs and would kill chicken!???

Ivermectin is not approved for use in chickens, but people use it anyway. You just have to use a much smaller dose. There is one kind you can put in their water, but I can't tell you about that one because I never tried it.

I bought Ivermectin pour-on. You need to part the feathers and find a spot of skin (usually on the back of the neck), and you use an eye-dropper to apply the chemical directly onto the skin. I used 5 drops for regular sized hens, you would want to use less for a very light bird.

I didn't eat the eggs for 10 days after using the product, just in case, but I do know people who eat them after just a few days. If your bird is sick, she probably won't be laying an egg anyway. However, if you do think you have mites, the others will likely have them too (and the coop will need cleaning).
I hope she is getting better!

 

[casportpony]

thank you - this is a lot of useful info. She does drink, I put electrolytes/vitamins in her water every other day. Her poop looked like normal chicken poop (per poop picture site) only the other day when she did not eat was it very runny (but normal color and not foamy). I don't have a picture, but I will try and get one.

I truly think that the stumbling is from weakness, because she is really alert otherwise and would like to walk out of her crate.

I will try and get poltry dust - since she is itching so much and if this doesn't work i will try and worm her.

I do have some wazine and I checked with the feed store - they do carry ivermecting. However the women there told me that Ivermectin is for horses, cattle and pigs and would kill chicken!???

The woman at the feed store is wrong! I use Safeguard for Goats/Cattle (fenbendazole 100mg/ml) , and per my avian vet, I give it my mouth at the rate of .5cc/kg and repeat in ten days. The pictures below have some good info about worms and wormers. FYI, Wazine is Piperazine. Tractor Supply has both Safeguard and Poultry Dust.

 

[Huehnerei]

Thank you. I think I will change feed stores. I went to a different one today and got the poltry dust and dusted the chicken. I hope I used the right amount. The container says 1 lb treats 100 chicken so I just used a small amount and put it around the vent area, underneath each wing on her thighs and on her chest and back. I hope this will work. While I was cleaning out her cage (I also put DE in the cage) I let her walk around the room and she pecked up a few kernels of grain from the floor. When I was crouching down to her she flew up on my shoulder. I take that as a good sign. Hopefully. It seems that that little bit of yogurt/yolk mix we got into her picked her up some - may she will get better now.

How often should I repeat the dusting (the bird) , and how much exactly should I use?? ( I got Y-tex Gard star Garden and Poultry dust O.25%)