I have a chicken about 3 and a half or 4 months old who has had an interesting past few days. One day she seemed rather distant from the other chickens [my sister reports me this, I was unfortunatly gone] and the next day when I saw her, she was sitting in the corner of the fenced in area we keep them in, with her back end bloated to almost twice her normal size.
I was very concerned and contacted a friend of mine who was a long time 4H chicken breeder and owner, who suggested she was proabably constipated [due to her being too young to realistically produce eggs] and sugguested I seperate her and give her a few millileters of either mineral oil or glycerine.
So I went out to the store and bought glycerine, shes on her second dose in 24 hours of 2.5mil of it. [She reccomended more than one dose]
Shes been pooping [although less than Ive seen other chickens pooping], very lethargic and cuddly, and has spent most of her time asleep and unresponsive [all the chickens come to me when I call, she wont even lift her head]. I sleep a lot when Im sick, so this has me less concerned, but the tiny amount she is eating and drinking has me highly concerned. In the past day shes had a few small sips of diet powerade [with me forcing her beak in to make her drink], a few raisins, less than a gram of greenbeans and tomatoes, chopped almost to a pulp. Shes feeling very boney and Im worried shes not getting enough to sustain her. Her poop has been pretty runny [presumably from the laxatives] but has also had not terribly much by way of solids in it.
Is there a way I can get her to eat? Do you guys have suggestions besides her being constipated that you think are reasonable? Any extra steps I can take to try and keep her going? Ive been spending lots of time with her in my lap at my computer in case being seperated will freak her out [as shes been surrounded by others the rest of her life] in the event it will help to keep her calm. Enjoy the attacked photo, got a nice claw against my arm in protest of holding her upside-down!
I was very concerned and contacted a friend of mine who was a long time 4H chicken breeder and owner, who suggested she was proabably constipated [due to her being too young to realistically produce eggs] and sugguested I seperate her and give her a few millileters of either mineral oil or glycerine.
So I went out to the store and bought glycerine, shes on her second dose in 24 hours of 2.5mil of it. [She reccomended more than one dose]
Shes been pooping [although less than Ive seen other chickens pooping], very lethargic and cuddly, and has spent most of her time asleep and unresponsive [all the chickens come to me when I call, she wont even lift her head]. I sleep a lot when Im sick, so this has me less concerned, but the tiny amount she is eating and drinking has me highly concerned. In the past day shes had a few small sips of diet powerade [with me forcing her beak in to make her drink], a few raisins, less than a gram of greenbeans and tomatoes, chopped almost to a pulp. Shes feeling very boney and Im worried shes not getting enough to sustain her. Her poop has been pretty runny [presumably from the laxatives] but has also had not terribly much by way of solids in it.
Is there a way I can get her to eat? Do you guys have suggestions besides her being constipated that you think are reasonable? Any extra steps I can take to try and keep her going? Ive been spending lots of time with her in my lap at my computer in case being seperated will freak her out [as shes been surrounded by others the rest of her life] in the event it will help to keep her calm. Enjoy the attacked photo, got a nice claw against my arm in protest of holding her upside-down!
