chicken will not eat and has not been well for 1 1/2 weeks

[Gerard Dawn]

Sorry to hear it passed, its always wise to feed your chickens good nutrition from when they are still chicks.

 

[PalmCityChic]

Thanks Barbara,

One of the most important things I've learned from this lesson is know your birds. My poor little girl had over 60 eggs stuck in her, and she had probably stopped eating a long time ago. And she definitely stopped laying 2 months ago. I thought that my birds had slowed down the laying due to the Florida heat. But what I've also found is to keep to eye out for irregularities in the eggs, like soft shell eggs or broken eggs or eggs without shells. I have had a few of those and dismissed it to just something flukey. I am going to much more aware of such issues in the future. At the beginning of summer, I was getting 5-7 eggs a day - right before these 2 birds took ill, I was only getting 3-4 eggs a day. I agree that it's a shame I didn't get the post-mortem on the other bird. What the vet had said was I could've brought the dead bird in with the sick bird and she could've learned more of what was going on with poor little Midnight (she is my avatar btw). So, my avian vet said to pick up every bird and feel her (and weigh them if I can) and make sure they are not losing weight. Also, check their crop every day and look each one over carefully to look for changes. Anything like that is is the first sign of trouble. Birds will hide their illnesses when they aren't feeling well, and by the time it is apparent that they are ill, it's very progressed.

I was a little overwhelmed talking to the vet, but according to her, this illness can start from a bacteria infection, which is why she wants to treat them all. I was researching different forums and websites on the subject and I agree and I'm ok with that, I will throw all the eggs away during the antibiotics and I will find out how long after to discard the eggs once the antibiotic is completed. Once I have more information and understand better, I will post more details.

Thanks much,
Elle

 

[rebrascora]

Hi again Elle

It's a hard learning process isn't it. I've been through it with a few of my chooks and also with my bees. I've beaten myself up for not noticing things until too late or not thinking things through properly, but all you can do is make sure you learn from the lesson and not repeat it. Gaining knowledge is an important part of that and forums like this can be so beneficial because you can learn from other people's experiences. I've had a few occasions already where I had read something on here and then weeks or months later I have spotted it and known how to treat it or where to look to remind myself what to do.

So good of you to share your information and experience with all of us. I share your sadness and pain at losing two of your girls, but will keep my fingers crossed that the antibiotics sort the problem and you don't have to go through this again.

Very best wishes

Barbara

 

[seminolewind]

I've always done my "eye" rounds, started with horses, now chickens. Once every week or two I do the keel check and the crop check. I look under the roost for odd looking poop. I watch that they all come for their treats.

I doubt there was any way you could have known about egg peritonitis until it was really too late. Animals like chickens and birds do hide their illnesses very well.

Sorry you lost her, but good you know why.

 

[PalmCityChic]

Thanks - I will keep a much closer look on my chickens now.

I went back to vet yesterday to get some meds recommended for the rest of my flock. I wasn't sure why she wanted me to start the Baytril, but she explained it better yesterday. The Egg Yolk Peritonitis is not caused by infection nor is it contagious. IF the 2 girls that passed had been sisters, it would have made more sense, but having 2 birds take ill together is odd, I wish I had a necropsy done on the first one

So, losing the 2 birds almost at the same time - coincidence? Maybe, but just to be on the precautionary side, she wants to make sure that there is no bacteria present. The birds all seem very healthy, their keels are nice and full, not too fat (the vet taught me how to check that). Only this morning, I noticed that my Rhode Island red has her tail down! So, I will investigate that and will check all the crops.

I will clean up the coop and hen house today with bleach. I will make sure the birds are no where close as they should not breath the fumes from the bleach. This should kill any bacteria that might be present. I started them all on Baytril yesterday.

Thank you all for your input!

 

[sbhkma]

Please keep us informed as to how the flock's doing. So sorry you lost those two hens- that's got to be hard.