I could do a necropsy. I don't know that I *want* to! LOL I would want to do it outside and it's sooooo cold. The body is bagged and in my trash. It's frozen through. I had thought about that, though. I am just thinking a disease is unlikely. But worms really sounds more like it fits the more I think of it. I never noticed any worms in poop-- BUT they are all in very thick shavings and I don't even see the poop. I agree, it might be very hard on them to worm when it's this cold. But worried that if the rest of them have worms so severly-- I should catch it now before they rest start loosing weight or something happens to them. Sigh. Thank you, I feel better for your advice. And usually I am very proactive, I'm all prepared for colds and sniffles... but this blind sided me! There was no heads up on being sick. So thinking this out, must have been internally and we all just had that conversation on how Wazine is great for in between Ivermectin and how Wazine doesn't catch everything. I've never used anything BUT Wazine... so they've never really had a "good" worming.... right? To think I could have prevented this. Just makes me angry with myself.
I'm glad your birds were okay even with their light out. I'd have done the same thing-- trooped out there at 6am too. I've been checking on the silkies since my hen died. I went out there late, late last night to get one last look before I could finally go to bed. I'm worried about them.
I second all of what Josie said. I do have some input though which might give you some sense of comfort so you can stop blaming yourself. First in order to kill a hen I would think it would take over 2 months to grow enough worms to do that. After you worm there is a chance of eggs being left in the intestine and reinfecting. But if all the live worms were killed a couple months ago I seriously doubt that enough worms would grow to kill her this soon.
I've had a couple birds that died for no obvious reasons. You couldn't tell they were thin because of their feathering. If her crop was empty she had probably quit eating which is a sign of disease normally. In the birds that I had that were thin that I have disected myself I have found two different things. One would be an abnormal colored liver indicating a liver disease. The other would be an enlarged heart. Both of those things indicate a problem or disease I doubt I could have treated in any way. I have never found worms in their intestine. And you can't dispute the cold and changing weather. Especially on a small bird that isn't known to be real resistent to the cold. That would have nothing to do with her loosing weight unless she got ill when the weather changes first began. If she was just sitting quietly on a nest or something you probably wouldn't notice. I'm very sorry but you have to quit beating yourself up.
I am doing the same thing over my olandsk hen. I knew she wasn't feeling good Christmas eve cause she is usually running around and she was just sitting. I keep thinking if I had brought her in and given her a shot or something she might be okay.
Its been freezing for a few days and with no electricity in coop water is freezing. I noticed my roos comb has turned black on his points. Is there anything I can do? I covered it in vasiline but not sure if it will help.
Going to need to get a de icer for horse & donkey water also cause I cant keep it from freezing
Stay warm its going to be freezing again for us
Nope, I would just leave them alone. It is frostbite. As long as it isn't an open wound or gets infected (which I haven't ever seen) it will either eventually heal or that part would fall off. It isn't something that physically hurts them normally. You just wouldn't be able to show them. I had read that many big breeders dub combs at hatching so they don't have to worry about frostbite defacing their birds. Every winter I end up with a few roos with frostbite and it looks terrible for awhile but they've never had any problems from it. I have one pen where they can sleep inside but they all choose to sleep outside under an old carport roof. I always have some frostbite there.
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I have another question about my injured goose. Considering his/her wound is on the foot and that geese don't tend to be very careful about where they walk, how do I tell if the foot is infected? What do I need to look for if a problem starts? The wound isn't very big and looks to have scabbed over now, but I'm still concerned about possible infection/problems in the healing process.
Also, I was planning on putting them back outside today. We have several inches of snow on the ground and there is ice where the snow has been trampled and around the water bowls. Is there any reason I shouldn't put the injured goose and his/her friend back outside?
Again with Josie on her answer. I was going to say watch for swelling and/or puss. If you have something to wash it out a couple times a day like veterycin, betadine, or even peroxide that might be good PM... although knowing geese it won't probably make much difference. My take on this is that the snow and the cold is probably a good thing cause it helps kill some germs and it might help keep her feet cleaner than if she had access to water to jump in.
Danz- SO sorry about your little olansk dwarf hen, such a bummer. I hate losing birds.
Trish-Sorry about your maran hen and the dog.
Oh, so sorry! How sad. I lost one of my really nice black cochin boys a few weeks ago and it was devastating. His necropsy and histopathology came back as inconclusive from K State. The only thing noted was that he was on the thin side (so hard to know when they are so fluffy) and he appeared to be having crop motility problems. He was indeed impacted when I lost him and may have been several times in the past and I didn't know about it and he went without for a while before it managed to clear on its own which weakened him.
Sorry about your little chick. Most of my birds are in single walled plywood or metal buildings and they do great. Just think big, fluffy down coats. Plus they stick their heads under their wings and sit on their feet so they are probably pretty toasty even when we are freezing our tails off!
You could send her to K State for a necropsy. Your vet can get you the necessary info and how to ship her. It could possibly give you valuable info about her death. The gross necropsy is free so all you have to do is pay to ship her (which usually runs around $30 for overnight) and if you want further testing you need to write on the form to contact you to authorize histopathology or recommended further testing.
If she were mine and I had a place to keep her in for a few days off the snow and ice I would. That way the scab can heal up and she won't tear it off and start bleeding again. If the wound doesn't look like its getting smaller, clean and dry it may be infected. Look for oozing, pussy discharge, edges of the wound turning white or curling out and really red angry looking open sore if it isn't healing. I bet if its scabbed over she will heal up fine and not have any trouble with infection.
Belated Merry Christmas to everyone!!! Stay warm!
Merry Christmas to you and your little peanut too!
My other Olandsk are still sneezing that I did bring in yesterday, and the youngest roo is still acting kind of sleepy but they "seem" to be improving. I just can't stand loosing any more. I have a few more eggs which might be the Olandsk hen's going into the hatcher tomorrow. I just hope I can hatch some of her babies so it's not a total loss.
Maidenwolf, I had a couple chicks hatch sometime yesterday that are obviously offspring from my red polish and who knows what. They almost have to be half pheonix. Anyway if we can find a way and they do okay your son can have those. I have several more eggs to check and put in the hatcher tomorrow. I am not trying to hold my breath due to the power outage, but as I said I sure hope I can hatch a few from my Olandsk. I didn't help matters. I was reaching in the incubator and accidently pushed a top shelf down on one of the tiny eggs. It was due to come out tomorrow and was developed. I think the shell is too far gone but I taped it anyway. Nothing like killing a chick is there? I just hope it was already dead from the power outage and I didn't actually kill it.
I have no idea how I am going to get every one fed and watered again today. This weather is the total pits. Thank heavens for heated water bowls but just the same that doesn't help me get it out there to them. I tried watching that Alaska show last night to make me feel better about our weather. It didn't help. I just kept wondering how anyone could be so dumb to live in the Alaskan frontier in the first place. I HATE cold weather!
I really really need to spend the day in here cleaning up and wrapping the presents for the kids for our Christmas celebration in a few weeks. Cloud keeps running through the house with her muddy feet when she comes back in so the house is worse than normal.
