Continued treatment/When to move recuperating pullet back outside.

[casportpony]

It would also be very helpful to see pictures and a video of the hen. To post a video, upload to youtube or vimeo copy/paste the link here.

 

[Ravynscroft]

If she is unwell and you have her inside now, I wouldn't put her back out until temps come back up again...

yep, it's dang cold around here, especially at night, but ventilated *at night* is more important than heat for your coop...

I have tiny, little Call ducks outside in just straw bedding, roof, sides and lots of ventilation and they are doing just fine...

Healthy birds do fine acclimating with temps... unwell ones cannot handle going from warm to severe cold quickly...

 

[staceyj]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coccidiosis-how-to-treat-it.64386/

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

A couple poop links that may be helpful.





Things I never thought I would say.....

Haha. Yes. But we're all flock/family here.
Why didn't I think of that?!?
I LOVE the poop thread!

 

[Ravynscroft]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coccidiosis-how-to-treat-it.64386/

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

A couple poop links that may be helpful.





Things I never thought I would say.....

Haha. Yes. But we're all flock/family here.
Why didn't I think of that?!?
I LOVE the poop thread!

Just fyi... a couple of those under 'Normal' are not... and some that are normal, aren't normal if they are frequent...

Great pics on there, but context needs to be expanded...

 

[casportpony]

Just fyi... a couple of those under 'Normal' are not... and some that are normal, aren't normal if they are frequent...

Great pics on there, but context needs to be expanded...

X2! For example, foamy poop is never normal.

 

[azygous]

How does her crop feel?
Big small soft hard etc?
Does her breath smell sour?

We never did get this question answered. The first place you need to start assessing a sick hen is up top with the crop. (I think I just committed a literary construct there.)

Anyway, if a hen has a crop issue, she isn't processing calories, and that's going to make her susceptible to the cold snap, even though chickens do 20F standing on their heads, although I've never personally witnessed that.

Tonight, feel her crop. Note fullness or emptiness, squishy or hard, soft or lumpy? In the morning, make note of the same conditions. A full crop in the morning signifies crop issues. We may need to treat for sour crop or impacted crop. Crop issues often affect the poop.

 

[Jelly Robbins]

We never did get this question answered. The first place you need to start assessing a sick hen is up top with the crop. (I think I just committed a literary construct there.)

Anyway, if a hen has a crop issue, she isn't processing calories, and that's going to make her susceptible to the cold snap, even though chickens do 20F standing on their heads, although I've never personally witnessed that.

Tonight, feel her crop. Note fullness or emptiness, squishy or hard, soft or lumpy? In the morning, make note of the same conditions. A full crop in the morning signifies crop issues. We may need to treat for sour crop or impacted crop. Crop issues often affect the poop.

Sorry folks, a gal's gotta work!

ok, back to chickie...

Here she is with an updated poo pic.
Her crop is firm , not hard, but also she has been eating a bunch and i can feel the food. Will check again in the am. I read the supplied articles on impacted and sour crop. Shes a bit dull but is happily eating; it indicates both conditions would have her lose her appetite?

 

[Jelly Robbins]

If she is unwell and you have her inside now, I wouldn't put her back out until temps come back up again...

yep, it's dang cold around here, especially at night, but ventilated *at night* is more important than heat for your coop...

I have tiny, little Call ducks outside in just straw bedding, roof, sides and lots of ventilation and they are doing just fine...

Healthy birds do fine acclimating with temps... unwell ones cannot handle going from warm to severe cold quickly...

Thank you, my sweet fellow Tennessean.

 

[Jelly Robbins]

It would also be very helpful to see pictures and a video of the hen. To post a video, upload to youtube or vimeo copy/paste the link here.

A couple short vids:

vimeo.com/249031268

 

[azygous]

For a pullet that is four and a half months old, she still looks like a baby chick, even discounting for the fluffed up feathers, which chickens do when they don't feel well.

I think what we may be dealing with here is a borderline failure-to-thrive chicken. These typically don't grow at the same rate as normal chicks, and they often never reach full size. In some extreme cases, they have the appearance of chicks long after they should have reached maturity.

The outward appearance isn't where the problems lie, though. Often these individuals have incompletely developed organs and digestive systems. One of their most common problems is that they can't seem to get warm enough, and that's because they don't process the calories they take in efficiently. They aren't able to generate enough body heat to get them through cold weather.

I believe you may have a "special needs" chicken. She will probably do all right as long as you keep her inside when it gets down below freezing. But she may have other issues stemming from under-developed organs. In other words, she's likely to have a truncated life span.