Could I have Starved her? Emergency - please read and give advice.

lmdengler

Songster
7 Years
Jun 2, 2017
241
157
161
Upstate New York
OK - so at first I thought my bird's lethargy was due to being broody. This morning i went in and she appeared "near death". I immediately brought her inside. I held a small dish of water. She slowly took sips and perked up slightly. Then I remember reading that you can give them milk. So I gave her sips of milk - thinking the sugar in the milk would give her energy. She perked up more and her color came back. She was still to weak to stand. That's when I noticed her very long overhanging upper beak. Then I remembered the lady who gave her to me said she fed them everything from the table - absolutely everything. I on the other hand have been feeding her strictly by the book with pellets and monitoring their "free range time" because of me not being home to watch and protect them. Then it occurred to me - maybe she hasn't eaten in 2 weeks. I hand fed her some chick mash. She nibbled that up, then laid back down. She will drink the milk and water and nibble on the mash. She is slightly better - but of course - still not like she should be. I brought her to work with me and I am watering and feeding her every 15 minutes. Could it be that she starved because she couldn't peck the pellets because of her beak? I feel like such a loser chicken parent. I read the book on trimming her beak BTW. And trimmed it so it is as it should be. I think I may lose her - but I want to prevent this from happening again.
 
Generally there's a reason that the beak is overgrown. I see it in my older hens and in my roosters. Normal pecking about keeps their beaks short.

My guess would be there's something internal wrong with her, if her diet has been that bad than it is probably the cause. I would not blame yourself, chickens are generally healthy up until they are not, and than most times you can't fix it.
 
I vote internal as well. You didn't starve her, she would have never lasted 2 weeks if she wasn't eating something. I would give her electrolyte water rather than the milk though. And dampen the chick feed to be sure she stays hydrated.
 
BTW - I brought her to work and a person I work with complained and asked me to leave because he is afraid of bird flu. I'm in a very isolated setting- and the chicken had little to no affect on his space. So I set myself up in my car in the parking lot and telecommuted for my morning.
 

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