Cream Puff is sick....what do I do for her?

[jeepchick]

Cream Puff is a 4 month old polish. Yesterday I went out to check everyone before bed and found her sitting on the ground all by herself. Shes usually one of the first ones in the coop at night. She was all puffed up and ice cold. I picked her up and she didnt fight me at all which she usually does. She is very lethargic, wont walk at all..I had to pick her up and help her stand until she pooed this morning. She doesnt have an ampacted crop...no sour smell....her vent is fine...she is not injured that I can see. she is breathing fine, no wheezing or anything, she was fine all day yesterday. She spent the nitgh i the brooder box in a nest I made her out of a scarf and some hand warmers. I have been giving her drops of water with electrolytes but cant get her to eat. Is there anything else I can do? Her poop looked like it had a worm in it.....not the kind that is "my chicken has worms" but it looked like she ate a worm out of the ground and it didn't digest.

 

[jjthink]

If you are able to get her to an avian vet, that would be my first choice. She's very ill and her life may depend upon the right treatment being administered fast.

JJ

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Aww, poor Cream Puff. That is puzzling, whenever I have a bird like that I always think it might have been something they ate that they shouldn't have. Check her again for injuries, have you checked the top of her head? Those crested breeds have delicate skulls, maybe she was pecked hard there. Have you checked her for mites?

If you can get her to drink keep making her water as nourishing as you can, with the electrolytes & vitamins. Maybe she will take some yogurt, or scrambled egg.

You seem to be a knowledgeable & concerned chicken owner, so I trust that if an avian vet were a viable option for you that you'd be there with your chicken now, and not asking for our advice here. You seem to be doing a lot for her already, keeping her isolated, warm, comfortable, & trying to supply liquids & nourishment. I hope someone else has more useful recommendations for you.

Lord, please help Cream Puff!

 

[jeepchick]

Yep checked her all over for boo boos..her head is fine, no mites, havent introduced anything new or weird in the past couple weeks. I have the vitamin/ electrolite powder that I am mixing into her water. She is drinking it as I am putting drops at the tip of her beak. Glad to see shes making the effort to drink ond not dribbling it or breathing it in. DH is picking up some yogurt on the way home. I figured I could dilute it and get her to drink it in her water but i dont think she will do the eggs yet....seems to be having a hard time holding her head up long still

As for the vet....yes I would LOVE to take her to the vet however I just had to take one of my dogs in to have his paw stitched up and shots after another dog ripped open his front paw. And the farrier is comming today and that wil set me back another couple hundred bucks. So unfortunatly the vet fund is gone for now until I can save up some more moolah

And not to sound like a jerk or imply that I dont love my chickens ..... but I have over 50 chickens and oh my goodness I just cant fathom rushing them to an avian vet if something like this should happen. One of the times that I must remind myself that these are livestock animals.

Why can't it ever be one of the random laying hens and not one that the kids or myself has named and fallen in love with

 

[Jaxmom]

I had a very sick chicken that couldn't walk a couple weeks ago and after giving her some vitamin and electrolytes in addition to 10 days of antibiotics she is on the road to recovery. Fortunately both of these products were very inexpensive, each one was about $6 at my local farm store. I hear ya with the avian vet, I love my chickens and want to do right by them but I don't think I could fork out hundreds of dollars on one like I regularly do on my dogs and horses. I posted about my chicken yesterday and there might be some helpful info in there for you. The post is titled "my chicken couldn't walk two weeks ago now she can, is she ok.". Good luck!

 

[jeepchick]

Thanks Jax I'll look at your post for some infos!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I think if it were possible to take our chickens to an avian vet for every ailment we ALL would, and this section of the forum could be closed. Or filled with posts titled "I just got back from the vet again..." But for most of us, it's just not feasible, practical, or affordable. That's why this part of the forum is so valuable, I have learned so much about how to care for my own chickens by myself, and have been enabled to do things for them that I never thought I could do. I thank everyone on BYC who has been so generous in sharing their wisdom!

 

[ParadiseChickens]

Plus, in some areas a vet does not see chickens. I live in a rural area, have horses and the vets around here arnt really good with them either. They are very good cow vets, as I hear.

 

[luvinrunnin]

Gah, I never realized how many problems chickens could have til I started reading on BYC!!! The nearest Avian vet is 80 miles away, so not really an option in most cases. I hope your girl gets okay. Payday I am going to stock up on Corid, and as many other emergency supplies that I can.

 

[jjthink]

When many people post, they are not really sure how serious an ailment is. Sometimes when advised that it is indeed serious as well as time sensitive, and a vet visit is recommended, they then proceed to take that action. If somebody can't take that action, they can't. Hence why I try to always say "if you are able......". A vet will be recommended when believed to be the bird's best chance of survival.

OP, if you are able, another alternative would be to call Peter Brown at First State Vet Supply (http://www.firststatevetsupply.com/). Peter is extremely knowledgable and can direct you to meds if he thinks they would be helpful, or can send them directly from First State Vet Supply. Hopefully he is available today if you call. He has been an incredibly kind and helpful person time and again to many.

I hope your hen will get better. Any which way sliced, this is time sensitive, so I hope you can find out how to help her. Continue to keep her warm and comfortable and hydrated, as you have been. Administer 3 drops Polyvisol childrens liquid vitamins daily - use dropper and dribble gently along her beak line so she swallows on her own and doesn't choke. The stuff tastes like crud so try to follow with something tasty like cut up blueberries, if you can coax her to take them (I know this may be very difficult right now - that she is not eating means she feels dreadful). If she has a bacterial ailment she likely needs the right antibiotic stat in order to survive. A few years ago I had a hen get terribly lethargic suddenly - rushed her to the vet (which was a challenge on Labor Day as all offices were closed but I left emergency messages all over creation). Antibiotic turned her right around - blood work that came back later did show results consistent with infection and/or inflammation of unknown origin. She likely would have died without it. It's 3 years later now and she's the picture of health. Never found out what got ahold of her but it was wicked fierce because it took her down fast - she was fine in the morning and unable to lift her head by afternoon.

JJ