Dehydrated Chicken?

[7littlebirds]

I have a 16 week old rhode island red who this morning is extremely sick. We think she hasn't eaten or drank much in a few days. They are the most spoiled chickens in the county. New food and water everyday. We decided that it was time for layer feed and so we switched them out which I think was a big mistake. And some are eating it really well, some aren't. So the Rhode Island Red (named Izzy) is very lethargic and clumsy. Her comb and around her eyes was very dry and cracked. We brought her in the house, away from the others and put her in a laundry basket with towels. We right away got her drinking sugar water. She drinks just fine and then goes back to sleep. We also got her eating yogurt and oatmeal. But not much. I massaged her crop (which was full but very very squishy) and a couple minutes later she pooped a big white thick liquid that basiclly looked like soap. Then went through the cycle again and the same poo. then the third time it was very green. She is doing better and is just sleeping right now. Still very clumsy when she trys to stand. Comb looks better but is still dry looking. She seemed a little tired yesterday but today she really shocked us. Does it sound like she was dehydrated and starving? Or is something really really bad wrong?!

 

[leadwolf1]

Pooping green poop is never good. It can mean thtat the bird has a serious infection or is starving. Does her crop go down or continue to be like a big squishy balloon? She might have a sour crop if it doesn't go down. You can put apple cider vinegar in her water to help change the ph of her crop and kill the yeast infection in her crop. Do you have any old feed? When switching feed, you should do so slowly..mixing the two feeds as you go. Try making a mash with the food, electrolyte water and yogurt. See if she will eat that. Most chickens just love it.

 

[chicmom]

It's very hard to tell when a bird gets like that. Could be a number of things....She may have eaten a plant that didn't agree with her, or she could have caught a virus from a wild bird. Here in Ohio, it's been in the 90s today, and if it's hot where you are, it can be very hard on the chickens. Could be that she was over-heated.

I think you're handling it very well. Just let her rest inside (hope you have A/C), and give her fresh water, and food. Chickens usually don't get upset digestion from changing foods like a dog or cat or horse might.

I'm sorry I don't have better news. It's a wait-and-see situation. Good luck with her,
Sharon

 

[7littlebirds]

thank you guys so much.
Her crop goes down nice after i massage it. But then after she drinks and eats a bit it gets big again. I will try the apple cider vinegar. No i dont have much more feed. Would it be okay if i just crushed it up more? they seem to eat it just fine when its in small peices, but not when its the big chuncks. So if she doesn't have a sour crop, is it safe to give her cider vinegar just to try anything to get the poor girlie better?

It was really hot Monday, but yesterday was in the mid sixies. And today its cool and windy again today. really guys, i appreciate your help soo much!

 

[leadwolf1]

The apple cider vinegar won't hurt her. If it is emptying and refilling, she is just drinking a lot and not eating much. I would try and mash and some smashed food. The reason I said that you should mix the food is so that they slowly get used to another texture/taste. Mine hated pellets and wouldn't touch them when I mixed them with the crumbles. I still mix them just in case someone still hates pellets but, now the pellets are eaten also.

 

[7littlebirds]

alright i mixed Pedialyte with starter crubbles and yogurt and gave her some pedialyte and cider vinegar in water too. She ate quite a lot of the crubble mixture. And her crop is perfectly normal now I feel so bad about giving them the pellets right away. I have a big bag of Starter now so I will mix the two. Yeah im sure that you 100% right. They grew up on that food and now it just tastes gross to eat something different.

 

[leadwolf1]

I just reread your post and missed something important. Layer feed should not be given until 18 weeks of age or until someone starts laying. It contains extra calcium that can be harmful to younger birds. Maybe you should go back to the starter for a few weeks more....

 

[7littlebirds]

well i read on another forum that they need to extra protein and calcium so they can produce eggs because it takes so much out of them to. And that you should start layer at 16 weeks and also feed oysture shells for extra calcium. But its better to be safe than sorry. So maybe i wil mix a really small amount of layer with starter... Thank you for telling me that too!

 

[leadwolf1]

Wow...I've never seen advice saying to start at 16 weeks...and, if you feed layer, that will provide them with all the calcium that they need..no need to supplement with oyster shell. Interesting how we all read different things. I do know that purina start and grow says it is the food for birds through 18 weeks old.

 

[7littlebirds]

Thanks for your help