So this is an extremely difficult situation for me.
Last night we had to euthanize our favorite hen. I was preparing for the inevitable but my heart is broken today.
Back story:
In February some of our flock started sneezing. We did not know if the reason was environmental, stress from sudden drop in temp and snow or a respiratory infection. We decided to treat with tylosin, change out bedding and remove the straw bale I added over the snow. Saw improvement and left it at that. It took a bit but things balanced out.
We went on vacation end of April and left them with a sitter for 8 days. We have cameras and knew they were not being properly cared for so we sent our son over to check on them. They had no food or water. He did some cleaning, filled feeders and waterers and kept an eye on them for the remainder of time. We started noticing a raccoon on the camera. We thought it was strange but she was feeding them on the ground and our dogs had been gone.
But when I came home the coop door was busted which made our coop no longer predator proof. They were sneezing again and one had discharge, which was a new symptom. And very obviously an extremely stressed flock. We got their routine back, tested fecals and found roundworm eggs. Treated the flock with safeguard and a round of tylosin.
Pink, in particular, was not recovering so we brought her inside. Ended up at the vet last Thurs who tested for mycoplasma (which did come back positive yesterday) and gave an exam. Outside of extreme weight loss nothing else stood out to her at that point. Brought her home to start a 3 week treatment of a stronger dose of tylosin and get her weight back on. She continued to declined despite the antibiotics and extra care. We tried what we could but she was not improving and I knew suffering. So we made the hard decision to humanely euthanize.
Yesterday, I noticed another hen with Pink's symptoms and we decided to call around for a necropsy. Our state no longer has any facilities or vets to do necropsies on sick farm animals and a private one will cost just under $400. We have decided to not do it.
At this point our options are:
Attempt a necropsy, which I am questioning my ability at this point for personal reasons and really not sure I will be able to handle this. It is still on the table though.
Cull the sick hen, which will most likely be done anyways now that she showing Pink's advanced symptoms and her fate will most likely be a slow and painful decline. Continue to closely monitor the flock to show symptoms and cull them if/as they do.
Since I called the state Ag department they are now wanting, and insisting, a bird to take to test for AI. I do not believe I will have a choice in this matter since they are now aware of my sick chicken.
I have no idea what happened while I was gone, if anything, to trigger this sudden decline in my flock. Maybe they were already sick but fighting it when receiving the level of care they were used to? Maybe she brought in something new being a 4th year vet student working at the university? Maybe her chickens have something she is unaware of? It doesn't matter at this point though. What does matter is the decision I need to make right now.
I am asking for kindness and no judgement. If you do not agree with our decision to not get the $400 necropsy I respect your feelings and ask for you to respect ours.
Thank you for listening. I will really appreciate any thoughts/experiences anyone has to offer us.
Last night we had to euthanize our favorite hen. I was preparing for the inevitable but my heart is broken today.
Back story:
In February some of our flock started sneezing. We did not know if the reason was environmental, stress from sudden drop in temp and snow or a respiratory infection. We decided to treat with tylosin, change out bedding and remove the straw bale I added over the snow. Saw improvement and left it at that. It took a bit but things balanced out.
We went on vacation end of April and left them with a sitter for 8 days. We have cameras and knew they were not being properly cared for so we sent our son over to check on them. They had no food or water. He did some cleaning, filled feeders and waterers and kept an eye on them for the remainder of time. We started noticing a raccoon on the camera. We thought it was strange but she was feeding them on the ground and our dogs had been gone.
But when I came home the coop door was busted which made our coop no longer predator proof. They were sneezing again and one had discharge, which was a new symptom. And very obviously an extremely stressed flock. We got their routine back, tested fecals and found roundworm eggs. Treated the flock with safeguard and a round of tylosin.
Pink, in particular, was not recovering so we brought her inside. Ended up at the vet last Thurs who tested for mycoplasma (which did come back positive yesterday) and gave an exam. Outside of extreme weight loss nothing else stood out to her at that point. Brought her home to start a 3 week treatment of a stronger dose of tylosin and get her weight back on. She continued to declined despite the antibiotics and extra care. We tried what we could but she was not improving and I knew suffering. So we made the hard decision to humanely euthanize.
Yesterday, I noticed another hen with Pink's symptoms and we decided to call around for a necropsy. Our state no longer has any facilities or vets to do necropsies on sick farm animals and a private one will cost just under $400. We have decided to not do it.
At this point our options are:
Attempt a necropsy, which I am questioning my ability at this point for personal reasons and really not sure I will be able to handle this. It is still on the table though.
Cull the sick hen, which will most likely be done anyways now that she showing Pink's advanced symptoms and her fate will most likely be a slow and painful decline. Continue to closely monitor the flock to show symptoms and cull them if/as they do.
Since I called the state Ag department they are now wanting, and insisting, a bird to take to test for AI. I do not believe I will have a choice in this matter since they are now aware of my sick chicken.
I have no idea what happened while I was gone, if anything, to trigger this sudden decline in my flock. Maybe they were already sick but fighting it when receiving the level of care they were used to? Maybe she brought in something new being a 4th year vet student working at the university? Maybe her chickens have something she is unaware of? It doesn't matter at this point though. What does matter is the decision I need to make right now.
I am asking for kindness and no judgement. If you do not agree with our decision to not get the $400 necropsy I respect your feelings and ask for you to respect ours.
Thank you for listening. I will really appreciate any thoughts/experiences anyone has to offer us.
$400 is a lot of money, so I don't blame you. Have you thought about an out-of-state necropsy? CAHFS at UC Davis does them, you might wanna call them.
