Do very sick chickens ever recover and live for long?

[basement chick]

So i just tried to give her stool softener and what an ordeal. I wrapped her in an old sheet on my lap calmly pet her and held her beak and wow she still has a lot of fight in her! She pushed up with her legs and flung her head around and ended up on the ground. I have given other bigger chickens meds and not had so much trouble. So anyway i got some in her and massaged the crop for a good long while. She calmed down and closed her eyes. Then i tried burping her and wow i got three loud long burps and just a tiny bit of drooling but her crop is much smaller! I put her back in her cage with fresh water with the probiotics in it and a little moist chick starter and watched her. She took a quick nap then drank a little and started scratching and pecking at the food. Hang in there Ali her new name like Muhammed Ali the boxer. Float like a butterly sting like a bee!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I usually just pop the whole stool softener soft gel into the beak and let them swallow it, it will dissolve in the crop. It can be tricky getting medication into some birds for sure.

You're doing all you can for her, I would definitely get another fecal float to check the worm load.

 

[basement chick]

She seems a bit better tonight. I dont feel the grit in her crop anymore when i massage it. There are now small pieces of brown in her poo not all watery white stuff. She is not nearly as sleepy. But when i tried to put her back in the run to eat some chick food with the others tonight she started eating wood chips again! I got them out of her mouth and put her back in her cage. I also think she has a doughy crop. I had so much troubke putting drops in her mouth i am going to try the acidized copper sulfate in her water.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She seems a bit better tonight. I dont feel the grit in her crop anymore when i massage it. There are now small pieces of brown in her poo not all watery white stuff. She is not nearly as sleepy. But when i tried to put her back in the run to eat some chick food with the others tonight she started eating wood chips again! I got them out of her mouth and put her back in her cage. I also think she has a doughy crop. I had so much troubke putting drops in her mouth i am going to try the acidized copper sulfate in her water.

I'm glad she is doing a little better.
You can get Acidified Copper Sulfate at Jeffers Murray McMurray or Meyer Hatchery.

Thank you for keeping your thread updated. I hope she continues to improve.

 

[basement chick]

i sure hope so too. Right Acidified not acidized! Ha and i did order it from Jeffers today. She tried to eat the wood bedding again in the coop so she is in her cage in the coop. I thought maybe she was just really hungry so i offered her the layer pellets as well as the chick starter. She did eat some of both but then ate bedding too! I hope that stops as she gets better. Thanks

 

[KentuckyRooster]

It very much depends but the short answer is yes.

Boss, one of my boys, was frail as a chick. Always got pasty and seemed sickly. He's a raging machine of an adult now.

Victoria, a polish, lived 8 years. Shortly after I got her as a pullet she was viciously attacked, scalped, and had to relearn to walk. She was never unwell a day in her life after she got better.

I had a white Cochin with a bad prolapse. I insisted the vet attempt to put it back even with a poor prognosis so we stitched it back and she lived almost 3 years more.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

i sure hope so too. Right Acidified not acidized! Ha and i did order it from Jeffers today. She tried to eat the wood bedding again in the coop so she is in her cage in the coop. I thought maybe she was just really hungry so i offered her the layer pellets as well as the chick starter. She did eat some of both but then ate bedding too! I hope that stops as she gets better. Thanks

She may be missing something in her diet since she is still eating the shavings(?). Does she have grit free choice? I can't remember, but you may want to give her poultry vitamins -direct dose her with Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell.

 

[ml44427]

I am struggling with the thought of having my favorite sweet girl out down. I have never had any of my sick chickens get better. I am just hoping this one does because she is so friendly and i will miss her. I just wonder if anyone has ever had a sick hen recover and go on to live happily?

My hen gets better, I feed her by syringe for 1 month, luckily she is back to normal now. Looks very healthy.

 

[Renee R]

How do you burp a chicken?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How do you burp a chicken?

I'm sure that @basement chick will chime in, but you really don't burp them (like a baby). If there is air in the crop, when you massage the crop it sounds like burps/air coming out. I have a girl that is having reproductive problems and her crop is airy at times, when I massage the crop it makes a burping sound. Hope that helps.