Ellie - 9/25 Update - Egg! Thread has med info in case helps others

[jjthink]

Thank you Jean and bwebb7

BJ and Ellie seemed okay when I got home from work yesterday. Poor Ellie hates getting her meds! I slowly drip drip drip along her beak line. I have had more antibiotic flicked into my eye by her beak than Carter has pills. When I let them out to feel free for a bit I'm watching her like a hawk (but with honorable intentions!). If she doesn't lay an egg today, it will be 6 days in a row with no egg. We are having a huge storm today so I will have them tucked away dry and indoors when it begins.
BJ's poop has improved a bit - I think you may be referring to when it was so small and skinny green. Tho suddenly this morning more diarrhea like - watching him closely to see if he gets whatever on earth Ellie got afflicted with.......because on Labor Day when she went from fine to near collapse she had a LOT of water discharging with small amounts of poo. Never a dull moment...........Dull would be just fine!
JJ

 

[Zookeeper9000]

Glad to hear she seem to doing better. Still praying hang in there. Did you try putting her meds in a couple of tbls of yogart. That helps with the good cultures in their stomach as well.

 

[Lunachick]

Just checking in to see if there's improvement on your girl. Weather ended up not so bad down here, finally got some good rain. Hope your birds are doing well.

 

[jjthink]

Hi Jean, Thank you

This morning mysterious-illness-Ellie enjoyed cut up cherries in yogurt (she won't eat it plain, determined girl that she is!). I am trying to give her some in between doses of antibiotic so that the good bacteria can live a little before the next dose of antibiotic hits. I also use a bit of probiotic powder from capsules - easy to sprinkle on melon or other moist food.

Hi Ginny, thank you

and glad you haven't been hit hard. Wow - the humidity is so high you have to drink the air! The rain and wind is supposed to get here this afternoon and through much of the night - possibly a half a foot but hoping not because the house will flood badly if so. My town messed up big time letting a huge house be built just up gradient of mine and it was planned terribly such that runoff that used to go into a natural and preserved woodlot now comes straight to me - have lost many trees, and have lots of other property damage. A whole other world of trouble to deal with -- lawyers want ~$50,000 to fight this. The town doesn't want to make it right even though they have the authority to make the landowner fix the problem because it would mean admitting they made a mistake in giving him permit approvals AND, the guy in the "big house" used to be on town council. If the power goes out, house will fill with water at several hundred gallons per hour. This never happened before the "big house" went in. So we'll see what the day brings. Quiet now tho - I probably should have gone to Ocean Grove for their big fun outdoor sale!

BJ just decided to start crowing like crazy. He is usually quiet. Quiet is good, because neighbors are close. I better go try to talk him down, even though I love the sound!
JJ

 

[Lunachick]

Wow - you must not be far from me when you mentioned Ocean Grove! Yes, that humidity was as thick as a wall when you walk out your door. You can actually feel it hit you when you walk out. But after all that rain, which we needed, today is nice! Hope your chooks are well. I have a hen being weird with her egg issues now too.

Not sure what it's about, so I'm watching and waiting....Have you noticed the traffic being not so bad since the summer's over?

 

[jjthink]

Ginny, hope your hen will be alright - what's happening?
I live on the western side of Jersey maybe 15 minutes from the Delaware River but find the Ocean Grove event worth the 75-85 minute drive. I didn't go but have a feeling the morning would've been fine in trems of the weather. It was the chickens that stopped me! I knew they'd have to be cooped up when the storm hit in the afternoon and so I stayed home to give them some free range time in the morning.....sigh.
Ellie is now 7 days without egg, still on baytril for another day or so judging by what's left in the bottle.
JJ

 

[Lunachick]

Good morning JJ. I have a mixed hen that I rescued from Long Island last December, she's on the smallish side and she always laid an egg every other day or so. The last two weeks she was laying a soft shelled egg, and I caught her eating it. So I watch her and when she lays one - and it usually is soft or no shell - I grab it so she doesn't get a chance to get at it.

The other day she pooped in front of me, as if to say "I have a problem" and I saw worms in it. So I wormed her that night. She acts fine, all chipper and everything, but she still lays soft shelled or no shelled eggs. I won't eat her eggs because of the meds anyway, so maybe it's just as well.

I can't figure it out, she's not in a molt, gets lots of calcium with her feed and treats like yogurt and has oyster shell available all day.

But she acts very fine! Aack. Hope you figure out whats up with yours soon too.

 

[jjthink]

Geez Ginny, that is mysterious! Glad she's acting fine though.... Any idea about her age? (thanks for the rescue!!!) . Maybe the worms messed up her system and she'll get back on track now - it'll be interesting to see.

If Ellie has no egg today it will be 10 days in a row - ever since she crashed on Labor Day. I do not see her eating oyster shell so I suspect she's out of production right now, tho no molt. Her energy level is so so but then she was so sick just last Monday. Antibiotic was finished yesterday morning. Yogurt/probiotic powder part of the program right now. Just watching her. Eating and poop seem normal. Now off antibiotic, it will be telling to see if she declines or holds her own. Have to call vet for blood work results because they never called me and I'm sure they're back by now.

JJ

 

[Zookeeper9000]

hey girl didn't want you to think I wasn't watching anymore I am. I just wish I could help ya out but I am new to chickens and can just watch and wait with you. Keeping all of you in my prayers.

 

[jjthink]

Thank you Jean!

Well, I just got the scoop on her blood work, taken on Labor Day. Hoping this long Ellie saga helps somebody else out there.

White blood cell count was elevated - 22,000. He said the norm is 10,000-12,000 and that the elevated number means inflammation or infection or both.

Her Red blood cell count was low - 2&%. Normal is 35%. Anemia (why?!)

Liver enzymes okay.

Calcium up - he said that's not significant.

Electrophoresis - all values elevated, consistent with infection and/or inflammation.

Proteins elevated - consistent with electrophoresis result as globulins are measured here and there.

He suggests going back on antibiotic along with antiinflammatory for a while longer unless she seemed perfect and was laying eggs. She doesn't seem perfect and isn't laying eggs. He said x-ray can be hard to read on chickens (I remember getting one done on Betty and he said it showed no egg issues but she was internally laying like crazy as it later turned out).

He said I could do repeat blood work now or wait till this next round is done. She was so crazy stressed going to his office last week - panting till nearly stroking out it seemed! - so maybe I'll wait til after next round. Hard enough it was to get the antibiotic in her morning and night - now 2 meds - yeesh - it's going to be bad!

I don't understand. Ellie just arrived here in late July - why all these problems so quickly? Her eggs were perfect till one mildly weird one the day before she crashed last Monday. Then none since. She does have layer and oyster shell available 24/7. She is bright eyed and eats and poops but stands around more than she did before the Labor Day crash - I sense something isn't quite right. Nothing as bad as Labor Day.

Off to the vets - 45 minutes away...Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get to work for a full week again!
JJ