Emergency--Injured hen--Please help!

[fallenweeble]

wow!
thanks for taking her for treatment - it sounds like you made a very good decision for her.
i've never given a bird a pill - i've always had liquid meds. i'm sure someone will be along with some good advice but otherwise i'd say yes, crush it a little and mix it with some of her favorite soft food. just give a little though so you can make sure she eats it all and gets the whole pill.
what a lucky chicken to have such great chicken folks to look after her!

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
Sounds like the best way to me.

 

[Sylvia]

If the pill tastes bitter and she won't eat it, to pill a bird, grab the upper beak with the left hand, gently pry open lower beak with middle finger of right hand, push pill in with index finger diagonally from your right to bird's right. In birds, the trachea and esophagus are next to each other, so you don't want to stuff it down into the lungs. The esophagus is on the bird's right, so the diagonal push with your right hand works well.
Birds are hard to pill if they're not weak and start to struggle. Cats and dogs are much easier to pill. They have more mouth to hold on to.
Good luck.

 

[harv681]

The vet said it was "meat" flavored. I'm not sure what that means to a chicken... She ate most of the yogurt/granola/medicine mixture. I'll try a plain pill tonight and see how she does.

**Edited to add: I just broke the pill into pellet sized pieces, and she ate them up! No need to over-think this one! However, She was in the kennel all day and must have gone stir crazy. When I got home from work, she had overturned her water bowl and food. After I cleaned up the mess and brought her fresh water, she was like someone at a desert oasis. I had to take the water away from her for a few minutes because I thought she would drink herself sick! She presented me with an egg (which I threw away--It was full of anesthesia and antibiotics), so I believe she is clearly on the mend! Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers and good advice!

 

[heatheramack]

Harv,

I live in the New Orleans area, too, and after reading your posts about Kiwi, it looks like you had a really good vet to take her to. I've been worried that if I ever needed to, I wouldn't know where to go with my girls, so can you recommend the vet that helped Kiwi to me?

 

[Wazi]

I hate to even ask this since she is still recuperating but I had a similar incident and my hen is fine except for a limp. However, after the dog attack, she quit laying. It has been about 2 months and no eggs yet. Prior to the attach, she was pretty regular with 5/week. She is an Easter Egg hen and I loved the blue-green eggs. Does anyone have any idea if she will ever lay again?