Farmsitting and need help diagnosing a hen

[ProudRedneck]

I am staying in contact with the owner and advising her every step of the way. She is appreciative and apologetic that I must "deal" with this. No worries on my end though, just worried about the hen and her well-being. I will discuss with the owner tomorrow to determine if she wants to go the route of antibiotics and report back here once I have an answer. To prepare though, what antibiotic do you suggest and at what dosage, if the owner agrees?

Anywho, I will stick with just the pill that you @Wyorp Rock suggested since that is the only way I can ensure she is getting a full dose. I'm not there during the day to witness if the hen is eating or not, plus when I got there tonight for feeding up, she had rolled/fell into the feed dish I left her and it dumped most of it. Same with water intake, since I'm not there, I don't know if she is drinking, that's why I syringe fed her water with the B complex & calcium mix.

Tomorrow morning I will soak her again, make a new mixture of water/b complex/poultry cell and syringe feed her that.

Regarding how the hen looked/acted, today was no worse than the day before. Actually, I was surprised that she had enough energy to try to avoid me and attempt to perch on the roosting bar.

I have also brought her oldest hen to my house (I did this on the day the owner left) for it to have its own vacation because she is the favorite of all the roosters (x5), and her back is tore up pretty good/bald.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looking at your stash, you have Amoxicillin and Baytril.

Baytril is the stronger of the two and one that you can still probably order/replenish.
Amoxicillin is VERY hard to find right now, there's a shortage and you may have a hard time getting more of that unless you have a local supply to purchase from.

Either antibiotic can be used, so that's up to you.

Baytril 10% dose can be found here https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/baytril-dose.119540/post-17794673

Amoxicillin dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.

 

[ProudRedneck]

Update on Goldie:

After the owner returned from her vacation, she felt the hens would be better off with me, so she asked if I would be willing to keep Goldie (the sick hen) and Hunter (the oldest hen brought to my house first).

Me: I would LOVE to

I got Goldie back out and foraging for a little over a month until she went down again. I started tube feeding her on 05/24/2024 four to five times a day with vitamins, critical care food, and water/electrolytes, buying her some time to either expel some of the yolk build-up or her body's ability to absorb it. That was really tough as I did this for 1.5-2 weeks. I got her over that episode, and she was able to be out with the rest, foraging, socializing, etc. However, she started running to me for protection from my roo, who wanted to conduct business with her. Fast forward to 4 days ago, Goldie started going down again. I didn't have to intervene yet since she was still eating and drinking, which I switched her over to non-laying, chick crumbles since she showed absolutely no interest in her pellet food. Yesterday was the first day I had to tube her as she wasn't eating or drinking again. I brought her inside the house to give her a break from our Florida heat. I could tell around 6 pm that she was giving up. At first, she just seemed sleepy and was enjoying the A/C. Eventually, she lost interest/worry about what was happening around her. She wouldn't bother to open her eyes unless I attempted to get her attention; later, I realized I could manipulate her wings, and she would no longer correct them. She made it through the night, but this morning, she finally took her last breath while in my arms.

R.I.P. Goldie - 07/15/2024 - 07:25 am
You may have only been with me for 3 months, but my heart aches from losing you. I have prayed for you to go peacefully when it was time, and I was leaving that decision up to you. You were so loved and will be terribly missed.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Update on Goldie:

I got her back out and foraging for a little over a month until she went down again. I started tube feeding her on 05/24/2024 four to five times a day with vitamins, critical care food, and water/electrolytes, buying her some time to either expel some of the yolk build-up or her body's ability to absorb it. That was really tough as I did this for 1.5-2 weeks. I got her over that episode, and she was able to be out with the rest, foraging, socializing, etc. However, she started running to me for protection from my roo, who wanted to conduct business with her. Fast forward to 4 days ago, Goldie started going down again. I didn't have to intervene yet since she was still eating and drinking, which I switched her over to non-laying, chick crumbles since she showed absolutely no interest in her pellet food. Yesterday was the first day I had to tube her as she wasn't eating or drinking again. I brought her inside the house to give her a break from our Florida heat. I could tell around 6 pm that she was giving up. At first, she just seemed sleepy and was enjoying the A/C. Eventually, she lost interest/worry about what was happening around her. She wouldn't bother to open her eyes unless I attempted to get her attention; later, I realized I could manipulate her wings, and she would no longer correct them. She made it through the night, but this morning, she finally took her last breath while in my arms.

R.I.P. Goldie - 07/15/2024 - 07:25 am
You may have only been with me for 3 months, but my heart aches from losing you. I have prayed for you to go peacefully when it was time, and I was leaving that decision up to you. You were so loved and will be terribly missed.

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I just found this thread and a similar thing is happening to my hen. I am sorry for your loss, you did everything you could for Goldie!

 

[ProudRedneck]

I just found this thread and a similar thing is happening to my hen. I am sorry for your loss, you did everything you could for Goldie!

I am sorry you are possibly going through the same thing. I didn't think I would get her through May's episode, so I gradually prepared myself. When she "got better," I was then convincing myself, ok, this is going to be an ongoing up & down routine, and I was willing to put in the effort as long as she was. I dunno; this just didn't happen like I expected it to play out, and it really hit me after she was gone how much I loved her in the short amount of time she's been mine.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update on Goldie:

After the owner returned from her vacation, she felt the hens would be better off with me, so she asked if I would be willing to keep Goldie (the sick hen) and Hunter (the oldest hen brought to my house first).

Me: I would LOVE to

I got Goldie back out and foraging for a little over a month until she went down again. I started tube feeding her on 05/24/2024 four to five times a day with vitamins, critical care food, and water/electrolytes, buying her some time to either expel some of the yolk build-up or her body's ability to absorb it. That was really tough as I did this for 1.5-2 weeks. I got her over that episode, and she was able to be out with the rest, foraging, socializing, etc. However, she started running to me for protection from my roo, who wanted to conduct business with her. Fast forward to 4 days ago, Goldie started going down again. I didn't have to intervene yet since she was still eating and drinking, which I switched her over to non-laying, chick crumbles since she showed absolutely no interest in her pellet food. Yesterday was the first day I had to tube her as she wasn't eating or drinking again. I brought her inside the house to give her a break from our Florida heat. I could tell around 6 pm that she was giving up. At first, she just seemed sleepy and was enjoying the A/C. Eventually, she lost interest/worry about what was happening around her. She wouldn't bother to open her eyes unless I attempted to get her attention; later, I realized I could manipulate her wings, and she would no longer correct them. She made it through the night, but this morning, she finally took her last breath while in my arms.

R.I.P. Goldie - 07/15/2024 - 07:25 am
You may have only been with me for 3 months, but my heart aches from losing you. I have prayed for you to go peacefully when it was time, and I was leaving that decision up to you. You were so loved and will be terribly missed.

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I'm sorry to hear about Goldie.

Thank you for the update.

 

[The Coop Crew]

Update on Goldie:

After the owner returned from her vacation, she felt the hens would be better off with me, so she asked if I would be willing to keep Goldie (the sick hen) and Hunter (the oldest hen brought to my house first).

Me: I would LOVE to

I got Goldie back out and foraging for a little over a month until she went down again. I started tube feeding her on 05/24/2024 four to five times a day with vitamins, critical care food, and water/electrolytes, buying her some time to either expel some of the yolk build-up or her body's ability to absorb it. That was really tough as I did this for 1.5-2 weeks. I got her over that episode, and she was able to be out with the rest, foraging, socializing, etc. However, she started running to me for protection from my roo, who wanted to conduct business with her. Fast forward to 4 days ago, Goldie started going down again. I didn't have to intervene yet since she was still eating and drinking, which I switched her over to non-laying, chick crumbles since she showed absolutely no interest in her pellet food. Yesterday was the first day I had to tube her as she wasn't eating or drinking again. I brought her inside the house to give her a break from our Florida heat. I could tell around 6 pm that she was giving up. At first, she just seemed sleepy and was enjoying the A/C. Eventually, she lost interest/worry about what was happening around her. She wouldn't bother to open her eyes unless I attempted to get her attention; later, I realized I could manipulate her wings, and she would no longer correct them. She made it through the night, but this morning, she finally took her last breath while in my arms.

R.I.P. Goldie - 07/15/2024 - 07:25 am
You may have only been with me for 3 months, but my heart aches from losing you. I have prayed for you to go peacefully when it was time, and I was leaving that decision up to you. You were so loved and will be terribly missed.

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I am so sorry about Goldie. She knew how much you loved her and you took such good care of her

 

[ProudRedneck]

I'm sorry to hear about Goldie.

Thank you for the update.

No, thank you. You helped two species at the same time without realizing it yet. You helped me at the beginning of all this, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. Your advice on how I could best help Goldie and the most gentle way of telling me an outcome possibility is the ONLY reason I am not absolutely wrecked right now. You said early on what may happen, and because of that, I have done my best to prepare myself. Unfortunately, even when you know it's a possibility, the actual act of losing hope hurts you in the end. Thank you so much....again

 

[BigBlueHen53]

They do get under your skin, don't they? And ... into your heart. May your memories of Goldie comfort you.

 

[ProudRedneck]

They do get under your skin, don't they? And ... into your heart. May your memories of Goldie comfort you.

I get attached pretty quickly anyway, but yeah, they do. I only had her for three (3) months, and in the 1st month, I kept trying to convince myself that she was still the previous owner's chicken and I was just doing extended babysitting. Perhaps in the second episode, where I was fighting so hard to pull her out, the feelings changed. It didn't hurt the development of the bond that she came to me for protection from the roo and the oldest hen who came from the same home. The oldest was the top hen there and remained the top hen when she integrated with my flock. Top hen despised that Goldie "allowed" herself to be available to her roo, so anytime Little Jerry wanted to discuss business, Hunter (top hen) would come over and attack her while Goldie was pinned. Goldie learned I would protect her from everyone, so she would come running and put me in between her and the aggressor at the time or I would pick her up and carry her around when I had things to do.