Fed Avocado to flock yesterday - 1 sick chicken today

[PopStarHens]

Background: I fed my flock of 5 the flesh (no pit or skin) of one avocado about 24 hours ago. They devoured it. I did a quick google check before giving it to them yesterday and the first article that came up said it was OK. But today I have a sick chicken and did some deeper research about avocados and chickens, and it seems there is actually some risk to them due to persin toxicity even if they only eat the flesh. I feel absolutely terrible about my mistake.

Symptoms:
She is a 22 week old Black Sex-link. Not laying yet. She is lethargic, fluffed up, and slightly shivering. She is staying behind in the coop while the others are out free-ranging, although she did venture out once to drink some water and keep an eye on the others. She's not eating and even turned down her favorite treat - mealworms. I inspected her, and she has a normal looking vent, soft crop that's doesn't seem alarmingly full or squishy, eyes clear (although she blinks and seems sleepy), no visible peck marks or wounds. Feathers aren't noticeably disordered. She can stand and walk on her own but is currently huddled up in the corner of her coop. I haven't heard her cough or wheeze, don't see any discharge, and she still makes a few normal murmuring clucks every now and then. Haven't seen her poop yet but don't see any abnormal looking droppings around.

Is this likely related to the avocado? If so, will she recover quickly or worsen? Is there anything I can feed her or put in her water to hasten her recovery? What other things could be causing this, and what should I look out for?

 

[guineapeeps]

Background: I fed my flock of 5 the flesh (no pit or skin) of one avocado about 24 hours ago. They devoured it. I did a quick google check before giving it to them yesterday and the first article that came up said it was OK. But today I have a sick chicken and did some deeper research about avocados and chickens, and it seems there is actually some risk to them due to persin toxicity even if they only eat the flesh. I feel absolutely terrible about my mistake.

Symptoms:
She is a 22 week old Black Sex-link. Not laying yet. She is lethargic, fluffed up, and slightly shivering. She is staying behind in the coop while the others are out free-ranging, although she did venture out once to drink some water and keep an eye on the others. She's not eating and even turned down her favorite treat - mealworms. I inspected her, and she has a normal looking vent, soft crop that's doesn't seem alarmingly full or squishy, eyes clear (although she blinks and seems sleepy), no visible peck marks or wounds. Feathers aren't noticeably disordered. She can stand and walk on her own but is currently huddled up in the corner of her coop. I haven't heard her cough or wheeze, don't see any discharge, and she still makes a few normal murmuring clucks every now and then. Haven't seen her poop yet but don't see any abnormal looking droppings around.

Is this likely related to the avocado? If so, will she recover quickly or worsen? Is there anything I can feed her or put in her water to hasten her recovery? What other things could be causing this, and what should I look out for?

Welcome to BYC...I’m sorry to hear about your hen!
I wasn’t sure about treatment so looked it up. There is a lot of info out there saying it is poisonous for birds, but there was not a lot listed for treatment. I did find this...I’m not sure how helpful it will be, though. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on this will chime in as well. If you scroll down a bit on the page, you’ll see it has a little bit on avocado toxicity:

https://avianandexoticvets.com/top-toxins-to-pet-birds/

This article also mentions some cross reaction with avocado and things like cantaloupe, bananas, and kiwi:

http://kgkat.tripod.com/avocado.html

I hope she recovers....let us know how it goes!

 

[WildCHILD400]

Sorry to hear this. I occasionally will provide my hens with a small amount of advocado mixed with other veggie scraps. Maybe place her somewhere warm and dry for the night in a dog cage with the option of fresh water and food. Place some bedding or an old blanket or towel for her to snuggle up with. Maybe she just need some cool down time to heal like a human would. Could've just been too much at one time give her time for her stomach to heal. Best of luck

 

[BarredRockMom]

There's a natural liver cleanse that you can use. In a juice glass, mix 1 Tsp baking soda & 1 Tsp Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (do not use any other kind of vinegar, esp white, as it is toxic (no red, rice, or non-organic ACV. All of these undergo processing that strips out what the body needs.)

It's going to foam like crazy & this is what you want. Once it calms down, add 2 Tsp tap water. Swirl the glass to mix well.

Draw the complete mixture into a small syringe with no needle, getting as much of the baking soda in there too as you can. Down the hatch chicky! They will NOT like it, but that's ok. Careful not to aspirate the liquid as the chicken squirms. I usually find that drawing up 1/4 to 1/2 a syringe full at one time makes it easier for me to handle getting into the bird.

Get as much into the bird as you can & throw away the rest (if there is any.) Make a fresh dose each time. Do this twice a day for 2 days & see how the bird is. If you need another couple of doses over a 3rd day, no problem.

This detox mixture cleanses the liver, which is the organ that cleans toxins from our//their bodies.

I hope your bird feels better & please do let us know how she's doing.

 

[sylviethecochin]

There's a natural liver cleanse that you can use. In a juice glass, mix 1 Tsp baking soda & 1 Tsp Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (do not use any other kind of vinegar, esp white, as it is toxic (no red, rice, or non-organic ACV. All of these undergo processing that strips out what the body needs.)

It's going to foam like crazy & this is what you want. Once it calms down, add 2 Tsp tap water. Swirl the glass to mix well.

Draw the complete mixture into a small syringe with no needle, getting as much of the baking soda in there too as you can. Down the hatch chicky! They will NOT like it, but that's ok. Careful not to aspirate the liquid as the chicken squirms. I usually find that drawing up 1/4 to 1/2 a syringe full at one time makes it easier for me to handle getting into the bird.

Get as much into the bird as you can & throw away the rest (if there is any.) Make a fresh dose each time. Do this twice a day for 2 days & see how the bird is. If you need another couple of doses over a 3rd day, no problem.

This detox mixture cleanses the liver, which is the organ that cleans toxins from our//their bodies.

I hope your bird feels better & please do let us know how she's doing.

That's really useful information.

 

[BarredRockMom]

I've used it on more than one chicken, that's for sure. It's worked for dogs, cats, people, you name it. They don't like it, but they're usually too ill to do much fussing. You can tell how much better they feel when they clamp that little beak shut and fight NOT to take any more, lol. I always give at least 3 doses, which should get progressively harder to administer the better they feel. And keep food & water out for them, especially if you're going to pull them aside//inside. Once they feel better they will be both hungry & thirsty.

 

[TexasSam]

Avocado is fine for chickens. The skin and pits are bad but only if it is a good amount. That isn't your problem

 

[Diannastarr]

Background: I fed my flock of 5 the flesh (no pit or skin) of one avocado about 24 hours ago. They devoured it. I did a quick google check before giving it to them yesterday and the first article that came up said it was OK. But today I have a sick chicken and did some deeper research about avocados and chickens, and it seems there is actually some risk to them due to persin toxicity even if they only eat the flesh. I feel absolutely terrible about my mistake.

Symptoms:
She is a 22 week old Black Sex-link. Not laying yet. She is lethargic, fluffed up, and slightly shivering. She is staying behind in the coop while the others are out free-ranging, although she did venture out once to drink some water and keep an eye on the others. She's not eating and even turned down her favorite treat - mealworms. I inspected her, and she has a normal looking vent, soft crop that's doesn't seem alarmingly full or squishy, eyes clear (although she blinks and seems sleepy), no visible peck marks or wounds. Feathers aren't noticeably disordered. She can stand and walk on her own but is currently huddled up in the corner of her coop. I haven't heard her cough or wheeze, don't see any discharge, and she still makes a few normal murmuring clucks every now and then. Haven't seen her poop yet but don't see any abnormal looking droppings around.

Is this likely related to the avocado? If so, will she recover quickly or worsen? Is there anything I can feed her or put in her water to hasten her recovery? What other things could be causing this, and what should I look out for?

my parrot book says to never feed avocados to your parrot, it can kill them , so i never have fed my 42 year old parrot avocados in the 42 years ive had him , so maybe it could be the same goes for chickens , so i would not feed avocados to my chickens just to be on the safe side.

 

[TexasSam]

my parrot book says to never feed avocados to your parrot, it can kill them , so i never have fed my parrot avocados and maybe the same goes for chickens , so i would not feed avocados to chickens just to be on the safe side.

https://www.communitychickens.com/top-5-myths-and-facts-about-treats-for-chickens/
Check it out great info

 

[BarredRockMom]

Yeah, sorry, I still wouldn't give an avocado as a treat. There are lots of things that other folks do that I wouldn't with my flock & vice versa. Since my girls will never know what they're missing, I am totally cool with that, lol!