Frozen chicken!!!

[bobbi-j]

If you can't take her to a vet for diagnosis, you may need to think about humanely euthanizing her. If you can't do it yourself, a vet should be able to do it for you. There is clearly something wrong if she's not able to stand. What kind of a life would that be for her? I still suspect that she ended up frozen to the ground because she couldn't stand in the first place - she probably fell and couldn't get back up.

 

[Eggcessive]

I tend to agree with others that she may have been getting sick and that is why she got frozen to the ground. Her poops looks like she is starving and dehydrated. If you want to try to tube feed her for a few days to see if she will get better, then Google “Go Team Tube Feeding, “ or tube feeding vidoes on YouTube. A simple piece of aquarium tubing rounded off with a lighter on one end to make it less sharp, and a 35 ml syringe from a feed store can be used as a temporary feeding tube. That will get fluids into her, and maybe some very thin food.

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

She definitely needs liquids. Vitamins and electrolytes would be good. You can get vitamin/electrolyte packets for chicks from a tractor supply or Agway. When my girl got her legs frozen, the vet said to soak her in warm water twice a day and put triple antibiotic ointment on any wounds or swelling. She needs to be in a very warm part of the house if you bathe her. If she's wet and not really warm, it will make her weaker.

 

[sylviethecochin]

No need to bother with electrolyte packets--if you don't have quick access to a store (tsc is 40 min away for us) use:
1 pint water
1tbsp corn syrup/sugar/mollasses
1tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
Warm it to mix most effectively and good luck with her.

EDT: Definitely use the vitamins if you can get ahold of them though. If you have vitamin B complex tablets, I'd start with that--it's very hard to overdose on B because they're water-soluble. A balanced mix is important though.

 

[ilovmychicks]

Guys I cant euthanize her.....i just can't do it when she seems so alert...shiuld i give it a few more days?? She just drank some water and a couple bites of food. More opinions on this?

 

[sylviethecochin]

You can give it more time--she's your hen, after all--they're just warning you that she may not recover, and may have more wrong with her than you think she does. I wouldn't expect any bird to be fine after spending two days frozen to the ground, and I would give her more time. But I personally would prepare to euthanise if she doesn't improve soon.

 

[bobbi-j]

She is your hen. You are the one who has to decide what you want her quality of life to be. I just know from my experiences that sometimes in trying to help and make myself feel better, I have only prolonged the suffering of animals that would have been better off than f I'd have let them go in the first place. Unfortunately this is a hard reality in keeping any animals. Sometimes we have to let them go, no matter how hard it is for us.

 

[The Chickens' Maid]

Definitely give it time. Chickens can be very hardy animals. Watch her behavior (which it sounds like you're doing already ), if she goes downhill, you'll see a definite change. If she's willing to keep fighting, let her fight.
Can you post a picture of the hen?

Edit: This is the difficult side of keeping animals, for sure. It's very emotionally draining. If your girl does start to go downhill, it's your choice whether or not to euthanize or let nature take its course. If you do euthanize, I recommend taking her to a vet instead of doing it yourself. These types of situations are hard enough as is without adding that kind of stress on top of it.
With that said, I've always felt that the best thing to do is to let the chicken decide. If she doesn't have any fight left, then she'll let you know. If she is perky and alert, then give her as much help as you can, and hopefully she'll pull through.

 

[bobbi-j]

If you do euthanize, I recommend taking her to a vet instead of doing it yourself. These types of situations are hard enough as is without adding that kind of stress on top of it.

I agree with this. We euthanize our own animals, but I understand that not everyone can do that. (By "we" I mean my DH. I would be taking them to a vet.)

 

[Chelseyb123]

I had to put one of my hens down yesterday. I posted about her like month ago she had frozen pop in an out of her vent. I thought she was getting better . But she was only getting worst. She lost her muscle to push out any poop. An i cant clean her vent 24/7. An my boyfriend wouldn't do it for me.. The only other experience I've had because I educated my self an wanted to be able to do it if I needed to was with a cockeler.I was never attached to it no name an it always ran away (I was tricked an got five males) an never listened an I tried rehoming. But with my hen I put down yesterday I had no choice. She smelt horrid an was uncomfortable an would never be able to be with the rest of the flock or lay eggs. I was attached her name Alice an I hwatched some of her chicks. But I had to do what was best. If you don't like blood like me snapping of the neck can be easy an fast an you don't necessarily have to watch as long as placement is correct . its something you should educate your self about if she doesn't improve I know its hard but I made myself get over it and put her out of her misery.