Harvey the Great is Dying. . .

[Peppercorngal]

View attachment 1745920 Poor Harvey the Great! Please get better soon!

Have you tried force feeding him?

I haven't force fed him... yet. And I may not. I'll tell you why. It will make absolutely no sense to you but this is the story. My Dad had alzheimers or Lewy body dementia. In less than two years he progressed from not being able to walk, then he couldn't talk, then he couldn't eat, then he couldn't drink. The Home Nurse wanted to take him to the hospital for IV fluids. I wouldn't let them take him. My thinking is that it would be a non-stop revolving door for him. At 89 years old to get dehydrated, be taken to the hospital and filled with fluid, get dehydrated, be taken to the hospital and filled, etc., etc. I knew my Dad and he wouldn't have wanted that. I decided to leave him home and "let him go". The Dr. told me I was inhumane and read me the riot act. I jumped right back in his face and told him that I know my Father and he doesn't want to be "kept alive" past his time by artificial means. Anyway, to force feed Harvey seems to me to be the same thing. There has to be a reason he is not eating, something wrong. To force feed him and "make" him linger on seems somehow wrong to me. I know, please don't email me, that he is an animal, he is not a human. I got that, I do. I just wanted to relate to you why I have this (odd?) thinking. Not sure what I will do.
By the way all, Hoppy Easter!

 

[CaramelKittey]

I haven't force fed him... yet. And I may not. I'll tell you why. It will make absolutely no sense to you but this is the story. My Dad had alzheimers or Lewy body dementia. In less than two years he progressed from not being able to walk, then he couldn't talk, then he couldn't eat, then he couldn't drink. The Home Nurse wanted to take him to the hospital for IV fluids. I wouldn't let them take him. My thinking is that it would be a non-stop revolving door for him. At 89 years old to get dehydrated, be taken to the hospital and filled with fluid, get dehydrated, be taken to the hospital and filled, etc., etc. I knew my Dad and he wouldn't have wanted that. I decided to leave him home and "let him go". The Dr. told me I was inhumane and read me the riot act. I jumped right back in his face and told him that I know my Father and he doesn't want to be "kept alive" past his time by artificial means. Anyway, to force feed Harvey seems to me to be the same thing. There has to be a reason he is not eating, something wrong. To force feed him and "make" him linger on seems somehow wrong to me. I know, please don't email me, that he is an animal, he is not a human. I got that, I do. I just wanted to relate to you why I have this (odd?) thinking. Not sure what I will do.
By the way all, Hoppy Easter!

View attachment 1746980

Happy Easter!
I totally understand! I’d probably do the same thing! Doctors always call people inhumane for doing things like that however, I personally think that it would be inhumane for your Father to be left alone in a hospital and having fluids forced into him.
I always feel heartbroken when I realize that there are so many people sick in hospitals alone with nobody to help them, bring them flowers, or brings them chickens.

I hope Harvey gets better. He is such a beautiful rooster.

 

[MROO]

If you still need a pen for Harvey the Huge - oops - The Great! - try a child's pack-n-play portable playpen/crib. You can probably find one very cheaply at your local thrift shop. If he hops/climbs out of it, turn it upside down over him. He really is a beautiful boy!

 

[BGcoop]

(Not ALL doctors would disagree with your decision to not force feed- I know some pretty great ones) but anyway,

Holy moly is he HUGE!!!!! Are you sure he is not part turkey? Or ostrich? Can birds develop giantism?-that would be a reason for the hugeness and in humans it usually shortens life span... good luck to you and Harvey, I hope he pulls through, he is amazing!

 

[Peppercorngal]

Happy Easter!
I totally understand! I’d probably do the same thing! Doctors always call people inhumane for doing things like that however, I personally think that it would be inhumane for your Father to be left alone in a hospital and having fluids forced into him.
I always feel heartbroken when I realize that there are so many people sick in hospitals alone with nobody to help them, bring them flowers, or brings them chickens.

I hope Harvey gets better. He is such a beautiful rooster.

Thanks for understanding. Dad was unable to walk or talk or eat or drink at the time. I would talk to him, but I saw no understanding in his eyes. He had a "do not resuscitate" order on file, but for some reason, they don't consider fluids a life saving process. I did what I knew he wanted, the hell with everyone else. So, I decided to shove some scrambled egg into Harvey. I waited until he roosted for the night and grabbed him. I thought I had him really good and after a minute he just went nuts on me. I have a 3 inch tear in my t-shirt and a 2 inch tear in my breast. He ain't ready to go yet! I again checked and saw (before he freaked out) nothing wrong with his mouth or throat. His crop was empty (of course). If I decided to try again I will have to wait and get my husband to help me. I was hoping that if I can get some food in him he'll be energized and perhaps start to eat again??!! I really love Harvey and want him to live! Thanks for your understanding!

 

[Peppercorngal]

(Not ALL doctors would disagree with your decision to not force feed- I know some pretty great ones) but anyway,

Holy moly is he HUGE!!!!! Are you sure he is not part turkey? Or ostrich? Can birds develop giantism?-that would be a reason for the hugeness and in humans it usually shortens life span... good luck to you and Harvey, I hope he pulls through, he is amazing!

Yes, he has not stopped growing. I truly believe that the reason he is so big is the reason he is "sick". I believe there is a genetic problem. I'll do what I can to help him you can be sure of that. He is such a nice rooster, always ate from my hand and has good manners with his girls. They love him too, about 5 of them fight for the spots next to him at night when roosting! Funny to watch them shove each other out of the way to get the spot they want!

 

[Peppercorngal]

If you still need a pen for Harvey the Huge - oops - The Great! - try a child's pack-n-play portable playpen/crib. You can probably find one very cheaply at your local thrift shop. If he hops/climbs out of it, turn it upside down over him. He really is a beautiful boy!

Thanks for your suggestion. I actually have a portable playpen from when my grand girls were babies. I also just moved my 2 week old chicks from the brooder and have that cage where I can put him too. Good Idea, thanks!

 

[nightowl223]

Thanks for understanding. Dad was unable to walk or talk or eat or drink at the time. I would talk to him, but I saw no understanding in his eyes. He had a "do not resuscitate" order on file, but for some reason, they don't consider fluids a life saving process. I did what I knew he wanted, the hell with everyone else. So, I decided to shove some scrambled egg into Harvey. I waited until he roosted for the night and grabbed him. I thought I had him really good and after a minute he just went nuts on me. I have a 3 inch tear in my t-shirt and a 2 inch tear in my breast. He ain't ready to go yet! I again checked and saw (before he freaked out) nothing wrong with his mouth or throat. His crop was empty (of course). If I decided to try again I will have to wait and get my husband to help me. I was hoping that if I can get some food in him he'll be energized and perhaps start to eat again??!! I really love Harvey and want him to live! Thanks for your understanding!

That may just have been him waking up and deciding he was in danger, so please don't hold that against him.

The hens would be heartbroken if they lose him, it sounds like. And yes, I have seen heartbreak in animals, even chickens, before. They can and do just give up and pine away, after losing a dear friend, or after a big shock, or something like that. I have saved them before, sometimes, and sometimes, I can't.

Back to Harvey... you may have to choose whether to force-feed him or let him go. They will waste away, and become very weak, and then just stop moving at all, and then die. What you can try is to get some baby vitamins into him (the variety with no iron), because only a few drops is all it will take to really help. The Rooster Booster or the Durvet vitamins and electrolytes won't help if he's simply not eating. The few drops of baby vitamins will.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Awww, Peppercorngal, my heart goes out to you and Harvey the Great both! It's no fun when one of your feather babies is sick and you don't know how to help him feel better!

I totally agree with your decision not to force-feed the big guy. I think Nature knows what it's doing, for the most part. She may need a little nudge now and again, but sometimes we really don't need to go into a pitched battle when it's just time to let Nature take its course. We just need to provide supportive care, keep our loved one safe and comfortable and peaceful. And I mean that of any kind of loved one, and when my turn comes I hope someone loves me enough to do that for me!

 

[Peppercorngal]

Awww, Peppercorngal, my heart goes out to you and Harvey the Great both! It's no fun when one of your feather babies is sick and you don't know how to help him feel better!

I totally agree with your decision not to force-feed the big guy. I think Nature knows what it's doing, for the most part. She may need a little nudge now and again, but sometimes we really don't need to go into a pitched battle when it's just time to let Nature take its course. We just need to provide supportive care, keep our loved one safe and comfortable and peaceful. And I mean that of any kind of loved one, and when my turn comes I hope someone loves me enough to do that for me!

Thanks I needed to know someone thinks like I do. I believe that nature is doing what it does. I feel guilty for not trying harder to help him, but I think it's just his time. His girls still like to be around him, even when he is just "sleeping". They bump him sometimes and he "wakes up" for a few minutes, I'm sure he's glad it's one of his hens and not me! I've made the decision to just let nature takes it's course and let him go. So far he is strong enough to leave the run daily and get back up on the top roost at night. Thanks for you kind words!