I rescued a Game Hen 4 months ago from a dog attack and she seemed to have completely healed from those wounds. But last week I noticed that she was no longer going into the coop at night. Before this, she was the top bird. I checked her over but saw no signs of sickness - so I just kept an eye on her. Since then she's been slowly "wasting away". Appetite getting less and less and getting ataxic (uncoordinated), but no real symptoms. 2 weeks ago, she had a huge buildup of poop on the feathers by her vent and so I clipped those feathers away and it's been clean since.... Her poop otherwise looks normal...
I know her symptoms are so general and nothing specific, but if someone has any ideas of diseases/problems that I can look into, I would really appreciate it. I'm just not sure where to look at this point. She's lost a lot of weight and her crop is always empty now. Went I went out to the coop this morning, I found her laying on her side on the ground and everyone was pecking at her back so she now has peck wounds on the base of her tail. I brought her into the house today and will force feed her. I gave her some mealworms earlier and her crop/neck moved as if on it's own to the left and the right - like she was really uncomfortable with the new food...it was creepy looking and I'm not even sure if that's a symptom of anything. I can't even feel her crop. She's all pooffed up like she's cold and she doesn't want to move at all now. I have her inside the house where it's warm and she's in a crate with a towel.
More info:
1) What type of bird , age and weight. - Game Hen, as far as I can tell. She was 6lbs at best weight, but she's lost a lot of weigt now. Age: unknown.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. - See above.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? - About a week...2 weeks if you count when she had the poop buildup at her vent area.
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - No obvious external injuries, but now she has peck wounds around base of tail.
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - No. The rest of the flock is fine.
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. - progressively getting less and less - now, not much at all. Ate 10 mealworms then wouldn't take anymore, very bad sign.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - Normal to runny
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - None yet.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use - Pine shavings in coop, sand in run. Rest of the flock is fine. No changes to housing.
Any direction would be greatly appreciated. I'm an RVT and will take her to work with me tonight so we can get a feeding tube down her and get more advice from the vet...but none of us know about chickens and we don't know any avian vets. Whenever I try to get help, most people just say - "it's a chicken, just cull it."
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
I know her symptoms are so general and nothing specific, but if someone has any ideas of diseases/problems that I can look into, I would really appreciate it. I'm just not sure where to look at this point. She's lost a lot of weight and her crop is always empty now. Went I went out to the coop this morning, I found her laying on her side on the ground and everyone was pecking at her back so she now has peck wounds on the base of her tail. I brought her into the house today and will force feed her. I gave her some mealworms earlier and her crop/neck moved as if on it's own to the left and the right - like she was really uncomfortable with the new food...it was creepy looking and I'm not even sure if that's a symptom of anything. I can't even feel her crop. She's all pooffed up like she's cold and she doesn't want to move at all now. I have her inside the house where it's warm and she's in a crate with a towel.
More info:
1) What type of bird , age and weight. - Game Hen, as far as I can tell. She was 6lbs at best weight, but she's lost a lot of weigt now. Age: unknown.
2) What is the behavior, exactly. - See above.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? - About a week...2 weeks if you count when she had the poop buildup at her vent area.
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - No obvious external injuries, but now she has peck wounds around base of tail.
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - No. The rest of the flock is fine.
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. - progressively getting less and less - now, not much at all. Ate 10 mealworms then wouldn't take anymore, very bad sign.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - Normal to runny
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - None yet.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use - Pine shavings in coop, sand in run. Rest of the flock is fine. No changes to housing.
Any direction would be greatly appreciated. I'm an RVT and will take her to work with me tonight so we can get a feeding tube down her and get more advice from the vet...but none of us know about chickens and we don't know any avian vets. Whenever I try to get help, most people just say - "it's a chicken, just cull it."
Thank you in advance for any help you can give.
