Help - Hen poorly with fluid filled chest sac, discharge out beak when held

[terryg]

I have two barred rocks and an australorp who are 7, so it's possible to have elderly hens toddling around on your lawn. The good thing is they don't dig up the lawn like the young girls Miracle of miracles, the a australorp started laying again this summer, so you might even get a rare egg from them. As a rule of thumb the hybrids die first. The "fancy" birds, like the Polish, seem to keep laying for years, but they don't lay much! It is expecting too much for the hens to live to ten. That is ancient for chickens. My favorite poultry book, a manual from 1895, suggests never keeping hens past 18 months, so this idea of keeping hens past their prime is a new invention of backyard pet hen keepers. I don't follow Mr. Biggle's suggestion, but I also don't have unrealistic expectations of the longevity or health of my older hens. (BTW, I write a lot in my blog and my FAQs about old hen keeping. see my web site, HenCam.com)

 

[4Shadow]

Thankfully Lucy has rallied for however long it may be. I offered her yogurt earlier which she greedily lapped up. I elected to let her outside thinking it might be her last day and she nestled under a bush in the shade. Later she completely perked up and was scooting around with all the rest and looking completely normal. I went to massage her crop (which is WAY smaller, with just a bit of fluid) and I was unable to catch her! I know it was not recommended to feed her - but she voraciously attacked the feed in the large bowl of feed that was out for the others and defended it for herself handily. So I guess we'll just keep massaging and monitoring her crop (if we can lay hands on the feisty girl - she probably remembers her exorcist treatment last night) and see what each day brings.
Thanks for all the great comments and information.

 

[4Shadow]

Forgot to mention - amazingly her comb is back to bright red - this morning and last night it was tinged with black! (not sure what the black indicates - but pretty sure it's not good)

 

[speckledhen]

Combs are an indicator of overall health as well as a sort of "thermostat". Blood flows in and out of there, changing the color. If you see a purplish comb on a bird that stays that way for a length of time, that usually indicates some circulatory issue, either a heart problem and/or a general drag on the organs from excessive fluid and infection, etc.

 

[Chickmagnet9]

Oh no. I'm so glad I found this thread. I'm dealing with this right now with one of my girls and posted about it. Breaking my heart. I think I'll have to kill my first chicken tomorrow as I have tried to help her and I know I could try additional remedies however, I'd rather have her not suffer any longer. She's been through a lot. I'm scared, sad, sorry, and hope for forgiveness.

 

[Chickmagnet9]

She died this morning, naturally.