Help - I think my chicken is dying and miserable

[lmcfadden7]

Sorry to hear of her passing, bny806. So sad. Ten chicks, her back end was a mess, all stuffed up and swollen. I washed her out and checedk for blockages. She seemed better the next day but then went into the coop and wouldn't come out. I started her on antibiotics but she stopped drinking before she got much in her. She hasn't eaten or drinking in three days and now won't open her eyes. Her heads just rolls back and forth. Won't give up.

 

[ten chicks]

Sorry to hear of her passing, bny806. So sad. Ten chicks, her back end was a mess, all stuffed up and swollen. I washed her out and checedk for blockages. She seemed better the next day but then went into the coop and wouldn't come out. I started her on antibiotics but she stopped drinking before she got much in her. She hasn't eaten or drinking in three days and now won't open her eyes. Her heads just rolls back and forth. Won't give up.

Your girl could be suffering from peritonitis,is her abdomen enlarged,does she have the "penguin"stance? Explain vent stuffed up and swollen.
If she is not eating/drinking then she cannot survive,you could try tube feeding,but this may only prolong the inevitable.

Is a vet a possibility even though they may not be able to help her,they can humanely euthanize her. Although this is not something that any of us want to do,it is often in the best interests of the animal especially if suffering is involved.

 

[skendeigh]

Mine is doing similar things but she is trying to speak and no sound is coming out….did you figure anything out? HELP, I think she's dying and miserable too!

 

[unicornia]

This is all so sad... so sorry to hear of your loss, bny806, it is so hard to know what the "right" thing to do is... because there is no way to know the future... you did have one hen bounce back, which was remarkable, why not another? My favorite hen just died two days ago with similar symptoms. Ascites, she definitely had, as she had swelling in her abdomen and around her vent, listless, walking like a penguin. From what I have read ascites could be caused by all sorts of things, that are really irreversible, like, peritonitis, tumors, cancer, etc. I brought my hen to the vet, and she died on the exam table. It was so terribly sad, after I tried so many different things to help her get better, and I was going to try the antibiotics, I wish I had, instead of taking her to the vet. Reading your story, however, made me realize that the antibiotics might have only prolonged her suffering, she might have lived for several more days of suffering. She was already very sick for 5 days. I still beat myself up, however. Because I want her back!

lmcfadden7, if your chicken's symptoms are the same as bny806 and mine, I dont know much, but I believe that someone had recommended Baytril for ascites, caused by peritonitis, which, as ten chicks said, may be the problem. And someone else had reported success with Duramycin-10, an antibiotic. How is your hen doing?

skendeigh, I am sorry to hear your hen has similar problems. It seems, from my little knowledge that these symptoms indicate a serious problem that there might not be a cure for. Some have had success with draining with a needle, and with the antibiotics mentioned if the treatment is administered early. But if the cause is tumors or cancer then there may not be hope.

As I understand it, chickens that are bred to be egglayers, lay intensely for up to 2 years, and then, as a friend said, their physical body can take them no further. And they die.

Their spirit, I hope, lives on....

I hope all are well,
Allison