Help! I think my chicken is dying!

[thechickengang]

A few months ago one of our bantam chickens came back from her travels with some sort of injury to her lower back/ tail. Her tail feathers were non-existent, just dragging along the ground behind her. We didnt take her to the vet, assuming she would get better over time, but she didnt, and now she can barely walk, her eyes have dulled and she has a lump on her back with cuts as the other hens have been bullying her. She cant walk around easily at all and we have been mostly hand feeding her.
She cant stand up straight and she looks drunk and all leaned over forward. Her legs splay out when she stops and she has trouble keeping them under her. I think shes going to die, but perhaps we should take her out of her misery? Help!!!

 

[MyMiniFarm]

That sounds terrible! Poor baby! It sounds like a very severe infection I'm afraid. The best thing you can do is keep the wound clean and make her comfortable and hopefully she'll pull through. If she doesn't start improving I would end her suffering. Good luck!

 

[pdirt]

Yes, that does sound like a bad infection. If you haven't already, I'd put her in her own cage with food and water. If you have chicken vitamins, like sav-a-chik, use them in the water. Keep the wound clean. Perhaps there is some sort of ointment you could also use, but I'm not sure what would be best to use. Coconut oil has some good antibacterial properties, if you have that around. Bentonite clay can draw toxins out through the skin, making a poultice of that and putting it on the wound might also be helpful. Good luck!

 

[thechickengang]

Thanks very much for your suggestions, but she has got worse this morning and hasn't been able to get out of her house. I think we are going to put her down soon.

 

[pdirt]

Sorry to hear that, but she will be out of misery.

A popular "natural" ointment is called NuStock. It's a mixture of sulfur, pine tar and mineral oil. We've only used it so far for scaly leg mites, but I have heard of others have good success as a wound dressing, in fact, I think that's what it was designed for.

 

[RikkiMarie]

I am so sorry to hear that.

It does sound like the infection had gotten worse overnight. I was just about to say antibiotics and maybe a trip to the vet. I'm sorry to hear that you might have to put her down.