Help! my favorite girl is sick!

[herballibra]

Last night we came home and found my favorite girl lying in the corner of the coop, face down, with her best friend lying with her. She was cold and didnt have any balance. She also seemed lighter in weight than she has been (maybe just my imagination). We brought her into the house and were able to get her to eat some cooked oatmeal while she sat with my DH wrapped in a towel and heating pad. She is an older girl. I dont know how old, but i did not raise from a chick, I took her home from a friends house about a year ago because I liked her so much. She is a small bantam easter egger. She has always been less than a pound. She hasn't layed consistantly since I have had her, and none of the girls are laying right now, they are molting. She ate a little feed on her own today and i fed her some more oatmeal. We have her in the living room in a cat carrier with towel right now, but she just keeps sleeping. She only eats or drinks water if we wake her. I looked a some other posts trying to see if I could find what was wrong with her. Her vent is not pulsing, like some say egg bound hens do, she is still pooping, though in the carrier it is getting stuck in her feathers, we just keep cleaning it off of her. I havent seen any worms, dead or otherwise in her poop. I also realised I have no idea how long chickens live for. She is probably between 3 and 5 years old as my friend got her as a hen in a group of chickens someone gave to her and was laying when she got her. I have just been waking her up every half hour or so trying to get her to take some food. She has not gotten cold again since we brought her in. her comb and wattles are still red her eyes are still golden and when she is awake she looks around but still has no balance. We have had our 3 girls as pets for a little over a year now, I am at a loss for what to do. If I lose this girl it'll break my heart! Please help!

 

[elmo]

I'm so sorry; I know how you feel. We feel the same way about our chickens.

I don't have enough experience to advise you about the balance symptom. One thing I can suggest, though. You could try feeding her a little scrambled or hard boiled egg (chopped or mashed up); this would have more protein than the oatmeal. Another thing to try would be whole wheat bread crumbs, moistened with a bit of olive oil and honey. I have also tried Kaytee Exact Hand Feeding formula and Pedialyte (for birds that are not willing to eat on their own, you can feed them with a syringe).

I hope your girl is feeling better soon.

 

[herballibra]

I added some honey and yogurt ( all natural of course) to her oatmeal and tried giving that to her before we went out to try and get some of the things you suggested. (We dont have allot of eggs right now, as the girls arent laying) and she seemed to perk right up, loving every minute of it. Right now she is going to town on her feed. We're trying to get as much food in her as possible before we leave the house. As we speak, she is standing up on her own on my DH's lap and eating from a tupperware

Hope this is a turn for the better and not just unwarranted opptimism.

 

[herballibra]

She went right back to how she was, she has been sleeping most of the day. We keep waking her up to eat and she is eating her feed and still pooping, but she is just so lethargic. I dont know what to do (

 

[elmo]

Adding honey and yogurt to the oatmeal was a good idea; she'll get good energy from the honey. It's a very good sign that she's still eating. You're keeping her warm and isolated from other birds; I can't think of anything else (other than a trip to the vet, but it isn't always easy to find one that sees chickens).

 

[kathyinmo]

Has she been wormed? How about mites or lice? These things can cause anemia and take their life.

 

[herballibra]

I have never had the girls wormed, I honestly didnt know you had to until all of this, the friends I have don't. Should I try deworming her while she's sick? As far as mites and lice, I have looked all through her feathers and everything, I haven't found any and her skin looks good. She is still eating today, she is taking feed while she is out on our laps, but falls asleep in the carrier. MyDH thinks it's old age. I tried to ask my mom about how long chickens live, she grew up with them, but she said hers were only around three years or so max... We just keep trying to feed her and get her to drink water for now, she is better than when we found her, but we seem to have plateaued.

 

[elmo]

If it was me, I wouldn't try worming a bird when it's ill unless I knew for certain she had worms (from a vet fecal check; costs around $20 here). I can't think of anything else to do other than what you're doing. You're keeping her warm and coaxing her to eat; I think the rest is going to need to be up to her.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I'm nursing chickens now, too. Wet pox in roo, dry pox in the four hens. There's only one of the hens I'm really worried about, and it's our favorite one, too.

 

[kathyinmo]

If you could go to a vet... any vet can do a, "fecal egg count," to see if there are worms. If that is, in fact, the problem, it would be imperative to do now. Here is a good thread on the subject.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213065&p=1

 

[herballibra]

Lacy seems to be doing much much better. We ran some errands today and came home to find her moving aroung the carrier and eating and drinking on her own. She is still falling asleep while eating, but seems to be more alert and happier. Hopefully this keeps up. I have no idea what could have caused this! I have to work a 24 hr shift tomorrow and my DH works a 12, hopefully she does fine while we are at work.