Hen Diagnosed (long)

[kinardmommy]

I bought six hens about four weeks ago. I have many pullets but wanted hens that were already laying. When I bought them I noticed one of them was wheezing and sneezing. I tried to treat her with OTC antibiotic and it did not work. Long story short it had been four weeks just since I got her and noticed the respiratory problem and who knows how long she had been suffering with it beforehand. I am lucky enough to have a vet nearby who does treat poultry so I finally broke down and took her in today. The office is about a thirty minute drive from my house. The whole way there I am thinking the worst is going to happen. They will have to put her down b/c it wil not be treatable. I know this sounds silly but if you could just understand that I don't have dogs or cats. My pets are my chickens. So they did an exam and listened with the stethoscope and the initial diagnosis was pneumonia. So I asked them to do an x-ray and it confirmed pneumonia. This poor hens lungs were absolutely filled with fluid. I do not know how she survived for over a month with this. She is inside the house being pampered and I am giving her antibiotic with a syringe. The doc said that she probably didn't get much of the first round of antibiotics b/c she wasn't drinking too much. Her breast area is shrunk so she hasn't been eating much either. They took a swab of her throat and when the results come back they will be able to tell me what medication is the most effective against her "bug". I know you may be saying "how crazy of this lady to spend so much on that chicken", but my thought was if this hen has fought this long to survive this then she is definately a keeper. She is still young, only about 18 months.My husband wasn't thrilled but he has a soft spot for the chickies too.

 

[paul65]

I had bought a roo like that did not notice the weezing till i got him home and he tried to crow i got a bottle of tylan 60 dollars and it cleared it right up.

 

[cyanne]

No need to make excuses for getting attached to a chicken on this board, I think we all know where you are coming from!

I had a similar experience with my australorp pullet, Sheila. I bought her and another aussie pullet at a local meet-up, and the night I got them home I noticed they were making gurgling noises and sneezing. This went downhill from there and one stopped eating and got really thin. I tried VetRx early on to clear up the congestion, then I read a bunch of stuff on here and bought Tylan 50 and started giving them injections once a day for 10 days. On top of that, I bought the baby bird hand-feeding formula so I could feed the one that was refusing to eat and try to keep it alive long enough for the antibiotic to work.

Unfortunately, it was too late for that one, and we lost her. I think she had just gotten too weak.

The other one, which we named Sheila, pulled through and recovered 100%, however, and was living in my master bathroom for the duration of her treatment with her own personal heater to keep her warm! She wasn't very happy when the time came for her to move back outside, as she was used to sleeping in my bathroom every night.

On the bright side, she is the tamest, sweetest chicken ever! With all of that handling and her being by herself with no other chicken friends while she was separated from everyone else, she bonded with my husband and I and now she follows us everywhere and loves to jump up and perch on our shoulders whenever we let her.

So, go ahead and take care of your sick hen...you'll definitely be rewarded by her gratefulness for helping her out.

 

[kinardmommy]

She hasn't eaten very much since she has been home. I did put a small can of cat food in her box with her along with her other food and she ate some of that but hasn't touched the other stuff. I gave her a full dose of the antibiotic today so we will see how she does tomorrow. One definate advantage of going to the vet is she gave me very specific dosage reccomendations for the antibiotic. Those packages are always sooo confusing. I think part of her disinterest is also because of her change in scenery. I am hoping that she will understand that I am trying to help.

 

[cyanne]

If she won't eat, you can buy the Kaytee hand feeding formula in the parrot section of any petstore (petsmart, etc). You can mix it up to the consistency you need and then give try to get her to eat it herself. If she won't, then you can use a needle-less syringe to carefully dribble it along the edges of her beak. Just be careful to let her swallow it herself so she doesn't choke.

Good luck! We'll be pulling for you!