hen not eating/drinking chest bone protruding

[cindy99]

1) What type of bird , age and weight. Buff Orpington -- 3 months
2) What is the behavior, exactly. She is not eating or drinking -- not running around -- very sleepy -- chest bone seems to be more defined and protruding - skin is not broken.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? We noticed it this morning.
4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. No
5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. We have been told that it might be due to heat. Temps have been in the 90's
6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. We have squirt some chicken gatorade in her mouth and coaxed her into eating a very small bite of egg yolk.
7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Normal but only once in over 5 hours.
8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? We have tried to get her to eat/drink.
9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? We need to treat this ourselves.
10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
11) Describe the housing/bedding in use -- right now she is inside in a dog kennel with chicken fence around it. She has pine bedding. When she is outside - she is with 7 others and they are in a pen that is roughly 10' x 20' - covered - they can also go inside and their part of the inside is roughly 5' x 8'. They also free range outside - supervised for about an hour a day.

Thank you for any help! We are worried about Bluebell. Right now she is standing up asleep. The only time she seems to sleep well is when she is snuggled in with me.

 

[sharol]

Suggestion from a real newbie (also a bump up). Can you get her out of the heat for a little while and dribble water around her beak?

Quote:

 

[cindy99]

"Suggestion from a real newbie (also a bump up). Can you get her out of the heat for a little while and dribble water around her beak? "

Thank you! Newbie here too.

She is inside now (since around 11 am) - in the air conditioning - have been dropping water in her mouth every hour. I just took her outside to stand in the grass (it is cooling off a little) and she won't even move -- she just stands there.

 

[chickenzoo]

I would treat for coccidia using Corid or Sulmet (like Corid better). You do not need to see blood in poo for them to have it, blood is in the last stages. They lose weight, become weak, stand or sit around fluffed up or just standing with eyes closed a lot, sleep a lot....

 

[cindy99]

Thank you chickenzoo. She is still eating medicated baby food. The food is almost gone - they have eaten it for almost 3 months now. Could it be coccidia if she is on the medicated feed?

She made it through the night. She is not interested in food or water at all... I have been dripping it in her mouth. She did stretch when she got up this morning. Is that a good sign?

Thanks again for any and all help.

Cindy

 

[chickenzoo]

Yes, medicate feed only is a preventative, other factors can cause outbreaks. Corid is a stronger version of what is in medicated feed. It will not hurt even if for some reason it is not coccidia, but as it is the quickest, cheapest and most likely option I always rule that out first. Keep her eating and drinking. I use parrot feeding formula on sick birds, full of good stuff and easily given by syringe. Scrambled eggs can be good as it is easy to drop in the mouth....

 

[wpalmisano]

Ok, it just sounds to me like some sort of trauma. IMO the symptoms could be evidence of disease, but that protruding breast bone is the issue that is the most alarming. Sounds like she got caught in a door or something. Just a thought. Hope I'm wrong. I would quarantine her anyway, " just in case."

 

[cindy99]

I was worried about giving her something like eggs - it seems like she has trouble swallowing and makes a gurgling noise when she drinks. We have been dripping water into her mouth. She seems to be pecking around more today and is "yapping" at us. She didn't really move or make a peep yesterday. I have a really stupid question -- she has gone to the bathroom (normal color/size) about 8 times in 24 hours and has had next to nothing to eat -- where is it coming from??

This is Bluebell in the dining room this morning.

 

[jjthinkagain]

wpalmisamo, the protruding breast bone is probably because she is thin. If so, she has been sick for awhile and is at a critical stage now.

Cindy - she is very very ill, judging by your descrip and the photo. Without the right treatment you may well lose her. Get 3 drops Polyvisol liquid children's vitamins (without added iron) into her daily, dribble gently along her beak line with a dropper, so she swallows on her own and doesn't choke. This alone will not cure what is ailing her - she needs the right med care urgently - but will hopefully help bolster her to buy a bit of time to sort this out. Hydration is really important too. If you are able, you could try calling Peter Brown at First State Veterinary Supply (google and it will come right up) - his phone consults are for a nominal fee and he is a wealth of information. I had a hen 2 years ago get extremely lethargic out of nowhere and blood work results were consistent with infection and/or inflammation. Meds turned her right around but I don't think she would have made it without them. The cause of your hen's illness could well be something completely different (e.g. worms, mites,) but you don't have (or rather, she doesn't have) much time for you to figure it out. Sending many wishes for her to get well.


JJ (aka usually jjthink)

 

[cindy99]

I will pick up the vitamins today. Thank you.

On Monday she was fine - running around in the grass eating bugs. She ate Yogurt and boss on Monday along with her food! This just seems to have happened so quickly.

She did make a sneeze noise and oatmeal looking stuff came flying out of her mouth...