Hen really sluggish with droopy wings ... Help

[kezabel]

I checked her legs and they seem fine and her breath and that doesn't smell. It is quite cold here today could it be that she is just a little stiff

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

yes I thought you are in winter there
I would say to do this

I can't see how she could be egg bound but do this
feel near the vent and go on back up to the birds chest breast area

if she is egg bound it will be hot about 3 inches from the vent and hard to touch

now here is what to do

take a eye dropper and some kind of oil
olive oil or cooking oil
and fill syringe and put the oil into the vent on both sides

do about 4 eye droppers full

then take your hand and bring it hard down from the breast area about 4 inches above the vent

this is to push the egg if it is there down into the vent

if you do see a egg then take and make a couple large holes in the egg shell
now take a needless syringe and suck out the egg white and yolk then take a large twizzers and gently PULL ALL THE EGG SHELL OUT
the egg shell has to be pulled ALL OUT as it will hurt the hens insides
if you thinki the oil is gone then put some in the vent each side before pulling the egg shell out

but there should be enough oil in there

now after taking all the egg shell out take and refill the vent with 4 eye droppers of oil

then give her this
wet mash probiotic with vit's

3 tbsp of dry cruble feed
4 tbsp of milk
1 tbsp of yoguart
then crush up a 1000 mg of Vit E and cut end off the capsule and squeeze it into the wet mash
1 vit B complex crushed into the wet mash
1 selenium tablet crushed into the wet mash
mix all good and add
1 tbsp of applesauce to help her be interested in eating this

My feeling is she has a serious case of E.coli and she needs the wet mash probiotic twice a day for two weeks and it will help her gut flora and nervous system

HERE IS YOUR STATEMENT
she is free range she is eating layer pellets, corn and sunflower seeds for scratch. Water is always on hand in their coop and in the yard Their coop has pine shavings on the floor and under their roost. She wouldn't be able to get the the compost its in a big compost bin. The rest of the hens seem fine

my thoughts are she got to some spoiled feed or dirty water and needs to be fed epsom salts water

take and seperate her and feed this in the water
3 tbsp of epson salts to qt of water for two days

now this will give her a cleansing and make watery manure
but she will be helped to clean out the botulism she may have

now then give her
the wet mash probiotic with three vit's twice a day for two weeks

any questions email me

 

[kezabel]

Thank You for all your advice Glenda, I will give it a go thanks again

 

[threehorses]

Oh silly me You'd think the big Australian flag might have clued me into the fact that you were from Australia.

I have a few friends down there and they've been complaining about the cold, so it's nice that your area is mild.

Two things would make me highly suspect a calcium deficiency and egg binding. The droopy wings, sluggishness, the lack of an egg, and her gulping down grit. Birds will sometimes do this in an effort to regulate their calcium - bring it up.

It wouldn't hurt her to give her a calcium/vitamin D boost. Do you have "Tums" brand anti-acid tablets there? You can give them a quick emergency boost of calcium by crushing one of those into their food. Organic apple cider vinegar or plain yogurt (fortified with vitamin D) or a little bit of milk (also fortified with vitamin d) would boost the vitamin D content, which is necessary for calcium absorbtion. Also, it's important not to dilute the calcium impact of laying pellets with too many grains. Grains, high in phosphorus, can mess with the cal/phos balance of laying pellets causing calcium to not be absorbed enough for laying and, in fact, actually with drawn from the bird's bodies and bones if phosphorus levels are too high. I'd give her no more than 10% of anything other than her pellets (not including her free range experience.)

So I'd concentrate on this until there's more information about something else.

On egg binding, feel her abdomen very gently for swelling, any lumps, etc. You can actually even check for a broken egg by coating a finger in KY jelly or vaseline (I prefer the former) and gently examining the enterior of the cloaca for shell fragments. Watching her droppings can also tell you if there's any yolk in the droppings.

During the incidents with the parasites, she might have had her blood levels of nutrients go down and just now is showing it - including the calcium. I'd try to boost it up, make sure she's hydrated and whatnot, and see what happens over night.

 

[kezabel]

well she isn't egg bound because she layed an egg, she is up and clucking around again now and seems back to her normal self(so far)
I gave her some yogurt and she gulped that down. I'd like to that everyone who helped me with my hen, its very much appreciated

I'm going to get her some vitamins this afternoon as well.

 

[threehorses]

Well that sounds like wonderful news! The silly girl; tell her she had folks worried around the world. /wink

 

[kezabel]

I went down and told her that she was on the world wide web lol she just looked at me lol Now she is out runing around in the rain, clucking and scratching. I opened the garage door for them all so they can get out of the rain but they seem to want to be out in it, silly things. their coop is open too but they would rather get wet, I can't win today!!!