Hen shaking head excessive thirst UPDATE - IT WAS CANKER NOT WORMS

[2greenboyz]

Just went out and checked on her, no detectable smell to her breath, vent looks normal although some poop below vent. She also ate some more of that mixture I described with the yogurt and egg, closed her eyes some and also some difficulty in swallowing but I would say not as bad a time as she was having yesterday. Of course it is still too early to conclude that it is improved, but she did not shake her head this time.

Here's a pic of her I took yesterday. My other one just can't seem to stay out of the pic lol.

(My first pic post here - hope it works)

 

[Alfred's Mama]

Sorry to hear about your hen, I hope you can find out what it is and help her - my silkie roo would shake his head to expell mucus or seed that was too big to swallow, it turned out he had a respiritory infection that needed treatment with Baytril. Although I know chickens that drink alot can sometimes be hot, expelling watery poop and replacing the lost moisture with cooler and fresher water helps them regulate their temperature; I'm currently having that problem with my RIR x hen, she's pooping water and drinking so much, I also found a fleshy thing in her bedding - I posted in the diseases thread but no answers yet. It may be a good idea if she's losing alot of water to giver her an electrolyte fluid, the body retains moisture better that way - it's very easy to make or you can buy it from a chemist/pharmacy store1 in little sachets, I use a brand called dioralyte and it works wonders. Good luck!

 

[2greenboyz]

Thanks Golden Feather, those are excellent suggestions. I did think of diabetes although she has not lost her appetite apparently. I have tried beans before, guess I have to disguise them because that's what I cleaned up at the end of the day. What is an oegb? Parrot? She leaves the corn? Haha! Your bird already knows what is healthy!!

The girls get egg, sometimes I'll treat them to dry cat food - I buy a small bag of the organic kind made from fish. Their feed is organic with no soy anymore (no GMOs here)!. They have oyster shell. On the drooling, that's what I was thinking too. You are probably right, it just all comes back out there's so much.

On doing the testing for diabetes, good idea. I don't have a friend like that - anymore But I did take medical classes and know how to do it. Just gotta get the supplies.... thanks for your help, good ideas.

 

[2greenboyz]

Thanks Alfred's Mama, it's not hot here yet, so that's not it. Plus, she's been doing this for so long and now it really got bad. I'm monitoring her, gave her a worm dose yesterday so I got my fingers crossed. I like your idea of the electrolyte, excellent idea. I got some in my fridge - keep in a sealed bag so thanks for reminding me. I'm gonna do that.

 

[ki4got]

oegb = old english game bantam. teeny little silver duckwing girl. funniest thing in the world watching my huge (9-10 lbs) silver grey dorking roo try breeding her. he just stands on the ground either side of her wings. LOL

and parrot? i've got a blue and gold macaw that would eat everything including the fingers holding the treats, if you let her.

no worries there about her being thin.

as for cat food, you'd be better off with a canned variety, the kibble has LOTS of grains in it and usually very little meat by weight. check the label. if meat isn't one of the first 2 ingredients, it's mostly grains.

and for the electrolytes, that might be a good idea but check the calorie content. if it's over 100 cal per serving, it's loaded with sugar. sugar free pedialyte is good for birds, i used that when i was hand raising lots of parrot species babies (primarily parakeet, cockatiel, lorikeet, and caique. oh and my 1 macaw, now 19 years old)

as for the diabetic testing supplies, no clue there. it's been close to 20 years since i had the cockatiel and the money to spend on vets. LOL

 

[2greenboyz]

She doesn't seem to be doing so good anymore. I'm afraid she isn't even drinking - tried to find her crop, small so not much in it. She ate egg and yogurt this morn. But standing, not moving around much. I took her, managed to get maybe 2 or 3cc of electrolyte water into her, she seems a little unbalanced but still puts up a good fight. Then I massaged her crop and got an "internal burp" ie, it didn't come out her mouth just something moved in there. Rubbed some more and a few minor gurgles. So, now I need a miracle me thinks. I'll try feeding her some applesauce and yogurt or maybe that red wine and olive oil soaked bread like I just read on one thread for crop issues.

 

[TeamChaos]

Man, I hope she pulls through! I wouldn't be too aggressive w/ feeding and watering her if you know she's taken in some in the last 24 hours- imagine if you had the flu and someone kept barging in to pour soup down your throat!

She's got the wormer on board right now. I'd make her comfortable and have good food available if she wants it and just kind of watch how she's trending. Best of luck!

 

[2greenboyz]

Yeh I hear ya on that. I only gave her a little water just to make sure cuz it was warm here today, I probably missed the shot on most of it and it dribbled down the front. So okay here's what happened this eve. Noticed she was just standing there, huddled, eyes closing, not good. I am panicked, can't lose her after all this, she started looking so good. I'm feelin like I'm on a roller coaster now. I saw this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ssage-doent-seem-to-be-working-help-needed/10 and remembered a discussion with this lady when I picked up the 3 chicks earlier this week, we talked about olive oil. I figured - I got nothing to lose. If she dies then what? I gotta at least try. And red wine and olive oil - that doesn't sound so bad. So I grabbed a tiny bit of bread, drizzled the olive oil over, added some red wine, made sure it was absorbed as much as possible. A little in me, a little for them haha just kiddin. Went out and offered it to her. I really didn't think she'd take it. She inspected it, thought about it, tasted it, then ate a piece. YES. She ate three pieces. I kinda followed her around "here, want more" haha. Nope. Meanwhile my other girl was trying to barge in "I wanna try it......" Finally I gave her a piece and offered it again to Jet, the black sex link. She took one more piece. That makes 4. Stood there, wanderin around. About 15 minutes later she perked up, running around, actually eating pellets OMG I can't believe it. Okay, settle down. I'll wait and see how she is doing tomorrow but she'll probably get more of same tx until she starts to enjoy the wine too much then it gets pulled Thanks TeamChaos. We're not out of the woods yet, but I have seen a glimmer of hope now. I'll post again how she is doing. Like I said, it feels like a roller coaster and I am pretty certain now worm load brought this on.

 

[2greenboyz]

Update on Jet - I began giving her a tiny bit of bread drizzled with olive oil and red wine. The reason for that was per the previous thread I saw (link is above). I figured it would help if she did have motility problems or sour crop issues. At first she ate very little of it. I offered it three times a day at first, then two. Right now I'm still doing it but she is down to just in the morning - one time a day and she has developed a liking for it now. In fact, she defends it from my Wyandotte - Bandit. I've seen her chase Bandit off - a good sign. Another thing I did was I was wondering if she might have liver disease because her poops are still not what they should be. I know Milk Thistle is supposed to help support her system and certainly won't hurt (wide margin of safety). So I looked up the best supplement brand-wise at consumer labs, and Jarrow had passed all their testing. So I break one cap a day into the mix. She also has been getting the cooked egg mixed with greek yogurt and a little bit of bread mix. I put the red wine concoction on top of the egg mix. At first I offered layer pellets soaked in enough water to make like a thick gravy. Later, I saw she was eating dry pellets on her own, so I didn't offer the soaked ones anymore, and have seen no more drooling.

While her crop had been soft and squishy, full of liquid, as of Wednesday night when I felt it it was almost firm. Next night, Thursday, it felt normal, hard and not enlarged, like there was a small hockey puck in there. So she is eating enuf on her own now. I see less standing around puffed up - still see some but it has been very cold by California standards - and rain yesterday. As far as head shaking, this morning, she is still doing some but not as violently as before - or as long. (That concerns me still tho) It seemed she was having a hard time swallowing before, standing there between bites trying to get it down it looked like. And sometimes it looked like she was - I dunno - biting at thin air then the head shaking would begin. It has eased off considerably - not as intense - but not quite gone. I guess all this takes time to resolve itself and I have to be patient and look at the small improvements - she can't get better overnight. Her poop is still pea green and soupy, no definition. It seems to be improving some though. Before it was totally liquid and now it is like viscosity of pancake batter maybe (oh yum!). I do sometimes see a bit of urates so it is starting to improve. What is it they say - abnormally consistent or consistently abnormal. Right now it still leans toward the abnormally consistent side. Anyone have any suggestions on her poop or anything else I'd love to hear your expert opinion cuz I'm still learnin.

I do have one question - the 10 day mark is Tuesday for her next worm treatment. How critical is that - can I be late like a day or two or does it make any difference?

@ Ki4got - to answer your comments above, I have tried canned cat food and they wouldn't touch it! The dry I have - which I have to soak then they'll eat it silly birds - first two ingred listed are fish! And on the electrolyte - it has 0 calories. Straight minerals, vitamins, etc. Takes about 1/8 tsp per gallon of water! I gave them that for a couple of days, switched back to ACV now.

Thanks so much for everyone's help I think we are going to make it after all!

 

[2greenboyz]

I forgot, just to document here - Wednesday I also checked ears for mites, didn't see any but put veg oil in both ears anyway and dusted them with poultry dust and cleaned out their roost where they sleep directly on shavings. I sprayed and dusted that too, plus their nest boxes. So eliminated any possible reason for head shaking.