robotichickens
Hatching
- Jul 13, 2015
- 6
- 0
- 7
This is a last-ditch effort to save my young Isabrown hen. I posted a few weeks ago that she was sitting in her nest box a lot, and someone determined that she could be broody. Fast forward a few days, she lays a massive egg (double-yolker) and hasn't laid since. It's been about three weeks.
The first few days after she laid her last egg, we thought she was egg-bound because she was walking funny, very prone to lying down wherever, not eating much. She was born November last year, and has been laying every day for the last 2-3 months. She is part of a flock of 5 hens - two Wyandottes, one Plymouth Rock and one Buff Sussex as well as her. None of them have shown any signs of illness.
Upon looking up a lot of threads on BYC, I've found out that it's normal for broody hens to not lay for a while after being broody - she was only broody for two days, though, tops.
After giving her warm baths and keeping her inside with her own food supply, she didn't improve. We took her to an avian vet after three days of that, and the vet put fluids into her, kept her overnight, and deduced that she was not egg-bound, as she could not feel an egg. We were given Calcivet and antibiotics, and she's been given both twice a day for the last ten days.
She came off them yesterday, and has since gone back to being lethargic, not eating or drinking and staying away from the other chickens. She was top dog before she got sick, and now she is apparently underweight and the biggest chicken is bullying her and keeping her from getting to the food.
We feed all of them a tray of soaked horse oats morning and evening, with layer pellets and fresh water available at all times. We let them out into our back garden for free ranging and foraging in the day time. Here in Australia, it's the middle of winter and we've recently had some unusually cold mornings and evenings, and the chickens are usually out and about, basking in the sun and running around to keep warm.
My Isabrown is now preferring to stay in the shade at the back fence of the yard, hunkered down in the dirt. Sometimes she just stands there, not doing anything, just standing. Her tail is droopy at times, upright at others. She's also showing some poop on her feathers beneath her vent, which hasn't happened before. The poop is not the usual brown, and more a green colouring. She pooped a long, firm green cyclindrical one yesterday afternoon, which I find odd. There's grass in the yard, but they don't eat it much, only when they just come out of the coop in the morning.
She's shown little to no interest in pellets, and when she does, she only eats one or two before losing interest. I offered her rolled oats, however, and she gobbled about half a handful of those.
She's not moulting, or laying, or doing much of anything. When she makes noise, it's breathy and quiet. She's not so docile that she'll let me pick her up, which was the case before we took her to the vet - she's still very much against that, unless it's dark.
I've kind of convinced myself that there's nothing much I can do for her now. My mum doesn't want to take her back to the vet, because really, she's just a chicken. I'm determined to do all I can within reason, but most of the home remedies on this site won't apply to this case because I don't live in America, so your products aren't available to me.
If ANYONE has any advice, taking into account the information above, I'd be glad to hear it.
The first few days after she laid her last egg, we thought she was egg-bound because she was walking funny, very prone to lying down wherever, not eating much. She was born November last year, and has been laying every day for the last 2-3 months. She is part of a flock of 5 hens - two Wyandottes, one Plymouth Rock and one Buff Sussex as well as her. None of them have shown any signs of illness.
Upon looking up a lot of threads on BYC, I've found out that it's normal for broody hens to not lay for a while after being broody - she was only broody for two days, though, tops.
After giving her warm baths and keeping her inside with her own food supply, she didn't improve. We took her to an avian vet after three days of that, and the vet put fluids into her, kept her overnight, and deduced that she was not egg-bound, as she could not feel an egg. We were given Calcivet and antibiotics, and she's been given both twice a day for the last ten days.
She came off them yesterday, and has since gone back to being lethargic, not eating or drinking and staying away from the other chickens. She was top dog before she got sick, and now she is apparently underweight and the biggest chicken is bullying her and keeping her from getting to the food.
We feed all of them a tray of soaked horse oats morning and evening, with layer pellets and fresh water available at all times. We let them out into our back garden for free ranging and foraging in the day time. Here in Australia, it's the middle of winter and we've recently had some unusually cold mornings and evenings, and the chickens are usually out and about, basking in the sun and running around to keep warm.
My Isabrown is now preferring to stay in the shade at the back fence of the yard, hunkered down in the dirt. Sometimes she just stands there, not doing anything, just standing. Her tail is droopy at times, upright at others. She's also showing some poop on her feathers beneath her vent, which hasn't happened before. The poop is not the usual brown, and more a green colouring. She pooped a long, firm green cyclindrical one yesterday afternoon, which I find odd. There's grass in the yard, but they don't eat it much, only when they just come out of the coop in the morning.
She's shown little to no interest in pellets, and when she does, she only eats one or two before losing interest. I offered her rolled oats, however, and she gobbled about half a handful of those.
She's not moulting, or laying, or doing much of anything. When she makes noise, it's breathy and quiet. She's not so docile that she'll let me pick her up, which was the case before we took her to the vet - she's still very much against that, unless it's dark.
I've kind of convinced myself that there's nothing much I can do for her now. My mum doesn't want to take her back to the vet, because really, she's just a chicken. I'm determined to do all I can within reason, but most of the home remedies on this site won't apply to this case because I don't live in America, so your products aren't available to me.
If ANYONE has any advice, taking into account the information above, I'd be glad to hear it.
