hen with selenium deficiency, not eating or drinking, dying, help?

[dlebauer]

About 10 days ago, we found our hen, a buff brahma, unable to stand up straight. We took her to the Univ. of Illinois Vet teaching hospital the next day where a professor diagnosed her with selenium deficiency and gave her a vitamin e/ selenium shot. She has been inside in a comfy box of straw with a heat lamp but has not gotten better and today she seemed a bit worse. She hasn't been eating or drinking much until I gave her a few chicken hearts two days ago which she gobbled up happily. But now she won't even eat those.

Now she seems like she is getting closer to death, and I feel helpless. She hasn't seemed to be in much pain, but I don't know what I should be doing short of either squirting some sort of liquified food down her mouth, (it seems like it might be too late for that), euthanizing her, or letting her die a peaceful death.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

 

[welasharon]

If she doesn't get any food she can't get better and she will die. See if you can get some mashed boiled egg into her. Maybe mixed with some yogurt to make it easier to digest. You may have to make it more liquid like and feed it to her. Good luck with her.

 

[dlebauer]

I just went in to give her the mixture and she was dead.

Thanks for the suggestion. I wish that I had thought of this earlier in the week when she stopped eating.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Oh I am so sorry for your loss.