Hen with swollen throat

[SarahGfa]

I am watching your thread because I have a hen that has a swollen throat too, and can't swallow food. Don't be scared to tube feed! It's not as hard as it sounds.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sadly, Nessie is much the same. There’s no more smell, so I think the medicine dealt with that. The canker has not shrunk at all, and she’s still very weak. She has been drinking water, but not eating. I did have another go with the tweezers last night, but didn’t get very far before I had to stop. There’s just nothing there to grab onto, and I know it extends pretty far down her throat. I don’t want to give up, but I have to take into account her future quality/length of life, and I’ve been thinking about putting her down before she gets any worse.

I’m so sorry that she is still dealing with the canker, but her case was pretty extensive. I agree that her quality of life should be considered.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

RIP Baroness. I'm pretty sure she passed peacefully, as she was still talking and fighting against me when I gave her her medicine last night. She had a good long life, almost seven years, and her silly little broody self will be much missed. Here's a photo of her last May, when she was in her element, being a terror to anyone who dared come near her.

Thanks everyone very much for your help. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure no one else in my flock gets sick.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Just another update: I finished the course of acidified copper sulfate yesterday. I put it in their water for three straight days, and they hardly drank anything. They drank enough to stay alive, but the water level didn’t go down much at all. This morning I put their regular metal waterer out there, with plain water in it, and they went absolutely insane. Every single one of them, even my little blind chicken, crowded around it for over ten minutes, just gulping all the water they could hold. I guess I’m wondering if they got enough of the sulfate to keep them from getting sick. They clearly just didn’t like the taste, and I wish I’d have put something in there to mask it. No one’s gotten sick, and judging from how contagious people say this is, they probably would’ve gotten it by now. I didn’t have the heart to do an autopsy on Nessie, so I don’t even know for sure if it was canker she had. Oh well. I’ll keep a close eye on them for the next few weeks to be sure. Thanks again for your help!