How long would you wait...

[Spinster_Sister]

for an egg to appear? My hen, Parsley, has not laid an egg for about 3 to 4 days now. This past Friday night she stumbled out of her run with very very pale comb, face, waddles and very unsteady on her feet. She seemed like she was alittle disoriented. She stayed inside the house that night and I was up with her throughout. She had a vet visit the next day and there the vet noted that she was very very pale and felt a small watery mass on her belly. It was like a deflated water balloon. Parlsey received just under 1/10th of Ivermectin on the back of her neck and she was started on Baytril and poultry vitamins that night at home.

Parsley has made vast improvemens in the past two days. Her face/waddles/comb are red again, she is running around the yard, is eating, foraging and dustbathing with rest of the chickens. Her appetite is coming back around and she is really looking good...except no egg. Last night her bottom did not feel like a deflated water balloon, but it felt tight and swollen and warmer. I dosed her with her olive oiled baytril and she slept outside in the coop. This morning she walked out and started eating....the area where she slept had a large amount of water soaked the paper. Her poop on the paper were normal, not mushy...it was almost like she sprung a leak of water.

She is singing her egg song when her pals laid their eggs yesterday and today but she has not visited the lay box herself. She has energy and is red in the face and head again. Her heart and lungs are strong and clear.

How long should I wait for her to lay? She has an appointment tomorrow for an x-ray. If she had peritonitis would'nt she be on death's door right now? Parsley is only 1.8 years old and is my very favorite hen.


1) What type of bird , age and weight. JERSEY GIANT, 1.8 yrs, 2.7 Kg

2) What is the behavior, exactly. PALE COMB/FACE, WEAK, NO EGGS,

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? 4 DAYS AGO BUT NOW APPEARS FINE BUT NO EGGS

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? NO

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. NO

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. ??

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. YES

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. FIRST NIGHT, NEON GREEN...NOW NORMAL

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? BAYTRIL, POULTRY VITS IN WATER, GREEK YOGURT, MEALWORMS, MASH

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? WENT TO VET ONE DAY AFTER ONSET, NOW ON MEDS, WANT TO SAVE HER LIFE.....ANYTHING


11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: SOY INK SHREDDED NEWSPAPER INSIDE PLASTIBOARD COOP





TIA,
~Vickie

 

[Firefighter Chick]

sorry i'm not the best to answer your question but after feeling ill, i would give her several days to recuperate. You could try giving her a warm bath to soak her to relax her muscles and give her some extra treats. good luck with her.

 

[Spinster_Sister]

Thanks FFChick.....I did take Parsley into the vet today for her xrays and am surprised to find that she is not egg bound! In fact, the vet says she didn't see any eggs in process and that her days of laying are probably over! I am alright with that, just as long as she is healthy and happy, I don't care about her laying eggs.

The vet said she has fluid in her abdomen but that she does not see any tumors or hints of tumors. Just fluid. The vet gave me liquid Baytril (since Parsley HATES taking tablets) and an anti=inflammatory/pain reliever in liquid as well. Since Parsley is still acting like a healthy chicken and her red color has returned, she said long term anti biotics and a mild anti inflamatory until this resolves. She said if she starts to hold more liquid then they can drain it without problem. I have read from a few posters that they have had to drain their hens a few times and then the fluid issue just resolves itself. I hope that will be the case for Parsley. My Parsley has been draining fluid at night in the coop. The past two nights there has been a substantial amount of fluid that I have found on the papers in their coop. Parsley laid down two nights ago to sleep and in the morning there was her poop mound and a very large fluid shadow surrounding it. Last night she roosted with Saffron and again, under the roost was her small poop mound and the shadow of a pool of fluid. The fluid appears clear and is not sticky or stinky.

Does anybody know if I can put down some medical test paper down to help see what the fluid is? Like giant test strips?

 

[Spinster_Sister]

If somebody has a link to a SAFE DCM viewer converter to GIF/JPG/BMG, I could post her xrays.