How much to feed a sick Light Sussex Bantam - using syringe and cooked porridge oats

[Kay Kew]

Hello everyone
I have a Light Sussex Bantam hen who has been looking under the weather for a couple of weeks, but was eating reasonably OK up to a few days ago. I noticed that at least some of her poop had become very runny also, but no sign of blood or anything like that. On Friday (2 days ago) I brought her to the vet in the evening. She couldn't find anything specific that was causing the problem. She suggested a possible Vitamin B deficiency but the other two hens I have are in the best of health and all have access to the same food so that didn't seem very likely to me. She gave me some Vitamin B in powder form to be added to food. She also gave her a shot of antibiotic and a supply of Tylan Soluble 5g in 20ml water and I am to give the hen 0.2ml of this once a day for 7 days starting this evening. My problems now are as follows: The hen isn't eating anything at all and the last 'voluntary intake' of anything was about 3 sips of water on Saturday morning. I phoned the vet shortly before they were due to close for the weekend and they said she needed to be crop fed and I should bring her in, but there was not sufficient time to get her there and in fact I am really not able to afford all the vet bills (which is why i am seriously looking at rehoming my hens). I will bring her in to the vet tomorrow if she is still in the land of the living - but in the meantime I have started using a 1ml syringe to feed her on cooked porridge which is made sufficiently liquid to be sucked up into the syringe. I administer it much as I did the Panacur which i had to use a few months ago. I am also just giving water from the syringe into the side of her unopened beak which she seems to be taking OK. Poop so far today is like a sort of viscous, fairly transparent albumen like substance with what is like a splash of creamy/yellowish paint in it. No sign of any worms or blood. The hen walked a few steps this morning but generally looks pretty stupified and lets me pick her up easily which she would not normally do.
Question 1: How much porridge 'mush' should I try to get into her?
Question 2: How much additional water should I give her?

I think the vet said she weighed around 750g or so

She is indoors in a cardboard box with woodshavings and straw.

Any advice at all would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Kay Kew]

My poor hen died this evening. I was giving her the first 0.2ml of antibiotic and I think I may have inadvertently got some of it into her airway as her breathing immediately sounded slightly unclear. I didn't know what to do, so probably very stupidly tried to give her some water...then - probably worst thing I could have done - I thought that if I 'up-ended' her it might drain any liquid that had gone into her trachea out again. However the overall effect was to bring up food from her crop ( i presume) and I think I actually ended up suffocating the poor creature. I phone the emergency vet hospital as she was obviously in some distress, but before I had time to even start the car, she had died. I felt really dreadful as I had basically, through my own incompetence, killed the very hen I was trying to save. I can say I did my best - and that is true, but not much comfort really. I hope I can find a good home for my two remaining hens as I have come to the conclusion that I am not someone who is suited to caring for hens because ironically, I care too much about what happens to them. Anyway - she was a fine creature and her life is over. Tomorrow is another day.

 

[PollitolovesPio]

I am so sorry your gen and my duck Pio are together now free of pain in heaven. I lost my duck Pio Thursday night 2/16/2017. She had liver failure. We try all we can but thats all we can do. Pls find peace in knowing you loved her and did your best.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Kay Kew I'm so sorry to hear about your loss

Please don't beat yourself up, it sounds like you did everything you could.

 

[Kay Kew]

Thank you Pollitolovespio and Wyorp Rock. I am now beginning to suspect that my hen may been made sick by eating bluebell leaves which from what I have now read, seem may be toxic to hens. I think I may ask if anyone else knows about this and what the symptoms are on another thread so that anyone else with a 'woodland' garden setup, can avoid the same problem and so that I will know how to recognise if my other two hens have been affected. Thanks again for your good wishes and sympathy.