I posted a couple of days ago. I thought my hen was egg bound, but she wasn't. We noticed she had some congestion when she was breathing so I brought her to the vet. She had been eating and drinking and pooping fairly normally. She just wasn't moving. The vet was going to X-ray her, but said that he listened to her breathing and he didn't notice anything really bad, so he just gave me a liquid anti inflammatory to give her (meloxidyl) for four days. And we have been keeping her inside at night so she is warmer and hopefully more comfortable. That doesn't seem to stress her. I took her to the vet Friday afternoon and it's now Sunday morning and she isn't eating hardly anything and is super tired. I'm really worried. I called the vet but I don't think he will be able to see her again until tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. She pooped today and it was pretty normal. There was no blood. Also, there is no mucus in her eyes or beak.
This is hard for various reasons. I know nothing about chickens. My husband grew up with them. What he says and what the vet says are often not the same thing and I don't know what to do. Even here I've read various threads and often people post different things about the same topic. So here are my questions. I'm afraid that she might not make it until tomorrow afternoon and I'm trying to see if there's anything I can do for her now.
1. Should I try to force feed her or put water in a dropper and give that to her that way? The idea of force feeding her seems really wrong, but again, I don't know.
2. I've read that giving her cider vinegar in her water or feeding her garlic can help. Does it and if so, how do I get her to eat/drink that?
3. The vet said that at this point, it's kind of pointless to separate her from the 3 others because they have already been exposed to whatever she has. What do y'all think?
4. How long does it normally take for a chicken to get better from a cold?
Sorry for the long post. It's really sad for me because I really love this particular chicken, and my lack of knowledge plus conflicting voices from the vet and my husband make it even harder. Thanks.
This is hard for various reasons. I know nothing about chickens. My husband grew up with them. What he says and what the vet says are often not the same thing and I don't know what to do. Even here I've read various threads and often people post different things about the same topic. So here are my questions. I'm afraid that she might not make it until tomorrow afternoon and I'm trying to see if there's anything I can do for her now.
1. Should I try to force feed her or put water in a dropper and give that to her that way? The idea of force feeding her seems really wrong, but again, I don't know.
2. I've read that giving her cider vinegar in her water or feeding her garlic can help. Does it and if so, how do I get her to eat/drink that?
3. The vet said that at this point, it's kind of pointless to separate her from the 3 others because they have already been exposed to whatever she has. What do y'all think?
4. How long does it normally take for a chicken to get better from a cold?
Sorry for the long post. It's really sad for me because I really love this particular chicken, and my lack of knowledge plus conflicting voices from the vet and my husband make it even harder. Thanks.
