Illinois...

[Pixie]

I've been keeping Cuddles in the house or garage since Fri night. She's very, very quiet & looks depressed. Not sure if she'd be better with her flock or inside with us.

She pooped runny again this morning & she's getting a soak now. She ate a little yogurt last night, so I'm going to try it again today.

I don't think it's egg bound (or at least not within 1.5" of the vent). I'm afraid it could be egg peritonitis. Could also be cocci (but no blood seen) or start of sour crop (but no major odor). This is the 1st illness I've had in the flock. All the other emergencies were from scrapes, pecks, or immature chicks. Why did it have to be my Cuddles?

I had a Leghorn do the same thing last month. I did one of those "Chicken Spa" treatments (with warm water and epsom salts) and then a couple drops of olive oil for her as a chaser. Well, she perked up once she realized she was partly submerged. I let her shake off the water and put her back with the ladies. Not dead yet! However she was looking a little wimpy yesterday again. I am hoping it was the heat.

I hope Cuddles makes it. She's very pretty.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

The first broody is still sleeping in the nesting boxes, which are separate at the moment from their coop, but she does go out with everyone during the day. I think she is working her way back up into the pecking order, so I am not going to rush her But, at least she has company now, Broody #3 my Buff Orp has been sitting for 3 days now and being rather smart for her first time being broody. She gets off of her nest about an hour after the girls come out in the morning. It is one of the favorite nesting boxes, so while she is off, a couple of the other girls add to her clutch. I had ordered some splash orp eggs and they sent some extras in the form of 3 Lav Orps and 1 blue orp egg. Although when I unpacked them today, I think 1 must have a crack, because 5 had some kind of wetness on them. I am going to candle tonite to check for cracks. Any good ones left I am going to sub the extras for some under the broody.

@Faraday40 How is Cuddles doing?

 

[Faraday40]

Thanks for asking. Cuddles Update:

She was slowly declining & stopped eating/drinking.
I had to do something & tube fed some liquids Tues night.
On Wed, I bought baby bird powder mix & gave 20-30cc twice. (Not how I planned to spend my Bday.)
Did it 3xs today. Boy, is she feisty & fighting me! On the plus side, she pooped solid 3or 4xs today. Perhaps the Corid is doing something.
I even took out my microscope to try my luck at a fecal float. (Unfortunately my 15+ yr old light bulb burned out, so I had to borrow my daughter's.) I found some oval eggs & thin worms. Couldn't see details through the scratched up toy lenses, but I decided to buy a good wormer as soon as I finish the Corid treatment.

She's walking around, preening herself, turns her head to me when I say her name, & even pecks at crud on the floor. What she's NOT doing is eating. I tried scrambled eggs, wet crumbles, baby bird food, bread & yogurt. She took only a small beak full of yogurt. She's never really gone crazy for fruits & veggies. She usually likes scratch, bread, & mealworms.

Does anyone have an idea for an irresistible chicken treat? I feel if I can get her to eat, I can manage the other treatments.

Meanwhile, my son's school called. He caught pink eye. Gotta love Kindergarten!

And guess who decided to go broody again?



To lighten the mood,........ Here's are some pics of Cuddles




This was supposed to be a pic of Cuddles until my jealous Precious decided to photobomb.

 

[cavemanrich]

Thanks for asking. Cuddles Update:


She was slowly declining & stopped eating/drinking.
I had to do something & tube fed some liquids Tues night.
On Wed, I bought baby bird powder mix & gave 20-30cc twice. (Not how I planned to spend my Bday.)
Did it 3xs today. Boy, is she feisty & fighting me! On the plus side, she pooped solid 3or 4xs today. Perhaps the Corid is doing something.
I even took out my microscope to try my luck at a fecal float. (Unfortunately my 15+ yr old light bulb burned out, so I had to borrow my daughter's.) I found some oval eggs & thin worms. Couldn't see details through the scratched up toy lenses, but I decided to buy a good wormer as soon as I finish the Corid treatment.


She's walking around, preening herself, turns her head to me when I say her name, & even pecks at crud on the floor. What she's NOT doing is eating. I tried scrambled eggs, wet crumbles, baby bird food, bread & yogurt. She took only a small beak full of yogurt. She's never really gone crazy for fruits & veggies. She usually likes scratch, bread, & mealworms.


Does anyone have an idea for an irresistible chicken treat? I feel if I can get her to eat, I can manage the other treatments.


Meanwhile, my son's school called. He caught pink eye. Gotta love Kindergarten!

My suggestion is give that Powder Mix. It improved her digestive tract.
Glad to hear things are better.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Thanks for asking. Cuddles Update:

She was slowly declining & stopped eating/drinking.
I had to do something & tube fed some liquids Tues night.
On Wed, I bought baby bird powder mix & gave 20-30cc twice. (Not how I planned to spend my Bday.)
Did it 3xs today. Boy, is she feisty & fighting me! On the plus side, she pooped solid 3or 4xs today. Perhaps the Corid is doing something.
I even took out my microscope to try my luck at a fecal float. (Unfortunately my 15+ yr old light bulb burned out, so I had to borrow my daughter's.) I found some oval eggs & thin worms. Couldn't see details through the scratched up toy lenses, but I decided to buy a good wormer as soon as I finish the Corid treatment.

She's walking around, preening herself, turns her head to me when I say her name, & even pecks at crud on the floor. What she's NOT doing is eating. I tried scrambled eggs, wet crumbles, baby bird food, bread & yogurt. She took only a small beak full of yogurt. She's never really gone crazy for fruits & veggies. She usually likes scratch, bread, & mealworms.

Does anyone have an idea for an irresistible chicken treat? I feel if I can get her to eat, I can manage the other treatments.

Meanwhile, my son's school called. He caught pink eye. Gotta love Kindergarten!

And guess who decided to go broody again?



To lighten the mood,........ Here's are some pics of Cuddles




This was supposed to be a pic of Cuddles until my jealous Precious decided to photobomb.

Glad to hear she is hanging on. Belated Happy Birthday! As for her eating, sounds like that powder is helping for sure. Maybe you could try some quaker oatmeal. My girls love it. I just add some warm water from the tap and let it sit for a minute and they can't eat it fast enough. That is usually their breakfast during the winter but, maybe she would like it and it should help thicken up her poop. And Cookie is broody AGAIN! LOL She doesn't stop, so what are you putting under her?????

 

[Faraday40]

It's not my fault that some orpington & EE eggs ended up in her nest and are being incubated. I kept my promise about not using the incubators until 2016. Cookie never made such a promise. Honestly, I think she has an incubation addiction. BONUS- I wanted to find out if my roos were doing their job, so I guess I'll have an answer in a few weeks.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

It's not my fault that some orpington & EE eggs ended up in her nest and are being incubated. I kept my promise about not using the incubators until 2016. Cookie never made such a promise. Honestly, I think she has an incubation addiction. BONUS- I wanted to find out if my roos were doing their job, so I guess I'll have an answer in a few weeks.

SO glad I am not the only one that has an addiction. Cookie (not you?) and I need to sign up for Hatchers Anonymous!

 

[Pixie]

Thanks for asking. Cuddles Update:

She was slowly declining & stopped eating/drinking.
I had to do something & tube fed some liquids Tues night.
On Wed, I bought baby bird powder mix & gave 20-30cc twice. (Not how I planned to spend my Bday.)
Did it 3xs today. Boy, is she feisty & fighting me! On the plus side, she pooped solid 3or 4xs today. Perhaps the Corid is doing something.
I even took out my microscope to try my luck at a fecal float. (Unfortunately my 15+ yr old light bulb burned out, so I had to borrow my daughter's.) I found some oval eggs & thin worms. Couldn't see details through the scratched up toy lenses, but I decided to buy a good wormer as soon as I finish the Corid treatment.

She's walking around, preening herself, turns her head to me when I say her name, & even pecks at crud on the floor. What she's NOT doing is eating. I tried scrambled eggs, wet crumbles, baby bird food, bread & yogurt. She took only a small beak full of yogurt. She's never really gone crazy for fruits & veggies. She usually likes scratch, bread, & mealworms.

Does anyone have an idea for an irresistible chicken treat? I feel if I can get her to eat, I can manage the other treatments.

Meanwhile, my son's school called. He caught pink eye. Gotta love Kindergarten!

And guess who decided to go broody again?



To lighten the mood,........ Here's are some pics of Cuddles




This was supposed to be a pic of Cuddles until my jealous Precious decided to photobomb.

For the treats, have you tried oatmeal? (Not cooked, just rolled or whole or full grain) All my girls come running when I get a scoop out of the bag, even the ones in the nesting boxes. (They love it so much I got a 50# bag for them -it was only $9)

Also,all my girls go nuts over any kind of meat. It's like a cage-match in the run when there are scraps to give them.

 

[Faraday40]

For the treats, have you tried oatmeal? (Not cooked, just rolled or whole or full grain) All my girls come running when I get a scoop out of the bag, even the ones in the nesting boxes. (They love it so much I got a 50# bag for them -it was only $9)

Also,all my girls go nuts over any kind of meat. It's like a cage-match in the run when there are scraps to give them.

Yes. My sweet, docile Cuddles is normally very pushy when it comes to treats. She's very big & uses her size advantage to get more than her fair share. (That's how I knew something was wrong on Fri. She quietly ate rather than devoured.) Her fav is usually bread & scratch grains.

I tried warm, cooked oatmeal this morning- nope. I had a little luck with a grape. She ate about 1/2 - as long as I held it. As soon as I put it down, she walked away.Likewise with a leftover Brown's Chicken biscuit. On the bright side, she pooped solid 2x over night.

I've been letting her out when I'm in the basement on my computer. She's been walking over to the door & staring outside. She also pecks around at the floor. I really wish she'd eat some of the food I offered rather than mystery dirt-crumbs from the floor. The area by the back door is where we store our backyard shoes. It's ALWAYS dirty.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Well I just saw the most ridiculous thing ever. My poor broody must have cracked an egg under her yesterday. Because she jumped out of the nest squawking and when I looked out she had 3 eggs stuck to her lower chest. She apparently had 5 but lost 2 on the way out of the nest. Poor thing . Had to grab the hose and give her under belly a good rinse. Tomorrow she will b getting a bath.