In need of IMMEDIATE advice!

skylarms

Chirping
8 Years
Jun 28, 2011
179
6
93
Buckley, WA
First off, thank you to all who helped in the case of our pet hen Sunnyside. She passed just minutes ago. her symptoms were as follows:

Lethargic, not eating, runny stool, progression to labored breathing, constant puckering of her vent. When she died, she had her head tilted back mouth opened and when I picked her up she seized and that was it.

I have another hen who was exhibiting the same symptoms although eating and drinking fine. She has a definite rasp to her breathing. Everyone else seems okay. She much perkier than Sunnyside ever was.

I will be taking Sunnyside in for a necropsy in a few hours.It has been mentioned that they can cull the other hen at the same time for no additional charge. I'm half empted to do it as I have chicks hatching in a week, but at the same time she doesnt seem nearly as bad as Sunnyside..... Both were treated with Tylan yesterday.

So, do I take her or leave her and try to get her better too? This is heart wrenching. Sunnyside was my daughters pet. In the past 6 months, we lost the dog, cat and her pony to cancer. Now this..... she is devastated.

Thank you to all for a quick reply! oh both hens will be two March 5th. Neither feel egg bound. And I had an appt with the only avian vet for tomorrow.....
 
It really is a judgement call, but if she is not in pain or suffering, I would give her a chance. Isolate her from the rest of your flock and treat her according to what the necropsy results reveal. Are you taking the other to the vet for the necropsy? Can you take her along and get an opinion from them as to what is best? You can always bring her home again if they think she can recover.
 
I am taking her to the state aviary department. My main concern is I have chicks hatching this weekend.....not cheap chicks either. This is the first one I have ever had be sick . THe last one I thought was sick had a broken leg. Shes fine now, I guess its bound to happen,
 
The aviary dept personnel may be able to give you a clue what it is and offer advice about your other hen if you bring her. If you decide to keep her, make sure you isolate her until you are positive that what she has is not contagious. And practice strict bio-security. Do you have any Oxine? If not, it is worth looking into.
 
This diagnosis is in... I made the decision to take the RIR hen in as well and am very thanful I did. THEY ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS!!!! Im very sad that they are no longer with us but the reasons are not a concern to the rest of the flock, as of now. Sunnyside, the ameraucana had severe peritonitis, probably secondary to a broken egg at some point. It is being cultured but was more than likely was E.Coli. It happened very fast and although she was on antibiotics, it just wasnt enough. She also had a severly inflamed oviduct with large amounts of white casts.

After seeing how dramatically Sunnyside passed, I made the hard decision to take Curry, the RIR, in to be euthanized and have a necropsy as well. She had SEVERE peritonitis secondary to a large tumor on her ovoduct as well as multiple neoplasia along the intestinal wall. The tumors were so great that the peritonits pushed fluid everywhere. The gurgling sound was from her lungs being compressed by the peritonitis and tumors. They was no way to save this one. Any treatment would have just prolonged suffering.

We are running cultures to see what excatly the infection consists of on the rare chance that anyone else gets sick and we can treat. But by time anyone shows symptoms, its too late as we found out. My chickens (ESPECIALLY Sunnyside) are interacted with multiple times a day. As soon as I noticed a problem, I went into action, and even at that, it was too late. Everyone hug their chicken tonight!
 
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I'm so sorry!!
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Thanks. My daughter is very upset. A five year shouldnt have to have so many pets die. Im hoping that the chicks hatch out okay. Baby chicks always help you feel better.
 

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