Greetings! My sweet New Hampshire Red, Rusty, is not really eating much. She recently recovered from egg yolk peritonitis, and was gaining weight back, but now she's sort of wasting away again. She is on hormones to prevent laying, as she is at risk for recurrence of the egg yolk peritonitis, so anything lay related should be out. She heartily eats live meal worms and scrambled eggs, but is not really eating her feed, nor treats like scratch or hulled sunflower seeds. When the girls are out for freerange time, she does seem to be foraging, and I have definitely seen her eat greens. Her poop is scant and watery. Her feathers look good. Eyes are bright, comb-wattle have decent coloring, and she acts like a normal chicken, besides the eating, and she is just ever so slightly standoffish with the flock. She is scary skinny with pronounced keel. Bullying is an issue with a flock mate, but I'm mot set up separate them proberly, so I'm giving them as much free time as possible. I did take her back to the avian vet, as she had been puffing her feathers and dropping her tail, but his opinion was she had tecovered from the peritonitis and looked great. She does look great, but feels like a skeleton with feathers. I think she weighed 4.1 pounds, but has always been a small chicken, even before getting sick. Any ideas for stimulating her appetite? She's been through so much, I really want her to make it and have a great life. Plus, we have chicks, so in a couple months when I integrate them, she won't be lowest in the pecking order. The feed store recommended blending in some performance pellets, but all the girls are ignoring it. They are used to crumble, so I smashed some with a meat hammer, but they're still not eating it. Any ideas are welcome. Thank you!
Egg yolk peritonitis is not something that a chicken can recover from. They may respond to antibiotics in early salpingitis, but if they have egg peritonitis, they will lose weight through the chest, have runny droppings off and on, may pass cooked egg-like material, have difficulty walking, sometimes walk more upright or waddle, and have a poor appetite. Internal laying, can look similar, and without infection, they may live for a long time until infection sets in. Pellets will soften in a large amount of water in a flat pan within a few minutes when you still it. You can add probiotic plain yogurt, and raw or cooked egg. Tuna and choppd beef liver in small amounts can be something else to temp the to eat. You may want to look up egg yolk peritonitis--Google it and look on the right side of the page for other good articles on internal laying, salpingitis, and others that may seeem similar.
My chicken was diagnosed with egg yolk peritonitis by an accomplished avian vet six weeks ago. She was on the brink of death when I brought her in... couldn't stand, wouldn't eat, had labored breathing, and made grunting noises when I handled her, gentle as I tried to be. As a molecular biologist myself, I did extensive research on my own before bringing her in and came to the same conclusion. I watched with my own eyes as he aspirated well over a cup of yolk stained fluid from her abdominal cavity. She was treated extensively with veterinary care, including IV fluids, abdominal lavage, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics. I nursed her back to health for a week in my bathroom with force feeding, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and lots of love. She had laid a few soft eggs prior go the egg yolk peritonitis, so I requested a hormone implant to prevent recurrance. She returnd to the flock and seems to enjoy her free range time. Today I watched as she picked clover, grass, and other greens and dug up worms and other treats from the ground. She no longer lowers her tail nor puffs her feathers. She's just scary skinny. Thanks for the ideas for dietary supplements. Today she enjoyed scrambled egg mixed with with plain, full fat greek yogurt and live meal worms. She drank a little baby bird food slurry. Since I work full time, I can't tell if she eats feed throughout the day, but definitely don't see her eat it when I am around. Wondering if (and slightly assuming) some organs sustained some damage from the peritonitis and she'll always be skinny. She always was my smallest chicken and pickiest eater, to the point that her nickname is "Daint." I love her very much, but hVe maxed out on vet bills, so I will continue to do everything I can at home to help her have an enjoyable life. In other news, we have a border collie puppy who wants very badly to be her best friend.
