Is anyone available to call me? I think my RIR is dying.

[farmerkel]

Details: she is the smallest and maybe weakest of the brood. I removed her from the coop 12 days ago when I discovered she had an advanced case of bumblefoot. Did the surgery, daily wound care, yesterday she finally seemed to be better (temperature of both legs same, swelling starting to go down. As of last night around 8 she tucked her head into her wing and has basically not moved from that position up til now. Now being 7:38 pm, approx 24 hours. There are.... lice?? mites? sitting all over her back, they're not moving either. She is breathing but not responding to voice or touch. Again, if any really experienced chicken raisiers out there have a moment to call, Id be eternally grateful.
Thank you.

Edited to remove phone number. Please PM or email.

 

[Picky Chicky]

Oh my goodness! I hope someone is able to help you save your sweet girl!

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Thoughts are with you - please update us - hope someone called who could help.

 

[farmerkel]

thank u guys for the good thoughts. Haven't heard from anyone yet but I also have some calls out... if nothing can be done, then ok... I'll just do my best to keep her comfortable, but I gotta try.... I'm a nurse by profession... can't help it....

 

[theFox]

Quote:
If she has a severe lice/mite infestation you had best dust her with some poultry dust, those buggers are slowly bleeding her to death. Make sure you work the dust into her feathers. I am not talking DE here either. You'll have to do a repeat in a couple of weeks as it only kills the live ones and not the egg masses. You also need to clean and dust wherever she has been for the last two weeks, and for heavens sake check the rest of your flock. They are apt to be infested as well.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Are you sure it's lice/mites on her back? If so, they're easily exterminated by dusting her with 5% Sevin Dust or some similar type of insecticidal powder. Does she have any other symptoms besides the lethargy/unresponsiveness? Let us know so we can try to diagnose it. Otherwise she may just have been weakened by the trauma of the bumblefoot surgery and susceptible to some other issue. You can try to keep her warm & secure & comfortable and see if she can rally.

I hope she gets better!

 

[seminolewind]

She is probably septic from the bumblefoot andor surgery, and needs a shot of antibiotics right away. If you can get her to a vet, or go to a feed store and get her an antibiotic (someone-which one) preferably a shot.

Then dust her with Sevin, but not right now.

 

[naked_heels]

I think she's still have pain from surgery, looks like she need a pain reliever. How about one tablet of aspirin for her tonight?

 

[farmerkel]

Quote:
If she has a severe lice/mite infestation you had best dust her with some poultry dust, those buggers are slowly bleeding her to death. Make sure you work the dust into her feathers. I am not talking DE here either. You'll have to do a repeat in a couple of weeks as it only kills the live ones and not the egg masses. You also need to clean and dust wherever she has been for the last two weeks, and for heavens sake check the rest of your flock. They are apt to be infested as well.

See... thats what's weird. Before this girl started to appear under the weather, I treated all my hens and the coop for northern fowl mites. I inspected them all routinely and thoroughly, and everybody looked good. Even her. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure these ARE mites. I just came in from getting the rest of my hens settled in for the night. No mite or lice issues. Just this one who is and has been separated from them for some time.

 

[farmerkel]

Quote:
Just rechecked her. I think they're lice. Great. I just dusted her and her mini coop. Not sure if that will change things at this point. She is in a decent enclosed little set up, and I don't think these nasty little bugs have gotten anywhere else.....
So, as I mentioned she always seemed smaller and weaker than the rest. then she developed bumblefoot, but I didn't know what it was so I just kept soaking it and monitoring... eventually she was just standing on one foot in a corner most of the time, not eating or drinking much. Thats when I separated her and put her in her little "infirmary in my basement. Researched the bumblefoot thing, and got the plug out of her foot. It was at least 1 cm in size, so there was/is a sizeable wound on the top of her foot. The leg and foot were HOT, as expected in the presence of infection. I continued to soak it and use antibiotic ointment and kept it bandaged. She began to eat and drink much better over the last 5 days, until now, of course. Yesterday it finally looked MUCH better, and so did she. Then this drastic change, and these bugs. Her crown has always been scrawny and pale, and still is. She hasn't laid an egg in probably 6 or 7 weeks. I feel awful about this.
Anyway, thats the best I can tell ya about the symptoms. P.S. I treated all 7 of my RIR's and their coop and run very thoroughly with the poultry dust about 6 weeks ago. I then retreated one wk later for good measure, although upon inspection they all looked good. Incidentally she started seeming under the weather shortly after that treatment for northern fowl mites.
Exhausted. Good night and thanks for the concern.