Is she dying - what can i do? - PLEASE HELP

[davekrista]

Yesterday my husband went out to feed our girls and put them in for the night. It was pouring out and 1 of my older RIR was outside getting soaked and very slow to come in. He said it looked like she wasn't doing well... This morning when i went out, I opened the door to the run, counted the girls as they came out, 1 was missing... I opened the door to check her and she "rolled" outside. She must have been up against the door. I feared she had died, but she is still alive, breathing and she tried to flap 1 wing and fell to the ground and just put her head down and layed there in the rain. I picked her up and brought her in out of the rain and put a heating lamp on her. She is still breathing and when you talk to her, she will fidget and mover her foot or wing, occasionally will lift her head but keep her eyes closed. I know she is alive and it breaks my heart to see her like this. I'm not sure if she is just old or if something else is wrong. She has no visible signs of anything, i checked her over. Is there anything more I can do to help her?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you know if she is still laying eggs? Will she eat or drink? these are issues that need to be adressed now. she could be egg bound, do you worm your chickens? have you checked for lice/mites? how do the rest of the flock act and look?

 

[chickensbythesea]

Is she eating, drinking, pooping (what's her poop like? normal?), and can you tell if she's lost any weight lately?

Do they free-range? (If so, could she have gotten into something she shouldn't have?)

Any idea how old she is? You say older, but that can mean a lot of things to different people

 

[tammye]

You can give her some extra chicken vitamins in her food and electrolyte solution in her water. If all else is normal with her, no lice/mites, respiratory symptoms, and she is older than a year she may have a vitamin deficiency or she has eaten something that did not agree with her. I have had a hen with simular symptoms and she came back to life with some extra care, ie... kept inside, warm, well fed and the extra vitamins, hope your girl gets better

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
Not sure if she is still laying. I have other chickens and I'm getting lots of eggs a day. Not sure who is laying. I got her as an adult and I do not worm my chickens. I have checked for lice/mites and havent seen anything....... she isn't even standing or anything. I was trying to figure out a way to try to have her eat or drink, any suggestios?

The rest of my girls seem fine, eating fine and drinking. Love to be outside, but since its been raining, go in and out.

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
I'm not sure about yesterday, my husband took care of them, but i know 2 days ago she was atleast drinking. She is in with others so i'm not sure about poop, but i haven't seen any poop that would concern me. She hasn't lost any weight, actually she is one of the bigger girls I have.

They don't free range, they are fenced in.

Not sure exactly how old she is, we've had her about a year and when we got her, we were told she is 4 or 5, but they weren't completely honest so i'm only going by what they said. So that would put her at 5 or 6.

 

[davekrista]

Quote:
I have some poly-vi-sol, can i give that to her? She isn't really moving around, just laying there on her side. How do i give her water? Through a dropper maybe?

 

[Miss Lydia]

you might scramble her an egg they seem to like that. also yogurt will help if she has upset stomach. also electrolytes in her water, alot of people swear by avia charge. you might feel her stomach does it feel bloated or like it's full of liquid? getting her to drink and eat will be the key to helping her through what ever this is. I know alot of people are against worming but if she has acsess to dirt bugs worms then she could be wormy, you don't have to see worms to have them. worms can bring them down fast.

when giving water or vits just use the dropper and dribble it along her beak where her mouth opens, you don't want anything to go down the wrong pipe into her lungs. poly vi sol is fine as long as it doesn't have iron in it.

 

[kelar]

I don't mean to be overly blunt, but a chicken lying on its side is in the process of dying. Trying to force food or water at this point is not going to help. IF she is responsive enough - eyes open, on her feet, etc., then giving some scrambled egg, vitamins etc. might be helpful. However, it sounds to me like the best you can do for her is keep her warm and comfortable until she passes or put her out of her misery. A heat lamp might be a little much - they give off an awful lot of heat

 

[Katydid2011]

I'm so sorry.

It sounds to me like your hen is very near death and the best you can do is keep her comfortable, dry and warm. I'd love to be wrong.