I swear, if I didn't have bad luck lately, I wouldn't have any. Ok, a little background. I have one flock of Black Copper Marans, three hens and one rooster. They are housed seperately from the rest of my birds. All are about 8 months old. They just started laying about a month ago and have been almost daily egg layers.
This week, all three hens stopped laying. Go out to the coop last night and one of the hens is extremely lethargic with both eyes swollen shut. She was sitting with her beak almost touching the floor. We brought her inside, put Vet RX on her, gave her antibiotic water and some food. She cracked one eye, but won't eat anything. She stands up on her own and is strong enough to fight us about the Vet RX, but keeps her eyes closed and her head under her wing. I didn't expect her to be alive this morning, but she was. I made her a mix of Ensure, olive oil, corn mash and scrambled egg, but she still wouldn't eat. She did poop overnight. It was white and watery. Hubby got her to drink some straight Ensure before she left for work. She pooped again and he said it looked like it had egg yolk in it. We can't feel any eggs in her, so I don't think she's egg bound. He also said her stomach growled when she drank the Ensure.
The only other thing I can think to do is to get some injectable antibiotics for her. Any thoughts? What do you think this could be? We have put the rest of the BCMs on antibiotic water as well.
This week, all three hens stopped laying. Go out to the coop last night and one of the hens is extremely lethargic with both eyes swollen shut. She was sitting with her beak almost touching the floor. We brought her inside, put Vet RX on her, gave her antibiotic water and some food. She cracked one eye, but won't eat anything. She stands up on her own and is strong enough to fight us about the Vet RX, but keeps her eyes closed and her head under her wing. I didn't expect her to be alive this morning, but she was. I made her a mix of Ensure, olive oil, corn mash and scrambled egg, but she still wouldn't eat. She did poop overnight. It was white and watery. Hubby got her to drink some straight Ensure before she left for work. She pooped again and he said it looked like it had egg yolk in it. We can't feel any eggs in her, so I don't think she's egg bound. He also said her stomach growled when she drank the Ensure.
The only other thing I can think to do is to get some injectable antibiotics for her. Any thoughts? What do you think this could be? We have put the rest of the BCMs on antibiotic water as well.
