Rose Connor
In the Brooder
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
The bird is a young D'Uccle hen. She is of laying age, but isn't a year old. She seems to weigh the same as she did prior to this ordeal.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
The behavior that she is exhibiting is lethargy. She doesn't appear to have much drive to move around, which is a contrast to her usual self. She also has a singular droopy eye, her left upper eyelid not being held open quite as much, unlike her right eye, which looks normal and healthy. There doesn't seem to be anything in her eye that I could see, though. On the same side, the left, she doesn't move that wing. When she opens her wings in order to stretch them, she only lifts her right. Her left stays by her side. She allows her wing to be touched, though, and I did not find any wounds or fractures in my swift search.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She has been exhibiting the uncharacteristic drive to expend any energy for a week now, and while she is slightly more active now than she had been when we first noticed, she still doesn't seem to have much desire to move around. The lack of the use of her left wing, as well as the droopiness of only her left eye, have only recently been observed.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
There are no other individuals that are exhibiting the same, or even similar, symptoms as her.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
There are no clear signs of the above. Due to the large amount of feathers she has, it is difficult to truly search for any small wounds, but she allowed me to search her entire body in order to determine whether there was a wound. She also allowed me to run my fingers over the bones of her wings and legs, in order to be sure that there wasn't any detectable breaks. She didn't seem to show any signs of external pain while allowing me to persistently search her body.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
There isn't much, if anything, that I could really say. The night prior to finding her in this state, it had been raining, and the temperature had dropped pretty low that night. A few others had been wet, only to be towel-dried before being locked up for the night. We thought that it may have been a respiratory infection, but she doesn't seem to have any difficulties breathing, and there are no strange sounds that come from her when she does so.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She has been drinking a normal-seeming amount, though she isn't eating much. It is a mixture of water and probiotics. The food that she is given is Purina Flock Raiser with a small amount of scratch mixed in as incentive, as well as the occasional scrambled eggs.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
She has average looking poop, it could possibly even be considered normal or healthy.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Due to having had believed it to be a respiratory problem, since we had two chicks that were suffering from that, we put probiotics into her water, as well as applying a small amount of VetRx to her feathers.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
We do not have a licenced vet nearby that will be willing to look at a chicken. Because of that, it would be preferable to obtain advice on how to treat this ourselves.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
I do not have a photograph of the condition of the bird.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
The original housing is a Precision Pet Old Red Barn II Chicken Coop from Wilco, with a large run that they are allowed to roam during the day. The top level of the coop has a layer of straw, while the bottom level rests directly on the ground. The current housing is a small cage, the bedding being a mix of straw and wood chips. The room she is kept in is kept warmed, due to having a number of younger chicks in a separate area in the same room. She is able to see and talk to the younger roommates, but occasionally is placed outside the cage in order to interact with them if she wishes to, though she typically doesn't want to.
The bird is a young D'Uccle hen. She is of laying age, but isn't a year old. She seems to weigh the same as she did prior to this ordeal.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
The behavior that she is exhibiting is lethargy. She doesn't appear to have much drive to move around, which is a contrast to her usual self. She also has a singular droopy eye, her left upper eyelid not being held open quite as much, unlike her right eye, which looks normal and healthy. There doesn't seem to be anything in her eye that I could see, though. On the same side, the left, she doesn't move that wing. When she opens her wings in order to stretch them, she only lifts her right. Her left stays by her side. She allows her wing to be touched, though, and I did not find any wounds or fractures in my swift search.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She has been exhibiting the uncharacteristic drive to expend any energy for a week now, and while she is slightly more active now than she had been when we first noticed, she still doesn't seem to have much desire to move around. The lack of the use of her left wing, as well as the droopiness of only her left eye, have only recently been observed.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
There are no other individuals that are exhibiting the same, or even similar, symptoms as her.
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
There are no clear signs of the above. Due to the large amount of feathers she has, it is difficult to truly search for any small wounds, but she allowed me to search her entire body in order to determine whether there was a wound. She also allowed me to run my fingers over the bones of her wings and legs, in order to be sure that there wasn't any detectable breaks. She didn't seem to show any signs of external pain while allowing me to persistently search her body.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
There isn't much, if anything, that I could really say. The night prior to finding her in this state, it had been raining, and the temperature had dropped pretty low that night. A few others had been wet, only to be towel-dried before being locked up for the night. We thought that it may have been a respiratory infection, but she doesn't seem to have any difficulties breathing, and there are no strange sounds that come from her when she does so.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She has been drinking a normal-seeming amount, though she isn't eating much. It is a mixture of water and probiotics. The food that she is given is Purina Flock Raiser with a small amount of scratch mixed in as incentive, as well as the occasional scrambled eggs.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
She has average looking poop, it could possibly even be considered normal or healthy.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Due to having had believed it to be a respiratory problem, since we had two chicks that were suffering from that, we put probiotics into her water, as well as applying a small amount of VetRx to her feathers.
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
We do not have a licenced vet nearby that will be willing to look at a chicken. Because of that, it would be preferable to obtain advice on how to treat this ourselves.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
I do not have a photograph of the condition of the bird.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use.
The original housing is a Precision Pet Old Red Barn II Chicken Coop from Wilco, with a large run that they are allowed to roam during the day. The top level of the coop has a layer of straw, while the bottom level rests directly on the ground. The current housing is a small cage, the bedding being a mix of straw and wood chips. The room she is kept in is kept warmed, due to having a number of younger chicks in a separate area in the same room. She is able to see and talk to the younger roommates, but occasionally is placed outside the cage in order to interact with them if she wishes to, though she typically doesn't want to.
