The Grobfather
In the Brooder
- Sep 19, 2023
- 20
- 3
- 24
1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)
She is an Isa Brown. She is about 2.5 years old and weighs 4.15 pounds.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Thursday night I removed a large swathe of the pine flake from their run and placed coarse screened and washed sand through the run.
I have a three-hen flock. She was attacked on Friday and had a bloody comb and feathers pulled from her neck. She was eating very little on that day. I got her cleaned up and treated the wounds.
She has been underweight, but I noticed she looked kind of malnourished, which I am upset for not noticing sooner. She has always acted a bit awkward and has been the smallest. Her bone in her chest seems more protruded. I sprayed her with Vetericyn and also used a thin layer of blue kote on her comb area and the other chickens too, to make them match and to hopefully dissuade attacks to see if it was a one off thing.
Saturday she drank somewhat but ate a little bit. She was dazed and barely moving around, as if she was terrified.
Sunday morning I checked her crop and it felt strange. The others were empty, hers felt kind of like play-dough, but not entirely. I have since brought her inside, removed all food, and have been giving her a personally a small dropper of nutradrench, an electrolyte mixture with sugar, and most recently now a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. Her crop when pressed does make a crinkling noise and it does sound like bubbles maybe on occasion. But she doesn’t have a sour breath. She is in a spare kennel and doesn’t move from her location even though she stands.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She has not been fascinated with food for a while to the degree the other chickens have, but this all stems from Friday.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Just her
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. Comb bleeding and neck feathers. Her feathers have looked strange since November ish. I thought she had water belly for a while, but I think it was because she felt underweight. She would still interact the past few months despite being a bit on the little side, and I would personally make a mash for her, as her egg quality was strange for a while there. She would lay eggs that were deformed or thin.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I think maybe the nutritional issue and the shock of the attack? She is terrified of the bully and runs away clucking.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She doesn’t eat or drink anything today on her own. I have been manually giving her water, but not food until the crop is resolved, even though I am worried about her weight.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
It looked slightly green and runny this morning, but it is liquid ish brown now.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolated, she is under heat lamp. I have crop massaged and hydrated her every hour all day. I have been giving her nutradrench every few hours and an electrolyte solution with a little sugar added. She has been a bit alert at times.
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?
The only vet near me will not accept new clients, so I am doing everything I can to stabilize her and get her on the path to hopefully recovery.
She is an Isa Brown. She is about 2.5 years old and weighs 4.15 pounds.
2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Thursday night I removed a large swathe of the pine flake from their run and placed coarse screened and washed sand through the run.
I have a three-hen flock. She was attacked on Friday and had a bloody comb and feathers pulled from her neck. She was eating very little on that day. I got her cleaned up and treated the wounds.
She has been underweight, but I noticed she looked kind of malnourished, which I am upset for not noticing sooner. She has always acted a bit awkward and has been the smallest. Her bone in her chest seems more protruded. I sprayed her with Vetericyn and also used a thin layer of blue kote on her comb area and the other chickens too, to make them match and to hopefully dissuade attacks to see if it was a one off thing.
Saturday she drank somewhat but ate a little bit. She was dazed and barely moving around, as if she was terrified.
Sunday morning I checked her crop and it felt strange. The others were empty, hers felt kind of like play-dough, but not entirely. I have since brought her inside, removed all food, and have been giving her a personally a small dropper of nutradrench, an electrolyte mixture with sugar, and most recently now a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water. Her crop when pressed does make a crinkling noise and it does sound like bubbles maybe on occasion. But she doesn’t have a sour breath. She is in a spare kennel and doesn’t move from her location even though she stands.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
She has not been fascinated with food for a while to the degree the other chickens have, but this all stems from Friday.
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
Just her
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. Comb bleeding and neck feathers. Her feathers have looked strange since November ish. I thought she had water belly for a while, but I think it was because she felt underweight. She would still interact the past few months despite being a bit on the little side, and I would personally make a mash for her, as her egg quality was strange for a while there. She would lay eggs that were deformed or thin.
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
I think maybe the nutritional issue and the shock of the attack? She is terrified of the bully and runs away clucking.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She doesn’t eat or drink anything today on her own. I have been manually giving her water, but not food until the crop is resolved, even though I am worried about her weight.
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
It looked slightly green and runny this morning, but it is liquid ish brown now.
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
Isolated, she is under heat lamp. I have crop massaged and hydrated her every hour all day. I have been giving her nutradrench every few hours and an electrolyte solution with a little sugar added. She has been a bit alert at times.
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?
The only vet near me will not accept new clients, so I am doing everything I can to stabilize her and get her on the path to hopefully recovery.
