Listless, cachectic hen

[shady chickens]

We just noticed today that one of our 18-month old black barred rocks is very ill! She was acting weird today, seemed almost confused. Very thin all of the sudden, even her legs. And her legs seem red/blotchy. Proximal to her vent is very red with broken and missing feathers. Seems her belly is distended, too. We found her sleeping in her nesting box. I checked her for impacted egg and external mites..found nothing. She is so thin!! and very tired. Also saw watery diarrhea that looks like old paint that has separated...no blood, just whitish/yellowish and watery. We separated her from the rest of the girls and are hoping for the best. Today is Saturday, and we won't be able to get to a vet until Monday. Anybody know what might be wrong? We don't expect her to last much longer.

 

[dlhunicorn]

your bird sounds EXTREMELY ill perhaps with something bacterial going on... basic supportive measures such as keeping in a warm, temperature stable environment and putting electrolytes in the water (gatorade or unflavored pediolyte will also do in a pinch)... If you have some POLYVISOL or chicken/bird supplement give that too until you can get her to a vet for faecal and other testing

 

[shady chickens]

We have Betty in the garage, nice and quiet and warm. She survived the night. I put propel in her water, and diluted it a bit. I hope she drinks it. My husband made her rice this morning, and she ate it along with her favorite food - tomatoes. So I'm hoping for the best. I'm thinking maybe worms...I can't think of anything else that would make her lose so much weight. I've had the flock tested for coccidia in the past and they were ok. The other 10 hens are all well - I'm hoping whatever it is -it's not contagious. How do you de-worm a hen?

 

[shady chickens]

Just an update on Betty - She perked up a bit with the rice, and last night she took some cottage cheese. This morning she was so much better that I found her wandering around the garage - she had enough strength to get out of the box we had her in. She was so lethargic yesterday that we didn't bother to put a top on it! She has an appointment later today....I'm anxious to learn the diagnosis. I'll post the results so maybe someone else can learn something from Betty.

 

[Windy Ridge]

Poor Betty! I hope she'll be okay!

 

[hipmarye]

Best of luck with Betty, let us know what the doc says.

 

[chickbea]

Poor Betty! Keep us posted.

 

[shady chickens]

Betty went to the vet this afternoon. turns out she has a fever of 106.7! Normal for hens is 102-103. So the vet thought because of the weight loss and fever that she might be septic, most likely from an egg that broke inside of her- her belly was hot and swollen. We did an xray to look for an egg or broken shells and found none. Then she finally pooped so they could sample that (i thought for sure she would poop in the carrier but she never did)...turns out she does have worms, like I suspected. She's probably been sick for a while but chickens are good at covering up illness. I feel so bad for her! so now she's being dewormed, and also getting an antibiotic and subcutaneous fluids twice a day, administered by me. never thought i'd have to give fluids to a hen! We were there for over 2 hours, while the vet made calls to poultry experts and labs and stuff.

i'm supposed to give her baby rice cereal and other soft, high caloric foods. can anyone recommend soft foods that their hens love? betty seems to only like cottage cheese and rice so far.

anyone ever give colloidal silver to their hens? anyone ever hear of kambucha? do you think you could give it to a hen? we've gone this far (and paid so much!) i'd hate to lose her now!

 

[SandraChick]

cooked oatmeal (not from the single serve packets- they have too much salt)

YOu can also mix some of her feed in with the oatmeal.

Yoghurt---I get the kind with at least 5 live cultures in it. It will help regulate her tummy.

If you have more than one chicken- I hope you are worming all of them?

And last but not least....I recommend adding Food Grade DE to all of your feed (5% by weight). It works great against intestinal worms.

Sandra


Forgot to mention that a good quality wet catfood is a good TEMPORARY supplement. High in protein- which she will need. (or- just cook up some ground meat for her and mix it in with the rice or oatmeal)

GOOD LUCK

 

[shady chickens]

Thanks for the recommendations. I have steal cut oats, so i made her some of that. the cottage cheese is "horizon" brand...has cultures in it, but not 5 i don't think. . she won't eat something smooth like yogurt i don't think. she likes to "pick" things, like the grains of rice and curds of the cottage cheese. her feed has DE in it from the company - not sure how much, though. we feed blue seal organic life. the vet didn't mention worming all of the girls...she knows i have 11 altogether. she just mentioned keeping a close eye on them. the hen house was scrubbed clean with a bleach solution this morning, i also dusted the corners and such with DE just to be sure (while the girls were free-ranging). everyone seems ok. betty is the bug-eating champion, especially japanese beetles, which she would get from the garden plants. i read that they can get worms from eating insects including beetles. who knows

we're hoping for the best for poor little betty. she's down to 3.8 pounds!